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Rose Festival Parade, Saturday Market Booth, And OCTA Meeting
(Paul Stanford Of The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Initiative Campaign
Seeks Signature Gatherers This Weekend - Final Meeting This Wednesday,
June 10)

Date: Thu, 04 Jun 1998 21:18:50 -0700
To: octa99@crrh.org
From: "D. Paul Stanford" (stanford@crrh.org)
Subject: Rose Festival Parade, Saturday Market Booth, & OCTA meeting

Volunteers are needed for this Saturday at Portland's Saturday Market and
Rose Festival Parade. The parade will put several hundred thousand people
in the street, just waiting for the parade to begin. This is the event with
the most Oregonians on the street at one place at one time than any other
event each year. Please come help us qualify the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act
initiative. The most productive petition time is before the parade starts
Saturday morning. Some people are already camping out curbside now, just
waiting for the parade in 38 hours. By Saturday morning it will be packed.
The early bird gets the most signatures. Let me know if you can come help!

If you want to come help at the Saturday Market booth, this is the best
weekend of the year to do it. Let me know when you are available to help at
the booth as soon as possible. We need people now! One thousand Oregonians
could put this on the ballot in one day this weekend. Please help. Get some
friends to help. Now is the time!

Finally, our last monthly general meeting prior to the end of the petition
drive is next Wednesday, June 10th at 7 p.m. at "The Rage" at 333 S.W. Park
Avenue in downtown Portland. Please come and help.

Please help us rev up our paid petition drive too by going to our web site
and making a secure credit card donation right now. You can surf to
http://www.crrh.org/credit_cards.html and use a Visa or Mastercard. Or
please send a check for CRRH to the address below right away. We especially
need money now, with the big push and the Rose Festival Parade. Please help.

If you can help in any way, now is the time. We have four weeks to get over
the top. We are within reach of making the ballot with OCTA. Please help
now! Thank you.

Yours truly,
D. Paul Stanford

We need your help to put this important issue on the ballot in Oregon:
November 3, 1998 ballot question on the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, amended by
the Oregon Supreme Court: "Yes" vote permits state-licensed cultivation,
sale of marijuana for medical purposes and to adults."
*Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp*
CRRH ; P.O. Box 86741 ; Portland, OR 97286
Phone:(503) 235-4606 Fax:(503) 235-0120 Web: http://www.crrh.org/

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Mastermind Of Oregon's Biggest Indoor Pot Growing Operation Gets 10 Years
('Associated Press' Version Notes One More Participant
Has Yet To Be Sentenced)

Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org

Mastermind of Oregon's biggest indoor pot growing operation gets 10 years

The Associated Press
6/5/98 5:16 PM

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- The mastermind of the biggest indoor marijuana-growing
operation ever uncovered in Oregon has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

"I freely admit my guilt," Kenneth Midkiff, 43, said Thursday in U.S.
District Court. "I'm very sorry for the pain and damage I've inflicted on
the community and society. I'm probably most distressed by the damage I've
inflicted on my family."

Midkiff pleaded guilty in January to money laundering and conspiracy to
manufacture between 1,000 and 3,000 kilograms of marijuana. He also
forfeited more than $1 million he had deposited in a Swiss bank.

Midkiff told U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan that his family has suffered
emotional and financial loss, and now will suffer his absence.

Gary Ross Williams, 47, Midkiff's partner, was also sentenced to 10 years.
He had pleaded guilty to the same charges and forfeited $773,000 earned from
the operation.

Hogan ruled that Williams played a major role in the criminal conspiracy and
deserved the same sentence as Midkiff, even though Williams tried to
downplay his role.

A third defendant, Rocky Lee Reno, 45, was sentenced to 2{ years in prison
after Hogan found he was merely an employee. Reno probably will be accepted
into an intensive federal boot camp in California, where he may be released
after six months if he completes the program.

More indictments are expected as the investigation continues, said Assistant
U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdall.

Court records indicate Midkiff and Williams could have received life in
prison, but got less time for cooperating with the investigation. None of
the three men had a prior criminal record.

Engdall said the operation had been growing marijuana for at least six years
and distributing it along the West Coast.

Acting on a tip from a neighbor who saw tons of potting soil disposed of in
a trench, police raided Midkiff's 165-acre property near Cheshire last year.

Inside an old Quonset hut, they found a growing operation larger than a
football field with hundreds of 1,000-watt grow lights that moved on
overhead tracks. An overhead watering system nurtured an estimated 7,000
marijuana plants. The entire operation was powered by a huge diesel
generator housed in a muffled room.

About 300 pounds of processed marijuana was found in the building and a barn
on the property.

One more defendant, Curtis Vance Gray, 50, remains to be sentenced.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

End Marijuana Prohibition (Letter To The Editor Of The Eugene, Oregon,
'Register-Guard')

Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 01:03:11 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US OR: PUB LTE: End Marijuana Prohibition
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Olafur Brentmar 
Pubdate: Fri, 5 Jun 1998
Source: Register-Guard, The (Oregon)
Contact: tbaker@guardnet.com
Website: http://www.registerguard.com/

END MARIJUANA PROHIBITION

Lying to our children is dangerous; subverting our Constitution is very
dangerous. I am sure that Sally Smith (letters, May 27) has her fears about
marijuana, but those are not a valid reason for the continued illegal
application of the unconstitutional prohibition laws. If Smith truly cares
about our youth, then I would suggest an honest health and educational
approach without the transparent fallacies of our current unconstitutional
war on drugs.

As long as marijuana is "illegal" it will not be regulated; it will have illegal
mystique, and it will co-exist with other "illegal" substances. The scarcity
and cost of marijuana lead to experimentation with other drugs, especially
since lies are told to children about marijuana. It puts into question all
information that child has been given, thus further alienating youth.

Mankind has survived for thousands of years with marijuana personally
available. Only within the last 70 years has prohibition been applied,
contrary to our Constitution, and the results are the mess we have today.

Factual information is readily available, information that shows that
there was a concerted conspiracy by various papermaking, chemical,
financial and other interests in making marijuana overtaxed and then
illegal. There is much evidence that many of these same interests can be
shown to be involved in the mass importation of "illegal," highly
profitable and addictive hard narcotics.

Stand up for your Constitution, for liberty and freedom. It will do our
kids much better than de facto fascism.

KRIS MILLEGAN

Noti

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Reno Decides Not To Challenge Oregon's Assisted-Suicide Law
(According To 'The Associated Press,' Unnamed US Justice Department Officials
Said Today That Attorney General Janet Reno Has Overridden A Recommendation
From The Drug Enforcement Administration And Decided That The DEA
Will Not Have Authority Under The Federal Controlled Substances Act
To Take Action Against Oregon Doctors Who Provide Lethal Doses Of Medicine
For Terminally Ill Patients In Accordance With Oregon's Unique
Assisted-Suicide Law)

Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org

6-5-98

Reno decides not to challenge Oregon's assisted-suicide law

By Michael J. Sniffen
of The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Janet Reno has decided that federal drug
agents will not pursue doctors who are complying with Oregon's landmark
physician-assisted suicide law, Justice Department officials said today.
That cleared the way for assisted suicide in the state.

Reno and President Clinton still oppose physician-assisted suicide, these
officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But Reno decided that the Drug Enforcement Administration does not have
authority under the federal Controlled Substances Act to take action against
Oregon doctors who provide lethal doses of medicine for terminally ill
patients in ways that conform to the Oregon state law, these officials said.
Her decision was contrary to a DEA recommendation.

A spokeswoman for the assisted-suicide movement praised Reno's action while
a leader of the opposition called it unconscionable.

The Justice Department planned to release later today a letter to Sen. Ron
Wyden, D-Ore., and other Oregon lawmakers confirming her decision.

Reno's decision was limited to the provisions of the Oregon law and was not
meant as a signal that she or Clinton were dropping their longstanding
opposition to physician-assisted suicide, the Justice officials said.

Nevertheless, Reno's ruling would clear the way for doctor-assisted suicide
in Oregon, where voters twice have approved a law allowing physicians to
prescribe lethal doses of drugs for patients with less than six months to
live. It is the nation's first doctor-assisted suicide law.

Lori Houghens of the National Right To Life Committee in Washington called
Reno's decision tragic and horrible.

"We think for this government, for this Justice Department to pull the
safety net out from under the most vulnerable people in our society, people
who are terminally ill, people with severe disabilities, we think it's
unconscionable, and right now we call on Congress to act promptly to prevent
any more tragic deaths in Oregon," Ms. Houghens said.

It was the second rebuff for opponents of the law, who in October 1997
failed to get the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their challenge. The high court
allowed the Oregon law to go into effect.

Advocates of the Oregon statute hailed Reno's decision as a sound legal
judgment. "This ruling from Janet Reno clearly supports our society's belief
that decisions about health care should be made based on local community
standards and enforced by local authorities, not the DEA or the federal
government," said Barbara Coombs Lee of Compassion in Dying in Portland.

Legal challenges and the reluctance of the Justice Department to issue an
opinion about the Oregon law had made doctors and hospitals wary.

At a November meeting of the Oregon Medical Association's governing body,
doctors said they were concerned about implied threats from Congress and DEA
to restrict prescriptions for controlled substances.

Although the Justice Department began reviewing its jurisdiction over
assisted suicide in November 1997, the Oregon law attracted widespread
attention in Washington after the first reports of an assisted suicide
surfaced last March.

The news sent a shock wave through Congress, prompting dozens of members to
write to Reno. Most urged her to accept an interpretation of the Controlled
Substances Act that would disqualify assisted suicide as a "legitimate
medical purpose" of drugs.

The long wait for the Justice Department opinion has not stopped the
assisted-suicide law from being used. At least three terminally ill
Oregonians -- including a cancer-stricken grandmother in her 80s -- have
killed themselves with lethal prescriptions since November.

Wyden said that while he voted against the assisted-suicide measure, the
decision by Reno is "a victory for democracy."

"Oregon now faces a challenge to redouble our efforts to make certain that
Oregonians have better options for health care at the end of their lives,"
he said in a statement.

