----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 13:40:32 -0700
Subject:NV: Police support pot initiative Up TOC
Newshawk: Krissy www.mpp.org
Webpage:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-gov/2002/aug/06/513814476.html
Pubdate: Tue, 06 Aug 2002
Source: Las Vegas Sun (NV)
Author: Ed Koch
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project (www.mpp.org)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?162 (Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement)

Police support pot initiative

The state's largest police organization today endorsed the marijuana 
initiative.

The board of the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs, an umbrella group
that has 3,000 members and represents about 65 percent of the state's street
patrol officers, voted 9-0 to support the proposed constitutional change that
would decriminalize possession of up to three ounces of marijuana.

"I was a Metro Police officer for 28 years and I spent a lot of time booking
people on marijuana charges that never went to court," said NCOP President Andy
Anderson, former president of the Police Protective Association union.

"It would take anywhere from a couple of hours for a single arrest to about 
half
my shift if there was a line at the booking window or multiple arrests -- time
that could have been better spent on the streets addressing violent crime."

Billy Rogers, spokesman for Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, which
supports Question 9, said this is the first police group to break ranks and
support the initiative.

"The perception in Nevada was that all law enforcement agencies would line up
against this measure, but this endorsement shows that we did listen to what
police wanted when this bill was drafted," Rogers aid.

Anderson said safeguards in the bill that include strict penalties for people
who smoke marijuana in public, sell pot to minors or drive under the influence
and kill people, played a big role in his group endorsing it.

"We do not support the smoking of marijuana," Anderson said. "But violent crime
is on the rise and terrorism remains a real threat. Our priorities in law
enforcement have changed and, with our limited resources, so should our laws."

Nevada changed its marijuana laws last year, making it a misdemeanor for
possession of less than one ounce instead of a felony.

Question 9, which was put on the ballot by the Marijuana Policy Project, would
have to pass in November and again in 2004 to become law.

Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors have come out against the initiative
saying it would create more problems for police officers and prosecutors with
the potential for additional crime and driving the influence incidents, as well
as encourage use by minors.

Metro Police Detective David Kallas, executive director of the Las Vegas Police
Protective Association, had just returned from a trip out of town and didn't
know about the vote. He said he is against the initiative because it does not
address the "larger problem" problem of drug trafficking.

"Both personally and professionally, while you've eased the burden of the user,
you haven't assisted law enforcement with the overall problem of drug
trafficking," he said. "The people who purchase it still have to purchase it
somewhere."
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 14:04:12 -0700
Subject: TV: American Justice Jury Special  (Wed. Aug. 7)

American Justice 10th Anniversary Show
We, the Jury
Wednesday, August 7, 2002
9:00 pm (EDT)
A&E Network

http://www.aande.com/tv/shows/amerjustice/

At the heart of the American system of justice sits the jury. It's one of
the most cherished and most ridiculed rights in this country. In poll
after poll, Americans have listed the trial by jury as one this country's
most important institutions, but almost everyone knows the sinking feeling
of getting a jury summons in the mail. Even so, few know what the gritty
reality of the jury room feels like or how 12 ordinary Americans come
together to render justice.

Over the last decade, the jury system has come under attack as never
before. Can juries be impartial? Are they too easily manipulated? In
short, are today's juries up to the task, or is the jury system itself a
relic, a leftover from simpler times? Our 2-hour anniversary special looks
back at ten years of AMERICAN JUSTICE, and some of our nation's most
famous cases involving names like Simpson, Menendez, Rodney King and
Reginald Denny.

Also featured will be the case of Laura Kriho, a Colorado juror who was
prosecuted for contempt of court after she refused to convict a defendant
in a drug case.

- -----------------------------------------
Re-distributed by the:
Jury Rights Project
Email: jrights@levellers.org
Web page: http://www.levellers.org/jrp/
- ------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 14:21:39 -0700
Subject:NV:\Nevadans May Make Pot Legal Up TOC
Newshawk: Sledhead - State Congress - http://www.plylar.org
Pubdate: Mon, 05 Aug 2002
Source: Deseret News (UT)
Copyright: 2002 Deseret News Publishing Corp.
Contact: letters@desnews.com
Website: http://www.desnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/124
Author: Michael Janofsky, New York Times News Service

NEVADANS MAY MAKE POT LEGAL

LAS VEGAS - After voting two years ago to ease state drug laws, Nevada
voters could go even further this year, making their state the first to
legalize marijuana and derive taxes from a regulated sales system.

