WASHINGTON -- A prestigious scientific journal is retracting a study about the effects of the drug Ecstasy on the brain because the animals used in the research were given a different drug. The researchers blamed the error on a labeling mix-up. Previous studies had reported on the brain hazards of Ecstasy, and the researchers said the problems with their study did not call into question the earlier ones. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University reported in September 2002 that key neurons in the brains of squirrel monkeys and baboons were damaged when the animals were given doses of Ecstasy that mimicked those often taken by users. [continues 196 words]
Re "Weeding out city's initiative," you couldn't be more wrong and right in the same editorial if you had tried. All we have to do is look at some countries that already have a so-called "no look" policy and see that it allows law enforcement to concentrate on more serious, violent and harmful crimes. Although medical marijuana was legalized in this state several years ago, patients still are being persecuted by our justice system. Where I agree 100 percent with you is where you said, " ... the national war on drugs is misconceived, cold-hearted and, ultimately, unworkable." It is this kind of initiative that will raise the level of education about cannabis, which many of us hope and pray will bring an end to this "misconceived, cold-hearted and, ultimately, unworkable drug war." Meril Draper, Brinnon [end]
Back in the day, if you mentioned Seattle, people elsewhere would think of the Space Needle, World's Fair, Seafair and the hydros, multiculturalism, Boeing and natural resources in a middle-class city near mountains, forests and water. When it came to politics, they'd think tough-minded activism and broad civic involvement crossing income, class, racial, ethnic and partisan lines. Now, if you ask folks elsewhere, they mention Bill Gates, Microsoft, high-tech wealth, a lively, high- and low-cultural scene in a rich-poor city near mountains, forests and water. Mention politics today and the associations are with the WTO meeting, Hempfest, political correctitude and narrow civic involvement except for self-seekers and a small group of activists. [continues 795 words]
WASHINGTON -- Ronald Reagan is generally recognized as the original "Teflon president." No matter what went wrong during his two-term presidency in the '80s, whether outside his control or not, he remained popular -- no allegation or bad news seemed to stick to him, as if he were treated with a non-stick coating. In Latin America, where growing disaffection toward democracy is further eroding public confidence in politicians, a new kind of Teflon presidency has emerged. Today, it is best personified by President Alejandro Toledo of Peru, but with a somewhat cruel twist: For Toledo, not even the best of news sticks. [continues 715 words]
Ah, the good old days. It seems like only yesterday I was a left-wing wacko. One column later -- one column siding with cops against Initiative 75 to keep marijuana illegal but make police ignore the law -- and I'm a right-wing, Bush-hugging, flag-waving conservative. Worse, I've hopped into bed with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske and City Attorney Tom Carr. And I can tell you it's dang crowded in here and the guys are hogging the remote. [continues 700 words]
The Seattle City Council member salutes Initiative 75. That's the Sept. 16 ballot measure that would officially direct law enforcement officers to wink and walk on by when they see a citizen igniting a joint. The Seattle police officer has another kind of gesture in mind for the notion of leaving a law against marijuana on the books and then ordering him to look the other way. And, ta da!, the allegedly liberal mother and PC columnist sides with .. the cop. [continues 677 words]
Hempfest, the nation's largest annual festival promoting liberalization of marijuana laws, drew tens of thousands to the waterfront yesterday and Saturday - -- reaffirming Seattle's reputation as a pot-friendly place. "It's a welcoming city," Mikki Norris of the California-based Cannabis Consumers Campaign said yesterday, addressing the ultimate laid-back crowd -- men and women lying comfortably on Asian rugs and pillows under a giant tent made of hemp. For two days, the politics of pot pervaded Myrtle Edwards Park, demonstrating a momentum that most politicians can only dream of. [continues 633 words]
As every state faces a budget crisis and our Legislature repeals voter-approved initiatives to fill the budget gap, creative solutions are needed. A lucrative idea yet to be proposed is to legalize and tax marijuana. While seemingly a radical leftist idea, legalizing and taxing marijuana would not only help close the hole in the budget but also provide much-needed jobs and help to farmers. Domestically grown marijuana is the second largest cash crop in the United States, behind only corn. [continues 697 words]
In the 20th century, good old boring, gray Canada was ... well, who knows what it was? Not many Americans ever noticed or cared. But the 21st century Canada is a fast-breaking new story, going recently in a direction that has startled Canadians as much as it has everyone else. In May, Canadians still shaking off the effects of winter awoke one day to find the federal government had introduced a bill that will decriminalize possession of small quantities of marijuana, making it a trivial violation on par with getting a $150 traffic ticket. [continues 1614 words]
If "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp's kids want to smoke pot when they're older, they can count on dad to get it. Not that he wants them to. He doesn't. But as somebody with plenty of drugs in his past, he thinks that if his kids are going to try pot, they might as well try it at home, where the stuff has been quality tested and isn't laced with other drugs, such as PCP. [continues 149 words]
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's speech to Congress last week was masterful. He was inspirational, funny and leading us toward common ground. The common ground is what remains to be done in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both supporters and critics of the war ought to care about what happens now. "So if Afghanistan needs more troops from the international community to police outside Kabul, our duty is to get them," Blair said. "Let us help them eradicate their dependency on the poppy, the crop whose wicked residue turns up on the streets of Britain as heroin to destroy young British lives, as much as their harvest warps the lives of Afghans." [continues 286 words]
