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1 New Zealand: Instant Fines For Cannabis FavouredWed, 19 Apr 2000
Source:New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)          Area:New Zealand Lines:42 Added:04/19/2000

WELLINGTON - A poll released last night shows a majority in favour of the introduction of instant fines for cannabis possession as the Government embarks on a review of the drug laws.

The One News/Colmar Brunton poll of 1000 voters found 55 per cent supported spot fines and 40 per cent were against. The remainder had no opinion or did not know.

The Government is reviewing cannabis law and has signalled it is keen to move towards partial decriminalisation so people will not get a criminal conviction for small amounts of marijuana.

[continues 115 words]

2 US TX: Texas Parents Contest School Drug TestsWed, 19 Apr 2000
Source:Age, The (Australia) Author:Riley, Mark Area:Texas Lines:75 Added:04/19/2000

The controversial question of drug testing in schools is under attack in America, where such tests have been mandatory in many states for years.

A group of parents in Lockney, northern Texas, has launched a challenge to the local high school's rigorous testing program, on the basis that it violates the students' rights under the Fourth Amendment to US Constitution. The amendment, passed in 1789, protects citizens against "unreasonable searches and seizures".

Paradoxically, it was pressure from the same group of parents that led to the school instituting what is considered the strictest drug-testing regime in the US. That pressure resulted from persistent complaints about students smoking marijuana and using other drugs at the school.

[continues 372 words]

3 New Zealand: Most Favour Cannabis FineWed, 19 Apr 2000
Source:Press, The (New Zealand)          Area:New Zealand Lines:34 Added:04/19/2000

WELLINGTON -- A new poll has shown most people in favour of the introduction of instant fines for cannabis possession as the Government embarks on a review of the drug laws.

The One News/Colmar Brunton poll of 1000 voters found 55 per cent supported spot fines, and 40 per cent were against.

The Government is reviewing cannabis law, and has signalled it is keen to move in the direction of partial decriminalisation so people will not get a criminal conviction for small amounts of marijuana.

[continues 89 words]

4 Australia: Five Injecting Houses SoonWed, 19 Apr 2000
Source:Herald Sun (Australia) Author:Johnston, Damon Area:Australia Lines:96 Added:04/19/2000

FIVE injecting houses will open in Melbourne within months after drug experts approved the Bracks Government's plan to tackle the heroin scourge.

The houses are planned for St Kilda, Collingwood, Footscray, Springvale and the CBD. Local councils could be given the option of having more than one injecting house, increasing the number to higher than five.

After getting the nod from a drugs inquiry headed by Professor David Penington, the government is expected to move quickly to open the houses for an 18-month trial.

[continues 494 words]

5 New Zealand: PUB LTE: Prohibition Has Serious ConsequencesWed, 19 Apr 2000
Source:Press, The (New Zealand) Author:Randell, Alan Area:New Zealand Lines:37 Added:04/19/2000

Sir-Margie Brown (April 3) courageously tells of the pain and anguish she suffered because of her son's cannabis use and urges that the drug remain prohibited.

With the greatest respect towards Ms Brown, I believe she is mistaken.

Imposing a ban may persuade some not to try a particular drug, but for many others, especially the young, it will only increase their desire for "the forbidden fruit".

But there is another more serious consequence of prohibition.

The only way a prospective user can obtain a supply of a banned drug is from the black market, which means that the drug is often contaminated and of unknown purity and is therefore more harmful than if it had not been prohibited in the first place.

I am thankful that Mrs Brown's son is alive. My wife and I lost our youngest son to street heroin in early 1993.

ALAN RANDELL Canada

[end]

6 Thailand: 300,000 On StimulantsWed, 19 Apr 2000
Source:Straits Times (Singapore)          Area:Thailand Lines:22 Added:04/19/2000

THE Thai Farmers Research Centre believes as many as 300,000 labourers use amphetamines.

Almost 90 per cent of 728 labourers surveyed in Bangkok said that they used such stimulants to help them work longer and earn more.

Most of them believed that the drug had no side effects and those surveyed did not treat users as social outcasts but considered them as hard workers who want to improve their families' standard of living.

[end]

7 CN AB: Column: Our Pot Laws Accomplish NothingTue, 18 Apr 2000
Source:Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Author:Jacobs, Mindelle Area:Alberta Lines:101 Added:04/19/2000

It's been a long time coming but the Senate has finally agreed to launch a thorough review of Canada's drug laws.

