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More Schools Using Dogs To Sniff Out Drugs ('Washington Post'
Quotes Ronald Stephens, Director Of The National School Safety Center
In California, Who Says, 'We're Going To See The Use Of Drug Dogs Increasing
Dramatically Over The Next Few Years' - Increasingly, School Systems
Across The Country Rely On Private Companies For Dog-Sniffing Services -
One Of The Largest Such Firms, Interquest Group Inc.,
Has Contracted With More Than 350 School Districts In Texas, Michigan
And California)
Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 20:15:21 -0500
To: DrugSense News Service
From: Richard Lake (rlake@mapinc.org)
Subject: MN: US: More Schools Using Dogs to Sniff Out Drugs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Mike Gogulski
Source: Washington Post
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Pubdate: 27 Mar 1998
Author: Patricia Davis and Debbi Wilgoren
More Schools Using Dogs to Sniff Out Drugs
A growing number of educators in the Washington area and across the nation
are bringing drug-sniffing dogs into schools or are considering the idea as
a tool to combat the recent rise in teenagers' use of illegal drugs.
D.C. school officials launched an effort this month to search as many as
two high schools a week. The drug sweeps, conducted sporadically in the
past, were halted altogether a year ago when police canine teams were
ordered to focus on street crime.
In Montgomery County, police have sent a proposal to school officials
offering them the use of the dogs. And in Fairfax County, where the number
of drug sweeps at schools dropped after police began charging for the
service, some school officials say the county should provide extra funding
so that principals who want the random searches can afford them.
In such searches, trained dogs check lockers, restrooms and other common
areas of school buildings but do not sniff students. Supporters of the
sweeps say that although they rarely turn up illegal substances, they are a
powerful deterrent to drug use -- a dramatic statement to the student body
that drugs at school won't be tolerated.
"I see it as [sending] all kinds of positive messages," said Richard Doyle,
the hearing officer who oversees drug cases for the Fairfax school system.
"It says to students, 'I'm going to use all means to keep you safe.' "
But school principals, who usually make the final decision on whether to
invite the dogs, are divided on the tactic, according to police and school
officials. Some principals fear that the seizure of drugs could reflect
badly on them or their schools, school officials said. Other principals, as
well as some civil liberties groups, object because they find the checks
intrusive, although the use of dogs to search school property has been
upheld by the courts.
"We don't like it because it's snooping," said Arthur B. Spitzer, legal
director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington office. "It's a
form of government intrusion, in a place where we think people have a
reasonable expectation of privacy."
The sweeps are among several measures that officials across the country
have taken in response to the rise in the percentage of teenagers using
illegal drugs. Although recent surveys suggest that the percentage may be
leveling off, it remains substantially higher than it was at the beginning
of the 1990s.
Some districts have assigned uniformed officers to schools. Others have
added drug education programs or toughened penalties for drug possession
and sale on school property. In Miami, school officials recently approved
one of the nation's first voluntary drug-testing programs for high school
students.
According to a recent study by the National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 76 percent of high school students
and 46 percent of middle school students said last year that drugs were
kept, used or sold at their schools. Students reported having seen more
drug deals at their schools than in their neighborhoods.
"The question is not whether kids are doing drugs at school. We already
know that," said Capt. Jim Charron, commander of the Fairfax police
department's youth services division. "The question is, how are principals
managing the problem? Some believe a hard-line stance is important. Others
believe it is a social issue, not a criminal issue," and should be handled
through other avenues, including drug counseling.
In the District, schools security director Patrick V. Fiel said he and
schools Chief Executive Julius W. Becton Jr. believed the dogs could be an
effective deterrent and successfully lobbied Interim Police Chief Sonya T.
Proctor to make the canine teams available again.
One of the first sweeps under the initiative occurred last week at the
former Hamilton school in Northeast Washington, which now houses several
alternative programs for disruptive youths. A dog found a small bag of
marijuana stashed in a radiator.
At a search earlier this month at Anacostia High School in Southeast, a dog
identified an odor at one site that suggested drugs had been stashed there
within the previous 72 hours, Fiel said.
Fiel said he expects some apprehension about the program from parents and
community leaders, who might envision large German shepherds backing
students up against a wall and sniffing at them. In reality, he said,
police and security officials will be checking lockers, bathrooms and
storage areas while students are in class. "Nowhere near the kids," he said.
Most police departments avoid using their dogs to search people because the
animals are trained to start scratching when they detect drugs, and also
because such searches would be more vulnerable to a legal challenge.
School and police officials acknowledge that many students keep their drugs
on their person, not in their lockers. And they are doing so in
increasingly creative places: under the tongues of tennis shoes, inside
underwear and between jacket linings. Still, the random checks of lockers
and bathrooms will make many youths think twice about bringing drugs to
school and may encourage other students to report suspicious activity,
several officials believe.
Conducting a drug sweep at a school requires a team of canine officers, and
many area police departments have to rely on other jurisdictions to help
them out.
Three months ago, police officers from four Northern Virginia jurisdictions
conducted a drug sweep at Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School, a private
school in Arlington. No drugs were confiscated, although the dogs twice
found a lingering scent.
"You run the risk of a lot of kids getting caught," said the school's
principal, Alward V. Burch. "But I was willing to take that risk. At least
it would send a very strong message."
In Fairfax, most canine officers work the night shift, and county police,
to cut down on their overtime costs, last year began charging the schools
that ordered drug sweeps. The number of sweeps has plummeted since then,
police say, although they do not have figures available. That trend has
alarmed some school officials.