City Is One Of 25 Enlisted For Drive To Combat Problem WASHINGTON -- Calling the Seattle metropolitan area and 24 other major cities places of "missed chances and despair" in the war on drugs, the White House's senior anti-drug official outlined a program yesterday in which cities and the federal government would work more closely to stem the tide of illegal narcotics. John Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy, said he and his aides would travel to each of the 25 cities to find out what works, what doesn't and methods for improving collaboration between all levels of law enforcement. [continues 520 words]
Canada's health ministry yesterday approved North America's first sanctioned "safe injection site" for illegal drug users, a controversial project in Vancouver that the Bush administration has called "state-sponsored ... suicide." The facility, to be located in the heart of the B.C. port city's drug- and crime-ridden Downtown Eastside neighborhood, will provide a cliniclike setting where drug addicts can shoot up under the supervision of a registered nurse in a facility that offers a legal safe zone for drug users. [continues 576 words]
TAKOMA PARK, MD. - The Bard of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, once defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy." He would have found quite a few of them in his home state in recent days, trying to keep demon weed away from the seriously ill. Shrugging off their pressures, Maryland's Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich signed a bill Thursday that, although it does not quite legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, does the next best thing. It reduces the maximum penalty for possession from a year in state prison and a $1,000 fine to a $100 fine in cases of "medical necessity," such as to relieve suffering from cancer treatment and other illnesses. [continues 572 words]
As Parliament reconvenes today, Canada's government is set to introduce legislation that would remove criminal penalties and substitute a simple ticket for those possessing small amounts of marijuana. The decriminalization bill is causing controversy -- in the United States. John Walters, the Bush administration's drug czar, has taken repeated pot shots at Canada's "out of control" drug policy. Up in the Great White North, however, polls show 70 percent of Canadians favor the pending reform. Why? Part of it is recognition that criminal penalties don't stop people from getting high. They just give them criminal records, and give politicians embarrassing questions to answer later in life. [continues 805 words]
The cacophony of breaking news often drowns out the big stories that actually affect daily lives. War, terrorism, murder, mayhem and sexual misdeeds monopolize the ink and airplay, to the detriment of huge issues tougher to headline. Eric Schlosser WHAT: Discusses "Reefer Madness" WHEN/WHERE: 2 p.m. tomorrow at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park; 7:30 p.m. Monday at Town Hall with tickets ($5) from The Elliott Bay Book Co. INFORMATION: 206-366-3333 (Third Place); 206-624-6600 (Elliott Bay) [continues 765 words]
King County is home to thousands of people addicted to heroin. Our societal response to their -- and our -- problem is extravagantly wasteful. Much of the harm caused by heroin addiction is harm to the community at large. For example, heroin addicts are involved in crimes to help pay for their drugs. And injection-drug use is associated with the spread of disease, including HIV infection. In response to heroin addiction in our midst, we dedicate significant public resources to police, prosecutors and defense lawyers, judges and juries and court personnel. We build, staff and maintain jails and prisons at great expense. [continues 536 words]
As a judge for the past 11 years, I've sentenced hundreds to prison for drug possession or delivery. Like many other Washington judges, I am troubled by the disproportionate effect the application of our drug laws has on people of color. The reasons are complex, but we must find solutions. This basic unfairness, coupled with the oppressive criminal justice costs to local and state budgets, makes it imperative to institute reforms that emphasize treatment. While national figures show that 72 percent of all illicit drug users are Caucasian, it's clear that the current "tough on drugs" sentencing structure in Washington state is most devastating to the African American community. Although they comprise only 3 percent of Washington's population, African Americans make up nearly one-third of all confined drug offenders. Judges often see this scenario: A young first-time offender, often a person of color, is charged with assisting a delivery of .2 of a gram of crack cocaine near a bus shelter. [continues 686 words]
Foods that contain hemp may be prohibited if a recent ruling by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration goes into effect later this month. The DEA decided in March to prohibit foods that contain traces of a substance called tetrahydrocannabinols, or THC. The psychoactive substance is found in marijuana, and a small amount is found in industrial hemp, though not enough to produce a high. It is illegal to grow hemp in the United States, but it is legally imported, usually from Canada, and used for a variety of purposes -- rope, clothing, paper, even food. Under the DEA's new ruling, though, consumption would be prohibited. [continues 649 words]
The state's new crime lab in Sodo is expansive, filled with natural light and room to examine evidence -- everything from bloodied T-shirts to bullet-ridden windowpanes. But there isn't enough money to fill it with forensic scientists. When the Seattle lab opened in December, state director Barry Logan was happy to finally have room for a full staff. That's needed, he said, to speed up work on new cases with suspects, reduce delays in processing DNA samples and tackle more cold cases. [continues 499 words]
