-------------------------------------------------------------------
Urban Pulse - Flesh and Blood (Willamette Week, in Portland,
says local doctors estimate that as many as 70 percent of Portland's
injecting drug users are carriers of Hepatitis C, and during the last six
months, 11 heroin users in the city have been afflicted with necrotizing
fasciitis - better known by its tabloid nickname, "flesh-eating bacteria.")
Willamette Week
822 SW 10th Ave.
Portland, OR 97205
Tel. (503) 243-2122
Fax (503) 243-1115
Letters to the Editor:
Mark Zusman - mzusman@wweek.com
Web: http://www.wweek.com/
Note: Willamette Week welcomes letters to the editor via mail, e-mail or
fax. Letters must be signed by the author and include the author's street
address and phone number for verification. Preference will be given to
letters of 250 words or less.
December 16, 1998
Urban Pulse - Flesh and Blood
* Local health officials are investigating an unusual outbreak of a nasty
bug hitting Portland heroin users.
BY CHRIS LYDGATE
243-2122
Fatal drug overdoses are as frequent in Oregon as ever, according to the
state medical examiner, who reported 185 deaths this year through October.
Local doctors estimate that as many as 70 percent of Portland's injecting
drug users are carriers of Hepatitis C.
For the past six months, a dangerous and disfiguring organism has been
slowly rippling through Portland's heroin users, leaving a trail of question
marks in its wake.
The culprit, a common bacterium called Streptococcus anginosus milleri,
ordinarily leads a harmless existence in the mouth or intestinal tract. But
when it finds a way into the skin, especially of a person with a weakened
immune system, the organism is capable of causing necrotizing
fasciitis--better known by its tabloid nickname, "flesh-eating bacteria."
Since July Portland has seen 11 reported cases of necrotizing fasciitis, all
at the Old Town Clinic on West Burnside Street, in the heart of skid row.
All these cases occurred among heroin users who developed abscesses as
result of "skin-popping," a method of injecting drugs into muscle tissue,
primarily used by addicts whose veins have collapsed because of repeated
injections.
"This is serious business," says clinic medical director Dr. Neal Rendleman.
Although abscesses are practically an occupational hazard among junkies,
necrotizing fasciitis is a very unusual disease, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimates there are fewer than
1,500 cases per year in the United States. "We have not heard of clusters of
this infection in drug users before," says Dr. Paul Cieslak, an
epidemiologist with the Oregon Heath Division.
Rendleman describes the typical necrotizing fasciitis abscess as "a cave of
foul, dead, fat, oozing crap" that swells up as big and hard as an apple.
The pressure inside the abscess is so great that it cuts off the flow of
blood to the surrounding tissue, which liquefies and is then consumed by the
sprawling bacterial colony.
Rendleman says one patient lost muscles in the buttock and upper thigh to
the infection; another lost large parts of her shoulder muscle. From yet
another patient, he drained an abscess that left a hole "the size of a
volleyball." All patients responded well to treatment, beating the odds: The
CDC estimates that necrotizing fasciitis kills approximately 20 percent of
its victims.
It remains unclear exactly how the infection is spread from one user to
another. Sharing needles is an obvious possibility, but contaminated heroin
may itself be the source. Streptococcus is "certainly capable" of surviving
in the dark, gummy, tar heroin prevalent on the West Coast, according to
Karen Stefonek, an epidemiologist with the Oregon Health Division. Last year
public health officials in California reported an outbreak of tetanus from
tainted heroin, and in 1995 California witnessed several cases of botulism
caused by bad dope.
Rendleman speculates that the source of infection may be the folks who
smuggle the drugs into the country. He cites a technique known as
"body-packing," in which drug couriers swallow condoms filled with heroin
and sneak across the border. A tiny hole in a condom could allow the drug to
be contaminated with bacteria from the courier's intestines. "Your thrifty
dealer is not going to throw it out because there's a nick in a condom,"
Rendleman says. "And a nick visible to the naked eye is big enough for a
million bacteria to walk through, arm in arm, singing the Marseillaise."
Other Portland doctors who work with drug addicts say they have not
encountered the bug. Necrotizing fasciitis is not usually reported to state
or county health divisions, but that doesn't mean it isn't out there.
"There's some of it going on out there that we just don't know about," says
epidemiologist Stefonek.
State and county public health officials are investigating the cluster of
cases, which constitutes, "an unusual occurrence of disease," according to
County Health Officer Gary Oxman of the Multnomah County Health Department.
"We'll take a look at it and see if there's something we can do preventively."
Meanwhile, local health workers had better add another dangerous condition
to the grim roster of drug-related diseases.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
WSU frat suspended after alcohol-related incident (An Associated Press
article in The Register-Guard, in Eugene, Oregon, says Kappa Sigma,
a Washington State University fraternity in Pullman, Washington, that is
already on probation for its role in last spring's riot, is being suspended
and faces closure because of members' party habits.)
Register-Guard
Eugene, Oregon
http://www.registerguard.com/
letters to editor:
http://www.registerguard.com/standingdocs/feedback.html
WSU frat suspended after alcohol-related incident
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) - A Washington State University fraternity already on
probation for its role in last spring's riot is being suspended and faces
closure because of its members' party habits, officials said Tuesday.
Kappa Sigma fraternity's chapter will be suspended pending formal hearings
into allegations that six underage members kicked in the door of a vacant
apartment and threw a party involving alcohol, the school's vice provost for
student affairs said.
Kappa Sigma is already on probation because of its role in organizing the
party that led to the riot, Gus Kravas said.
``Kappa Sigma fraternity has had a long history here at WSU, and closing a
chapter is a serious action,'' he said. ``But the ongoing problems, capped
with the recent apparent criminal act, gave the university no options but to
suspend the chapter.''
Robert Thorpe, the fraternity's district adviser in Seattle and chairman of
its alumni board of control, said he and other alumni support the
university's actions.
The chapter officers are scheduled to meet with the fraternity's
international governing body Jan. 23 and ``there is a very, very high
probability they will lose recognition from Kappa Sigma,'' Thorpe said.
Thorpe noted that about one-third of the house's 90 members have been
suspended or expelled from the chapter since the May 3 riot, in which nearly
two dozen law enforcement officers were injured.
In the wake of the riot, Kappa Sigma and two other fraternities each were
fined $1,000, placed on social probation, required to have a live-in adviser
and agreed to other sanctions that banned the use of alcohol for a year.
WSU began an extensive alcohol-abuse education and intervention program in
residence halls and fraternities.
``It appears this particular group of young men simply did not get the
message about the university's resolve to change the culture in its
fraternity houses and reduce illegal drinking and the dangers that accompany
it,'' Kravas said in a release announcing the new sanctions.
The national fraternity and WSU will conduct hearings in January that could
result in the chapter being closed, Kravas said.
If the hearings confirm additional violations by fraternity members, the
university will lift formal recognition of the chapter and the national
organization will remove its charter, he said.
The suspension, effective Sunday, means that freshmen members will have to
move to other university-approved housing during spring semester.
Additionally, the chapter and its members will no longer be allowed to
sponsor social events or participate in other fraternity or sorority functions.
Pullman and campus police responding to a neighbor's noise complaint found a
broken apartment door and six people inside under age 21. All identified
themselves as Kappa Sigma members, Pullman police Sgt. Sam Sorem said.
Charges of residential burglary, malicious mischief and being minors in
possession of alcohol were being forwarded to the Whitman County prosecutor,
he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
FBI Picks Up A Prison Probe Some Say Was Stifled By Union
(The San Mateo County Times says the Federal Bureau of Investigation
has taken up an investigation into brutality by guards at Pelican State
Prison in California. State officials had pledged to reform the supermaximum
penitentiary in 1995, but just a few months after investigators started
working, the warden cut short their probe and the investigators then
found themselves the subject of repeated investigations
by the Corrections Department.)