"We need to send a message loud and clear that drugs are not going to be
brought to school," said Fairfax School Board member Mychele B. Brickner
(At Large), who has requested more money for the anti-drug operations.
Michael J. Gough, director of the division of school security in
Montgomery, said that only two principals in that county have requested
drug sweeps in the last seven years. But the district is considering
expanding the practice, he said.
"There are ongoing discussions with the police department on all forms of
drug detection, including drug sweeps," Gough said. "It's a real good
deterrent if it's random, so it's a surprise to students or staff."
Increasingly, school systems across the country are relying on private
companies to provide the dog-sniffing service. One of the largest such
firms, Interquest Group Inc., has contracted with more than 350 school
districts in Texas, Michigan and California.
Michael P. Ferdinand, vice president of the company, said the dog teams
have found drugs as many as 2,000 times in a year. But the company also has
tracked a "significant reduction" over time in the amount of drugs seized
in schools that used the dogs regularly, he said.
Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center in
California, believes that more principals will decide to have drug sweeps
conducted at their schools.
"We're going to see the use of drug dogs increasing dramatically over the
next few years," Stephens said. "If we're going to require kids to attend
school, then we ought to be required to provide safe schools. I would want
to know the extent of the drug problem in my school."
(c) Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue Number 35
(The Drug Reform Coordination Network's News Summary For Activists
Features 12 Original Articles Including - URL For Moyers'
Television Documentary On Addiction; Campus Club
Advocating Marijuana Law Reform Denied Recognition By University President;
Penn State Professor Appears At Hearing - Continues Protest;
DRCNet Special Report - Colombian Situation Worsens - US Military
Involvement Stepped Up - Backsliding Toward A Quagmire?
Classified DEA Report Says Drug Corruption In Mexican Military
More Serious Than Previously Believed)
Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 16:55:43 EST
Originator: drc-natl@drcnet.org
Sender: drc-natl@drcnet.org
From: DRCNet (manager@drcnet.org)
To: Multiple recipients of list (drc-natl@drcnet.org)
Subject: The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue #35
A number of our subscribers have reported not receiving
file 1 of Issue #35 of The Week Online. Please accept our
apology for this inconvenience, which was purely due to
technical reasons. Note that the entire issue is now
online at http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html --
let us know what you think of our new look.
In the issue, we forgot to mention the PBS five-installment
series, Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home. It begins
tonight, 3/29, and runs through Tuesday. According to the
series' web site, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/closetohome/,
the schedule is as follows: PORTRAIT OF ADDICTION, 3/29,
9pm, THE HIJACKED BRAIN, 3/29, 10pm, CHANGING LIVES, 3/30,
9pm, THE NEXT GENERATION, 3/31, 9pm, and THE POLITICS OF
ADDICTION, 3/31, 10pm. (These listings are Eastern
Standard Time. Times may vary from location to location,
so check your local listings.) The final installment is
rumored to be a fairly positive look at the war on drugs
and alternatives.
THE WEEK ONLINE WITH DRCNet, ISSUE #35 -- MARCH 27, 1998
----- PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE --------
(To sign off this list, mailto:listproc@drcnet.org with the
line "signoff drc-natl" in the body of the message, or
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this list, visit http://www.drcnet.org/signup.html.)
NOTE: THIS ISSUE CONTAINS SOME OF THE MOST FRIGHTENING AND
DISTURBING NEWS ABOUT THE DRUG WAR THAT WE HAVE EVER
PRINTED. YOUR SUPPORT AND ACTIVISM IS NEEDED TO BRING THE
TRAGEDY OF THE DRUG WAR TO AN END. PLEASE READ ON, THEN
TAKE ACTION.
***
Medical Marijuana Protest in Pasadena, CA, Monday,
3/30, 11:00-11:45am. Full announcement to go out
to Cal. subscribers this weekend -- in the meantime,
info online at http://www.insightweb.com/medmj.gif
***
To our subscribers: A few of you reported last week that on
trying to open Issue #34 of The Week Online, their e-mail
programs froze up. This may have been due to the length of
the issue, though it may have been due to other technical
problems. That issue can be viewed in full on our web site
archive at http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-20.html.
There was some important material there, so please take a
few moments to at least browse the table of contents, if you
didn't get to read it last week. We will make it a point to
divide up the e-mail postings into two parts, when they are
especially long. Please accept our apology for the
inconvenience.
Our appeal for funds and members has gone extremely well --
already netting over $3,500 in much needed operating funds.
But we still need 30 more new paying members to reach our
goal of 750 by the end of the month. (Our total number of
e-mail subscribers is over 4,700.) If you haven't yet sent
in your $25 annual membership (or $10 for virtual, e-mail-
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DRCNet is an organization that can make it in the big
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or call them in to (202) 293-8340 or fax to (202) 293-8344.
Extra donations from new and current members are also needed
and are greatly appreciated.
