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1 US DC: It's Summer, And Washington Smells Like Weed. Everywhere, AllMon, 03 Jul 2017
Source:Washington Post (DC) Author:Silber, Maia Area:District of Columbia Lines:162 Added:07/04/2017

Arash Shirazi is a pretty cosmopolitan guy. A music agent and filmmaker, he hangs out with creative types and bohemians. He's lived in L.A., and spent time in cities such as, yes, Amsterdam, so it's fair to say that he's not particularly prudish in his social life.

And yet - leaving a Washington parking lot recently, he took pause when a distinctively skunky scent passed under his nostrils.

Of course he'd smelled marijuana before. But this was a weekday afternoon - in Georgetown!

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2 US DC: Outside Lawyer To Review MD Lawmakers Marijuana BusinessFri, 20 Jan 2017
Source:Washington Post (DC)          Area:District of Columbia Lines:72 Added:01/21/2017

[photo] Del. Dan K. Morhaim (D-Baltimore County) (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

The Maryland General Assembly has hired outside counsel to aid its ethics investigation of a state lawmaker who championed medical marijuana while having a business relationship with a prospective dispensary, a spokesman for the Senate president confirmed Friday.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) said on the floor of the legislative body that the ethics committee had recently tapped an outside lawyer to help on a matter.

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3 US DC: Will Decriminalization Solve The Drug Scourge?Thu, 13 Oct 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC) Author:Davidson, Joe Area:District of Columbia Lines:127 Added:10/17/2016

Illegal drug use and trafficking have led to a multitude of ills in the United States, sometimes because of racially infected law enforcement, particularly in black neighborhoods.

But is decriminalizing small amounts of narcotics at least part of the answer to the scourge?

Two major human and civil rights organizations make a good case for it and advance the decriminalization discussion in a report released Wednesday. Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are engaged in a major push to change the way federal, state and local governments deal with drug enforcement and abuse.

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4 US DC: Forced Out Of A Home Over A Marijuana JointMon, 29 Aug 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC) Author:Hawkins, Derek Area:District of Columbia Lines:406 Added:08/29/2016

D.C. Tenants Face Eviction As 'Drug Nuisances' Even When No One Is Charged With a Crime

For eight years, Rajuawn Middleton, an assistant at a major downtown law firm, lived in a four-bedroom red-brick home she rented on a quiet tree-lined street in Northeast Washington - until she was forced out over a few cigarettes containing a "green leafy substance."

In March 2014, police arrested her adult son on charges of possessing a handgun outside a nightclub. He had not lived with Middleton for years, but two weeks later, D.C. police looking for more guns raided her home.

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5 US DC: PUB LTE: The DEA's Crusade Against PotSat, 20 Aug 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC) Author:Suber, Griffin Area:District of Columbia Lines:33 Added:08/20/2016

The Aug. 16 editorial "Don't reclassify marijuana yet - research it" would have benefited from more research itself. The Drug Enforcement Administration's refusal to reschedule cannabis has nothing to do with health, for if it cared about safety, it would need look no further than itself. You're more likely to be shot by a DEA agent than you are to die from an overdose of pot because the latter has never happened. The burden of proof has unjustly fallen on legalization advocates; initially convicted by racism and xenophobia, cannabis has been proclaimed guilty until proved innocent.

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6 US DC: Editorial: Maryland's Cruel Crackdown On AffectionFri, 19 Aug 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC)          Area:District of Columbia Lines:73 Added:08/19/2016

By Changing Visitation Rules, Prison Officials Go Overboard in Trying to Contain Drug Smuggling.

PRISONS AND jails are struggling to contain the spread of an easily smuggled drug, Suboxone, prized by incarcerated addicts to dampen their craving for heroin and other hard-to-get opioids. But in trying to keep it out of facilities, some corrections officials are going overboard, imposing restrictions that punish the families and children of inmates, most of whom are blameless.

That is what has occurred in Maryland, where, in an effort to block Suboxone and other contraband, state prison authorities established a policy that prevents inmates from prolonged holding or cuddling even their small children and babies. The policy, in effect since last fall, is draconian and cruel: It applies equally to fathers, mothers and even grandmothers behind bars, including one who wrote a moving piece in The Post's Outlook section this month, pleading for more time to hold her baby granddaughter.