He said that is the best way to make sure assisted suicide remains a rarity
in Oregon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Reno Allows State Suicide Law To Proceed ('Reuters' Version)

Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 02:40:04 EDT
Errors-To: jnr@insightweb.com
Reply-To: friends@freecannabis.org
Originator: friends@freecannabis.org
Sender: friends@freecannabis.org
Precedence: first-class
From: RandallBart 
To: Multiple recipients of list (friends@freecannabis.org)
Subject: Reno allows state suicide law to proceed (Reuters)

It's curious that Reno thinks it's okay for a Dr to give you drugs to kill you,
but not marijuana to keep you alive.

***

12:33 PM ET 06/05/98

Reno allows state suicide law to proceed

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General Janet Reno gave a
major boost to the nation's first doctor-assisted suicide law
by deciding Friday that physicians may provide lethal doses of
medicine to terminally ill patients without losing their
licenses to write prescriptions.

Reno overturned the position taken by the head of one of her
own agencies, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which
had said that doctors who prescribe drugs under Oregon's
assisted-suicide law could face severe sanctions.

Sen. Ron Wyden said Reno told him of her decision Friday
morning that the Justice Department will not interfere with
Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law, the first of its kind
in the United States.

``Today's decision sends an important signal that the
federal government has no business substituting its judgment for
that of Oregon voters,'' said Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon who
has denounced the DEA's position even though he opposes assisted
suicide.

Acting at the request of two Republican members of Congress,
the DEA Administrator Thomas Constantine in November said any
physicians who wrote a prescription for suicide would be
violating the federal Controlled Substances law and would risk
losing their licenses to prescribe drugs.

After nearly seven months of review, Reno decided
Constantine was wrong, a Justice Department official said.

While physicians are licensed by the states to practice
medicine, the DEA registers doctors to prescribe drugs and the
agency is responsible for enforcing that federal law.

The Oregon law was first adopted in 1994, but was put on
hold because of legal challenges. It went into effect in
November last year after an initiative to repeal the law had
been rejected by 60 percent of the state's voters.

The law specifies that physicians may use medications, but
not lethal injections, to help a terminally ill patient commit
suicide. Two doctors must agree that the patient has no more
than six months to live and is mentally competent.

So far, at least three known cases of physician-assisted
suicide have occurred in Oregon. Reno's decision removes
concerns that led one leading medical group in the state to urge
doctors to wait until she made up her mind.

The U.S. Supreme Court a year ago upheld state laws that
banned doctor-assisted suicide, but left open the question of
whether states may adopt laws that allow the practice.

Supporters of doctor-assisted suicide hailed Reno's
decision.

``This ruling clearly supports our society's belief that
decisions about health care should be made based on local
community standards and enforced by local authorities, not the
DEA or the federal government,'' said Barbara Coombs Lee of the
group Compassion in Dying.

REUTERS

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Suicide Law Passes US Review (Version In 'The Oregonian')

The Oregonian
letters to editor:
letters@news.oregonian.com
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
Web: http://www.oregonlive.com/

6-5-98

Suicide law passes U.S. review

* The federal Controlled Substances Act doesn't bar the lethal prescriptions
that Oregon permits, the Justice Department concludes

By Jim Barnett
and Dave Hogan
of The Oregonian staff

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno will announce as early as
today that federal law does not prohibit physician-assisted suicide in
Oregon -- ending seven months of legal limbo for terminally ill patients and
their doctors.

Reno will unveil the essence of a U.S. Justice Department opinion stating
that the federal Controlled Substances Act does not forbid doctors from
prescribing lethal doses of medicine, sources in Washington, D.C., told The
Oregonian.

The long wait for the Justice Department opinion has not stopped the
assisted-suicide law from being used. At least three terminally ill
Oregonians have died with legally prescribed lethal medication since the law
was reaffirmed in November.

But the announcement will remove a legal cloud that has deterred some
doctors and health care organizations in Oregon from allowing patients to
end their lives if they are expected to live less than six months. At a
November meeting of the Oregon Medical Association's governing body,
physicians expressed concern about the implied threat that if they
participated in an assisted suicide, they could lose their ability to
prescribe controlled substances.

Lack of clarity from the Justice Department also spread a chill over some
policy-makers. A joint state fine-tuning the law, postponed taking its next
steps until it heard Reno's opinion.

The Justice Department announcement is likely to touch off a heated debate
on Capitol Hill, where some members of Congress are expected to introduce
legislation. The Oregon law is a prime target of religious and right-to-life
groups that think it is immoral for doctors to help patients end their lives.

Although the U.S. Justice Department began reviewing its jurisdiction in
November 1997, the Oregon law attracted widespread attention in Washington,
D.C., after the first reports of an assisted suicide surfaced in March.

The news sent a shock wave through Congress, prompting dozens of members to
write to Reno. Most urged her to accept an interpretation of the Controlled
Substances Act that would disqualify assisted suicide as a "legitimate
medical purpose" of drugs.

That interpretation was first advanced by Thomas Constantine, a Reno deputy
who heads the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in a written reply to
Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Constantine sent his letter on Nov. 5, 1997, without consulting Reno. Reno
has not publicly chided Constantine, a career law enforcement officer, but
responded by calling for an internal review of his opinion.

In January, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., confirmed that the review team, headed
by counselor Jonathan D. Schwartz,found that the Controlled Substances Act
could not be interpreted to prevent doctors' participation in patients'
suicides.

Reno's announcement is expected to focus on the narrow legal question at
hand. Sources said it is possible but unclear whether the Clinton
administration will address the issue further.

The issue of assisted suicide has been brought to the attention of numerous
White House advisers. Those advisers would support Reno's position but could
offer other initiatives.

If the administration does not act, Congress seems eager to take up the
issue in its next session, if not in the few remaining workdays before fall
elections.

Opponents of assisted suicide include key Republicans such as House Speaker
Newt Gingrich of Georgia and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, as well as Hyde.

Northwest Republicans who have signed letters to Reno include Rep. Bob Smith
of Oregon and Reps. Jennifer Dunn, George Nethercutt and Linda Smith of
Washington.

Oregon Democrats, including Wyden, have urged Reno to steer clear of the
assisted-suicide law. A number of national surveys show broad public support
for a terminally ill patient's right to choose assisted suicide, and Oregon
voted twice in favor of the law.

But congressional opposition to assisted suicide spans the political
spectrum. Among more than 190 members who have written to Reno are 36
Democrats, including Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Rep. James L.
Oberstar of Minnesota.

One Republican aide said recently that making the practice illegal would be
as simple as passing a one-page bill specifying that it is not a legitimate
medical use. President Clinton has said he opposes assisted suicide.

Already, interest groups are gearing up for a fight.

On May 4, the Bass and Howes Inc. lobbying firm registered in Washington,
D.C., to represent the Oregon Death With Dignity Legal Defense & Education
Center. And in its 1997 lobby report, the National Right to Life Committee
noted that it had begun contacting members.

"Encouraged legislators to contact the Justice Department and Food and Drug
Administration in order to make the use of drugs for assisted suicide
illegal and outside the practice of medicine," the report said.

Other groups also have asked Congress to oppose assisted suicide, including
the National Council of Catholic Bishops.

Perhaps anticipating a renewed wave of interest in the issue, Reno declined
to say Thursday when she would announce results of the legal review. She
said only that she hoped to announce her decision this month.

Erin Hoover of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.

Jim Barnett and Dave Hogan are members of the Washington, D.C., bureau of
The Oregonian, 1101 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20036.
Barnett also may be reached at 202-383-7819 and Hogan at 202-383-7814.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Terminally Ill Say Decision Puts Suicide Plans Back On Track
('Associated Press' Follows Up News Of The Clinton Administration's Decision
Not To Challenge Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law With Reactions From Patients,
Doctors And Others)

Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org

6/5/98 7:45 PM

By BRAD CAIN

Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- For months, Penny Schlueter has lived with the pain
of ovarian cancer but was reluctant to use Oregon's landmark
assisted-suicide law for fear her doctor would be prosecuted.

With Friday's federal decision to back off doctors who prescribe lethal
drugs, Schlueter said she will now start making plans to end her life
without worrying about destroying her doctor's career.

"That would be a terrible price to pay for helping a patient," the
56-year-old retired economics teacher said from her home in Springfield.

The long wait for the Justice Department opinion hasn't stopped the law from
being used, if only sparingly. Only three terminally ill Oregonians --
including a cancer-stricken grandmother in her 80s -- are known to have
killed themselves with lethal prescriptions since the law was affirmed by
voters last November.

There will no doubt be more cases now that the last threat of federal
sanctions has lifted, said a Salem cancer doctor who recently helped a
terminally ill patient commit suicide.

"I know that many doctors have been hesitant to participate because they
were worried about losing their license," said Dr. Peter Rasmussen. "So I
wouldn't be surprised if there's more interest expressed by patients and
physicians."

Doctors' reports are confidential under the assisted-suicide law, and the
state Health Division has said it does not plan to divulge any information
until it has received reports of at least 10 assisted deaths.

A spokesman for the state's largest organization of doctors, the Oregon
Medical Association, also predicted Friday that the number of such suicides
is likely to rise.

"It's logical to conclude that there are more physicians in the state today
who now will be willing to consider participating in assisted suicides," OMA
spokesman Jim Kronenberg said.

Not all terminally ill patients see that as a welcome development.

Janice Elsner, who suffers from rapidly progressing muscular dystrophy, said
Oregon is "promoting death" with assisted suicide and sending a dangerous
message to young people in this era of school shootings.

"How can we say that anybody with a white coat on can kill anybody they want
to, but we expect kids to abstain from violence?" the Portland woman said.

The leader of Western Oregon's 283,000 Roman Catholics called Reno's
decision a sad day for Oregon.

"In my judgment, the Justice Department is abdicating its responsibility to
protect vulnerable people from deadly harm," said Archbishop John Vlazny,
who has called assisted suicide an immoral law that targets the disabled and
people with clinical depression.

But a West Linn woman who suffers from an inoperable brain tumor said
Friday's announcement by Reno provides great comfort to many terminally ill
people around Oregon.