Copies of Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts are still
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Please note that contributions to DRCNet are not tax-
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Facts".)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. LEAKED McCAFFREY LETTER INDICATES OPPOSITION TO LIFTING
SYRINGE EXCHANGE FUNDING BAN
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#mccaffrey
2. HOUSE DELAYS VOTE ON ANTI-MEDICAL MARIJUANA RESOLUTION:
Still time to contact your congressional representative
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#housevote
3. 17 YEAR-OLD POLICE INFORMANT KILLED, GIRLFRIEND RAPED
AND SHOT IN CALIFORNIA
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#informant
4. PLANO, TEXAS UNDERCOVER POLICE BOUGHT HEROIN SIX TIMES
FOR 16 YEAR-OLD RECOVERING ADDICT
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#plano
5. A STRONG DAY IN COURT FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN
CALIFORNIA - FURTHER ARGUMENTS TO BE HEARD APRIL 6
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#calcourt
6. CAMPUS CLUB ADVOCATING MARIJUANA LAW REFORM DENIED
RECOGNITION BY UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#rcc
7. PENN STATE PROFESOR APPEARS AT HEARING - CONTINUES
PROTEST
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#heicklen
8. BASKETBALL LEGEND KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR BUSTED FOR POT AT
CANADIAN BORDER - CLAIMS MEDICINAL USE
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#kareem
9. DRCNet SPECIAL REPORT: COLOMBIAN SITUATION WORSENS -
U.S. MILITARY INVOLVEMENT STEPPED UP - BACKSLIDING
TOWARD A QUAGMIRE?
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#colombia
10. CLASSIFIED DEA REPORT SAYS DRUG CORRUPTION IN MEXICAN
MILITARY MORE SERIOUS THAN PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#dea-report
11. SWISS GOV'T ANGERED BY WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION'S DELAY
IN EVALUATING HEROIN MAINTENANCE TRIAL
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#who
12. EDITORIAL: War crimes and quagmires... how low can we
go, and where are we headed?
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#editorial
***
1. LEAKED McCAFFREY LETTER INDICATES OPPOSITION TO LIFTING
SYRINGE EXCHANGE FUNDING BAN
On Tuesday 3/17, a meeting took place between National AIDS
Policy Director Sandra Thurman and Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey
over the issue of syringe exchange, and the ban on the use
of federal anti-AIDS funds for their implementation. The
meeting was held in the wake of the "no-confidence"
resolution released earlier that day by the Presidential
Advisory Commission on HIV/AIDS
(http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-20.html#aidscouncil).
The result of that meeting was a letter, sent by McCaffrey
to Thurman, indicating the Drug Czar's strong opposition to
the lifting of the ban. While insiders had been aware for
some time of McCaffrey's opposition, he had never directly
made his feelings public. The letter, however, was leaked
both to members of Congress and to the New York Times, which
ran a story on it on Sunday (3/22). McCaffrey's now-public
opposition to lifting the ban is seen by proponents as a
serious blow to the chances that Secretary of Health and
Human Services Donna Shalala will make the determination, a
prerequisite for lifting the ban, that syringe exchange
slows the spread of AIDS without a concomitant rise in drug
use. This despite overwhelming scientific support for the
programs.
Robert Fogel, a member of the President's Advisory
Commission told The Week Online: "The joint statement issued
by AIDS Policy Director Sandra Thurman and Drug Czar Barry
McCaffrey indicates that they will leave it in the hands of
HHS Secretary Donna Shalala to decide whether or not to make
the required determination. This is just as it has been.
Secretary Shalala has assured the commission that her office
is almost finished with their review, and that her
determination would be based on the science, and not on the
politics surrounding the issue. At this point, we have
faith that those assurances were made honestly. We await
the Secretary's determination."
(In 1995, the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of
Medicine released a landmark report, Preventing HIV
Transmission: The Role of Sterile Needles and Bleach.
Preventing HIV Transmission can be ordered from amazon.com,
and DRCNet will earn 15% of the purchase price (on that book
alone, if you follow the link directly from
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#nas.)
***
2. 17 YEAR-OLD POLICE INFORMANT KILLED, GIRLFRIEND RAPED AND
SHOT IN CALIFORNIA
- Barrington Daltrey for DRCNet
The use of juveniles by law enforcement agencies pursuant to
plea bargains has come under scrutiny in California this
week. How extensive is the practice? No one knows, since
the records of such agreements are subject to the privacy
laws protecting juveniles.
Earlier in the week, Southern California was shocked by the
disclosure that the death of Chad McDonald, a 17 year old
boy, and the brutal rape and attempted murder of his 15 year
old girlfriend, might have resulted from the Brea police
department's use of the boy as an informant. The Brea police
department steadfastly denies any involvement, pointing out
the incident took place in Norwalk, an area outside the Brea
P.D.'s jurisdiction. But an attorney for the youth's mother
claims that she allowed her son to act as an informant in
return for having him released into her custody. The
attorney also has stated that the mother tried to send the
boy to relatives on the east coast in order to get him away
from the streets of L.A., but that the Brea police wouldn't
allow it. "They kept wanting more and more" from him, she
said.
Coverage of the incident began after the discovery early in
the month of the boy's body in an alley in South Central
L.A., and discovery of the girl, left for dead, in the
nearby mountains. The most recent disclosures came after
the girl recovered from her injuries sufficiently to discuss
what had happened.
Lloyd Charton, attorney for Cindy MacDonald, the boy's
mother, was widely quoted as suggesting the two minors had
entered a "drug den" in Norwalk in order to please Brea PD
supervisors. It was reported that the boy, Chad MacDonald,
had agreed to work as an informant in the course of a plea
agreement in juvenile court.
Brea P.D. Chief Bill Lentini has indicated his department
was not involved in the Norwalk incident and expressed
frustration at his inability to comment further due to the
privacy laws concerning juvenile court proceedings. In
fact, according to Lentini, his department filed a petition
for review in the Orange County Superior Court, Juvenile
Division on March 25, 1998. The petition seeks
authorization to discuss the matter with the press.
