Controversy is already raging around the Bush administration's bold new initiative to halt the flow of illegal substances into the United States for good. Details are secret and security tight, but the "Drug Wars" concept closely resembles its sibling, the newest incarnation of the "Star Wars" dream of an anti-missile defense system to protect the entire continental United States. Unlike the new land-based missile defense shield, the Drug Wars shield will consist of thousands of specially trained "astrodogs" circling in space aboard high-tech kennels. Their mission: to sniff out incoming drug shipments from as far as 2,000 miles away in the ultra-clear, ultra-clean atmosphere of space, where smells can travel undiminished for thousands of light-years, and start barking. [continues 527 words]
DEA Report Cites Failure To Communicate In Agency A federal drug agent was a witness in 1988 to a courtroom confession: supersnitch Andrew Chambers admitting from the witness stand that he had lied in court during the previous three years while testifying as a star government witness. The drug agent was so concerned about Chambers' revelation, she said, she left the courtroom at the first break and immediately notified her supervisor at the Los Angeles field office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. [continues 1612 words]
It has been 2 1/2 years since Maine voters passed a citizen-initiated medical marijuana referendum. The argument in favor was strong -- compassion demands that people suffering from pain and nausea associated with treatments for such diseases as cancer, AIDS and glaucoma be allowed to use a drug that has been found to provide some relief. The argument against also was strong -- the law requires that medicines prescribed and sold must first be found safe and effective in the laboratory, not merely popular in the voting booth. [continues 519 words]
I would like to comment on several news items of the recent past that I believe are "commentable." It is encouraging that the National Republican Party has recently done something "on principle." They are, after all, supposedly the party of (Constitutional) principles. Lately, however, principles have taken a back seat to expediency, getting elected, and, of course, "politically correct" actions. But in the matter of the census, they, at least, insisted upon using the actual count (as the Constitution requires!), rather than the "guesses" of some "expert," bureaucrat, etc. Let us be duly thankful for these small (Constitutional) blessings. [continues 436 words]
Nineteen-year-old Mary Thompson was married about a month ago and is expecting a baby. This would be one of the happiest times of her life, she said, if not for one thing. Her new husband -- she calls him "a prisoner of the drug war" -- has been in jail for the last three weeks. "I'm here to educate people," she said. "It's our God-given right to have marijuana legalized." Thompson joined about 250 people Saturday at Freedom Fest -- a celebration of marijuana sponsored by The Hemp Coalition and several other organizations. The event began with a parade down Central Avenue followed by a festival in Roosevelt Park, which featured music, food and other events. [continues 282 words]
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft heralded the arrest and extradition of an alleged major Tijuana drug trafficker as a big step forward in the United States and Mexico's cooperation in the war on drugs. "Drug lords are on notice," Ashcroft said Saturday during a meeting with El Paso sector Border Patrol agents. "Drug trafficking will not be allowed in the U.S. or Mexico." Arturo Paez Martinez, whom Ashcroft described as a lieutenant in the Arellano Felix drug trafficking organization -- also known as the Tijuana Cartel -- was released to U.S. officials Friday from a prison near Mexico City, said Dan Nelson, a spokesman for the attorney general. [continues 595 words]
It's been said that the international drug war has only succeeded in hiking drug prices and producing windfall wealth for massive, ruthless cartels that now have the power to sway weak governments. I couldn't agree more. The kind of TRIPS I'm talking about, however, are legal. Under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement at the World Trade Organization, pharmaceutical drug companies have grown immensely powerful and wealthy at the expense of the poor and sick across the globe. The TRIPS gives drug companies a minimum 20-year patent protection on drugs they develop, often by appropriating centuries-old indigenous knowledge about pharmacological plants. And that's a 20-year license to print money. [continues 686 words]
MISSOULA, Mont. -- Marijuana use is not as devastating as alcohol use, but legalizing it would make this country that much worse, said Sherry Matteucci, former U.S. attorney, at a drug, war and civil rights panel Thursday evening at the University of Montana. The legalization of marijuana is favorable to many, but legalized marijuana would create pressure to legalize other illicit drugs, Matteucci said. Beth Brenner, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Montana, disagreed. Many drug users are law-abiding citizens and should not be in prison for what they do in private, Brenner said. Only drug users who harm other people should be prosecuted, she said. [continues 336 words]
Marijuana Party Protests BCTV Decision To Exclude Them From The Leaders Debate If their goal was to annoy BCTV executives with a protest, the B.C. Marijuana party scored. About 10 Marijuana members from Chilliwack joined another 40 from around the province and rallied outside the television studio in Burnaby Monday night, loudly protesting because their leader, Brian Taylor, was not invited to participate in the televised debate. They said the network's decision showed a disregard for democratic processes, and said insult was added to injury when Chris Delaney, leader of the B.C. Unity Party, was included in the program. [continues 346 words]