Barbara Oskamp, 66, an outspoken supporter of assisted suicide, said she 's
not sure if she will ever avail herself to the law.

"I have no way of knowing what my last days will be like," Oskamp said. "But
just having the choice brings me a lot of relief."

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Patient Wins Suit In Drugs-For-Food Scheme ('The Oregonian'
Says A Multnomah County Jury Awarded $900,000 To A Portland Man
Whose Doctor Kept Him Addicted To Narcotics To Maintain A Free Supply
Of Food And Car Repairs)

The Oregonian
letters to editor:
letters@news.oregonian.com
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
Web: http://www.oregonlive.com/

6-5-98

Patient wins suit in drugs-for-food scheme

* A jury awards $900,000 to Larry Benson, who claimed Dr. David Rosencrantz
led him to become addicted to narcotics to keep free food and cars coming

By Erin Hoover
of The Oregonian staff

A prominent Portland urologist must pay a former patient $900,000 for
harming him with pain-killing narcotics in exchange for free food and auto
services, a Multnomah County Circuit Court jury decided Thursday.

Dr. David R. Rosencrantz,once a physician for the late Gov. Tom McCall,
treated Larry D. Bensonfor 19 years, ending in 1995. Benson credits
Rosencrantz for saving his life from testicular cancer. But he says the
doctor went on to destroy him when he agreed to treat Benson's crippling
migraine headaches, beginning in 1979. By 1987, Benson was addicted to
narcotics.

Benson, 42, who twice left the courtroom sobbing during closing arguments
Wednesday, was elated Thursday by the jury's decision. "It shows that the
truth came out," he said.

Benson's migraine headaches have ended, he said; he is working in a car
dealership again and no longer uses narcotics. At the prompting of his
attorney, Greg Kafoury, Benson acknowledged he will seek treatment for
ongoing psychological issues related to years of addiction.

Benson's suit says Rosencrantz prescribed narcotics even when he knew they
had become a cause of the headaches. Benson's suit claims Rosencrantz
intentionally caused Benson to become addicted so he could continue to
demand goods and services for little or no cost.

The jury awarded Benson $600,000 in noneconomic damages for malpractice
since May 1992 and punitive damages of $300,000 for intentional infliction
of emotional distress since May 1995.

In the world of medical malpractice, Benson's award is considerable.
"There's just a handful of lawyers who have gotten those kinds of awards,"
said Linda Love, president of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association.

Benson's suit had asked for $6 million. Kafoury thinks Benson should have
been able to recover punitive damages to 1979.

Rosencrantz, 57, was not present for the verdict. His attorney, Mark H.
Wagner, declined to comment.

Benson's and Rosencrantz's drugs-for-goods scheme, detailed through
testimony and attorneys' statements during the seven-day trial, continued
throughout the 1980s.

Although Benson had health insurance, Rosencrantz did not keep records of
most of the narcotics he gave Benson. As compensation, Benson initially
provided cases of Pepsi and other groceries from his job as a food store
manager. Later, he gave Rosencrantz free gasoline, auto maintenance and the
use of cars for himself and his family.

Rosencrantz often delivered the drugs in wrapped packages, sometimes handing
them to Benson's employees, who served as gofers.

Benson said he was terrified of Rosencrantz's alleged threats that if Benson
left Rosencrantz, no one else would give him drugs, primarily the opiate
Vicodinand shots of liquid Demerol.

Benson's case first played out before the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners
in 1996. In July of that year, the board suspended Rosencrantz's medical
practice for nine months for inappropriate prescribing and unprofessional
conduct.

The board placed Rosencrantz on probation, fined him $5,000, and demanded
that he stop keeping samples of controlled substances in his office and that
he see a psychiatrist. On his own, Rosencrantz sought education to avoid
repeating his mistakes.

At the time, Benson said the medical board's decision was "more than fair. I
mean, I didn't want to devastate the guy for life."

Benson, embroiled in divorce proceedings with his then-wife, Anne P. Benson,
dropped his civil suit against Rosencrantz. Portland trial lawyer Greg
Kafoury revived the case when another attorney suggested he take it.

"It's one of the greatest cases I've ever seen," Kafoury said.

In closing arguments during which he evoked the name of John F. Kennedy,
Kafoury portrayed his client's vulnerability and the doctor's prominence and
position of trust. "What he feared most -- depression, loss of control over
his own life -- that was the fate that became him and it came from where he
least expected it. . . . It came wrapped in salvation," Kafoury told the
jury of seven women and five men.

Kafoury reviewed the testimony of other doctors who treated Benson, realized
his addiction and tried repeatedly to get him off the narcotics, only to be
thwarted by more Vicodin from Rosencrantz.

Kafoury reminded the jury of the 167 times Benson went to the emergency room
during a 14-month period between 1993 and 1995, sick from his addiction.
Benson sometimes lay on the floor of the emergency room in his own vomit,
listening to the hospital staff talk about him, Kafoury said.

Wagner, attorney for Rosencrantz, acknowledged to the jurors that changing
their perspective on his client would be "the toughest job I'll have in
Portland." But he reminded the jury of the limits on Benson's claims. And he
urged the jury to put aside the emotional drama of Kafoury's presentation.

Wagner said his client had been punished sufficiently by the Board of
Medical Examiners. He said that the one witness the jury never heard from
was "the real Larry Benson." He said Benson persuaded Rosencrantz to give
him a $20,000 loan in 1995 and Benson gave conflicting answers about when he
paid Rosencrantz back.

Wagner referred to several tape recordings that Benson made without
Rosencrantz's knowledge. On the tapes, Rosencrantz coaches Benson on how to
lie to insurers about where he got the narcotics and cautioned Benson to
keep their relationship quiet. But Wagner pointed out that Benson's tone on
the tape was not that of a man broken by addiction, struggling to flee a bad
doctor.

"The Larry Benson you heard on that tape was cool, calm and calculating,"
said Wagner, who repeated testimony that Benson spoke jubilantly to others
about the covert tape recordings.

Benson said the jury's award was validating. "Nobody ever believed the story
because it was just too incredible," he said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Physician Turns 'Dealer' ('Associated Press' Version)

Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1998 00:11:47 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: ltneidow@voyager.net
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
Precedence: first-class
From: ltneidow@voyager.net (Lee T. Neidow)
To: Multiple recipients of list (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Physician Turns "Dealer"

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A jury returned a $900,000 malpractice
verdict Thursday against a urologist accused of keeping a car
salesman addicted to painkillers to get free tune-ups, tires and
gasoline.

Larry Benson said his 15 years of virtual servitude began when he
was a grocery store manager and the doctor used the drugs as bait to
get free pizzas, cans of soda and slabs of cheese.

``I feel vindicated,'' Benson said after the verdict in Multnomah
County Circuit Court. ``Nobody ever believed the story at first. It
was so incredible. Everybody thought I was nuts.''

The verdict against Dr. David R. Rosencrantz came nearly two years
after the state Board of Medical Examiners suspended his license for
nine months and fined him $5,000 for prescribing drugs
inappropriately to Benson.

Neither Rosencrantz nor his attorney returned telephone calls
Thursday.

Rosencrantz first treated Benson for testicular cancer in 1979. He
gave Benson samples of painkillers such as Vicodin and Percocet to
relieve persistent migraine headaches.

Benson claimed that for the next 15 years, the doctor demanded free
goods and services in exchange for the drugs, supplying the pills in
envelopes or tissue paper.

It escalated from his supermarket days, Benson said, when the
doctor would make special requests for free food.

``He loved the Kraft cheese,'' Benson said.

When Benson moved to the car business, the requests from
Rosencrantz kept coming.

``I would call him at 10 o'clock at night and be in tears my head hurt
so bad,'' Benson said. ``At 6 the next morning he would call and say,
`My salesman just gave me some more pills, but I need new tires for
my Jeep, or I need a tune-up.' I worked on his cars, his mother's car,
his kids' cars.''

Benson feared nobody would believe his claims about Rosencrantz,
so he tape-recorded their telephone conversations. Meanwhile,
Benson's headaches were getting worse, even though he was taking
10 to 12 pills a day.

``The doctor sabotaged efforts to break the addiction,'' said Benson's
lawyer, Gregory Kafoury. ``He turned my client into a junkie and a
slave. ... This is a case of unparalleled ugliness.''

The $900,000 verdict includes $600,000 in compensation and
$300,000 in punitive damages.

Benson, 42, who has undergone treatment for his addiction, said he
understands the case is hard to believe.

``It's hard to believe anybody, especially a doctor, would try to
destroy somebody's life for free goods.''

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Can We Trust Lungren To Implement Law? (Letter To The Editor
Of 'The San Francisco Chronicle' Urges Voters To Vote
Against California Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Dan Lungren
For Opposing Proposition 215 As Attorney General)

Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1998 13:43:59 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: PUB LTE: Can We Trust Lungren To Implement Law?
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: Fri, 05 Jun 1998
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/

Letters to the Editor

CAN WE TRUST LUNGREN TO IMPLEMENT LAW?

Editor -- To the great people of the state of California, is Dan Lungren
really the person you would like to have as governor, a person who as
attorney general will not honor laws that we as voters passed back in
November '96? How can we trust him to honor laws that are passed in other
elections that we as a whole vote on?

This is all about Prop. 215, the measure that gave the sick relief from
their sickness, a way of maybe adding some to their life, while letting
others lead a more active life. Put yourself in the shoes of others first
before you cast your vote for Lungren in November. Remember that if you or
someone that you know and love come down with a illness that cannot be
cured and the only way that you or someone that you love can get any relief
is from marijuana, you have just become a criminal and a nuisance to Dan
Lungren by his own words to the press back in May.

Is this a person that we as a whole would like to have as our governor, a
man that will tell you what you can do with your own life, even if it means
that you may die without access to the only thing that seems to help
relieve the symptoms brought on from AIDS, glaucoma, hepatitis C?

So in November, please think and do some soul-searching to see if this is
really the man we want to have making these types of decisions for us, I
know that I don't. Let the politician that we elect to office know that we
would like the laws we all voted on to be upheld and implemented into our
society.