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7 US DC: Editorial: Don't Reclassify Marijuana Yet - Research ItTue, 16 Aug 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC)          Area:District of Columbia Lines:55 Added:08/16/2016

The DEA Is Right to Allow More Places to Grow Pot for Studies.

THE DRUG Enforcement Administration made headlines last week for sticking to the status quo: The agency declined to change marijuana's classification under the Controlled Substances Act to a lower, less strictly regulated schedule.

Marijuana sits alongside heroin and LSD in the DEA's Schedule I category, reserved for the most dangerous substances. Schedule II drugs include narcotics such as methadone and oxycodone that are medically useful but have a high potential for harm. Advocates say the current classification of marijuana makes little sense: They cite studies that show pot can help patients manage pain without any serious risk of abuse. The only problem? The Food and Drug Administration has done studies of its own, and its experts do not agree.

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8 US DC: US Summons Phl Envoy Over Duterte's RemarksWed, 10 Aug 2016
Source:Philippine Star (Philippines) Author:Katigbak, Jose Area:District of Columbia Lines:47 Added:08/10/2016

WASHINGTON - The US State Department summoned Philippine embassy Charge d'Affaires Patrick Chuasoto on Monday to seek clarification of what it said were "inappropriate remarks" made by President Duterte against US Ambassador Philip Goldberg.

Elizabeth Trudeau, director of the State Department press office, said Chuasoto was called in for an explanation of Duterte's remarks but declined to give further details.

Duterte has openly called Goldberg "gay" and "a son of a bitch."

Duterte's dislike for Goldberg dates back to the campaign period when the diplomat called him out for making a joke about the rape and murder of an Australian missionary during a 1989 Davao City prison riot.

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9 US DC: US 'Concerned' By Violent Philippine War On DrugsWed, 10 Aug 2016
Source:Cebu Daily News (Philippines)          Area:District of Columbia Lines:48 Added:08/10/2016

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) - The United States expressed concern Monday over the extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the Philippines, a key US ally whose newly elected president has launched a bloody war on crime.

President Rodrigo Duterte was swept to power in May after pledging to end crime in the Philippines using the same "shoot-to-kill" methods critics say he employed as mayor of the southern city of Davao.

Since Duterte assumed office at the end of June, police have reported killing more than 400 drug suspects while the country's largest broadcaster ABS-CBN put the death toll at 852 to include reported summary executions.

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10 US DC: PUB LTE: Dual Deadly DrugsSat, 06 Aug 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC) Author:DuPont, Robert L. Area:District of Columbia Lines:34 Added:08/06/2016

The outstanding article "How's Amanda?" [front page, July 24] was an excruciatingly accurate portrayal of the everyday reality of countless families overwhelmed by the power of heroin addiction coupled with their frustration with the high rate of relapse to heroin use after entering treatment.

But the article said the average heroin addict dies after 10 years of heroin use. Taking the article's accurate estimate of a total of about 1.6 million heroin addicts in the United States and linking it to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention count of annual heroin overdose deaths, 10,574 in 2014, the risk of overdose death for a heroin addict is about 0.6 percent a year. That means that over the course of 10 years of heroin addiction, about 6 out of 100 heroin addicts die of a heroin overdose. This shockingly low number explains why so many heroin addicts are oblivious to the risk of overdose death: Overdoses kill a very small percentage of their heroin-using friends each year.

Robert L. DuPont, Rockville The writer was director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse from 1973 to 1978.

[end]

11 US DC: PUB LTE: Dual Deadly DrugsSat, 06 Aug 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC) Author:Hara, John O' Area:District of Columbia Lines:33 Added:08/06/2016

Although I agree that heroin addiction is a tragic and growing problem in our country, I was appalled by the casual treatment given to tobacco addiction. Although Amanda Wendler was depicted as smoking cigarettes throughout the article, her act of smoking was never referred to as an addiction, only as a crutch to help her avoid heroin use.