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 18:21:29 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: FBI Picks Up A Prison Probe Some Say Was Stifled By
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: tjeffoc@sirius.com (Tom O'Connell)
Pubdate: Wed, 16 Dec 1998
Source: San Mateo County Times (CA)
Contact: eangsmc@newschoice.com
Website: http://www.newschoice.com/newspapers/alameda/smct/
Copyright: 1998 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Section: Nation-World Page 2
FBI PICKS UP A PRISON PROBE SOME SAY WAS STIFLED BY UNION
CRESCENT CITY - After a federal court denounced Pelican Bay State Prison as
an instrument of wholesale brutality In 1995, California officials pledged
to reform the supermaximum penitentiary.
A fresh team of state investigators was brought in with one charge: to stop
the abuse of inmates and root out rogue guards.
But just a few months into the job, the internal affairs team was stripped
of its investigative powers when it tried to pursue a group of officers
suspected of setting up stabbings, shootings and beatings of inmates,
documents and interviews show.
The warden cut short the probe, and the investigators then found themselves
the subject of repeated investigations by the Corrections Department.
Instead of being allowed to finish a wider probe that might have uncovered
a far-reaching conspiracy to brutalize inmates, team members say they were
only able to gather enough evidence to convict one guard earlier this year.
The FBI is now investigating the same officers who were under scrutiny by
the internal affairs unit.
"The department pulled our teeth," said Captain Dan Smith who headed the
internal affairs probe. We were ordered not to go down certain paths, and
our ability to finish the job was taken away.... The department let us down
and it let itself down."
Del Norte County District Attorney Bill Cornell whose office oversaw the
criminal probe at the isolated North Coast prison, agreed.
"The union was able to close ranks and prevent the internal affairs unit
from completing its investigative task," he said. "It was a difficult in.
investigation to begin with, and when you add in the political influence
that the union wields, the task became incomprehensible."
Officials with the Corrections Department, the union and the Wilson
administration deny that the probe was derailed because of union pressure.
Lawyers for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association say the
union did nothing more than stand up for the rights of the accused officers
and point out deficiencies in a slipshod internal investigation.
"The theme that the big bad union interferes with state investigations is a
theme I reject," said Ron Yank, a San Francisco labor lawyer rep-resenting
the union. "How about another theme? 'The Department of Corrections grows
too fast and has inexperienced investigators who end up delivering a shoddy
investigation.'"
But interviews and documents show that the investigators conducted a
complex criminal and administrative probe in a professional manner. After
winning the trust of key witnesses, the Internal affairs unit was
prohibited from pursuing several officers suspected of brutality. The team
encountered some of the same roadblocks that later stymied state
investigators who attempted to uncover set-up rapes and other alleged
crimes at Corcoran State Prison. The prison guards union has contributed
generously to both major parties over the last decade including nearly $1.5
million in direct and indirect donations to Wilson, a Republican.
The union, which has also backed Democratic Gov.-elect Gray Davis, has
gained sufficient influence to emerge as an almost equal partner in the
state's $4 billion-a-year prison system. With the union looking over its
shoulder, documents and interviews show, the Corrections Department has
been timid in pursuing brutal guards - even when such reforms have been
mandated by a federal court. Since 1994, the FBI has twice taken the
unusual step of investigating a California prison, rending to the state's
inability to police its own
The federal civil rights probe at Pelican Bay has found evidence of an
inmate murder and stabbings allegedly engineered by veteran officers
seeking control over their prison yard, according to federal sources
familiar with the probe.
Federal prosecutors won't say if the union has emerged as a target in the
case. The union has been under scrutiny by federal authorities examining
brutality and cover-up at Corcoran.
In the summer of 1995, spurred by the federal court ruling to clean up
Pelican Bay, the newly assigned internal affairs team began digging into
the prison's dark corners. The team soon uncovered evidence that a handful
of officers was directing a group of inmates to stab and beat other
inmates, many of them convicted child molesters. The officers, it was
alleged, were rewarding their inmate cohorts with extra time outside their
cells, fast-food burritos, Jack Daniels whiskey and silk underwear for
conjugal visits,
But a few months into the investigation, the union began to file complaints
about the honesty and work methods of the Internal affairs team.
Warden Steve Cambra responded to the complaints by ordering the
investigators to stop tracking oclown any evidence that led to the suspect
officers, according to interviews and documents. Union officials went to
greater lengths - even violating state law, according to a Corrections
Department probe - to have the case thrown out and the internal affairs
team disbanded. The union president and vice president at Pelican Bay
conducted an unauthorized inquiry into the internal affairs unit itself,
trailing the team's movements. The union's complaints over the next 18
months prompted the Department of Corrections to order repeat probes-half a
dozen in all-of the internal affairs team.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Veteran Chicago Police Officer Charged In Drug Ring
(The Chicago Tribune version)
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 06:32:51 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US IL: Veteran Chicago Police Officer Charged In Drug Ring
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Mark McNamara (mmcnamara@bridge.com)
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Copyright: 1998 Chicago Tribune Company
Pubdate: 16 Dec 1998
Author: Mark LeBien
VETERAN CHICAGO POLICE OFFICER CHARGED IN DRUG RING
A Chicago police gang crimes specialist appeared in court today to answer
charges that he has been running a Miami-to-Chicago cocaine and heroin
operation over the last three years.
Eleven other suspects, none of them police officers, also were charged in
the case.
The officer, Joseph J. Miedzianowski, a 22-year police veteran, is accused
of using his police powers to protect the drug trafficking operation in
return for cash payments -- some as large as $12,000 a month, according to
the complaint.
Miedzianowski, wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with a skull emblazoned on
the back, appeared this afternoon before U.S. District Judge Martin C. Ashman.
He was led into the courtroom in handcuffs, which later were removed.
The government also alleges that Miedzianowski made death threats to
prevent the co-conspirators from talking about the drug operation.
Miedzianowski, 45, was arrested today when he reported to work at a West
Side police station.
Authorities said Miedzianowski supervised the cocaine- and heroin-selling
scheme and provided protection for it.
But an attorney for Miedzianowski said his client's close ties to drug
dealers were simply part of his job.
"To be a successful police officer, you have to have relationships with
these people," said Phillip A. Turner, the attorney. "And sometimes you
have to play along with them."
He added, "Mr. Miedzianowski is completely surprised by this. He's shocked.
Joe is innocent of these allegations."
Chicago Police Internal Affairs Division officers and FBI agents today
executed six search warrants and made 10 arrests in the case. Two suspects
named in the complaint are still being sought by police.
Police used phone taps to investigate the alleged drug ring, officials
said. In one phone conversation, the indictment says, Miedzianowski
promised a dealer that he would keep police away from an area that had
heavy drug traffic.
The indictment alleges that one drug dealer offered Miedzianowski $12,000 a
month for protection, and another offered him $10,000 a month. It also
states that Miedzianowski gave guns that had been stolen from a Cook County
sheriff's shooting range to the dealers.
The 12 suspects are charged in a federal complaint with conspiracy to
possess and distribute cocaine and heroin from 1995 to the present.
"The community-police department partnership is based on mutual trust,"
Chicago Police Supt. Terry Hillard said. "When that trust is breached,
corrective measures must be swift, direct and have impact."
George Figueroa, another gang investigation specialist who has worked with
Miedzianowski for at least 12 years, said he was shocked when he heard
about the complaint.
"He's great guy," said Figueroa, who was at home recovering from surgery.
"He's one of the best policemen I've ever worked with, and we were on the
same team together. He's smart. He has a lot of informants."
He said when he heard about the complaint, he "thought it was a joke."
If convicted of the drug-distribution conspiracy, each defendant faces a
mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of
life in prison without parole, as well as a maximum fine of $4 million.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
An Experiment Gone Awry Half Of State's 400 Breweries
(The Wisconsin State Journal presents a brief but interesting history
of alcohol Prohibition in the state, where 400 breweries flourished in 1920,
but fewer than 200 re-opened in 1933. Some breweries managed to stay
in business by manufacturing their own malt and selling to home brewers,
who worked around Prohibition by fermenting in their basements or cellars.
Pabst, in particular, created a healthy demand for its malted barley
by openly marketing to home brewers. Prohibition did little to reduce
the amount of alcohol consumed by Wisconsinites.)