STEVE D. SALLAGOITY

Citrus Heights

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Armed Robbers Who Targeted Drug Dealers Arrested ('The Associated Press'
Says Police Have Arrested Five People In Chula Vista, California, Who Dressed
Like Federal Agents In Order To Carry Out Home Invasions On 'Drug Dealers'
And Rip Them Off - But A Lawyer For One Of The Defendants Says The People
Who Planned The Operations Have Not Been Caught)

Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 09:33:04 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: Wire: Armed Robbers Who Targeted Drug Dealers Arrested
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: resist_tyranny@hotmail.com (Patrick Henry)
Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: Fri, 5 Jun 1998

ARMED ROBBERS WHO TARGETED DRUG DEALERS ARRESTED

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (AP) -- The targets were drug dealers, the
perpetrators armed robbers.

Men dressed like federal agents with gold badges on their chests went to
the homes of drug dealers and confiscated contraband and money.

``Given the fact that the victims are reluctant to report it, it's a
perfect crime,'' said deputy district attorney Damon Mosler.

But this week, one man was sentenced for his involvement with the ``Strike
Team'' -- what the robbers called themselves.

Shawn Quigley received an eight-year sentence for robbery in a deal he cut
with prosecutors for information that eventually led to four others.

Mosler thinks there may be many more people involved and believes the
ringleaders have not been caught.

``This individual was a cog in the wheel,'' Quigley's attorney, Raymond
Wood, said. ``They were foot soldiers. They are not the ones who are
planning these operations.''

Quigley's arrest followed a home invasion in March in Chula Vista, which is
located between San Diego and the U.S.-Mexico Border. Quigley and another
man held two women, a man and a girl at gunpoint.

One of the women managed to call 911, and after sheriff's deputies showed
up, the robbers bolted.

But in a rental car in the driveway, deputies found Quigley's daytime
planner and his father's phone number.

Quigley, 26, was arrested a week later after deputies got a tip from his wife.

As for the victims, they said they didn't know the robbers. They also said
they didn't know where 24 pounds of marijuana found inside the house came
from. Since then, one of the residents, Alfonso Ayala, 21, has been charged
with felony possession of marijuana for sale.

As for the ``Strike Team,'' police have arrested four others.

Jason Stuertz pleaded guilty to being an accessory but later asked to
withdraw it. Stuertz may be sentenced to prison next week if the judge
denies his request.

Eugene Williams pleaded guilty to robbery and is set to be sentenced June 15.

Jesus Perez pleaded guilty to armed robbery. His wife, Claudia Ortega,
pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for sale. Both are awaiting
sentencing.

So far, officials have tied the team to three other home invasion robberies
in the past eight months in Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and Palm City.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Settlement Of Up To $2.1 Million For 'Political' Questions In Job Application
('The Associated Press' Says A Class Action Lawsuit Filed In 1994
By The ACLU Against Burns International Security Services
For Asking Job Applicants Their Political Views On Issues
Such As Legalizing Marijuana Was Settled Thursday)

Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 09:30:41 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: Wire: Settlement of up to $21 Million
for `Political' Questions in Job Application
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newhawk: Patrick Henry (resist_tyranny@hotmail.com)
Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: Fri, 5 Jun 1998

SETTLEMENT OF UP TO $21 MILLION FOR 'POLITICAL' QUESTIONS IN JOB APPLICATION

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A security guard firm that asked job applicants
politically loaded questions, such as their views on legalizing marijuana
and proper corporate profit levels, settled a class action lawsuit for up
to $2.1 million.

The suit, settled Thursday, was filed in 1994 by a rejected applicant
represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and claimed the screening
test by Burns International Security Services violated a California law
that bans job discrimination based on political views.

The company denied violating the law and admitted no wrongdoing in the
settlement. But Brad Seligman, a lawyer for the job applicants, said
rulings by U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel that allowed the suit to
proceed should discourage similar tests by other California employers. The
settlement is subject to Patel's approval.

Patel ``made it abundantly clear that this test was at great risk of being
found illegal,'' Seligman said. ``We hope we've put an end to it''
statewide.

He said Burns discontinued the test after the suit was filed.

Burns' parent company, Chicago-based Borg-Warner Protective Services Corp.,
said in a statement, ``We denied all liability ... and our decision to
settle was based on business and economic reasons.'' Borg-Warner, which
includes the Burns, Wells Fargo and Globe security companies, has 70,000
employees in North America.

The settlement will total at least $1.6 million, which the company has
already paid, Seligman said. It includes $1 million for damages to all
applicants who took the test, with a maximum of $1,250 for rejected
applicants and a maximum of $500 for those who were hired. Seligman said
about 8,000 people took the test but the whereabouts of many of them are
unknown.

The remaining $600,000 will go for lawyers' fees and the costs of the suit
and the settlement process. If Burns meets certain profitability standards
or merges with another company within three years, it will pay up to
$500,000 more, to be divided between attorneys' fees and funding for
workers'-rights clinics at law schools, Seligman said.

The original plaintiff, Mel Thompson of Corte Madera, had worked as a
security guard for other companies before applying to Burns in August 1993.
He said his interviewer seemed impressed with his qualifications before
giving him a written test called PASS III.

The test consisted of 100 statements with which applicants were asked to
agree or disagree. One statement said most companies make too much profit.
Another said most employers try to underpay their employees. There were
also some drug-related questions, including statements that marijuana
should be legalized and the drinking age should be lowered.

Thompson's lawyers said they obtained documents showing that answers were
graded on an ``alienation index'' and a scale of ``drug attitudes.''

Thompson said he was rejected after he marked the ``don't know'' box for
each question to which he objected. Seligman said Thompson, who now works
as a security guard for another firm and also writes poetry, will receive
$30,000 in the settlement.

The company contended the test measured attitudes, not politics.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Drugs And The UN (Letter To The Editor Of 'The Orange County Register'
Invites Orange County Residents To The Local 'Global Days
Against The Drug War' Teach-In June 6 At The Orange County Federal Building
In Santa Ana, Protesting The United Nations' Drug War Summit June 8-10
In New York)

Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 18:37:07 -0500
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: GE: Drugs And The UN
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John W.Black
Source: Orange County Register (Ca)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Pubdate: 5 June 1998

DRUGS AND THE UN

The United Nations begins a special session on drug policy June 8.
The original plan was to take a fresh look at drug policy with a
variety of viewpoints represented, but the session is now operating
under guidelines permitting only viewpoints in favor of prohibitionist
policies.

A broad-based coalition of political and community groups will be
protesting this narrowness and the threat to national sovereignty
posed by U.N. proposals at rallies and conferences all over the
world-Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Auckland, Dallas, Houston, Madrid, New
York, Tel Aviv-between June 5 and June 10.

In Orange County, a coalition of groups will protest tomorrow, June
6, at noon at the Orange County Federal Building in Santa Ana.

The local manifestation of the Global Days Against the Drug War will
feature exhibits, booths, speakers from the Green and Libertarian
parties, Prop.215 patients an a focus on the family members of victims
of the drug war. For more information, you can call (714)301-9798

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Sulphur Councilwoman Resigns ('The Associated Press' Says 54-Year-Old
Vicki Graham, A Member Of The City Council In Sulphur, Oklahoma,
Was Charged With Marijuana Possession After Being Taken Into Custody
During A Recent Large-Scale Drug Bust That Also Led To Her Husband
Being Charged With Drug Trafficking And Distribution Of Methamphetamines
And Marijuana)

Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 09:25:13 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US OK: Wire: Sulphur Councilwoman Resigns
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Patrick Henry (resist_tyranny@hotmail.com)
Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: Fri, 05 Jun 1998

SULPHUR COUNCILWOMAN RESIGNS

(SULPHUR, Oklahoma) -- Sulphur councilwoman Vicki Graham has resigned. The
54 year-old Graham turned herself in to authorities a week ago on charges
of possession of marijuana. Graham's husband, Roger, was arrested on
charges of drug trafficking and distribution of methamphetamines and
marijuana. Both were taken into custody in connection with a recent
large-scale drug bust... which also nabbed Texas third grade teacher Norman
Trice. Officials recovered 14 grams of methamphetamines and 29 grams of
marijuana.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

ACLU Files Suit Against Maryland ('The Washington Post'
Notes The American Civil Liberties Union's Five-Year Campaign
Against The Maryland State Police Has Led To A New Class-Action Lawsuit
Claiming That African American Motorists Still Are Being Targeted
For Drug Searches On Interstate 95)

Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 12:39:22 -0400
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US MD: Wire: ACLU Files Suit Against Md.
To: DrugSense News Service 
Organization: The Media Awareness Project of DrugSense
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Richard Lake
Source: Washington Post
Pubdate: Friday, 5 June 1998
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

ACLU FILES SUIT AGAINST MD

Police Group Says Blacks Targeted Along I-95

By Paul W. Valentine Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, June 5, 1998; Page
B01

The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday escalated its five-year-long
offensive against the Maryland State Police, announcing a broad new
class-action lawsuit claiming that African American motorists still are
being targeted for drug searches on Interstate 95.

State police immediately counterattacked with a news conference of their
own, denying that there is either a policy or practice of race-based drug
"profiling." They also offered statistics showing that, of the millions of
motorists on I-95, only a minuscule number -- black or white -- are stopped
and searched.

At the news conference, Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. threw
his support behind the troopers, as did all four state police employee
organizations, including the Coalition of Black Maryland State Troopers.

The ACLU class-action suit, filed in federal court in Baltimore on behalf of
all black drivers who have undergone state police searches in which nothing
was found, includes claims by 11 black drivers. Five of those drivers told
reporters at the news conference held by the ACLU that they were subjected
to a range of humiliating and verbally abusive treatment during roadside
searches by troopers and drug-sniffing dogs.

"I continue to feel the effects" of a January 1996 search, said Gary D.
Rodwell, 42, head of a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia. He said
troopers stopped him for speeding and told him that he "looked like a drug
dealer. . . . It's a pretty frightening feeling, particularly after the sun
goes down."