The unanswered question is what specific court orders were
imposed upon Chad MacDonald in trade for his release from
the system. It should be noted that under California law,
juveniles are not "prosecuted", but made "wards of the
court" in order to protect them. Release of the court
documents might provide insight into just how the court
intended to rehabilitate and protect MacDonald. Did it
in fact approve a plea bargain whereby MacDonald would be
involved in undercover narcotics investigations, as alleged?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question remains shrouded
by the secrecy laws designed to protect minors from
disclosure of their wrongdoing. The documents remain in the
court file, marked "confidential."
(Jerome Miller, of the National Center on Institutions and
Alternatives, made an interesting several page discussion of
the unintended consequences of the use of information, in
his book Search and Destroy: African-American Males in the
Criminal Justice System -- a book which contais a wealth of
statistical and qualitative information on the impact of
crime and the war on crime and drugs. Purchase Search and
Destroy from amazon.com, and DRCNet will earn 15% of your
purchase (only on this book, not on other books you may
purchase in the same visit). Just follow the link from
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#miller, and
DRCNet will automatically be credited for your purchase.)
***
3. PLANO, TEXAS UNDERCOVER POLICE BOUGHT HEROIN SIX TIMES
FOR 16 YEAR-OLD RECOVERING ADDICT
- Marc Brandl for DRCNet
"Operation Rockfest", an undercover investigation by the
Plano, Texas police to battle a growing heroin epidemic,
netted 84 cases against 33 adults and four juveniles. The
operation was considered a success, but some citizens have
become outraged at how the police attained their results.
One of the juveniles busted by "Rockfest" was Jonathan
Kollman, now 17, who is a recovering heroin addict. Before
Jonathan was arrested, undercover officers drove him six
separate times to a heroin dealer, gave him cash for the
drug, and then allowed him to consume the controlled
substance. Before Jonathan succumbed to the undercover
officer's offer, he had tested negative for drugs 12 times
and was enrolled in drug treatment and family counseling.
Plano, an affluent community of just under 200,000 people,
has been the source of more than a dozen teen heroin
overdoses in the last 18 months. The Plano Chief of Police,
reacting to the story told the Dallas Morning News "We...
are confident this investigation was handled in a
professional manner." The Kollman family disagrees and has
hired a lawyer who is requesting a grand jury investigation
of possible criminal conduct by the undercover officer. The
family is also considering a lawsuit. Jonathan's father,
Victor Kollman, aware of the fatal overdose potential, told
the Dallas Morning News, "I just can't understand how they
would put him in danger of that."
Notes from the undercover officer show she knew of
Jonathan's heroin use. "I stopped, and Jonathan went into
the building to use the one cap of chiva. Jonathan returned
to my vehicle and said that this heroin was better than the
last heroin we bought." Jonathan has now reentered a drug
rehabilitation program.
"This is a perfect illustration of the craziness of the war
on drugs," Al Robinson, Executive Director of the Drug
Policy Forum of Texas, and a retired professor of
pharmacology, told The Week Online. "Police officers should
be protecting kids, not hooking them on drugs."
(The Drug Policy Forum of Texas is online at
http://www.mapinc.org/DPFT/.)
***
4. A STRONG DAY IN COURT FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN CALIFORNIA
- FURTHER ARGUMENTS TO BE HEARD APRIL 6
Article reprinted with permission of Dale Gieringer, Cal.
NORML, canorml@igc.apc.org, http://www.norml.org/canorml/
SAN FRANCISCO, March 24, 1998: Medical marijuana advocates
beat back the government's efforts to obtain an injunction
against California's cannabis clubs today, as U.S. District
Judge Charles Breyer called for further arguments to be
submitted on April 16th. Breyer indicated that he would
render some sort of decision thereafter.
Earlier in the day, medical marijuana supporters were
blessed by a break in the rainy weather, allowing patients,
providers, and sympathizers from around the state to gather
for a rally and protest march under sunny skies in San
Francisco. Addressing the rally were S.F. District
Attorney Terence Hallinan, West Hollywood Mayor Steve
Martin, S.F. Supervisors Gavin Newsom and Tom Ammiano, and
representatives of Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Oakland City
Councilman Nate Miley.
At the court hearing, Judge Breyer repeatedly expressed
skepticism about the government's sweeping claims of
supremacy in the face of opposition from 56% of California
voters, the mayors of four cities, and amicus briefs from
S.F. District Attorney Hallinan, the city of Oakland,
and the town of Fairfax.
Breyer posed a series of probing questions to the
government:
(1) What evidence is there that Congress considered medical
use of marijuana in enacting the Controlled Substances Act?
(2) How is interstate commerce affected by the clubs'
activities?
(3) Do the intrastate activities of the clubs have such a
close relation to interstate commerce that they must fall
under the CSA?
4) Has the government ever invoked this section of the CSA
to enjoin action that was legal under state law?
(5) Is there a case for controversy if all the facilities
are closed?
(6) The government alleges that the clubs' activities are
not protected by 215. If they were totally within 215,
would the government still ask for an injunction?
(7) What efforts if any are being made to evaluate marijuana
for reclassification to Schedule II?