It is a stunning possibility in a state where possession of more than 1
ounce of marijuana is still a felony, punishable by up to four years in
prison, and possession of less than an ounce remains a misdemeanor that
carries a $650 fine.

Yet the November ballot initiative follows two major changes in 2000 that
seemed to reflect shifting sentiments in Nevada toward marijuana. Voters
approved a measure to allow the use of marijuana for medical reasons, and
as part of the language to codify the measure, lawmakers reduced penalties
for possessing less than an ounce.

The combination made Nevada one of the nine states that have allowed legal
access to the drug for patients with a doctor's prescription and one of the
12 that have eased penalties for some offenses.

But the new initiative would catapult Nevada to the forefront of all states
reconsidering their approach to drug laws.

It would eliminate penalties for possessing up to 3 ounces for any reason
and direct the Legislature to treat marijuana much like tobacco products
and alcohol, regulating it through a system that would oversee how it is
grown, distributed and sold, generating tax revenue in the process.

"This is a landmark initiative that seeks more than what any state has
accomplished so far," said R. Keith Stroup, executive director of the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a nonprofit group
working to reduce state and federal penalties for marijuana use.

Stroup cautioned, however, that the Nevada effort might be too ambitious to
succeed.

While states have reduced penalties for some marijuana offenses without
interference from the federal government, he said any measure that put a
state in the drug business would violate federal law and draw a challenge
from the Justice Department.

In general, when state law conflicts with federal law, the federal law
takes precedence, giving federal prosecutors the discretion to pursue a
case or not. A state-regulated drug operation, Stroup said, would be too
much for the federal government to ignore.

"It is highly unlikely the federal government would allow a state to create
a legal market for the sale of drugs in which the state licenses the sale
or sets up stores to sell it," he said.

"What it would do is place enormous pressure on Congress to take a rational
look at the nation's drug laws. As we begin to get more and more states
considering legalization, it will be impossible for Congress to stand in
their way."

Last week, the House took a step in that general direction when a
bipartisan bill was introduced to allow all states to approve marijuana for
medical purposes, thus eliminating any conflict with federal law. The
measure is considered a long shot, but the 36 sponsors reflect a wide
political range, from Rep. Barney Frank, a liberal Democrat from
Massachusetts, to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a conservative Republican from
California.

Besides Nevada, eight other states - Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and Washington - have passed exemptions since 1996 to
allow patients with a doctor's prescription to use marijuana to relieve
pain and discomfort.

Arizona has initiatives on the November ballot to reduce possession
penalties. Other jurisdictions also have fall ballot measures, including
the District of Columbia, with a medical marijuana proposal, and San
Francisco, with a plan for the city to grow and distribute the drug for
patients living there. Ohio and Michigan have initiatives that would
provide treatment instead of imprisonment for some drug users.

But nothing appears to be as far-reaching as Nevada's effort, which can
only become law through a state constitutional amendment approved by voters
this year and again in 2004. The medical marijuana measure here passed with
59 percent of the vote in 1998 and with 65 percent in 2000. (By law,
amendments to the Nevada Constitution require voter approval in two
consecutive elections.)

Organizers of the campaign that put the current initiative on the November
ballot, Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, are selling it strictly
as a law enforcement issue. As Billy Rogers, campaign manager for the
effort, said, "Most Nevadans think it is a waste of taxpayers' money to
arrest people for small amounts of marijuana when the time could be better
spent arresting murderers and rapists."

Whether or not that means "most" Nevada voters would favor the new measure,
it has generated an unusually high level of support for such a big
controversy. A recent poll by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the state's
largest newspaper, found that 44 percent of state voters favored the
initiative, 46 percent opposed it and 10 percent were undecided. The survey
had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

In addition, the Review-Journal endorsed the idea in a July 7 editorial,
calling it "a promising first step" toward ending "the needless harassment
of individuals who peacefully and privately use marijuana."

And, perhaps mindful of the poll results, none of Nevada's leading
political figures, including Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican seeking
re-election this fall, have openly opposed the idea.