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 15:12:26 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WI: An Experiment Gone Awry Half Of State's 400 Breweries
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Wed, 16 Dec 1998
Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI)
Contact: wsjopine@statejournal.madison.com
Website: http://www.madison.com/
Copyright: Madison Newspapers, Inc. 1998
AN EXPERIMENT GONE AWRY; HALF OF STATE'S 400 BREWERIES SUCCUMBED TO
PROHIBITION
Given Wisconsin's reputation for both making and consuming alcoholic
beverages, it's hard to imagine the days of Prohibition.
But from 1920 through 1933 it was illegal in the United States to
either manufacture or sell any beverage with more than 0.5 percent
alcohol. Prohibition was the law of the land until it was lifted 65
years ago on Dec. 5, 1933.
Given Milwaukee's large German population at the time, the passage of
the 18th Amendment was greeted with less than unanimous enthusiasm in
Wisconsin.
Not only was beer a favorite beverage, brewing had become the state's
fifth largest industry, providing steady employment for hundreds of
immigrant workers. Prohibition put the brakes on this flourishing
industry, along with the cultivation of malting barley as a cash crop
in Wisconsin.
But the issue was hardly clear-cut. Prohibition brought to the surface
some of the great divisions that had developed both nationally and in
the state during the second half of the 19th century - Protestant
Yankee churches vs. "immigrant" churches and rural vs. urban values.
Some ethnic groups, most notably the Norwegians, were identified as
ardent "drys."
Because the issue cut so deeply across party, ethnic and social lines,
Wisconsin Sen. Robert La Follette refused to deal with it, saying it
was a political issue - which it most certainly was.
But while Wisconsinites were split over the issue of "demon rum,"
there is little question of Prohibition's impact on the brewing
industry. More than 400 commercial breweries were in operation in
Wisconsin before Prohibition, but fewer than half reopened.
"The reason so many breweries never came back is that no one had any
way of knowing how long Prohibition would last," says Madison writer
Jerry Apps, author of "Breweries of Wisconsin."
Some of the brewers that were able to survive Prohibition evolved into
the true giants of the Wisconsin beer industry: Schlitz, Pabst and
Miller of Milwaukee and G. Heileman in La Crosse.
Some breweries managed to stay in business by manufacturing their own
malt and selling to home brewers, who worked around Prohibition by
fermenting in their basements or cellars.
Pabst, in particular, created a healthy demand for its malted barley
by openly marketing to the home brewers. Pabst also branched into
other areas, including opening a large dairy operation in Oconomowoc
known as Pabst Farms.
Others switched to bottling soft drinks. For example, Gray's Brewing
Co. in Janesville concentrated its efforts on making soft drinks and
has only recently gotten back into the beer business, riding the
microbrewing craze.
Ironically, however, Prohibition did little to reduce the amount of
alcohol consumed by Wisconsinites.
"One chap I interviewed said Prohibition didn't slow down drinking at
all, it actually increased it," says Apps.
Thirsty Wisconsin residents either made their own beer or liquor,
purchased it from bootleggers or brought it across the border in
Canada. Stills were common, hidden away in backwoods hollows where
potatoes, corn or grains were fermented into moonshine whiskey.
Much of this activity, of course, was done with full knowledge of law
enforcement officials, who were often the first to line up when a new
supply was tapped.
"I heard one story about a town upstate where the county sheriff used
to call ahead and warn everybody at the speakeasy that he was on his
way," says Apps.
Yet despite the violations, Prohibition arose from a deep and sincere
belief of many Americans that alcohol was driving the country to
ruin. These mostly white Protestants, whose ancestors were among the
early settlers, feared that drinking, especially among the millions
of newly arriving immigrants, was a true threat to law and order.
And there was some evidence to support that belief. In the large
cities, including Milwaukee, slum conditions were so severe that men
went to saloons to escape the depressing reality of home life.
The hardworking, nondrinking, church-going farmers and business people
in the rural districts and smaller communities began to think of the
cities as citadels of sin - and blamed alcohol.
Groups like the Woman's Christian Temperance Union grew out of this
belief. Among the early founders of the WCTU was Wisconsinite Frances
Willard, the daughter of a Janesville area livestock farmer who became
an internationally recognized figure for her support of women's
rights. (Willard died in 1891, some 30 years before Prohibition or
national women's suffrage.)
Eventually the struggle between "wets" and "drys" aggravated the
struggle between rural and immigrant America, between established
Protestants and Catholics and Jews. It had also given rise to the
bootlegging industry, creating famous gangsters such as Al Capone and
Johnnie Torrio, who created the model for gangland organization.
Prohibition finally ended in 1933 when the nation's most influential
people, as well as the general public, acknowledged it had failed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ex-coach pleads guilty to sex, drug charges (The Cincinnati Enquirer
says Thomas Oswald, a former Little League coach in Hamilton
accused of giving a 16-year-old girl "drugs" and money to induce her
to have sex with him and to pose naked for photos, pleaded guilty Tuesday
to 15 criminal charges.)
From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net)
To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Ex-coach pleads guilty to sex, drug charges
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 20:21:08 -0800
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net
Newshawk: ccross@november.org
Source: The Cincinnati Enquirer
Pubdate: Wednesday, December 16, 1998
Online: http://enquirer.com/today/
Ex-coach pleads guilty to sex, drug charges
BY STEVE KEMME
HAMILTON -- A former Little League coach accused of giving a 16-year-old
girl drugs and money to induce her to have sex with him and to pose naked
for photos pleaded guilty Tuesday to 15 criminal charges.
One day before his trial was scheduled to begin in Butler County Common
Pleas Court, Thomas Oswald entered a plea bargain that could send him to
prison for as long as 18 years.
Mr. Oswald pleaded guilty to attempted compelling of prostitution, two
counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, possession of
marijuana, three counts of corrupting another with drugs, possession of
sexually oriented material involving a minor, three counts of permitting drug
abuse, attempted endangering of children and possession of unauthorized
cable TV devices.
In another case, he pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property and
possession of cocaine.
Mike Shank, Mr. Oswald's attorney, said his client decided to enter a plea
primarily to avoid the emotional torture of a trial. "Tom is a
well-respected businessman. He was concerned about putting a lot of people
through a trial."
Mr. Oswald, 46, of Hamilton, is in the remodeling business. He will be
sentenced Feb. 1 on 13 charges by Judge Patricia Oney, who will take over
the seat of Judge Moser, who is retiring.
He will be sentenced Feb. 2 on the charges of receiving stolen property and
possession of cocaine by Judge Matthew Crehan. A charge of illegal
possession of drug paraphernalia was dropped and two other charges were
reduced, said assistant county prosecutor Dan Gattermeyer.
The victim, now 17, agreed with the plea bargain, he said. In a search of
Mr. Oswald's home, police said they found videotapes and about 200 photos of
naked people, including the girl, sometimes engaging in sex.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Facing charge, he stops playing Santa (The Philadelphia Enquirer
says for the last eight years, Michael Maltman has brought joy to the hearts
of Westville youths by dressing as Santa Claus and parading up and down
Broadway in the days leading up to Christmas. This year, he is facing
five years in prison on charges of possessing crack cocaine. However,
in the spirit of the holidays, many of the borough's 5,000 residents
have come out in support of Maltman, and 50 of them rallied behind him Monday
at a special council meeting on the issue.)
From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net)
To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Facing crack charge, man stops playing Santa
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 20:21:56 -0800
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net
Newshawk: ccross@november.org
Source: The Philadelphia Enquirer
Pubdate: December 16, 1998
Online: http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/98/Dec/16/city/CSANT16.htm
Facing charge, he stops playing Santa
* The Westville man is accused of possessing crack. But many in his N.J. town
are united in support of him. By Tanyanika Samuels and Jon Stenzler
INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF
WESTVILLE -- For the last eight years, Michael Maltman has brought joy to
the hearts of borough youths by dressing as Santa Claus and parading up and
down Broadway in the days leading up to Christmas. But not this year.
This December, Santa's sleigh was derailed by a charge of possessing crack
cocaine and an appearance next Monday in Camden County Superior Court. If
convicted, Maltman faces a possible five years in prison.
However, in the spirit of the holidays, many of the borough's 5,000
residents have come out in support of Maltman. On Monday, 50 of them rallied
behind him at a special council meeting on the issue.
"I certainly can't condone drug use, nor would I," Donna Domico,
superintendent of public works and Maltman's boss for nine of the 14 years
he has worked at the department, said yesterday.