Federal attorney Mark Quinlivan insisted that Proposition
215 had no bearing on the case, since state law is
superseded by federal authority. He said that courts have
ruled that there is no substantive due process right to any
particular form of medicine, citing a case involving the
purported cancer cure Laetrile. Asked by Judge Breyer
whether there might not exist a fundamental right to relief
from extreme pain, Quinlivan replied that only individual
patients, not clubs, would have standing to make this
argument. He said that the defendants could seek redress by
petitioning the government to re-schedule marijuana.
Asked by Breyer whether it would be sufficient simply to
enjoin the clubs from engaging in interstate commerce in
marijuana, Quinlivan insisted that Congressional findings
specifically mandate that all commerce and distribution be
enjoined.
Defense attorney William Panzer likened the government's
argument to maintaining that the world is flat, accusing it
of engaging in an "arbitrary and capricious" conspiracy to
cover up the facts. Defense attorney Carl Shapiro argued
that Section 903 of the CSA allows states to pass their own
laws regarding controlled substances, so long as there is no
"positive conflict" with federal law.
In a forceful and elegant presentation, Santa Clara Univ.
Professor Gerald Uelmen argued that Section 903 permits
state and federal laws to be reconciled. In particular, he
argued that the clubs' activities do not constitute
distribution, as maintained by the government, but "joint
purchase for consumption," which is equivalent to possession
under the CSA. Insofar as the government is asking to
enjoin distribution, not possession, Prof. Uelmen invited
the court to issue an injunction against distribution with
the understanding that cooperative purchase by medical
marijuana patients not be included.
In another impressive presentation, defense attorney Tony
Serra argued that the government's case was irrevocably
soiled by its own "dirty hands," that is, the unethical
tactics used to enforce its laws. Appearing as an amicus of
the court, San Franciso District Attorney Terence Hallinan
argued that closure of the clubs would be harmful to
public health and safety. (Hallinan's amicus brief was
joined by the city of Oakland and a separate brief by the
town of Fairfax). Hallinan declared that he favored keeping
the clubs open or, failing that, that any injunction be
tailored so as to permit distribution of medical marijuana
by the city.
Medical marijuana supporters were heartened by the day's
proceedings, sensing that Judge Breyer was in no way
predisposed to granting the government carte blanche to shut
off distribution of medical marijuana.
***
5. ALERT: HOUSE DELAYS VOTE ON ANTI-MEDICAL MARIJUANA
RESOLUTION
House Resolution 372, a "sense of the house" resolution
which would proclaim Congress' adamant opposition to the
legalization of marijuana for medicinal use, will not be
voted on this week, as was originally scheduled. Instead,
lawmakers have put off the vote until sometime after they
return from spring recess on April 21.
Many DRCNet subscribers wrote to their representatives in
response to our Alert, which can be found at
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-18-1.html. If you have
not yet done so, you now have almost another month to voice
opposition. The resolution itself is laden with
misinformation and circular reasoning. You can read it
online, on the web site of the Marijuana Policy Project at
http://www.mpp.org/HRes372.html. You might also want to
take this opportunity to pay a visit to your Congressional
representative while he or she is at their home office
during this recess. Personal visits are the most effective
way to get your rep's attention. If you do, please drop us
a note to let us know how it went at drcnet@drcnet.org and
thanks for making a difference!
***
6. CAMPUS CLUB ADVOCATING MARIJUANA LAW REFORM DENIED
RECOGNITION BY UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT
- Troy Dayton for DRCNet
The newly formed Rochester Cannabis Coalition (RCC), an
organization dedicated to educating the public about the
need for marijuana law reform, is being denied club
recognition by the President of Rochester Institute of
Technology (RIT) on the grounds that it would "send the
wrong message". While the club's constitution explicitly
states that it does not condone drug use, RIT President,
Albert Simone, claimed in a letter to RCC President, Shea
Gunther, that "the recognition of the Rochester Cannabis
Coalition as an official RIT club will be interpreted by
students and the general public as RIT officially condoning
the use of drugs on this campus."
"Simone is denying us because he does not agree with what we
have to say. He does not want to send the wrong message,
well, now he is sending the message that students cannot
make decisions," stated Shea Gunther in a written response
to the President's letter.
Two weeks ago, Shea Gunther met with President Simone and
his advisor to discuss the matter. Shea left the meeting
when his advisor asked "what's to stop a club from
advocating date rape?" "They couldn't understand the
difference between advocating a change in public policy, and
advocating drug use. We were just going in circles," said
Gunther.
Simone goes on to claim in the letter that recognizing the
RCC will cause drug dealers who sell marijuana and other
drugs to target RIT campus. The Week Online asked William
McKee, the director of RIT University News Services if this
assertion is backed up by experiences on any of the over
twenty campuses that currently have recognized drug policy
reform groups. He could not point to any evidence.
Richard Cowan, editor of Marijuana News, said that Simone's
letter uses the costs of marijuana prohibition to justify
its position. "It explicitly recognizes that marijuana is
sold in the same distribution channels with hard drugs by
criminal elements. It is cited as a reason not to recognize
a group that advocates the only way to end it." The
complete text of the letter is available at the Marijuana
News site, http://www.marijuananews.com.
The RCC is currently collecting signatures for a petition to
reverse Simone's decision. "Most students take extreme
offense to Dr. Simone's blatant overruling of the will of
the students, even if they disagree with our goals," said
Gunther. They are also drafting a letter to the Board of
Trustees that has the power to overrule President Simone.
"The drug war depends upon stifling discussion of
alternative policies. We are not going to give up. We will
fight until we get recognition," said Gunther.
DRCNet is currently in discussions with the RCC as well as
other activist groups to determine the most effective way to
impact the situation. Please expect a DRCNet Alert on the
topic in the coming week.