So far, the most outspoken critics of the initiative have been two recent
visitors from Washington - Asa Hutchinson, chief of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, and John Walters, head of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy.

Walters warned that passage could make Nevada "a vacation spot for drug
traffickers," but said, "I don't believe you'd see federal officials coming
in to enforce possession laws."

The proposal includes what organizers describe as safeguards, including
prohibitions against advertising, selling marijuana to anyone under 21, or
selling it in any public place like schools and parks or anywhere that
allows gambling. In addition, anyone caught driving dangerously under the
influence of marijuana could be arrested.

In general, Rogers said, the initiative "protects the responsible use of
marijuana."
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 19:40:53 -0700
Subject: WV: State Police Find, Destroy $23.5 Million Of Marijuana
Newshawk: chip
Pubdate: Tue, 06 Aug 2002
Source: Herald-Dispatch, The (WV)
Webpage: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2002/August/06/LNtop2.htm
Copyright: 2002 The Herald-Dispatch
Contact: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/hdinfo/letters.html
Website: http://www.hdonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1454
Author: LEE ARNOLD

STATE POLICE FIND, DESTROY $23.5 MILLION OF MARIJUANA

WAYNE -- It took the Wayne Detachment of the West Virginia State Police
only three weeks to find and destroy $23.5 million worth of marijuana, said
Sgt. M.L. Watts.

Since mid-July, police have found 9,400 marijuana plants growing in Wayne
County, 4,100 of which were growing in the Dunlow area. Police have a
suspect in the Dunlow cultivation, but no arrests have been made, Watts said.

The 1999 season was the last time the state police topped 9,000 plants in
the county, Watts said.

This year's rain during the early summer months is part of the reason for
the increased cultivation activity, Watts said.

"The plants we are finding this year are among the biggest I have ever
seen," Watts said. "We have seen plants 15 feet tall."

The majority of the crop recovered this year has been discovered by
helicopter fly-over, but some have come from tips from the public.

State police detachments in other parts of the region are just beginning
marijuana eradication efforts.

In Lincoln County, the state police have destroyed approximately 1,200
plants and have only patrolled a quarter of the county, said Trooper R.L.
Frye of the Hamlin Detachment of the West Virginia State Police. The 1,200
plants were found in just one day of eradication efforts, Frye said.

"We haven't found any big fields, but we have found a lot of small
patches," Frye said.

Calls to other state police detachments were not returned.

Police ask those with information about marijuana cultivation efforts to
call the state police. For the Wayne detachment, call 272-5131, and for
Huntington call 528-5555.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 19:41:15 -0700
Subject:WV: Seizures Of Pot In Area Increase Up TOC
Newshawk: chip
Pubdate: Sat, 03 Aug 2002
Source: Parkersburg News, The (WV)
Copyright: 2002, The Parkersburg News
Contact: editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Website: http://www.newsandsentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1648
Author: ROGER ADKINS

SEIZURES OF POT IN AREA INCREASE

Area law enforcement agencies have taken to the sky once again to find and
eradicate marijuana crops.

In Ohio, the Meigs County Sheriff's Office last week found from 2,100-2,200
plants and made two arrests, said Deputy Rick Smith. That number of plants
is large considering it still is early in the growing season, Smith said.
Deputies found plants ranging from two feet tall to 12-14 feet tall, Smith
said. The larger plants had started to bud, he said. The approximate street
value for a mature plant is $1,500.

Smith said there is a great deal of marijuana growth in Meigs County
because of its rural location. Deputies said they expect to find many
plants this year.

Deputies divided the county into two parts, the eastern portion and the
western portion. Crews covered both areas in their search, Smith said. They
searched Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday using helicopters and ground crews.

The West Virginia State Police has confiscated five crops this season, said
1st Sgt. B.D. Adkins, district commander. The local district covers Wood,
Wirt, Pleasants and Ritchie counties.

Troopers recently found a crop of 25 plants in the Wadesville area of Wood
County, Adkins said.

The largest find this year was in Ritchie County, which has the local
record for the largest crop found in recent years, officials said. Last
year, law enforcement officers found a crop of 5,000 plants in Ritchie County.