Even on the way to yesterday's news conference, "I was on paranoid lookout,"
said James E. Alston, 38, of Burtonsville, a military claims clerk at Fort
Myer.

ACLU attorneys said the Maryland searches are part of a larger national
pattern of singling out African Americans, a phenomenon they called "DWB,"
or "driving while black." Numerous legal actions have been filed against
other law enforcement agencies in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida and
Indiana.

The Maryland class-action suit follows ACLU complaints against state police
by two black families that have won settlements since 1993.

In one case, U.S. District Judge Catherine B. Blake ordered state police in
1995 to start tabulating a racial breakdown of traffic stops and searches by
troopers patrolling a 45-mile stretch of I-95 from suburban Baltimore to the
Delaware line -- a roadway police say is a major drug pipeline on the East
Coast.

Based on the tabulations, Blake ruled in 1997 that troopers on I-95 were
still engaging in a "pattern and practice" of racial discrimination.

Quarter-by-quarter figures show an uneven but gradual decline during the
last three years in the proportion of motorists subjected to searches who
were black, falling from 80 percent to 45 percent.

Police officials noted that the total number of searches also has declined
during the period -- a factor state police Superintendent David B. Mitchell
attributed to lower trooper morale in the face of "constantly being called
racist" and to drug dealers avoiding the Maryland I-95 corridor because of
national publicity generated by ACLU litigation.

There is an additional reason, said Lt. Keven L. Gray, commander of the
troopers patrolling I-95: Many are newly assigned and "less experienced at
spotting possible [drug] couriers." He said many of the older troopers,
weary of the accusations of racism, transferred to other assignments. He
said that 33 percent of the 47 troopers assigned to the interstate are
black, including himself.

Many troopers privately acknowledge that a disproportionately large
percentage of searches involve black motorists but attribute that to the
fact that I-95 is used for ferrying drugs between cities with large minority
populations, such as Washington and Baltimore and other cities up and down
the Eastern Seaboard, and the couriers are drawn from the communities they
serve.

At the police news conference, Mitchell cited statistics that fewer than 1
percent of all motorists stopped for traffic violations are searched or
arrested. And despite a somewhat higher proportion of blacks being stopped,
he said, if blacks were truly being targeted, "I'd be having lawsuits filed
ad nauseam at me. . . . If we're the 'good ol' boys,' some people make us
out to be . . . they should look at the overall statistics."

Road Searches and Race

The ACLU has filed a federal class-action lawsuit in Baltimore alleging
discrimination against African American drivers along Interstate 95 who have
been stopped for drug searches by Maryland State Police.

Traffic Stops and Searches by Maryland State Police*

Whites Blacks

Traffic stops 32,727 14,048

Stops that resulted in searches 156 187

Searches that resulted in arrests 58 83

*On a 45-mile stretch on Interstate 95 between Baltimore County and the
Delaware line

SOURCE: Maryland State Police

(c) Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Police Raid The Wrong Home (The Raleigh, North Carolina, 'News And Observer'
Says Raleigh Prohibition Agents From The Appropriately Named
Selective Enforcement Unit Broke Down The Door Of A 66-Year-Old
Innocent Man - They Then Walked Around The House To The Right Address,
Knocked On The Door, And Arrested The Target Of Their Warrant,
Without Resistance)

Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 08:21:50 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US NC: Police Raid The Wrong Home
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Walter Latham 
Pubdate: Fri, 05 Jun 1998
Source: Raleigh News & Observer (NC)
Contact: http://www.news-observer.com/feedback/
Website: http://www.news-observer.com/
Author: Anne Saker, Staff Writer

POLICE RAID THE WRONG HOME

Neighbor Of Real Target Says Officers Burst In Without Warning

RALEIGH -- Earl Richardson's Monday night was coming to a quiet close. He
sat on his plaid couch, lit a cigar and watched the 10 o'clock news.
Suddenly, he heard a crash at his front door. A second later, he faced a
man in black pointing a rifle at him.

"Get on the floor! Get on the floor!" yelled the man, a member of the
Raleigh Police Department's Selective Enforcement Unit.

Richardson, 66, said he obeyed, lying on the floor while police opened
cabinets and went through rooms in his Beverly Drive house as they searched
for guns and drugs.

After 30 minutes, Richardson said, one police officer told the others, "We
got the wrong house."

Police acknowledged Thursday they mistakenly entered Richardson's house in
Southeast Raleigh's Worthdale neighborhood. But they said they aren't to
blame.

They did not know that 1424 Beverly Drive, for which they had a search
warrant, actually is two dwellings with separate entrances. Richardson
rents the house. The real target of the raid, Christopher McKay, rents an
apartment at the rear of the house. Richardson's door bears a street
number. McKay's door has no marking.

"You see it on TV, but you never think it's going to happen to you,"
Richardson said. He said he thought five officers participated in the raid,
during which they punched a hole through his front door and tore off the
interior frame.

After police realized their mistake, they went around back to McKay's
apartment, knocked on the door and arrested him without resistance on three
felony drug charges. Police said that they seized a Rossi 38-caliber
revolver and 16 rounds of ammunition. Also found in the search, police
said, were hand scales, a pager, plastic bags, a gym bag, $510, "assorted
paraphernalia" and about a gram of marijuana -- the weight of a paper clip.

Richardson said they brought a handcuffed McKay to his house and sat McKay
in a kitchen chair to question him for about an hour. Everyone left around
midnight, Richardson said.

"They never said directly to me that they had the wrong house. Neither did
they apologize," said Richardson, a retired mechanic with the New York City
Transit Authority. "I hate to play the race card, but I find it hard to
believe that this would happen in some other neighborhoods in Raleigh."

Police Chief Mitch Brown was not available for comment Thursday, but Capt.
Michael Longmire, head of the investigative division, said the department
began an internal review of the raid Tuesday morning.

"Hopefully, we'll learn something from this," Longmire said.

The raid was one of hundreds the special unit carries out every year and
one of many launched purely on the word of an informant.

Documents accompanying the search warrant say that within the past two
weeks, an informant told Detective R.A. McLeod that McKay was selling
marijuana from 1424 Beverly Drive. The informant said he had been in
McKay's residence and had seen the drugs. Longmire said the informant did
not point out to police which door led to McKay's apartment.

McKay's driver's license and his entry in the telephone directory have him
living at 1424 Beverly Drive. But property records list a 1424 and a 1424
1/2. There are two CP&L accounts for that address. Four of McKay's nine
traffic infractions put him at 1424B Beverly Drive.

On Monday, hours before the raid, Detective McLeod said he picked up trash
at 1424 Beverly Drive and found marijuana seeds, plastic sandwich bags
containing "marijuana residue" and pieces of paper bearing McKay's name.

Longmire said that the detective reported seeing McKay enter and leave
Richardson's house in the days before the raid.

"That is not true," Richardson said. "I'm home most of the time. [McKay]
has no key to my house. We no more than speak to each other. I wouldn't
hang with a 26-year-old kid."

Longmire also said that before the officers entered Richardson's house,
they knocked at his door and said, "Police, search warrant."

"That's an outright lie," Richardson said. "I would have heard them. The
window of the room I was in is right next to the front door. The only thing
I heard was the crash."

The distinction is important because "no-knock" raids are unconstitutional
unless the police can show that announcing themselves before entering would
endanger someone. In April 1997, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
just because a defendant might get rid of evidence does not allow the
police to conduct a no-knock raid.

In obtaining a search warrant from a magistrate or judge, police do not
need to explain how the search warrant will be executed.

Richardson grew up in Raleigh, spent nearly 40 years working for the New
York City Transit Authority and retired to Raleigh in 1991. He moved into
his portion of 1424 Beverly Drive three years ago.

Richardson, who says he suffers from high blood pressure, said that the
stress of his brush with the law left him with a headache Tuesday. He went
to a Kaiser Permanente clinic where his blood pressure was "190 over
something; it was high," he said.

The owners of the house, Alex and Antonia Sanders of New York City, could
not be reached for comment. Albert Perry of Raleigh, who manages the
Beverly Drive property, said Thursday that replacing the door, its locks
and its frame -- all destroyed in the raid -- will cost about $500.

Longmire said the landlords can make a claim with the city's insurance
department.

Richardson said Thursday he is considering a lawsuit.

Anne Saker can be reached at 829-8955 or asaker@nando.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Crusading Journalists Defeat Corrupt Sheriff ('New York Times' Article
In 'The San Jose Mercury News' Says The Family-Owned 'Democrat Reporter'
In Tiny Linden, Alabama, With A Circulation Of 6,000, Finally Saw The Sheriff
And Two Top Deputies In Marengo County Sent To Prison Last Year
For A Variety Of Crimes Ranging From Extortion To Petty Theft
To Drug Peddling That The Newspaper Chronicled Over The Years)

Date: Sun, 7 Jun 1998 18:49:03 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US AL: Crusading Journalists Defeat Corrupt Sheriff
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Marcus-Mermelstein Family 
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 5 Jun 1998
Author: Rick Bragg - New York Times

CRUSADING JOURNALISTS DEFEAT CORRUPT SHERIFF

Editor and wife risk much in small town

LINDEN, Ala. -- In a tiny Alabama town where people like to recall the
legacies of long-dead hunting dogs, and where the courthouse janitor has to
stop twice in a crosswalk to say hello to people who call him by name, a
weekly newspaper editor and his ace reporter, his wife, picked a fight with
a corrupt county sheriff's department.

The editor, Goodloe Sutton, and his wife, Jean, knew all along it would
cost them as they uncovered everything from extortion to petty thefts to
drug peddling, because telling the truth in a town of 2,500 can be harder
than in a big city.

Advertisers who were political allies of Sheriff Roger Davis of Marengo
County stopped their advertisements. Readers, who stood by the powerful,
popular sheriff even as proof of corruption spread across the front page,
canceled subscriptions. Threats came with the mail.

``You are brave people, with pens in your pocket, but I wonder how brave
you will be when someone catches you in a place where there are no
witnesses,'' wrote an anonymous supporter of the sheriff's department.
``Remember, your day will come.''