You can contact Shea Gunther at gun@pongo.filament.net.
Students and other members of campus communities are invited
to join our national campus-based drug policy discussion
list. To do so, send a message to U-net-request@drugtext.nl
with the line "join U-net" in the body of the message.
***
7. PENN STATE PROFESSOR APPEARS AT HEARING - CONTINUES
PROTEST
On Thursday (3/25) Professor Julian Heicklen and three other
anti-prohibition advocates were ordered to stand trial for
offenses stemming from the Feb. 12 "Smoke Out" at the
Pennsylvania State University. Prof. Heicklen, Andrew
Burke, Jennifer Corbett and Ken Keltner had their
Preliminary Hearings at the Centre County Courthouse in
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Heicklen and Burke each had
separate hearings while Corbett's and Keltner's cases were
heard together.
Heicklen, who wants a jury trial to nullify the marijuana
laws, is challenging not only the drug war but also the
manner in which criminal defendants are treated by the
courts, demanding that he be accorded "basic human
courtesy".
Heicklen walked out of the courthouse last week (3/18) when
it became obvious that his scheduled 1:00pm hearing wouldn't
take, place till much later. He was arrested a few hours
later and although the "Failure to Appear" charge was
dropped, he is planning to sue District Justice Alan
Sinclair for false arrest for issuing the Bench Warrant.
This week, however, Judge Sinclair called Heicklen's case at
1:27pm, just three minutes before Heicklen's self-imposed
deadline. After the judge told the Commonwealth to proceed,
Heicklen interrupted, introduced himself and asked the Judge
and the prosecutor to introduce themselves. The judge
complied with Heicklen's request and instructed the
prosecutor to do likewise. The prosecutor reluctantly
complied.
Heicklen then asked Judge Sinclair to recuse himself because
Sinclair had issued the Bench Warrant from the previous week
and therefore would not give him a fair and impartial trial.
Sinclair denied the motion that he recuse himself.
After several other motions were denied, Heicklen, though
representing himself, sat mute throughout the remainder of
the hearing, ignoring Judge Sinclair's offer to cross
examine the police officers and make a closing argument.
Jennifer Corbett and Ken Keltner had their hearing next and
were represented by State College attorney Joseph Devecka.
They are charged with possession of paraphernalia.
On Thursday (3/26,) the day after the hearing, Heicklen and
co-defendant Alan Gordon once again smoked pot in front of a
crowd of about 125 supporters and four pro-drug-war counter
demonstrators.
No one was arrested, but the Penn State Police were present,
and they confiscated a joint from Heicklen. Penn State
Police said that they will test Heicklen's joint as well as
one they confiscated at last week's rally. If the tests
come back positive for marijuana, police said they would
cite Heicklen for two counts of possession.
Prof. Heicklen told the crowd that "Magistrate Sinclair has
trampled on the U.S. Constitution and denied us our basic
legal rights. He has committed treason. We will continue
our Smoke Outs and make our case in the streets..."
Heicklen later told the Week On Line that if necessary he
will take his demonstrations to the Bellefonte Courthouse,
the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, and the
Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The Professor also said
that he has been contacted by anti-drug-war activists from
the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Oklahoma University,
and the University of Texas at Austin. "I've been holding
them back. I told them they should wait (until the next
school year) and learn from our mistakes."
***
8. BASKETBALL LEGEND KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR BUSTED FOR POT AT
CANADIAN BORDER - CLAIMS MEDICINAL USE
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's leading all-time scorer,
known and feared for his patented and nearly indefensible
sky-hook, was detained at the border as he tried to re-enter
the US last week (3/20) while carrying 6 grams of marijuana
in a glass vial. A drug-sniffing dog was credited with
detecting the pot. The 7'1" ex-center, a California
resident, claimed that the marijuana was for medicinal use,
and that his doctor has recommended it for migraine
headaches.
Jabbar was detained for several hours while his name was
entered into a customs database and was released. No
charges were filed, although he was fined $500 by U.S.
customs. It is unclear at this time whether or not he will
be allowed to re-enter Canada in the future.
***
9. DRCNet SPECIAL REPORT: COLOMBIAN SITUATION WORSENS -
U.S. MILITARY INVOLVEMENT STEPPED UP - BACKSLIDING TOWARD
A QUAGMIRE?
With the rout last week of an elite squad of the Colombian
army by rebel forces who control much of the southern half
of the country, both President Ernesto Samper and the
Colombian military have conceded that they cannot win the
three decades-old civil war by themselves. In response to
recent developments, the Dallas Morning News (3/17) reports
that the U.S. has recently doubled the number of military
advisors stationed there. According to The DMN, the U.S.
now has 223 military personnel in Colombia. This doesn't
include the unknown numbers of DEA, CIA and other federal
agents in the region.
US military aid to Colombia, in the form of both hardware
and manpower, is supposed to be used for anti-narcotics
operations, rather than in the military's ongoing conflict
with southern rebels. "I suppose everyone knows that U.S.
assistance to Colombia is strictly for the fight against
drug trafficking," James Rubin, a State Department spokesman
told the Associated Press. But those distinctions are
difficult, if not impossible to make and enforce.
General Manuel Jos Bonett, Colombian armed forces commander
stated last December: "For me, all of those in the FARC (the
largest and most powerful rebel faction) are narco-
guerrillas because they live off the drug trade."