"But until he's found guilty, if he's found guilty, he should be able to
participate."
After reports in the Gloucester County Times stirred up the issue, Maltman,
38, of Summit Avenue, threw in his white beard and shiny black boots on
Monday, electing to step down as Kris Kringle until the affair is settled.
Maltman, who played Santa Claus in Westville's annual Christmas parade on
Dec. 4, was also supposed to participate in three other parades through
local neighborhoods. Those parades, scheduled to start two days ago, were
postponed. The first will now be held tonight, and Maltman will be replaced
by coworker Dennis Christ. Other volunteers have come forward to help with
parades Friday and next Monday night.
On July 2, Maltman, wife Elizabeth, then 30, and their then-18-month-old
daughter were pulled over at 12:01 a.m. by Patrolman Scott Bishop of Haddon
Township after he saw their blue Ford pickup swerving as it headed south on
Route 130 near Nicholson Road.
After the pickup stopped, Bishop wrote in his report, there was "unusual
activity" in the front seat. When questioned, Michael and Elizabeth Maltman
told Bishop to search the truck "if he wanted to," the police report said.
The officer did and found seven blue bags containing crack cocaine wrapped
in a white paper towel and stashed under the child's car seat.
Upon questioning, Elizabeth Maltman told Haddon Township police that her
husband bought the drugs outside a Wawa on Collings Avenue in Camden and
that the two planned to use the drugs later.
According to the police report, Michael Maltman admitted buying the drugs
and said he and his wife were going to use them.
The police report also stated that Michael Maltman was bleary-eyed and
slurring his words. He was taken to Kennedy Memorial Hospital-University
Medical Center/Cherry Hill, where he was given a blood test that came up
negative for drugs and alcohol, police said.
While Michael Maltman has been told by his lawyer not to comment on the
Santa issue, others in this working-class borough, which spans all of one
square mile, have spoken up in his defense.
Mayor Bill Packer said it never occurred to him or other council members to
prohibit Maltman from participating in the parade this year.
"I didn't think about it," he said.
"The same people do the same thing in the borough every year. Mike has been
Santa Claus, and he was going to be. Nobody complained about it."
Virginia Horn, the Borough Council president, said in an interview that
council members knew about the drug charge but "still went ahead with [ him
being in the parade ], primarily because he was not convicted."
"This is a small town. We all know each other, so it certainly was no secret
that Mike had this arrest in July," she said.
As an active volunteer in the town, Maltman has organized town watches,
coached soccer and baseball, worked with senior citizens, and dressed up as
Santa Claus at schools and the local library, Domico said.
One of the few to speak against Maltman's involvement has been Westville's
chief of police, Joseph LaPella.
"I know you're innocent until proven guilty, but it was in bad taste," he
said. "He could have waited till next year."
Horn said anyone who objected to Maltman's playing Santa had ample time to
voice concern. The borough held a council meeting on the Tuesday before the
Dec. 4 parade and a public meeting since. She said no one had complained at
the meetings.
In August, Elizabeth Maltman pleaded guilty to possession of an illegal
substance. She received two years' probation, was fined about $1,200, and
lost her driver's license for six months, court records show.
Borough officials said that they would continue to support Maltman and that
they hoped he would be able to resume portraying Santa Claus next year.
"We've all made mistakes, and I believe in second chances," Domico said.
(c)1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Cops Sued Over Drug Arrest Await Verdict (The Miami Herald
says a federal jury in Broward is deliberating today whether two police
officers in Hollywood, Florida, violated the civil rights of a man who claims
he was wrongly arrested on drug charges in 1996.)
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 20:13:23 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Cops Sued Over Drug Arrest Await Verdict
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Wed, 16 Dec 1998
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Contact: heralded@herald.com
Website: http://www.herald.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Miami Herald
Author: Karla Bruner Herald Staff Writer
COPS SUED OVER DRUG ARREST AWAIT VERDICT
A federal jury in Broward is deliberating today whether two Hollywood
police officers violated the civil rights of a man who claims he was
wrongly arrested on drug charges in 1996.
Dwight Edman, 21, claims in a lawsuit that Sgt. Jeff Marano and former
Officer Anthony Fernandez wrongly accused him of involvement in a drug deal.
"The officers conceded there was no probable cause. The city still takes
the position that the arrest was lawful," Hugh Koerner, Edman's attorney,
said in closing arguments Tuesday. "We vigorously dispute that contention.
The city doesn't want to take responsibility. They must, and they should."
The suit, before U.S. District Judge Wilkie Ferguson, names Marano,
Fernandez and the city of Hollywood.
Edman and a friend, Jerome Watson, were on their way to get pizza on Jan.
31, 1996, when they were arrested, accused of delivering a fake cocaine
rock to Marano, who was working undercover.
Prosecutors dropped the charges against Edman after Marano admitted the
arrest was a mistake. Watson pleaded no contest and was sentenced to
probation.
Then-Police Chief Rick Stone transferred Marano from the patrol division to
a desk job, citing another lawsuit filed days earlier that also named
Marano, among others. Fernandez was fired in May for repeatedly violating
department rules.
Koerner said Edman, who disputes that there was ever a drug deal, was
strip-searched. He was also interrogated by Fernandez, who allegedly
applied pressure behind his ear. A psychologist testified during the
five-day trial that Edman suffers post-traumatic stress disorder from the
ordeal.
Edman's parents testified that the once "happy-go-lucky boy" no longer
laughs and plays with his cousins but instead now is depressed and easily
angered.
Bruce Jolly, representing Marano and Fernandez, called Edman "manipulative"
and "sheltered" and said the claim of the disorder is a "scam."
"Until this case was approaching trial, he had never sought therapy," Jolly
told the jury during closing arguments. "If a problem had truly existed,
the problem would have been treated."
Dan Abbott, an attorney for the city, said the testimony of six other
officers contradicts Edman's claim of abuse.
Edman "says it happened, and his friends don't come to testify," Abbott
told the jury. "What reason do you have to believe that six officers lied,
and one man is telling the truth?"
In addition to deciding whether Edman's rights were violated and whether to
award damages, jurors are also mulling three claims against the city:
whether its employees made a false arrest, whether they committed battery
and whether they submitted a report that wrongfully caused prosecution.
Herald staff writer Karla Bruner (kbruner@herald.com)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Army Role In Mexico Rights Abuse Alleged (According to The Irish Times,
Mrs Rosario Ibarra, 71, a leading campaigner for "disappeared" persons
who is currently visiting Ireland, said disappearances are increasing in Mexico
as a result of intensified military efforts against drug trafficking. Mrs Ibarra,
who was the first woman candidate for the Mexican presidency, and a senator
for the Democratic Revolutionary Party between 1994 and 1997, also criticised
the UN Human Rights Commission for being reluctant to challenge Mexico
over documented abuses. A commission investigation into disappearances
announced last August had yet to begin, she said.)
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 20:12:14 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Mexico: Army Role In Mexico Rights Abuse Alleged
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Martin Cooke (mjc1947@cyberclub.iol.ie)
Source: Irish Times (Ireland)
Contact: lettersed@irish-times.ie
Website: http://www.irish-times.ie/
Copyright: 1998 The Irish Times
Pubdate: 16 Dec 1998
Fax: ++ 353 1 671 9407
Mail: Letters to Editor, The Irish Times, 11-15 D'Olier St, Dublin 2, Ireland
Author: Joe Humphreys
ARMY ROLE IN MEXICO RIGHTS ABUSE ALLEGED
Disappearances are increasing in Mexico as a result of intensified military
efforts against drug-trafficking, according to a leading campaigner for the
disappeared currently visiting Ireland.
Mrs Rosario Ibarra (71), whose son went missing in 1975 after being
kidnapped by police, says that at least 100 people have disappeared
recently "under the cloud" of drugs policing. These are in addition to 500
cases on the books of Comite Eureka, a solidarity group which she founded
over 20 years ago for the parents of the disappeared.
"On the pretext of looking into narcotics-trafficking, the army is now
detaining many, many people on the northern and southern borders near
Guatemala and the United States. They kidnap them and take them to military
prisons, and if they find something they want they release them, and if not
they disappear.