Media darlings

The Suttons and their newspaper, the Democrat Reporter, with a circulation
down to 6,000, finally won. The sheriff and two top deputies went to prison
last year for a variety of crimes that the newspaper had chronicled over
the last several years. Since then, reporters from around the United States
have traveled to this hamlet in southwestern Alabama to ask the Suttons if
they had ever feared for their lives.

Sitting in the offices of the newspaper his father bought in 1917, Sutton
said he probably should have feared for the safety of his wife and two
sons. But he had a feeling that everything would be fine, he said, a sense
of confidence that he never fully understood until the day last December
when the sheriff went to prison on extortion and bribery charges, the day
he knew the ordeal was finally over.

``I was at home, and I'd just sat down with a crossword puzzle and a drink
when the phone rang,'' Sutton said. ``It was an elderly man, and he told me
that he knew me and my family were in danger. `But every night,' he told
me, `I'd get down on my knees and pray for you and your family, for your
safety.' ''

``I think my own prayers kind of just ricocheted off the ceiling,'' Sutton
said, smiling. ``But all the years I had felt there was a shield around us,
protecting us.''

That caller ``was the epitome of the people who stood behind us all those
years,'' he said. ``I'd stand in the middle of the railroad track and fight
a freight train for those people.''

The answer might not make sense to anyone but Goodloe Sutton, a man in his
late 40s who is harangued by friends and enemies alike when he strolls in
his black penny loafers through the center of town. But that is his story,
and he is sticking to it.

``Some people will hate me till I die, and some of them will mellow out in
time,'' Sutton said. ``But it really doesn't matter. I couldn't just sit
back and let it happen.''

Davis was elected sheriff in 1991. He was a retired Alabama state trooper
with connections in the Marengo County courthouse and in the state
Legislature, along with friends and relatives in businesses in Linden, the
county seat, and nearby Demopolis, the county's largest town, with 7,500
people.

Even now, as he and two of his deputies, about a quarter of his staff, sit
in prison, many people in Linden who support the Suttons will not do so
publicly, out of fear of reprisals from friends and relatives of the former
officials.

Friendships put at risk

Family and friendships, Jean Sutton said, are often stronger than the truth
in a small town.

``But we put people in the newspaper when they do something `unusual,' ''
she said. (Her husband says she did the real work in the long
investigations that changed the face of law enforcement in Marengo County.)
``Friends, everybody.''

There was a lot of unusual activity in the Marengo County Sheriff's Department.

At first, it seemed no more ominous than shady manipulation of county money
and a pilfered pickup truck. In the early 1990s the Suttons, who had
attended the University of Southern Mississippi together, gathering
information from friends and contacts in the courthouse and community,
wrote that the sheriff had used department money to buy a truck for his
daughter. Sutton ran the article on the front page.

The sheriff said it was a bunch of lies, but he repaid the money.

Later, the Democrat Reporter discovered that the sheriff had been cashing
checks that had been intended for the county's mental-health center. Davis
could not deny it, because Sutton published copies of the checks on the
front page.

The newspaper also ran a copy of the department's ledger on its front page,
exposing irregularities that forced the sheriff to repay $5,000.

Sheriff retaliates

There were whispers that corruption in the department went deeper still,
that two deputies were protecting drug dealers. The Suttons ultimately
wrote of that, too.

The sheriff responded, Sutton said, by spreading rumors that the editor was
a drunkard, that his wife was having affairs and that one of his sons was
taking drugs. They were all routinely pulled over by deputies, who once
threatened to plant drugs in their house if they did not stop printing
articles about the department, Sutton said.

Meanwhile, Sutton wrote letters to the state ethics commission and to law
enforcement officials, hoping for results. For years, nothing happened.

But his newspaper's articles had drawn attention, in the simplest of ways.
E.T. Rolison, an assistant U.S. attorney in Mobile, learned of them from
his mother.

``My mother and father still live in Choctaw County,'' which borders
Marengo, Rolison said. ``I was up there years ago, and my mother said:
`Have you read the Democrat Reporter? Goodloe Sutton's making a case
against the sheriff in Marengo County.' ''

The articles, with the evidence right there on the front page, were more
than enough to begin an undercover investigation, Rolison said. But as
investigators built their case, they could not tell the Suttons.

``He was butting his head against the wall, thinking that nothing was going
on with it,'' Rolison said of Sutton. ``He was taking all this heat, and
really had no one to turn to.''

Finally, in May 1997, investigators had enough information to make arrests.
Deputies Wilmer ``Sonny'' Breckenridge, the county's chief drug-enforcement
officer, and Robert Pickens were arrested with 68 other people in a drug
raid in neighboring Perry County.

Prison terms

Pickens pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Breckenridge in
exchange for a lighter sentence. Breckenridge was sentenced to life in
federal prison after a trial.

Davis, who was arrested later, pleaded guilty late last year to extortion
and was sentenced to 27 years. In December, he got an additional 27-month
sentence when he pleaded guilty to soliciting a bribe and failing to pay
state income taxes.

``Never get in an argument with a man who buys his ink by the barrel,''
Rolison said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

FDA Proposes New Rules Making 'Off-Label' Drug Use Easier
(According To Cable News Network, The US Food And Drug Administration
Said Friday It Wants To Make It Easier For Pharmaceutical Companies
To Tell Doctors And Insurers About Unapproved Uses Of Their Products,
Something They Are Currently Prohibited From Doing 'Officially')

Date: Sun, 7 Jun 1998 09:29:22 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US: Wire: FDA Proposes New Rules Making
'Off-Label' Drug Use Easier
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Patrick Henry (resist_tyranny@hotmail.com)
Source: CNN
Contact: cnn.feedback@cnn.com
Website: http://www.cnn.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 05 Jun 1998

FDA PROPOSES NEW RULES MAKING 'OFF-LABEL' DRUG USE EASIER

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday it is
proposing new rules that would make it easier for drug companies to tell
doctors and insurers about "off-label," or unapproved, uses of their
products.

Under the current system, once a drug or device is approved by the FDA for
any use, physicians can prescribe or use them for other ailments or
procedures in what is called "off-label" use.

Drugs approved to treat one form of cancer, for instance, are often used
for other types of cancer, and a cancer drug known as hydroxyurea is
sometimes used to treat sickle-cell anemia and HIV infection.

However, until now, the companies could not officially inform physicians,
pharmacists or insurers of the other potential uses. The new rules would
allow the companies to do so.

Also under the proposal, the companies would not have to wait for FDA
approval of the additional uses before giving out information.

The information, however, must meet certain criteria. It must:

- Concern a drug or device that already has been approved by the FDA for at
least one use.

- Be peer-reviewed scientifically or published in a medical journal.

- Not pose a risk to public health.

- Not be false or misleading.

- Enclose information saying the use is not approved by the FDA.

The proposed rules will allow companies to tell doctors, pharmacy benefits
managers, health insurance companies, group health plans and government
agencies about off-label uses of their products.

FDA must have 60 days notice

"This information can only be disseminated for 'off-label' uses which have
been, or will be, studied and submitted for FDA approval," it said in a
statement. "It must also be reliable and balanced."

The companies also must alert the FDA 60 days before they begin sending out
the information.

William Schultz, the FDA's deputy commissioner for policy, said that in the
past the agency worried that letting a company talk about off-label uses
would reduce any incentives to test its products carefully for those uses.

The FDA now requires companies to prove a proposed new drug or device is
safe and actually works for the specific disease or condition for which it
is being licensed.

Reuters contributed to this report.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

House Panel Approves Bill Extending Reach Of US Authorities
('The Associated Press' Notes The Subcommittee Approved New Legislation
Friday Targeting Money Launderers - Another Proposed Bill
Would Create A Mandatory Minimum 10-Year-Term In Prison
For Anyone Making, Trafficking In Or Importing 50 Grams Or More
Of Methamphetamine, And A Five-Year Mandatory Minimum For Five Grams)

Date: Sun, 7 Jun 1998 09:45:04 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US: Wire: House Panel Approves Bill Extending Reach of US Authorities
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Patrick Henry (resist_tyranny@hotmail.com)
Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: Fri, 05 Jun 1998

HOUSE PANEL APPROVES BILL EXTENDING REACH OF U.S. AUTHORITIES

WASHINGTON (AP) Seeking to stem the global growth of money laundering, a
House panel approved legislation Friday that would extend the reach of U.S.
law enforcement authorities fighting drug traffickers.

The bill whisked through the House Judiciary subcommittee on crime by voice
vote, sending it to the full Judiciary panel.

The move came about a week after U.S. authorities carried out a major
money-laundering sting. They arrested 160 people, including about two dozen
Mexican bankers, and seized $87 million, two tons of cocaine and four tons
of marijuana.

The sting, dubbed "Operation Casablanca," was the largest drug
money-laundering case in U.S. history. It exposed alleged links between
some of Mexico's largest banks and the Cali drug cartel of Colombia and the
Juarez cartel in Mexico.

"Every day, throughout the United States and around the world, (drug)
traffickers and organized-crime syndicates engage in thousands of financial
transactions so as to conceal their ill-gotten gain," Rep. Bill McCollum,
R-Fla., the subcommittee's chairman, said before the vote. "The methods
used by drug organizations to launder their money have grown increasingly
complex and exotic."

People committing crimes abroad are using the United States and its
financial institutions as havens for laundered money, while criminals
operating in this country are using foreign banks and bank secrecy laws to
hide their illegal gains, McCollum said.

Authorities estimate as much as $500 billion is laundered worldwide every year.

The legislation would revise existing laws to allow U.S. authorities to
confiscate the proceeds of crimes committed abroad and to have access to
records located in foreign countries.

It also would add operating an illegal money-transmitting business to the
offenses subject to civil forfeiture. Under current law, it is a federal
offense to operate a money-transmitting business without a state license.

In a related development Friday, Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, chairman of the
House Banking Committee, proposed a separate money-laundering bill that
would transfer from the U.S. tax code to the Bank Secrecy Act the
requirement for car dealers and other merchants to report cash transactions
over $10,000.

The change would give all federal law enforcement authorities, as well as
tax agents, access to the information, Leach said.