For his part, FARC commander Fabian Ramirez told Reuters'
Television, "All the aid to the Colombian army, both
economic and military, is being directed against the
guerrillas. In most of the battalions, there are US army
advisors helping to fight the guerrillas."
And the U.S. military has been aware of the problem for some
time. In a memo dated April 8, 1994, Staff Judge Advocate
Warren D. Hall of U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) told
the Defense Department, "USSOUTHCOM is vulnerable to
criticism because of the similarities inherent in the
counterdrug and counter-insurgency efforts in Colombia... It
is unrealistic to expect the military to limit use of the
equipment to operations against narcotraffickers."
Several issues complicate the picture. First, the Colombian
military's record on human rights has drawn widespread
criticism, forcing the US to withhold several shipments of
military hardware until the army can find a unit with a
clean record. But aid flows from numerous sources,
including direct aid, regional aid and defense draw-downs,
not all of which are subject to such restrictions. Carlos
Salinas, Latin American program officer for Amnesty
International, told the Christian Science Monitor (1/16/98)
"I doubt anybody really knows how many different programs
result in the transfer of military equipment and assistance
to Colombia." According to a letter sent by Salinas to the
Washington Post (12/29/97), "since 1989, Colombia has been
the number one recipient of US security assistance in the
Western hemisphere."
The second complicating factor are the right wing
paramilitaries, who often work with, and sometimes do the
bidding of, the Colombian army. These are generally private
groups, but they too are profiting off of the drug trade.
Francisco Thoumi, one of the world's renowned experts and
author of several books on the situation in Colombia, told
The Week Online, "The guerrillas and the paramilitaries are
essentially fighting each other for control of the trade."
The paramilitary groups have also been blamed for numerous
massacres of civilians, and in a number of cases it has been
reported that the military was aware of or complicit in
these actions, some of which went on over several days.
Finally, it is in no way clear that the Colombian government
or its military are themselves independent from the drug
trade, which seems to overshadow Colombia's legitimate
economy. According to the U.S. government, President Samper
himself received over $6 million in campaign funds from
traffickers. While he was acquitted of those charges by a
loyal legislature, his hand-picked successor, a strong
contender in this August's election, Horacio Serpa, is also
believed by many U.S. officials to be corrupt. Francisco
Thoumi likens Serpa to "a typical American local politician.
To Serpa, all politics is local. He has a constituency and
he knows how to get elected."
The recent buildup of American forces in Colombia, and the
worsening situation for the government and the military, has
drawn concern about the possible implications of U.S.
policy. According to the Dallas Morning News, at least two
separate congressional hearings have been scheduled to
address the issue.
An unidentified Republican staffer told the DMN, "Right now
we're backing into (the conflict) by default. One way or
another, you're increasing your presence there. You're
increasing the level of equipment, you're increasing the
level of personnel. We're putting our people in harm's way,
and you can't do that without having a clear idea of your
policy." Coletta Youngers of the Washington Office on Latin
America told DMN, "You can look at case after case over
history where the U.S. gets involved and then slides down
this slippery slope, from Vietnam to Central America."
But some legislators seem eager to increase American
involvement in Colombia. In a report issued last Thursday
(3/19), Rep. Ben Gilman (R-NY) said that the army's most
recent defeat "signals the military situation for the fate
of Latin America's oldest democracy may be lost. The narco-
guerrillas now have only one institution standing between
them and a full-blown 'narco-state' - the Colombian National
Police."
But getting involved militarily in Colombia might not be
such a good idea. Joseph Miranda, author and former
instructor at the American School for Special Warfare, told
The Week Online, "People don't realize how difficult and how
dangerous it would be to send American troops into the rain
forests of Latin America. Colombia is far larger than
Vietnam, and the guerrillas seem to be well-financed, with
the ability to buy off a lot of people whom we would
otherwise assume are our allies. Plus, since the Colombian
military has shown over several decades that it can't
control the region, there would seem to be no end-game. If
we left and handed the region back to the Colombians there
is little to assure us that the situation would not revert.
Would we end up chasing people, following them into Peru,
Ecuador, Brazil? I would also note that our military is not
set up to operate in the high Andes. Ironically, it's
likely that the only way that our troops could sustain
themselves at the altitude would be to chew coca, like the
locals do. We also would have to seriously consider the
likely reaction throughout Latin America of an invasion by
Americans."
That reaction, the potential anti-American backlash, seems
to be something that the rebels are counting on. FARC
commander Ramirez told Reuters that the rebels will begin to
target U.S. embassy personnel as "military objectives". He
claimed that "it is clear that Colombian rage will explode
at any moment, and the objective will be to defeat the
Americans."
Francisco Thoumi told The Week Online, "It's not clear that
a simple increase in military aid will cause a great
backlash. But if America decides to send fighting troops
in, look out. The reaction will be strongly anti-American,
and not only in Colombia, but across Latin America." Thoumi
added, "The problem, it seems to me, is that America has an
empire without an imperialistic mentality. By our sheer
size and strength we must lead in the world, but instead, we
only react. Our leaders seem to respond only to the demands
of local constituents, which makes us very reactive on the
global stage. It is a very dangerous situation for America,
and for the world."
*Additional information for this article was taken from The
Weekly News Update on the Americas, published weekly by the
Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, 339
Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012, 212-674-9499,
wnu@igc.apc.org. The Washington Office on Latin America is
online at http://www.wola.org. Joseph Miranda is the
author of War on Drugs: Military Perspectives and Problems,
written for DRCNet, http://www.drcnet.org/military/.