This year, troopers found 71 plants in the Auburn area of Ritchie County,
Adkins said. Other crops in Ritchie County yielded 67 plants in one spot
and 51 plants in another on Leather Bark Road.

The smallest crop was a single plant troopers found growing in the yard of
a St. Marys residence, Adkins said.

In their searches, troopers found plants that were seven feet tall. Mature
plants can grow to 14 feet, police said.

No marijuana arrests have been made this year in West Virginia, but some
are pending, Adkins said.

Wood County Sheriff Stephen Greiner said the presence of marijuana growers
in Wood County is not as apparent as it was a few years ago.

The sheriff's department uses its helicopter in aerial searches, but
deputies have yet to find a substantial crop this year, Greiner said.

"We got one plant the other day," Greiner said. "We've flown three or four
times so far. We used to get a lot, but it's slacked off in the last couple
of years."

Methamphetamine is the prime target for eradication in Wood County, Greiner
said. "With meth labs, you hear stories every day," he said.

Mid-Ohio Valley residents can help their law enforcement agencies in the
marijuana eradication process by being vigilant and reporting suspicious
activity in rural areas, Adkins said. Residents who own land and spend time
in the woods and fields in the area can learn to identify the signs
marijuana growers leave behind.

"They may see tracks or paths where vehicles or people have gone into the
woods," Adkins said. "There may be areas that have been cleared to allow
the sunlight in."

Residents may see chicken wire around plant beds, he said. Buckets or pots
used to start the plants also may be in the area of a crop.

Growers often plant their crops on property that does not belong to them,
Adkins said. However, they also have been known to plant marijuana on their
own property in secluded areas, he said.

Marijuana growers sometimes grow the plants in their gardens among the
other crops, he said.

Some growers even grow their crops indoors, but those can be found using
infrared vision, Adkins said. Buildings in which the plants are grown are
significantly hotter because the growers use heat lamps and other lighting,
he said.

Many growers install traps around their crops to protect them. Residents
should be cautious if they stumble upon a marijuana patch, officials said.

Marijuana eradication is not done with helicopters alone, Adkins said.
Often the helicopter cannot land in areas where the crops grow. Ground
crews must hike to the area over which the helicopter hovers.

"Sometimes the terrain isn't in your favor," Adkins said. "The helicopter
hovers and ground crews have to find the spot. A lot of times it's
difficult to get to."

Officers yank the plants from their beds, haul them to headquarters in
trucks, collect samples for evidence and burn the rest with diesel fuel or
other accelerants, Adkins said.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 22:29:14 -0700
Subject:Canada: Pot club offers 'compassion' Up TOC
Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Source: Abbotsford News (CN BC)
Date: August 6, 2002
Website: http://www.abbynews.com/
Address: 34375 Cyril St., Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 2H5
Contact: editor@abbynews.com
Copyright: 2002 Hacker Press Ltd.
Fax: 604-853-9808
Author: Robert Freeman

                       Pot club offers 'compassion'

A marijuana "compassion club" is opening just a stone's throw away from the
new courthouse in downtown Chilliwack.

A grand opening of the Holy Smoke Healing Center at 45965 Princess Ave. is
planned today (Tuesday) when marijuana activists Brian Carlisle and Steve
Kubby will ask the B.C. Supreme Court to order medical exemptions for them.
Carlisle says five =B3patients=B9=B9 have already joined the Chilliwack club 
to obtain medical marijuana to treat ailments ranging from cancer to AIDS to
glaucoma.

Norm Siefken, a B.C. Marijuana Party candidate in the last election, says he
is joining the Chilliwack club, but will also keep his membership in the
Vancouver compassion club where he has been obtaining medical marijuana.
He says police in Vancouver, and several other communities around the
province, have been turning a blind eye to the clubs.

"There's a lot of compassion clubs popping up in B.C. . . . and the
 police have turned a blind to them, he says.

But Chilliwack RCMP Const. Dave Aucoin says =B3in no way, shape or form will
the Chilliwack detachment allow the club here to break any drug laws.
"We will enforce all statutes relating to drugs," he says.

=B3If we have the evidence that there is illegal activities (at the centre)
then we will take the appropriate action.