"If they are guilty of something they judge them but don't disappear them,"
she said.
"It is against every law. There is not any law in all the world which gives
permission to disappear a person. But they do this in Chile, in Argentina,
in Mexico."
Many of the disappeared, including Mrs Ibarra's son, Jesus Piedra, were
taken to secret prisons located in military bases. She said she had not
given up hope that her son was alive, adding that Comite Eureka has found
148 people alive in clandestine jails.
One of 300 human rights defenders honoured at a ceremony in Paris last week
to mark the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, Mrs Ibarra
was the first female candidate for the Mexican presidency and a senator for
the Democratic Revolutionary Party between 1994 and 1997.
She said claims that the political and economic situation in Mexico was
improving were "a lie", blaming the former president, Mr Carlos Salinas,
now living in Dublin, for widening the gap between rich and poor.
"He said he was trying to put Mexico in the First World. But he was the
only one living like the First World while the rest of the people starved.
And now he is living in the First World."
Every four minutes, she said, a child died of malnutrition in Mexico. Some
12 million people are unable to afford basic clothing and 14 million are
illiterate.
Mrs Ibarra also criticised the UN Human Rights Commission for being
reluctant to challenge Mexico over documented abuses. A commission
investigation into disappearances announced last August had yet to begin,
she said.
"It's a crime like the crime first committed by the government of Mexico to
let so much time pass."
Of the Mexican government, she said: "We want them to open the secret
prisons and release our children. We want for them to give back with an
embrace all of the light that they have robbed from us. This is our dream
for the last 20 years."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Italian Researchers Say The Sweet Doesn't Mimic Marijuana
(According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, scientists in Italy said today that,
contrary to earlier reports, certain substances in chocolate do not appear
to mimic the effects of marijuana on the brain. "Furthermore, they said,
most of the substances - known as endocannabinoids - are broken down
in the digestive system before they reach the brain.")
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 18:40:28 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Italy: Italian Researchers Say The Sweet Doesn't Mimic
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jim Galasyn
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
Contact: Inquirer.Opinion@phillynews.com
Website: http://www.phillynews.com/
Forum: http://interactive.phillynews.com/talk-show/
Copyright: 1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
Pubdate: Dec 16, 1998
Author: Paul Nussbaum
ITALIAN RESEARCHERS SAY THE SWEET DOESN'T MIMIC MARIJUANA
Go ahead, indulge your chocolate fantasies. They may make you fat, they may
make you happy, but they won't, apparently, make you high.
Scientists in Italy reported today that, contrary to earlier reports,
certain substances in chocolate do not appear to mimic the effects of
marijuana on the brain.
The Italian researchers reported that cocoa contains no more of the suspect
substances than such uncelebrated foods as milk or oatmeal. Furthermore,
they said, most of the substances -- known as endocannabinoids -- are
broken down in the digestive system before they reach the brain.
Vincenzo Di Marzo, of the Istituto per la Chimica di Molecole di Interesse
Biologico in Naples, and colleagues reported their findings in today's
issue of the journal Nature.
Di Marzo said yesterday that it would take at least 100,000 times the test
dosage, which was equivalent to 3 ounces of chocolate, to detect any
psychoactive response from the brain.
That would mean a 22,000-pound candy bar.
Di Marzo's research was proposed and partially funded by the Nestle
Research Center, a subsidiary of the Swiss-based chocolate-maker. But Di
Marzo said Nestle "never tried to influence our results or lead our
research." He said Nestle provided cocoa beans for testing and about 10 to
15 percent of the funding for the research. But he said he and his fellow
researchers also bought chocolate in their neighborhood supermarkets for
testing to avoid relying on Nestle for its chocolate.
Di Marzo and his colleagues tested unfermented cocoa beans, cocoa powder,
and finished chocolate to measure levels of endocannabinoids and to analyze
their biological effects. They were following up on a report published in
1996 that suggested that chocolate could make people feel good because of
the substances "that could act as cannabinoid mimics."
But the chocolate-as-drug debate is sure to continue. The authors of the
original report responded in today's Nature article that the Di Marzo study
"will reassure manufacturing companies that the risks of chocolate
consumption do not include cannabis-like intoxification, [ but ] they
provide little new information on the intriguing psychopharmacology of cocoa."
One of the initial report's authors, Daniele Piomelli, associate professor
of pharmacology at the University of California, Irvine, said yesterday:
"Dr. Di Marzo and his colleagues are entitled to think that chocolate has
no pharmacological effect at all. But then how do they explain chocolate
craving, its prevalence in women during menstruation, its unusual
occurrence in certain cases of drug abuse? These facts, which have been
documented in the scientific literature, point to a biological basis for
chocolate craving."
Piomelli said he and his colleagues have continued their research on the
effects of the components of chocolate and will soon release the results.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Chocolate "Addiction" a Fiction? (Reuters says research by Italian scientists,
reported in the journal, Nature, suggests the much-touted marijuana-like
properties of chocolate may not contribute to chocolate cravings after all.
The researchers found milk and cocoa do contain substances that mimic
marijuana's effects, but not enough to have psychoactive effects. However,
the research team apparently wasn't very sure, and recommended studies
to determine if low doses of such substances could affect behavior.)
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1998 10:26:38 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Wire: Chocolate "Addiction" a Fiction?
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: Wed, 16 Dec 1998
Source: Reuters
Copyright: 1998 Reuters Limited.
CHOCOLATE "ADDICTION'' A FICTION?
NEW YORK, Dec 16 (Reuters Health) The much-touted marijuana-like
properties of chocolate may not contribute to chocolate cravings after all,
findings from an Italian study suggest.
Analyzing milk and cocoa, researchers found they do contain substances that
mimic marijuana's effects, but not enough to have psychoactive effects.
However, in their report in the journal Nature, the research team recommend
studies to determine if low doses of these substances can affect behavior
"before the relevance of these compounds to the purported mild rewarding
and craving-inducing effects of cocoa can be dismissed.''
In previous and widely-publicized studies, scientists reported that cocoa
contains anandamide, a pleasure-inducing compound produced in the brain,
and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and N-acylethanolamines (NAEs),
substances that further mimic marijuana by enhancing anandamide's effects.
After analyzing milk and cocoa separately, Dr. Vincenzo Di Marzo of the
Istituto per la Chimica di Molecale di Interesse Biologico in Naples and
colleagues confirm that both cocoa and milk contain anandamide, NAEs, 2AG,
and a similar substance called oleamide.
But neither milk nor cocoa appear to contain enough of these substances to
produce marijuana-like effects, they write. Stomach acids break down most
of the compounds before they reach the blood stream, according to the
researchers.
But in a reply also published this week in Nature, the researchers who
previously reported finding NAEs and related substance in cocoa, criticize
the Italian study. Among other things, Di Marzo and colleagues failed to
test the concentrations of all the NAEs found in cocoa, Dr. Massimiliano
Beltramo and Dr. Daniele Piomelli of the University of California at
Irvine, argue.
Ultimately, both groups of researchers leave open the possibility that
chocolate may contain addictive compounds.
"This substance remains, in R. J. Huxtable's apt words, 'more than a food
but less than a drug,''' write Beltramo and Piomelli.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DrugSense Weekly, No. 78 (The weekly summary of drug policy news
from DrugSense leads with the feature article - The U.S. Supreme Court
and your rights, by Mark Greer. The Weekly News In Review includes several
articles on Effective Activism - Drug war; The main thing; Drug crusade has
produced everything but success. Articles about Policy include - McCaffrey
blasts medicinal marijuana; New FDA chief vows to put science first; Column:
Dumping DARE a good start; Texas tobacco-suit lawyers reportedly get
$3.3 billion. Articles about Law Enforcement include - Editorial:
Three-strikes' economics; Corruption in the system; Drug probes find
smugglers in the military. Drug Use Issues are discussed in - Teen meth use
outpaces treatment; Rise in cigarette smoking doesn't bother Burma
government; Toxic markers called 'poor man's drug.' International news
includes - UK: Drugs and weapons seized as police arrest 70 in dawn raids;
UK: Drugs-related deaths double in Glasgow; UK: Drug smugglers' European
Union; Mexico: Brazen drug dealers frustrate Mexico, US; Heroin use going up
among US teen-agers. The weekly Hot Off The 'Net section has yet another full
page ad in The New Republic. The DrugSense Tip Of The Week features a hot tip
on searching the DrugNews Archive. The Quote of the Week cites Tom Armstrong.