The article stated that 350 people start using heroin every day. In contrast, the surgeon general estimates that more than 2,500 kids try their first cigarette each day and there are more than 42 million addicted smokers in the United States. There are almost 500,000 deaths each year from tobacco use - more than from alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders, suicides and AIDS combined.

I find it interesting that when dealers of illegal drugs are apprehended, they generally are sent to prison, whereas the tobacco industry purveys its addictive product with impunity.

John O' Hara, Bowie The writer is president of the Maryland Group Against Smoker's Pollution.

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12 US DC: Editorial: 'I Will Really Kill You'Fri, 05 Aug 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC)          Area:District of Columbia Lines:79 Added:08/05/2016

The New President of the Philippines Unleashes a Surge of Extrajudicial Killings of Drug Dealers and Users.

RODRIGO DUTERTE, the new president of the Philippines, is overseeing exactly what he pledged in his campaign: a terrifying surge of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers, users and criminals. From the day after he was elected, May 10, to Aug. 4, by a local account, there had been 571 killings, most of them simple executions by police and vigilante groups.

Mr. Duterte promised to "shoot to kill" and eliminate drug dealing in the country in six months. In fact, he is killing the rule of law, and that could undermine Philippine democracy.

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13 US DC: PUB LTE: Addiction's Personal TollFri, 05 Aug 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC) Author:Mathis, Don Area:District of Columbia Lines:34 Added:08/05/2016

The Aug. 2 Health & Science article "Cause of death" showed the human face and family tragedy of heroin addiction. The heart-wrenching stories of the fatal overdoses of Jordan Roche and Kelsea Brandt, among others, revealed that those who succumb to addiction aren't criminals. Rather, those who forsake their families, friends, careers, health and futures suffer from a bona fide disease of the brain.

Brandt and Roche lived in Harford County, Md., where I'm privileged to work with our drug courts. Every day, our elected and appointed officials, treatment providers, law enforcement officers, education officials, faith-based groups and nonprofit agencies work to overcome the stigmas of substance-use disorder. They work to discourage and prevent drug use by children, youths, pregnant women, those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and others.

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14 US DC: OPED: The Post Office's Drug ProblemFri, 05 Aug 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC) Author:McCaul, Michael Area:District of Columbia Lines:80 Added:08/05/2016

The House of Representatives recently passed a number of bills designed to combat the epidemic of dangerous drugs sweeping across the United States. No congressional district has been spared from this problem, and people are dying at an alarming rate from the use of fentanyl, bath salts, flakka, K2, Spice and other synthetic drugs. But lawmakers failed to act to close a major entry point for these terrible drugs into the United States: the global postal system.

Anyone with a laptop, wireless access and a credit card can order these poisons over the Internet from abroad and have them shipped directly to their home through the U.S. mail. This is not a new problem - Congress has held extensive hearings on this issue, starting as far back as 2000. According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 340 million packages enter the United States through the international mail stream, with little or no electronic manifest data associated with them. Our federal law enforcement agencies have no way to perform risk assessments on incoming postal shipments before they arrive and are forced to manually screen millions upon millions of postal parcels in an attempt to intercept these deadly drugs.

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15 US DC: LTE: There Is Already Proof of Marijuana's HarmfulThu, 04 Aug 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC) Author:Gordon, Paula D. Area:District of Columbia Lines:41 Added:08/04/2016

Regarding the July 30 editorial "One reason for cannabis caution":

A 1967 study reported that THC (the major psychoactive component of marijuana) caused psychotic-like effects in some normal human subjects. An ever-increasing number of scientific studies show that cannabis use has triggered symptoms involving psychosis and schizophrenia. Today's cannabis with extremely high THC content helps account for that.

The editorial noted the increase in children being treated for cannabis-induced symptoms in Colorado and stated that it is important for the District to wait to see what further harmful effects are found. One needs only to study the existing literature. Not only can those with developing brains lose up to 10 IQ points, but also brain anomalies have been found in users of all ages. One out of six youths and one out of 10 adults who use marijuana become addicted. Research shows that marijuana use impairs DNA. Secondhand marijuana smoke is more harmful to cardiovascular functioning than cigarette smoke. What more proof could one require?