Carlisle, who suffers from glaucoma, says he is asking the court to grant
him a medical exemption from marijuana laws after failing to obtain one from
Health Canada.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 22:29:53 -0700
Subject:Canada: West Vancouver cops sail ferries looking for drugs Up TOC

Newshawk: How to be a MAP Newshawk (http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm)
Source: North Shore News (CN BC)
Date: August 6, 2002
Website: http://www.nsnews.com/
Address: 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V7M
2H4
Contact: editor@nsnews.com
Copyright: 2002 North Shore News
Author: Matthew Wild

                 WV cops sail ferries looking for drugs

WEST Vancouver Police Department used five drug-detecting dogs to sniff out
ferry-bound marijuana smugglers on Tuesday.

Dogs from five police forces joined in the aptly-named Operation High Seas
which took place on BC Ferries vessels travelling between Nanaimo and
Horseshoe Bay. The police operation led to eight arrests and the seizure of
7.2 kilograms (16 pounds) of marijuana, said Sgt. Bob Fontaine.

But the police action has drawn criticism from civil liberty watchdogs amid
allegations police overstepped their powers.

Fontaine said the department launched the operation, involving seven West
Vancouver officers along with five officers and dogs from other municipal
forces, to stem the flow of drugs through West Vancouver. He said the
"non-invasive" initiative took place on the ferry vehicle decks during
sailings while occupants were in other parts of the ship, explained
Fontaine. When drugs were detected police waited at a discreet distance to
make arrests once the owners had returned, he said.

Fontaine said there were seven seizures and eight arrests, but only three
people will be facing charges. In the first incident, a 43-year-old man and
30-year-old woman from Lasqueti Island were allegedly found with four
kilograms (nine pounds) of marijuana, and in the second a 37-year-old man
from Lantzville was found with 3.1 kilograms (seven pounds) of the drug.

"The dogs are trained to detect marijuana, cocaine, heroin and
methamphetamines," said Fontaine. "People are not allowed in their vehicles
during the sailing, they are up top."

He dismissed allegations that the operation breached people's rights, saying
it set out to detect suspected drugs smugglers and no cars were opened in
their owners' absence.

But B.C. Civil Liberties Association research and communications assistant
Dave Eby said the police breached Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, which protects people from unreasonable searches. "The courts have
defined that the police need reasonable cause before they can do a search,"
he said. "It cannot be just on a hunch or a suspicion."

He said police need evidence before they search people's property, saying it
is wrong to claim this can come from a search by a police dog.

"Police do not have rights to check your car," he continued. "Roadblocks are
a special exception.

"If you are driving you have a reduced expectation to privacy. It feels
wrong that people are on the ferry with no idea the police are searching for
drugs. It feels like a police state. Saying people with nothing to hide have
nothing to fear sounds like something the East Germans would have said."

The association does not believe drugs should be illegal.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 00:23:34 -0700
Subject:OR: Judge Tosses 2 Stoudamire Arguments Up TOC

AUGUST 06, 16:49 ET

Judge Tosses 2 Stoudamire Arguments

OREGON CITY, Ore.  (AP) A judge rejected two arguments by prosecutors
trying to justify a search of the home of Portland Trail Blazers guard
Damon Stoudamire in which a large bag of marijuana was found.

Judge John Lowe said Tuesday there was no legal justification for the
search that turned up marijuana behind an attic access door in
Stoudamire's home.

Lowe also ruled there was no express or implied consent to search the
home just because Stoudamire had installed an alarm system.

The decision could lead to the dismissal of the case.  Lowe did not say
when he would rule.

Police, responding to a burglar alarm at Stoudamire's home in suburban
Lake Oswego on Feb.  23, found the front door ajar, searched the home
and discovered the marijuana.

The Lake Oswego officials will wait for Lowe's ruling before deciding
whether to appeal.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 00:34:43 -0700
Subject:Nevadans May Make Pot Legal Up TOC

Newshawk: Sledhead - State Congress - http://www.plylar.org
Pubdate: Mon, 05 Aug 2002
Source: Deseret News (UT)
Copyright: 2002 Deseret News Publishing Corp.
Contact: letters@desnews.com
Website: http://www.desnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/124
Author: Michael Janofsky, New York Times News Service

NEVADANS MAY MAKE POT LEGAL

LAS VEGAS - After voting two years ago to ease state drug laws, Nevada
voters could go even further this year, making their state the first to
legalize marijuana and derive taxes from a regulated sales system.