The Fact of the Week shows treatment beats interdiction.)
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 12:01:51 -0800
To: mgreer@mapinc.org
From: Mark Greer (MGreer@mapinc.org)
Subject: DrugSense Weekly, December 16, 1998 #078
***
DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
***
DrugSense Weekly, December 16, 1998 #078
A DrugSense publication
http://www.drugsense.org
A DrugSense publication
This newsletter may be read on-line at:
http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/1998/ds98.n78.html
PLEASE NOTE: The DrugSense Weekly will be taking a one week hiatus next
week (12/23) to give our many NewsHawks, Editors, Staff and Management
some time to spend the holidays with family and friends. We will return
with the issue of 1/6/99. Many thanks and happy holidays to all our
hard working staff and subscribers.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MARK GREER
Today is Mark Greer's Birthday. Find out which one by making a
contribution to DrugSense ;o).
Please see: http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm You can donate on-line
quickly and easily! Or see below for other options.
***
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* Feature Article
The U.S. Supreme Court and Your Rights
by Mark Greer
Weekly News In Review
Effective Activism-
Drug War
The Main Thing
Drug Crusade Has Produced Everything But Success
Policy-
McCaffrey Blasts Medicinal Marijuana
New FDA Chief Vows to Put Science First
Column: Dumping DARE a Good Start
Texas Tobacco-Suit Lawyers Reportedly Get $3.3 Billion
Law Enforcement-
Editorial: Three-Strikes' Economics
Corruption in the System
Drug Probes Find Smugglers in the Military
Drug Use Issues-
Teen Meth Use Outpaces Treatment
Rise in Cigarette Smoking Doesn't Bother Burma Government
Toxic Markers Called 'Poor Man's Drug'
International -
UK: Drugs And Weapons Seized as Police Arrest 70 in Dawn Raids
UK: Drugs-Related Deaths Double in Glasgow
UK: Drug Smugglers' European Union
Mexico: Brazen Drug Dealers Frustrate Mexico, US
Heroin Use Going Up Among US Teen-Agers
* Hot Off The 'Net
Yet another Full page ad in The New Republic
* DrugSense Tip Of The Week
Hot Tip on Searching the DrugNews Archive
* Quote of the Week
Tom Armstrong
* Fact of the Week
Treatment Beats Interdiction
***
FEATURE ARTICLE
The U.S. Supreme Court and Your Rights by Mark Greer
The Supreme Court in a refreshing and important ruling last week came
down in defense of the Fourth Amendment rights of citizens nationwide
against unreasonable search and seizure. The case stems from an Iowa
case in which the defendant was initially stopped for driving 43 MPH in
a 25 zone was subsequently searched and marijuana was found.
Despite what has seemed to be a long term and relentless erosion of
individual freedoms as exemplified by asset forfeiture, three strikes
laws, and undermining of popular medicinal marijuana initiatives in
California and Arizona this heartening reassertion that individuals
actually do still posses some rights indicates there may be hope for
our judicial system after all.
More details on this and other specific cases can be read at the
following web sites:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1143.a01.html
[Editorial: No Blanket Searches]
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1144.a10.html
[Supreme Court Prohibits Police From Routinely Searching Vehicles]
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1145.a08.html
[Supreme Court Protects Some Visitors From Searches]
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1153.a07.html
[Justices Limit Searches By Police In Traffic Stops]
***
Know and Exercise Your Rights
The Fourth Amendment to the Bill of Rights of the United States
Constitution states:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place
to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
The Fifth Amendment reads, in part, "No person shall be...compelled in
any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law...." These
amendments provide the foundation for the rights that protect all U.S.
Citizens from intrusive law enforcement practices.
1. Don't Leave Contraband in Plain View
Although law enforcement officers must obtain a warrant before they can
conduct a privacy-invading search, any illicit material that can be plainly
seen by any person from a non-intrusive vantage point is subject to
confiscation. An arrest and a valid warrant to search the rest of the
area is likely to ensue. A "roach" in the ashtray, a pipe or baggie on
the coffee table, or a joint being smoked in public are common mistakes
which all too-frequently lead to arrests.
2. Don't Put Anything Incriminating Into the Trash
Various courts have ruled that law enforcement officers are allowed to
rummage through curbside trash bags without a warrant. A few seeds or stems
can then be used as a basis for obtaining a warrant to search the
individual's home. In fact, anything discarded into the public domain can be
picked up by the police and used as evidence.
3. Never Consent to a Search
Many individuals arrested on marijuana charges could have avoided that arrest
by exercising their Fourth Amendment rights. If a law enforcement officer
asks permission to search, it is usually because: (1) there is not enough
evidence to obtain a search warrant; or (2) the officer does not feel like
going through the hassle of obtaining a warrant. Law enforcement officers are
trained to intimidate people into consenting to searches. If an
individual does consent, he waives his constitutional protection and
the officers may search and seize items without further authorization.
If officers find contraband, they will arrest the person.
If an individual does not consent to a search, the officer must either
release the person or detain the person and attempt to get a warrant.
The fact that an individual refuses to consent does not give the
officer grounds to obtain a warrant. The individual should politely
say, "I do not consent to a search of my person, belongings, home, or
vehicle. I retain my Fourth Amendment rights and all other rights under
the United States Constitution. I will say nothing until my attorney is
present."
If the officer conducts a search anyway, without a warrant, any
contraband will likely be declared invalid evidence by the judge, and
any charges will probably be dropped. If the officer does attempt to
obtain a warrant and is successful in doing so, the validity of the
warrant can still be challenged in court. It is always better to refuse
to consent to a search.
4. Don't Answer Questions Without Your Attorney Present
Whether arrested or not, individuals should always exercise the right to
remain silent. Anything a person says to law enforcement officers, reporters,
cell mates, or even their friends can be used as evidence against him
or her. Individuals have the right to have an attorney present during
questioning. The right to remain silent should always be exercised.
5. Determining if You Can Leave
A person may terminate an encounter with officers unless the person is being
detained under police custody or has been arrested. If the person cannot tell
whether he or she may leave, the person can ask officers, "Am I under arrest
or otherwise detained?" If the answer is, "No," the person may leave.
6. Do Not Be Hostile; Do Not Physically Resist
There are times when individuals politely assert their rights and refuse to
consent to a search but the officers nonetheless proceed to detain, search,
or arrest them. In such cases, it is important not to physically resist.
Rather, the individual might say, "Do what you feel you must; I will
not physically resist. However, I do not consent to this." The
individual can later challenge the search in court.
7. Informing on Others
The police and prosecutors often try to pressure individuals into providing
information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of others. Threats
and promises by police and prosecutors should be viewed with caution and
skepticism. Decisions should only be made after consulting with an
experienced criminal defense attorney and examining one's own conscience.
Finally, consider downloading and carrying the ACLU's "Bustcard"
http://www.aclu.org/library/bustcard.html a quick reference guide to
your rights and obligations when you are stopped by the police.
Thanks to NORML for contributing some of the above text
http://www.NORML.org
***
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
***
An Example of Effective Activism-
COMMENT:
3 articles from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram show how activists can
use local events to further their message. The Dallas-Fort Worth
"Metroplex" has long been an active drug market. The first editorial
is an example of the hand-wringing response typical of the area's two
major dailies, the Star-Telegram and the Dallas Morning News.
The second is a shocked front page editorial after DPFT members stood
up at a local "anti-drug" rally and asked if drug war policy itself
weren't contributing to the problem. Although the editors didn't "get
it" right away, the next op-ed suggests that the torrent of e-mail it
provoked from around the country (aided by a MAP alert) was not
without effect.
DRUG WAR
The attempt to mount a coordinated police effort against drug traffic
across Northeast Tarrant County is crumbling. It still exists, but only
a handful of communities are participating. And just when the drug
world is growing stronger and claiming more victims, the agency that
was put together to lead drug law enforcement in our communities has
gotten weaker.