Senator Pierre Claude Nolin has been pressing for such a probe for a year and last week his colleagues in the red chamber unanimously voted to appoint a special committee for the job.

The question now is whether Canada will have the guts to shed the same prohibitionist philosophy that permeates the hysterical (and highly unsuccessful) anti-drug policies of the U.S., and implement a practical drug agenda.

[continues 555 words]

8 Australia: LTE: Dutch Drawback: Drugs Equals CrimeMon, 17 Apr 2000
Source:Australian, The (Australia) Author:Fleming, John Area:Australia Lines:63 Added:04/19/2000

THE optimistic account of the impact of injecting rooms in The Netherlands, and commending of the "Dutch model" of drug law reform ("A room of their own", Features, 5/4) is misplaced.

Proponents of drug law reform in this country, including those who advocate injecting rooms, have projected an image of the Dutch situation that betrays a selective blindness to the reality of the drug problem in The Netherlands.

The following facts from well-researched and reputable sources (Tbe European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, www.emcdda.org) illustrate the unpalatable consequences of the liberal drug policy in The Netherlands.

[continues 261 words]

9US CA: Column: Another Colombian Says No Thank YouFri, 14 Apr 2000
Source:San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Author:Dolinsky, Lewis Area:California Lines:Excerpt Added:04/19/2000

Like a Colombian farmer quoted in yesterday's Chronicle and like the Colombian peace movement as portrayed in the New York Review of Books, union representative Luis Alfonso Velasquez Rico is a true nonbeliever in the $1.6 billion Andean drug aid package passed by the House. Most of the money would go to the Colombian military, which Velasquez says would use it against left-wing guerrillas, not narco traffickers. Velasquez says that means protracted war, rather than the negotiated peace Colombia needs - and he has a personal stake because unionists keep getting knocked off in the cross-fire. They are perceived to be allies of the guerrillas. They're not, he says, though they share some goals, such as a better break for the poor.

[continues 415 words]

10 El Salvador: U.S. to Establish CounterDrug Forward OperatingThu, 13 Apr 2000
Source:Inside the Pentagon (US) Author:Grossman, Elaine M. Area:El Salvador Lines:103 Added:04/19/2000

The United States quietly signed an agreement with El Salvador last month to open a forward operating location at the international airport in the capital city of San Salvador, U.S. officials tell Inside the Pentagon. The site is to play host to U.S. military forces as they conduct counternarcotics surveillance and reconnaissance missions in the region.

With the surprising new pact, El Salvador joins Ecuador and the Netherlands as host nations for U.S. forward operating locations, or FOLs, which are designed to replace the permanent basing facilities the United States maintained in Panama until last year. Under the 1978 Panama Canal Treaties, the United States pulled its last forces from Howard AFB and other facilities in Panama in December.

[continues 619 words]

11 Australia: Injecting Rooms Get The Go-AheadWed, 19 Apr 2000
Source:Age, The (Australia) Author:Hannan, Ewin Area:Australia Lines:79 Added:04/19/2000

Supervised injecting facilities for heroin users will be given an 18-month trial in five municipalities under proposals to be announced by the Victorian Government today.

The State Government's Drug Policy Expert Committee, chaired by Professor David Penington, has recommended supervised injecting facilities be tested in Melbourne, Fitzroy, St Kilda, Footscray and Springvale.

But the 18-month trial will proceed only if local councils affected by the recommendations agree to the move.

The injecting rooms are not expected to be in residential areas, near schools or kindergartens. They could be equipped with waiting areas complete with coffee-making facilities, subsidised food and counselling services.

[continues 371 words]

12Colombia: Heroin Ring Broken Up In ColombiaThu, 13 Apr 2000
Source:San Francisco Chronicle (CA)          Area:Colombia Lines:Excerpt Added:04/19/2000

(Cali, Colombia---AP) --- Police dismantled what they called Colombia's leading heroin-trafficking ring yesterday, making 49 arrests in predawn raids in four cities backed by U.S. drug agents.

Dubbed "Operation Millennium H," the sweep coincided with a Washington visit by President Andres Pastrana to lobby U.S. lawmakers for approval of a $1.6 billion aid package for fighting narcotics in this turbulent Andean nation.

With the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration attache in Colombia seated at his side, national police director Gen. Rosso Jose Serrano paraded most of the suspects, including four women, before reporters in this western city.

[continues 145 words]


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