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16 US DC: OPED: Voting Down PotTue, 02 Aug 2016
Source:Washington Times (DC) Author:Berman, Richard Area:District of Columbia Lines:102 Added:08/02/2016

Marijuana Is Anything but Harmless

Voters in at least five states, including California, will be asked whether they want to legalize marijuana for casual use on Election Day. Four states and Washington D.C. have already taken this step. "This is really a watershed year for marijuana legalization," said F. Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. Proponents like the Drug Policy Alliance claim that legalization should occur partially for "health" reasons. The Marijuana Policy Project has called pot "harmless." Others say it is "safe" and even "healthy." Nearly all proponents seem to deny or minimize its risks. Popular culture reinforces this view portraying use generally as a risk-free endeavor. And big business looking to cash in on legalization is all too happy to propagate this claim.

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17 US DC: Editorial: One Reason For Cannabis CautionSat, 30 Jul 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC)          Area:District of Columbia Lines:63 Added:07/30/2016

Children's Marijuana-Related Trips to the ER Have Increased in Colorado.

WHEN CHILDREN steal cookies from the cookie jar, they usually suffer little more than a scolding. When those cookies contain cannabis, it's a different story: According to a study published Monday, exposure to marijuana among children in Colorado has increased in the two years since the state began selling the drug legally - and so have the emergency-room visits that follow.

Colorado gave the green light to medical marijuana in 2000. In 2012, the state sanctioned recreational use, and by January 2014, dispensary store shelves were stocked with potent products of all shapes and sizes. Since then, marijuana-related trips to children's care centers have almost doubled, though incidence overall remains low. Edibles in particular seem to entice unsuspecting children who think they are sneaking everyday snacks, though secondhand smoke is also a culprit. After accidental marijuana consumption, most children simply become sleepy. In the worst of cases, they can end up with a breathing tube.

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18 US DC: 'How's Amanda?'Sun, 24 Jul 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC) Author:Saslow, Eli Area:District of Columbia Lines:618 Added:07/24/2016

A Story of Truth, Lies and an American Addiction

She had already made it through one last night alone under the freeway bridge, through the vomiting and shakes of withdrawal, through cravings so intense she'd scraped a bathroom floor searching for leftover traces of heroin. It had now been 12 days since the last time Amanda Wendler used a drug of any kind, her longest stretch in years. "Clear-eyed and sober," read a report from one drug counselor, and so Amanda, 31, had moved back in with her mother to begin the stage of recovery she feared most.

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19 US DC: Column: Independence From The Drug WarMon, 04 Jul 2016
Source:Washington Post (DC) Author:Allen, Danielle Area:District of Columbia Lines:139 Added:07/04/2016

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one part of the American people to affirm the political bands which connect them to the other parts, and to assume within the nation, the connected and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of their fellow citizens requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to affirm their connection.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among us, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and, if they choose the path of alteration, to abandon old and institute new legislation, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing the powers of government in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that legislation long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to repudiate the integral connection among Americans, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such legislation, and to provide new Guards for their future security. - Such has been the patient sufferance of African Americans; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to advocate the end of Prohibition. The history of the present War on Drugs is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having as a direct consequence the severing of the connection between African Americans and the rest of the American polity.

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20 US DC: OPED: If Trump Wins, The Drug Cartels LoseMon, 04 Jul 2016
Source:Washington Times (DC) Author:Triplett, William C. Area:District of Columbia Lines:94 Added:07/04/2016

Illegals Aren't The Only Worry Americans Encounter With Open Borders

The two groups with the most to lose with a Donald Trump victory on Nov. 8 would be the Mexican drug cartels and their Chinese suppliers. The reason is pretty simple: Mr. Trump has made securing the border his principal campaign theme. If the border is secured by a wall or some combination of means against the flood of illegal aliens and potential terrorists, then it automatically puts a major hit on the flow of narcotics across the border. If they can't get the illegals in, they can't get the dope in, either.

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