[snip]
Pubdate: Wed, 2 Dec 1998
Section: Star-Telegram editorial
Contact: letters@star-telegram.com
Website: http://www.star-telegram.com/
URL:http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1106.a08.html
***
THE MAIN THING
It comes as a surprise - a jarring surprise. It comes just when the
message is sinking in with parents across the Metroplex that there is
an alarming problem of young people using very dangerous drugs. Many
of these young people are dying from heroin overdoses.
[snip]
Then comes the surprise: Someone stands up at the forum to voice a very
different message - that people should have more open access to drugs.
That the fight against currently illegal drugs is futile. That drug use
should be "decriminalized" and treated as a medical issue, not a police
matter.
[snip]
Source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
Copyright: 1998 Star-Telegram
Pubdate: Tues, 1 Dec 1998
Section: Star-Telegram editorial
Contact: letters@star-telegram.com
Website: http://www.star-telegram.com/
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1096.a05.html
***
DRUG CRUSADE HAS PRODUCED EVERYTHING BUT SUCCESS
If bloody turf wars, official corruption and unconstitutional searches
and seizures are blessings, we can thank the war on drugs for our good
fortune. This latest incarnation of Prohibition has led to a 20
percent increase in substance addiction and a maximum 5 percent
reduction of supply.
The crusade has produced other marvels:
* A million arrests per year for drug offenses.
* A prison population that exploded from 200,000 in 1966 to 2 million
in 1996.
[snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 4 Dec 1998
Source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
Contact: letters@star-telegram.com
Website: http://www.star-telegram.com/
Copyright: 1998 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas
Author: Don Erler, Northeast Editorial Columnist
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1121.a10.html
***
Domestic News- Policy
***
COMMENT:
With Congressional hearings dominating the news, McCzar's San Antonio
speech was little noted by the press; however his propaganda litany,
ranging from a nasty crack about cannabis through untrue and illogical
assertions on most other policy issues, dashed whatever faint hope his
recent endorsement of methadone maintenance might have encouraged.
McCaffrey's promise to "protect science," on the issue of medical
cannabis sounded fatuous when he made it nearly two years ago; the new
FDA chief just made a similar, albeit more generic, promise. Her
credentials are better, but it's not likely that Congressional
watchdogs would ever permit scientific objectivity to compromise drug
war doctrine.
McCAFFREY BLASTS MEDICINAL MARIJUANA
SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 8 (UPI) - U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey says the
nation is winning the war on drugs, but victory is being jeopardized by
the medicinal marijuana movement.
Addressing the Council of State Governments Annual Convention in
San Antonio today, McCaffrey said, ``pain management is not best done
with a joint and two vodkas.''
[snip]
Pubdate: Thu, 10 Dec 1998
Source: United Press International
Copyright: 1998 United Press International
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1147.a12.html
***
NEW FDA CHIEF VOWS TO PUT SCIENCE FIRST
The new director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Jane
Henney, promised Tuesday to strengthen the science base of an agency
criticized in recent years for bowing to industry pressure.
The cancer specialist, speaking publicly for the first time since
taking over as head of the FDA, promised to put the agency at the "top
of the science game."
[snip]
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Orange County Register
Pubdate: 9 Dec 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1139.a07.html
COMMENT:
D.A.R.E. received another editorial slam in a conservative daily
newspaper; evidence some drug war sacred cows are at last becoming
vulnerable to factual analysis.
DUMPING DARE A GOOD START
Dec. 8 - It's only a baby step, the tiniest movement toward rational
public policy. A handful of cities have dared to dump the DARE program.
Like most aspects of the war on drugs, DARE has been a colossal waste
of money. A study commissioned by the U.S. Justice Department found the
program's effectiveness at keeping kids off drugs to be "statistically
insignificant.''
[snip]
Pubdate: Tues, 8 Dec 1998
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Contact: letters@denverpost.com
Website: http://www.denverpost.com
Copyright: 1998 The Denver Post
Columnist: Diane Carman, Denver Post Staff Columnist
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1143.a08.html
***
COMMENT:
The generous fees awarded to Texas lawyers for their service to the cause
of Public Health reminded us that last year, Congress failed to come up
with a tobacco policy, intelligent or otherwise.
TEXAS TOBACCO-SUIT LAWYERS REPORTEDLY GET $3.3 BILLION
DALLAS - The lawyers involved in the Texas tobacco settlement have been
awarded nearly $3.3 billion by a national arbitration panel, The Dallas
Morning News reported today.
The decision, which the newspaper said is the largest attorney fee
award in U.S. history, means Texas will not have to pay any money to
the five plaintiffs' lawyers. The money will come from tobacco
companies.
[snip]
Pubdate: Friday, 10 December 1998
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Contact: opinion@seatimes.com
Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Seattle Times Company
Author: The Associated Press
URL:http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1149.a10.html
***
Law Enforcement
***
COMMENT:
Dissatisfaction with the growth of prisons continues; the inevitable
budget-busting nature of California's 3-strikes legislation was well
known when the measure was passed, yet every Assemblyman facing
re-election voted for it; only those facing term limits voted against
it.
Molly Ivins impressed by Eric Schlosser's dire analysis of the US
prison colossus, devoted a second column his Atlantic Monthly article.
Unfortunately, its impact will be reduced by the impeachment fracas.
THREE-STRIKES' ECONOMICS
As California's "three strikes" law catches more nonviolent offenders
in its snare, support is growing to amend it so the third strike must
be violent to trigger a lengthy sentence.
[snip]
Pubdate: Thu, 10 Dec 1998
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Orange County Register
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1149.a11.html
***
CORRUPTION IN THE SYSTEM
In the current issue of `The Atlantic Monthly' is "The
Prison-Industrial Complex," a major investigation of just how out of
control and increasingly corrupt the system is. But in order to
understand the mistakes we're making in responding to the cry for more
prisons, you first have to understand why we think we need them.
Eric Schlosser reports:
"The prison boom in the United States is a recent phenomenon.
Throughout the first three-quarters of this century the nation's
incarceration rate remained relatively stable, at about 110 prison
inmates for every 100,000 people. In the mid-1970's the rate began to
climb, doubling in the 1980's and then again in the 1990's. The rate is
now 445 per 100,000: among adult men it is 1,100 per 100,000. During
the past two decades roughly a thousand new prisons and jails have been
built in the United States. Nevertheless, America's prisons are more
overcrowded now than when the building spree began, and the inmate
population continues to increase by 50,000 to 80,000 a year."
[snip]
Pubdate: Wed, 9 Dec 1998
Source: San Mateo County Times (CA)
Contact: eangsmc@newschoice.com
Website: http://www.newschoice.com/newspapers/alameda/smct/
Columnist: Molly Ivins: mollyivins@star-telegram.com
Note: The Atlantic Monthly article is posted, in three parts at:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1113.a04.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1113.a05.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1114.a01.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1151.a01.html
***
COMMENT:
The following article in the LA Times (also carried in the SF
Examiner) should give pause to those who have advocated increased use
of our military in fighting the drug war.
DRUG PROBES FIND SMUGGLERS IN THE MILITARY
SAN DIEGO--The American military has encountered an unexpected enemy in
its war on drugs: U.S. servicemen smuggling marijuana and cocaine into
California for Mexican drug rings.
At least 50 Marines and sailors have been investigated "in recent
years" for drug running, according to the Naval Criminal Investigative
Service. Eight military probes involving 20 Marine and Navy suspects
were launched in the past year alone, officials said in response to a
Times inquiry. And investigators said five of the cases involved
Marines suspected of driving narcotics through Camp Pendleton to
apparently help traffickers avoid the Border Patrol checkpoint on
nearby Interstate 5. Officials refused to provide names of the suspects
or other details about the smuggling cases, including how many were
prosecuted or convicted. The number of service members implicated in
smuggling is relatively small compared to the more than 100,000 sailors
and Marines stationed in the San Diego area.
[snip]
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Copyright: 1998 Los Angeles Times.