The Judiciary subcommittee also approved, by voice vote, a bill that would
increase the penalties for manufacturing, trafficking in or importing
methamphetamine, the fastest-growing drug problem in much of the Far West
and Southwest. The drug, known by the nicknames meth, crank and speed, has
a potent effect on the central nervous system and often creates delusions,
paranoia and aggressive behavior.

Under the legislation, making, trafficking in or importing 50 grams or more
would trigger a 10-year mandatory minimum prison sentence, and five grams
would bring a five-year minimum sentence.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Two Books Critique US Legal System ('Baltimore Sun' Review
In 'The Oakland Tribune' Praises 'Getting Away With Murder -
How Politics Is Destroying The Criminal Justice System,' By Susan Estrich,
The 1988 Campaign Manager For Michael Dukakis, And 'Jurismania -
The Madness Of American Law,' By Colorado Law Professor
Paul F. Campos - They Share Common, Sometimes Startling, Insights)

Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1998 09:34:41 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US: Review: Two Books Critique U.S. Legal System
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jerry Sutliff
Source: Oakland Tribune
Contact: triblet@angnewspapers.com
Pubdate: Fri, 5 Jun 1998
Author: David W. Marston - Baltimore Sun

TWO BOOKS CRITIQUE U.S. LEGAL SYSTEM

"In our history, racism has clearly made it too easy to convict people. But
it can also make it too hard. The man who raped me when I was 21 deserved
to be punished without regard to race or racism. Whatever happened to him
in his life, he was still responsible for what he did to me."

At once coolly analytical and emotionally supercharged, it is an
extraordinary statement, especially because of who said it: Susan Estrich.
In 1988, she was the national manager of the Michael Dukakis presidential
campaign, doomed by the candidate's soft-on-crime shrug after a black
murderer named Willie Horton, enjoying a weekend pass from a Massachusetts
prison, violently raped a Maryland woman.

Now a law professor at the University of Southern California, Estrich
serves up more surprises in her new book, "Getting Away With Murder: How
Politics Is Destroying the Criminal Justice System" Harvard University
Press, 161 pages, $19.95). Surveying the post-O.J. Simpson legal landscape
with acuity, she covers much of the same territory as Colorado law
professor Paul F. Campos in his new book, "Jurismania: The Madness of
American Law" (Oxford University Press, 198 pages, $23). While Estrich Is
not as cheerfully iconoclastic as Campos - legal academics, he says,
inhabit "an irony-free zone" - they share common, sometimes startling,
insights.

For example, Estrich, long a liberal's liberal, admits that a central
objection to the death penalty (disparate racial impact) "doesn't even
persuade me anymore," and reflects the currently fashionable "abuse
excuses" claimed by battered wives and children. Campos, coming from
everywhere on the political spectrum, contends that law professors of a
certain age suffer from a collective case of arrested emotional
development" in their continuing worship of the Warren Court.

American jurisprudence, these books suggest, has become so dysfunctional
that the old liberal-conservative labels have lost their meaning. It's not
yet clear where the new lines will be drawn. But when the stones crashing
through the windows of legal academia are being tossed not by the
lawyer-hating public, but rather by two respected members of the
priesthood, the legal elites inside and everywhere should not only take
cover, but take note.

Picking through the vast tangled web of American jurisprudence, both
authors conclude that the law that seems to be working best is the law of
unintended consequences. In a chapter titled "The Long Shadow of Willie
Horton," Estrich argues that mandatory sentences have Americans spending
"more and more money locking up less and less violent people." Moreover,
some of the most violent criminals are actually freed by mandatory
sentencing laws, when courts or legislatures move to reduce the prison
overcrowding they cause.

The mania to regulate all human interaction, driven by legal theories
Campos calls "a form of mental illness," has led to the absurdity that the
same act may be at once protected and prohibited. For example, a T-shlrt
with a sexist slogan worn by an employee is protected under the First
Amendment, and also actionable for creating a hostile environment.

On some issues, these books almost echo each other. For example, Estrich on
the politics of crime: Today, Democrats outdo themselves to prove that they
are just as tough as Republicans. Everyone has learned the lesson of Willie
Horton. No one tells the truth, and the political dishonesty is distorting
and destroying the system."

Campos on Clinton "cracking down" on drugs already illegal under previous
laws: "It would in truth make more sense for the President to announce he
has undertaken to perform a ritualistic dance, designed to drive away the
evil drug spirits. After all, It is just conceivable, empirically speaking,
that the Evil Drug Spirit Dance might work. We know the legislation isn't
going to work."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Medicinal Marijuana Users To Testify To United Nations - 'We Should Not
Be Arrested!' (Media Advisory From The Marijuana Policy Project
Says The United Nations Non-Government Organization Committee On Narcotics
And Substance Abuse Has Invited The Marijuana Policy Project
To Conduct A Medical Marijuana Panel During The UN Special Session
On The World Drug Problem Tuesday, June 9, In New York City)

Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 07:21:23 -0400
To: DPFT-L@TAMU.EDU, medmj@drcnet.org, drctalk@drcnet.org,
mattalk@islandnet.com, maptalk@mapinc.org, hemp-talk@hemp.net,
drugtalk@adca.org.au, britain@legalize.org, drugtalk@legalize.org,
global@legalize.org, mape@legalize.org, usa@legalize.org,
drugtalk@adca.org.au, events@legalize.org
From: Richard Lake (rlake@mapinc.org)
Subject: HT: Medicinal Marijuana Users to Testify to United Nations (FWD)
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net

MEDIA ADVISORY JUNE 5, 1998

Medicinal Marijuana Users to Testify to United Nations:

"We Should Not Be Arrested!"

The United Nations Non-Government Organization (NGO) Committee on
Narcotics and Substance Abuse invited the Marijuana Policy Project to
conduct a medicinal marijuana panel during the UN Special Session on the
World Drug Problem next week.

CAMERA CREWS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS, PLEASE ARRIVE BY 1:15 P.M.

CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE:

* Irvin Rosenfeld -- one of only eight patients in the United States
who is legally allowed to use medicinal marijuana, through a federal
program currently closed to all new applicants. Rosenfeld, who has a
rare bone disorder, will display his legal, government-supplied
marijuana.

* Cheryl Miller -- a multiple sclerosis patient recently arrested for
eating marijuana in U.S. Rep. Jim Rogan's (R-CA) office to protest
the federal laws prohibiting her medicine. Miller cannot move her
arms or legs without marijuana.

* Greg Scott -- an AIDS patient who uses marijuana illegally to treat
nausea and severe weight loss. Scott was recently arrested in Florida
for speaking out during a government-funded anti-medicinal marijuana
conference which barred patient participation.

* Mike Krawitz -- a veteran who uses marijuana to treat pain,
spasticity, and nausea caused by injuries while serving in the
U.S. Army. Krawitz obtained a marijuana prescription from a doctor
in the Netherlands, but he lives in fear of being arrested and
imprisoned for using his medicine in his home country.

* Kildare Clarke, M.D., who has treated patients who need to use
medicinal marijuana.

* Chuck Thomas -- director of communications for the Marijuana Policy
Project, a harm-reduction advocacy organization in Washington, D.C.,
which works primarily to remove criminal penalties for seriously ill
patients who use medicinal marijuana.


WHEN: Tuesday, June 9, 1998, 1:30 p.m. until 3:15 p.m.

WHERE: 777 UN Plaza, Church Center Building, 44th Street and 1st Avenue,
12th Floor, New York City

"If the UN wants to fight a world drug war, we need to remove the
sick and wounded from the battlefield," said Chuck Thomas, director
of communications for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy
Project. "Patients should not be arrested for using medicinal marijuana."

MPP also invited U.S. Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, Drug Enforcement
Administration head Thomas Constantine, and U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum
(R-FL) to participate on the panel to defend the federal laws that
criminalize medicinal marijuana-using patients. Confirmation is pending.

- END -

***

HOW TO SUPPORT THE MARIJUANA POLICY PROJECT:

To support the MPP's work and receive the quarterly
"Marijuana Policy Report," please send $25.00 annual
membership dues to:

Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)
P.O. Box 77492
Capitol Hill
Washington, D.C. 20013

http://www.mpp.org/membrshp.html
202-232-0442 FAX

***

Forwarded by:
Richard Lake
Senior Editor; MAPnews, MAPnews-Digest and DrugNews-Digest
email: rlake@MAPinc.org
http://www.DrugSense.org/drugnews/
For subscription information see:
http://www.MAPinc.org/lists/
Quick sign up for DrugNews-Digest, Focus Alerts or Newsletter:
http://www.DrugSense.org/hurry.htm

***

Check out the FACTS at:
http://www.drugsense.org/factbook.htm

***

Check out our Drug War Clock
http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock/

***

The Media Awareness Project is proud to participate in the Global Coalition
for Alternatives to the Drug War. The 1998 Global Days against the Drug
War! - June 6, 7, 8 -
Join the Coalition! Events in over 50 cities!
http://www.drugsense.org/ungass.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Leaders Ask UN For New Drug Policy ('The Associated Press'
Says More Than 500 Prominent People, Including Former Secretary Of State
George Shultz, Former Secretary-General Javier Perez De Cuellar,
Former Greek President George Papandreou, Former President Oscar Arias
Of Costa Rica And Former German Justice Minister Sabine
Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger Have Signed A Letter To UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan Being Circulated By Ethan Nadelmann At The Lindesmith Center)

Date: Sat, 06 Jun 1998 09:38:31 -0400
To: DPFT-L@TAMU.EDU, drctalk@drcnet.org, mattalk@islandnet.com,
hemp-talk@hemp.net, november-l@november.org, drugtalk@adca.org.au,
britain@legalize.org, drugtalk@legalize.org, global@legalize.org,
mape@legalize.org, usa@legalize.org, drugtalk@adca.org.au
From: Richard Lake (rlake@mapinc.org)
Subject: UN GE: Wire: LEADERS ASK UN FOR NEW DRUG POLICY
Newshawk: ED Denson (edenson@asis.com)
Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: Fri, 05 Jun 1998

LEADERS ASK UN FOR NEW DRUG POLICY

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Saying the drug war has caused more harm than drug
abuse itself, prominent world figures are calling for ``a truly open
dialogue'' to shift drug control policies from punishment to public health
issues.