***
10. CLASSIFIED DEA REPORT SAYS DRUG CORRUPTION IN MEXICAN
MILITARY MORE SERIOUS THAN PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED
According to the New York Times (3/26), a classified DEA
report suggests that ties between the Mexican army and drug
traffickers are more pervasive than had been believed. The
Times quotes unnamed U.S. officials who said it is now
believed that the arrest last year of Mexico's "Drug Czar"
Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo followed secret meetings
between traffickers and Mexican officers at which protection
payments were discussed. One official told the Times, "The
bottom line is that all this goes deeper than we thought."
Another was quoted as saying "it points to much of our work
in Mexico being an exercise in futility." The Mexican army
has been counted on more and more in recent years for anti-
narcotics work because US officials believed that the
country's police force was too deeply corrupt to be trusted.
***
11. SWISS GOV'T ANGERED BY WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION'S DELAY
IN EVALUATING HEROIN MAINTENANCE TRIAL
The March 21 issue of the British medical journal Lancet
reports that the Swiss government is "irritated" at the
World Health Organization (WHO) for delays in evaluating the
success of the Swiss heroin maintenance trials. The trials,
which have been proclaimed a dramatic success by the Swiss
government, began in 1994.
A UNDCP report, released last month in Vienna, stated: "The
board is not convinced that the limited positive results
claimed can be attributed solely to distribution of heroin
itself, as many factors, such as prescribing of other
controlled drugs and intensive psycho-social counseling and
support, were involved." The report also states that no
other maintenance trials should be commenced, anywhere in
the world, "until the Swiss project has undergone a full and
independent evaluation." Trials are scheduled to begin
shortly in both The Netherlands and Germany. Swiss
officials have invited UNDCP officials to come to
Switzerland to make their own determinations.
The Swiss criticism of the WHO comes on the heels of
charges, originally published in New Scientist magazine,
that the organization had suppressed a portion of a cannabis
report which found that the use of marijuana was less
harmful to society that the use of alcohol or tobacco
(http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/2-20.html#who-report).
The UNDCP's actions come at a time when that body is
preparing to present its international strategy to the
first-ever UN Special Session on Narcotics in New York in
June.
(GLOBAL DAYS AGAINST THE DRUG WAR, JUNE 6-8, PROTEST/SIGN-ON
LETTER: http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/globalcoalition/
***
12. EDITORIAL: War crimes and quagmires... how low can we
go, and where are we headed?
The news from the Drug War front this week is both
illustrative of the depths to which we have fallen, and
informative as to where we might be heading. The evidence
of the former points to a malignancy of the soul typical of
a nation at wrongheaded conflict with itself. The evidence
of the latter points to a slippery slope toward armed
conflict by a nation at war with forces that it has created
and nurtured.
>From California and Texas come the stories of two teenage
boys, used by police with less regard for their lives than
for the cops' next bust. In California, Chad McDonald was
released into his mother's custody by the juvenile court on
condition of his ongoing cooperation with the Brea police
department. His mother claims that the Brea police assured
her of Chad's safety. She also claims that even after
helping to bring about arrests in several cases, the police
continued to insist on Chad's services as a narc.
In the end, however, word of Chad's cooperation apparently
got out on the street, and upon entering a known drug den on
March 1 with his fifteen year-old girlfriend, the two were
kidnapped, held and tortured for two days before the girl
was raped, shot and left for dead in a forest outside of Los
Angeles by area drug dealers. Chad was strangled to death,
his body dumped unceremoniously in an alley. Details of the
boy's involvement in undercover operations were not revealed
until the girl recovered sufficiently to begin telling her
story. Until then, the police had been silent. Although
the Brea police have refused comment on the case, they do
acknowledge that minors are in fact used as informants.
In Texas, an undercover agent building his case drove 16
year-old recovering heroin addict Jonathan Kollner to the
home of a dealer, not once, but six times. Each time the
officer waited as the boy used the heroin. Prior to
becoming ensnared in the operation, Jonathan had tested
clean for twelve months.
It is an unholy war, this War on Drugs. It has led a nation
-- not just any nation but the self-proclaimed "leader of
the free world" -- to routinely commit acts which should be,
by anyone's standard, abhorrent. We have police, across the
country, who are so deeply enmeshed in unwinnable and never-
ending day-to-day combat on the streets of our cities that
they apparently think nothing of risking the life of a
seventeen year-old boy, or re-addicting a sixteen year-old
boy, sending both of them back into a world and an
atmosphere that each had already proven was beyond their
ability to resist, in service to their next small-time bust.
How many busts have there been? How many more will there
be? Has any of it, will any of it make the drugs disappear?
Will it take the money out of the market? Will it put an
end to the limitless supply of kids and criminals who are
lured every day to take the place of the last one to be
carted off? Is any of this worth the fact that we have
become a society so poisoned by the effects of our own
policies that the lives of our children are worth less than
the next worthless arrest report?
It would be nice to think that we have hit bottom, but the
fact is that most likely, we have not. There are plenty of
freedoms yet to be surrendered and plenty of kids left to be
sacrificed to our tragic folly. In our country's last
futile and ill-conceived war it was said that sometimes you
have to burn a village to the ground in order to save it.
In the current futile and ill-conceived war, it is becoming
apparent that we have taken this approach to our entire
society.
Adam J. Smith
Associate Director
***
DRCNet
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[End]
to 1998 Daily News index for March 26-April 1