Fax: 213-237-4712
Pubdate: 13 December 1998
Author: H.G. Reza, Times Staff Writer
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1152.a01.html
***
Drug Use
***
COMMENT:
The following cluster of articles were chosen to illustrate three
elements our policy won't deal with realistically: the human urge to
change perception is global, it's found among juveniles, it embraces
all available substances, legal of not, and can be the basis of a
profitable trade either legal or illegal.
TEEN METH USE OUTPACES TREATMENT
As Youths' Meth Use Rises, Treatment Lags
Methamphetamine - virtually unheard of among young drug users a few
years ago - has replaced other hard drugs as the preferred high among
adolescents in Iowa, officials say.
The surge comes as counselors and advocates for youth say funding for
ongoing treatment is in short supply and the cost of treatment for some
of the most vulnerable teen-agers has become prohibitive.
[snip]
Pubdate: Sun, 06 Dec 98
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Contact: roodl@news.dmreg.com
Website: http://www.dmregister.com/
Copyright: 1998, The Des Moines Register.
Author: Lee Rood, Register Staff Writer
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1132.a08.html
***
RISE IN CIGARETTE SMOKING DOESN'T BOTHER BURMA GOVERNMENT
MANDALAY, Burma---When U Soe Thein Oo attended a concert a few months
ago by Iron Cross, the most popular Burmese heavy metal band, he got
more than just an earful of "Desert Moon," the band's hit love ballad.
[snip]
Across the country young people tell similar stories of how they were
drawn to cigarettes by free handouts and slick advertising tactics
never before seen in Burma as tobacco multinationals focus their
powerful marketing machines on potential smokers.
[snip]
Source: International Herald-Tribune
Contact: iht@iht.com
Website: http://www.iht.com/
Copyright: International Herald Tribune 1998
Pubdate: Mon, 7 Dec 1998
Author: Thomas Crampton, International Herald Tribune
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1142.a01.html
***
TOXIC MARKERS CALLED 'POOR MAN'S DRUG'
The toxic marker that sent 13 Buena Park youths to area hospitals is
the tool of choice for some graffiti artists, but it has a far more
dangerous use as an inhalant.
The Magnum 44 marker contains high levels of xylene, which can cause
heart rhythm problems that can lead to sudden death, said Cynthia
Johnson, a California Poison Control system toxicology case manager.
"This is not something you want to play around with," Johnson said.
Repeated abuse, she said, can slow reaction time, irritate eyes and
case lung and kidney damage, dizziness, memory loss and tremors.
[snip]
Pubdate: Tue, 8 Dec 1998
Source: Orange County Register(Ca)
Contact: (letters@link.freedom.com)
Website: (http://www.ocregister.com/)
Copyright: 1998 The Orange County Register
Author: Heather MacDonald and Bill Rams-OCR
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1142.a04.html
***
International News
***
COMMENT:
Those who scan Drug news Digests or read this newsletter regularly
must be struck with one simple fact: whatever McCaffrey's claims about
"success" in the drug war, the volume of the international illicit
drug trade is surging. Articles trumpeting huge seizures don't speak
to the success of interdiction, but to its failure- just as huge
"busts" of retail workers, and the scare stories of "skyrocketing"
juvenile use in one country after another testify to the failure of
prohibition to "control" drug use.
The international section of this newsletter has become a chronicle of
this market growth; the article on teen heroin use in the US is
included only to emphasize that whatever McCaffrey's attempt to put a
nice face on domestic news, America is also part of the expanding
world market our policy sustains.
DRUGS AND WEAPONS SEIZED AS POLICE ARREST 70 IN DAWN RAIDS
POLICE claimed a big victory in the fight against heroin dealers
yesterday after an operation aimed at stopping a huge rise in the use
of the drug.
Lothian and Borders police arrested 70 people, seized more than
UKP300,000 in illegal substances and assets and confiscated an arsenal
of weapons during Operation Foil.
[snip]
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Contact: Letters_ts@scotsman.com
Website: http://www.scotsman.com/
Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd
Pubdate: 8 Dec 1998
Author: Andrew Walker
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1139.a01.html
***
DRUGS-RELATED DEATHS DOUBLE IN GLASGOW
DRUGS-RELATED deaths in Glasgow have more than doubled in the past year,
according to a new police report.
Heroin is the main killer, with a growing number of users injecting the
drug in a highly risky cocktail with temazepam - a benzodiazepine used
to treat anxiety.
[snip]
Pubdate: Thu, 10 Dec 1998
Source: Independent, The (UK)
Contact: letters@independent.co.uk
Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/
Copyright: Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Author: Stephen Goodwin, Scotland Correspondent
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1147.a10.html
***
DRUG SMUGGLERS' EUROPEAN UNION
Gungor Tekin was one of Turkey's most renowned international
footballers, a hero to the fans of not one but two of the country's
biggest clubs. This week he is starting a 23-year sentence in a British
jail after being convicted of a heroin smuggling operation that has
cast light on the new international links of the heroin trade.
What has emerged from the case and other recent operations is that
there is now a European criminal community that is cooperating far more
successfully than their ministerial counterparts. While eastern
European countries are still negotiating over entry into the EU,
criminal gangs across Europe have joined forces to exploit what is
still a growing market.
[snip]
Pubdate: Sat, 12 Dec 1998
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Contact: letters@guardian.co.uk
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Copyright: Guardian Media Group 1998
Author: Duncan Campbell, Nikolai Chavdarov and Antoaneta Nesheva
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1151.a03.html
***
BRAZEN DRUG DEALERS FRUSTRATE MEXICO, U.S.
Officials Accused of Protecting Them
For several months this year, a Mexican army lieutenant trained by the
CIA was leading the most sensitive anti-narcotics investigation in
Mexico. He was pursuing tips that he believed tied a powerful drug
kingpin to the governor of the Yucatan state that includes the lavish
beach resort of Cancun and its $2 billion tourist industry.
[snip]
U.S. and Mexican officials said that state police as well as military
troops assigned to Quintana Roo routinely permit passage of drug
shipments that arrive on the beaches by boat, at clandestine airstrips
and overland though neighboring Belize and Guatemala.
"Everyone there is bought and paid for," said a U.S. official familiar
with the Yucatan operations.
[snip]
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Washington Post Company
Pubdate: 13 Dec 1998
Author: Molly Moore and Douglas Farah
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1152.a04.html
***
HEROIN USE GOING UP AMONG US TEEN-AGERS
Heroin use has risen rapidly in recent years among U.S. teens, with
many middle-class youngsters snorting the drug in the mistaken belief
that it's less addictive than shooting up, experts say.
[snip]
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Orange County Register
Pubdate: 8 Dec 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1139.a05.html
***
HOT OFF THE 'NET
***
Yet Another Full Page Ad in The New Republic
You can view a copy of the current Common Sense ad which appears in the
New Republic. The ad focuses on Joe Califano's Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse and asks whether Columbia University is compromising
its integrity and prestige to be associated with them.
The ad can be viewed at: http://www.drugsense.org/ads/ along with the
other Common Sense ads.
***
***
TIP OF THE WEEK
***
Matt Elrod Advises:
Our search engine at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/ will allow you to
do phrase *title* searching by putting dots between your keywords.
This is an undocumented feature I wrote myself. For instance, if you
wanted to find articles containing "School of the Americas" in the
title/subject, then you would search for:
School.of.the.Americas
It is important to note that this works for title searches only but can
be quite handy in a number of situations.
***
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
***
"Let me see if I've got this Santa business straight. You say he wears
a beard, has no discernible source of income and flies to cities all
over the world under cover of darkness? You sure this guy isn't
laundering illegal drug money?" -- Tom Armstrong
***
FACT OF THE WEEK
***
Treatment is 10 times more cost effective than interdiction in reducing
the use of cocaine in the United States.
Source: Rydell, C.P. &; Everingham, S.S., Controlling Cocaine, Prepared for
the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the United States Army,
Santa Monica, CA: Drug Policy Research Center, RAND (1994).
***
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers our
members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can do for
you.
News/COMMENTS-Editor: Tom O'Connell (tjeffoc@drugsense.org)
Senior-Editor: Mark Greer (mgreer@drugsense.org)
We wish to thank all our contributors and Newshawks.
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REMINDER:
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Is Columbia University Compromising its Integrity and
Prestige?
to the 1998 Daily News index for Dec. 10-16