The call is being made in a letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan from the
Lindesmith Center, a private institute which conducts drug research, in
advance of the U.N. General Assembly special session on drugs, which opens
Monday.

Dr. Ethan Nadelmann, director of the center, said the letter has been
signed by more than 500 prominent people, including former Secretary of
State George Shultz, former Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar,
former Greek President George Papandreou, former President Oscar Arias of
Costa Rica and former German Justice Minister Sabine
Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger.

``We believe that the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than
drug abuse itself,'' the letter said. ``Human rights are violated,
environmental assaults perpetrated and prisons inudated with hundreds of
thousands of drug violators.''

The letter said scarce resources are being diverted ``on ever more
expensive interdiction efforts'' while ``realistic proposals to reduce
drug-related crime, disease and death'' are abandoned ``in favor of
rhetorical proposals to create drug-free societies.''

It appealed to Annan ``to initiate a truly open and honest dialogue
regarding the future of global drug policies -- one in which fear,
prejudice and punitive prohibitions yield to common sense, science, public
health and human rights.''

Nadelmann said the U.N. conference should consider the global drug policy
as a public heath issue, using the resources of U.N. agencies such as the
World Health Organization to devise policies to replace those based on
``interdiction and criminalization.''

Representatives of about 150 countries, including 35 heads of state and
government, are to attend the three-day conference. President Clinton will
deliver the opening address Monday.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Islamic Taliban on Friday condemned a U.N.
invitation to followers of ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani to attend
the drug conference.

The Taliban army drove Rabbani from the capital Kabul in 1996 and now
controls about 85 percent of the country. Rabbani's northern-based alliance
controls about 15 percent of the territory and has been battling the Taliban.

However, Afghanistan's U.N. seat remains in the hands of the previous
government pending a final decision.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Protest To UN Claims War On Drugs Worse Than Abuse
(Version In Britain's 'Guardian')

Date: Sat, 06 Jun 1998 09:49:13 -0400
To: DrugSense News Service 
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: UN GE: Protest to UN claims war on drugs worse than abuse
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Martin Cooke 
Source: The Guardian (UK)
Contact: letters@guardian.co.uk
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Pubdate: Sat, 06 Jun 1998

PROTEST TO UN CLAIMS WAR ON DRUGS WORSE THAN ABUSE

Letter Says Billions Of Pounds Spent On Halting Drug Trade Is Wasted

Judges, senior clerics, former drugs squad officers and politicians have
signed a letter to the head of the United Nations claiming that the "war"
on drugs is more harmful than drug abuse itself.

The letter coincides with the opening of the UN general assembly special
session on drugs, which starts in New York next week. The letter to the UN
secretary general, Kofi Annan, which will be sent today, suggests that the
billions of pounds being spent on halting the international drug trade is
being wasted.

Among the thousands of international signatories are the former Prime
Minister of the Netherlands, Andreas Van Agt, the former presidents of
Bolivia and Colombia, Lidya Gueiler Tejada and Belasario Betancourt,
writers Ariel Dorfman and Dario Fo, philosopher Ivan Illich and academics
and scientists. In the United States, three federal judges, a number of
mayors and the President of Stanford University have signed.

The British signatories include Judge Anthony Tibber, Colin Blakemore,
President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Edward
Ellison, former head of Scotland Yard's drug squad, the Bishop of Monmouth,
Ian Sparks, chief executive of the Children's society, and MPs Paul Flynn,
Austin Mitchell and Brian Iddon.

The signing of what will be the largest-ever international call for a
reappraisal of drugs policies has been co-ordinated by the Lindesmith
Centre, a project of the Open Society Institute sponsored by financier
George Soros.

"We believe that the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug
abuse itself," says the letter. "Every decade the UN adopts new
international conventions, focused largely on criminalisation and
punishment... UN agencies estimate the annual revenue generated by the
illegal drug industry at $400 billion or the equivalent of roughly 8 per
cent of total international trade. This industry has empowered organised
criminals, corrupted governments at all levels, eroded internal security,
stimulated violence and distorted both economic markets and moral values."

Judge Tibber said yesterday he was "hopeful but not optimistic" that there
would be an open debate on drug policy. "But this government seems to have
completely closed minds on the subject and just do what the Americans tell
them to do." It had been clear for years that the "war on drugs" was lost.

Mr Ellison said that he had reached his conclusion on drugs law in the
1970s when his work as a detective sergeant had mainly involved cannabis.
He had waited until retiring to air his views.

Mr Ellison said that a number of senior officers had considered expressing
views in favour of decriminalisation but had been discouraged from doing so
because of their constitutional position. "I think that's right. I
certainly wouldn't want to live in a country where the police tell the
government what to do, but now that I am retired I can say freely what I
think."

Many former colleagues were anxious for a more logical open discusssion of
the issue and that there was greater opposition within the service to the
idea of legalising prostitution than there was to the decriminalisation of
drugs. He said for such a strategy to work it would have to be introduced
gradually and at least on a European-wide basis. It would also include the
same safeguards as alcohol in terms of sale to minors and driving
restrictions.

The letter concludes by calling for Mr Annan to initiate a "truly open and
honest dialogue . . . one in which fear, prejudice and punitive
prohibitions yield to common sense, science, public health and human
rights."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Mexicans Indignant Over Drug Sting ('Associated Press' Article
In 'The International Herald-Tribune' Says Mexican Officials
Have Now Admitted They Were Informed In Advance
About 'Operation Casablanca,' But Insist They Did Not Give Approval)

Date: Sun, 7 Jun 1998 19:14:13 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Mexicans Indignant Over Drug Sting
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Peter Webster
Source: International Herald-Tribune
Contact: iht@iht.com
Website: http://www.iht.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 5 Jun 1998
Author: Associated Press

MEXICANS INDIGNANT OVER DRUG STING

MEXICO CITY---After a week of complaining that U.S. officials carried out
a major money-laundering sting without notifying Mexico, officials here
admitted that they had been informed---but insisted they had not approved.

The admission issued late Wednesday by the attorney general's office came
amid mounting official indignation in Mexico over "Operation Casablanca,"
including threats to prosecute U.S. agents involved in the case.

U.S. authorities arrested 160 people ---including about two dozen Mexican
bankers---and seized $87 million, 2 tons of cocaine and 4 tons of marijuana
in the operation.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Mexico Says US Advised On Sting, But Consent Never Given
(Different 'Associated Press' Version)

Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 09:35:18 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Mexico: Wire: Mexico Says U.S. Advised on Sting,
But Consent Never Given
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Marcus-Mermelstein Family (mmfamily@ix.netcom.com)
Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: Fri, 5 Jun 1998
Author: Ken Guggenheim - Associated Press

MEXICO SAYS U.S. ADVISED ON STING, BUT CONSENT NEVER GIVEN

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican officials have admitted they had some advance
knowledge of a major U.S. money-laundering sting that has inflamed
relations between the two countries, but say they never approved it.

The acknowledgment late Wednesday was a reversal of Mexican complaints in
the past two weeks that U.S. officials carried out the investigation
without notifying Mexico. But the admission did little to ease Mexico's
criticism over the handling of the case.

The investigation, ``Operation Casablanca,'' led to the arrests last month
of 42 people -- including about two dozen Mexican bankers. Some of the
undercover operations were apparently carried out in Mexico, Mexican
officials said.

On Wednesday, Mexico said that U.S. Customs Service officials had discussed
the investigation with a Mexican deputy attorney general two years ago. But
U.S. officials did not request assistance or reveal the case involved a
sting operation -- illegal under Mexican laws.

In a statement, the Mexican attorney general's office said the meeting ``in
no way can be considered an authorization or a validation for undercover
informants or witnesses in the service of the U.S. government ... to carry
out actions on national territory.''

Mexican officials have filed a protest and officials say they will seek the
extradition of U.S. agents who broke their laws. Charges could include
inciting the commission of a crime, facilitating money-laundering
operations and usurping Mexican powers.

Attorney General Janet Reno said at a news conference Thursday in
Washington that talk of extraditing U.S. agents to Mexico is premature.

``I'm sure that the Mexican government does not assume guilt until it has
thoroughly investigated a matter,'' Reno said.

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Mexico Knew About US Money-Laundering Sting
(Another Slightly Different 'Associated Press' Version
In 'The Orange County Register')

Date: Sat, 06 Jun 1998 18:25:19 -0500
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Mexico: Mexico Knew About US Money-Laundering Sting
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John W.Black
Source: Orange County Register (Ca)
Pubdate: 5 June 1998
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Author: Ken Geggenheim-The Associated Press

MEXICO KNEW ABOUT US MONEY-LAUNDERING STING

Mexico City-Mexican officials say they had some advance knowledge of a
major U.S. money-laundering investigation that has inflamed relations
between the two countries,but they never approved it.

The acknowledgment late Wednesday that U.S. Customs Service officials
had discussed the investigation with a Mexican deputy attorney general
two years ago did little to ease Mexican criticism over U.S. handling
of the case.

For two weeks, Mexican officials have accused the United States of
violating its sovereignty in the "Operation Casablanca" investigation,
which last month led to the arrests of 160 people - including about
two dozen Mexican bankers.

They said the United States failed to inform it about the
investigation, even though undercover operations were apparently
carried out in Mexico. The Mexican government has filed a protest and
officials say they will seek the extradition of U.S. agents who broke
their laws.

In a statement, the Mexican Attorney General's Office acknowledged
that U.S. Customs officials met with then-Deputy Attorney General
Rafael Eatrada Samano in January 1996 and that the Americans did not
request Mexican help in the investigation.

The meeting "in no way can be considered an authorization or a
validation for undercover informants or witnesses in the service of
the U.S. government ... to carry out actions on national territory,"
it said.

In a radio interview, then-attorney General Antonio Lozano Garcia said
Customs officials did not reveal the magnitude of the investigation or
provide details.