It is a stunning possibility in a state where possession of more than 1
ounce of marijuana is still a felony, punishable by up to four years in
prison, and possession of less than an ounce remains a misdemeanor that
carries a $650 fine.

Yet the November ballot initiative follows two major changes in 2000 that
seemed to reflect shifting sentiments in Nevada toward marijuana. Voters
approved a measure to allow the use of marijuana for medical reasons, and
as part of the language to codify the measure, lawmakers reduced penalties
for possessing less than an ounce.

The combination made Nevada one of the nine states that have allowed legal
access to the drug for patients with a doctor's prescription and one of the
12 that have eased penalties for some offenses.

But the new initiative would catapult Nevada to the forefront of all states
reconsidering their approach to drug laws.

It would eliminate penalties for possessing up to 3 ounces for any reason
and direct the Legislature to treat marijuana much like tobacco products
and alcohol, regulating it through a system that would oversee how it is
grown, distributed and sold, generating tax revenue in the process.

"This is a landmark initiative that seeks more than what any state has
accomplished so far," said R. Keith Stroup, executive director of the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a nonprofit group
working to reduce state and federal penalties for marijuana use.

"What it would do is place enormous pressure on Congress to take a rational
look at the nation's drug laws. As we begin to get more and more states
considering legalization, it will be impossible for Congress to stand in
their way."

Last week, the House took a step in that general direction when a
bipartisan bill was introduced to allow all states to approve marijuana for
medical purposes, thus eliminating any conflict with federal law. The
measure is considered a long shot, but the 36 sponsors reflect a wide
political range, from Rep. Barney Frank, a liberal Democrat from
Massachusetts, to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a conservative Republican from
California.

Besides Nevada, eight other states - Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and Washington - have passed exemptions since 1996 to
allow patients with a doctor's prescription to use marijuana to relieve
pain and discomfort.

Arizona has initiatives on the November ballot to reduce possession
penalties. Other jurisdictions also have fall ballot measures, including
the District of Columbia, with a medical marijuana proposal, and San
Francisco, with a plan for the city to grow and distribute the drug for
patients living there. Ohio and Michigan have initiatives that would
provide treatment instead of imprisonment for some drug users.

But nothing appears to be as far-reaching as Nevada's effort, which can
only become law through a state constitutional amendment approved by voters
this year and again in 2004. The medical marijuana measure here passed with
59 percent of the vote in 1998 and with 65 percent in 2000. (By law,
amendments to the Nevada Constitution require voter approval in two
consecutive elections.)

Organizers of the campaign that put the current initiative on the November
ballot, Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, are selling it strictly
as a law enforcement issue. As Billy Rogers, campaign manager for the
effort, said, "Most Nevadans think it is a waste of taxpayers' money to
arrest people for small amounts of marijuana when the time could be better
spent arresting murderers and rapists."

Whether or not that means "most" Nevada voters would favor the new measure,
it has generated an unusually high level of support for such a big
controversy. A recent poll by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the state's
largest newspaper, found that 44 percent of state voters favored the
initiative, 46 percent opposed it and 10 percent were undecided. The survey
had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

In addition, the Review-Journal endorsed the idea in a July 7 editorial,
calling it "a promising first step" toward ending "the needless harassment
of individuals who peacefully and privately use marijuana."

And, perhaps mindful of the poll results, none of Nevada's leading
political figures, including Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican seeking
re-election this fall, have openly opposed the idea.

So far, the most outspoken critics of the initiative have been two recent
visitors from Washington - Asa Hutchinson, chief of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, and John Walters, head of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy.

Walters warned that passage could make Nevada "a vacation spot for drug
traffickers," but said, "I don't believe you'd see federal officials coming
in to enforce possession laws."

The proposal includes what organizers describe as safeguards, including
prohibitions against advertising, selling marijuana to anyone under 21, or
selling it in any public place like schools and parks or anywhere that
allows gambling. In addition, anyone caught driving dangerously under the
influence of marijuana could be arrested.

In general, Rogers said, the initiative "protects the responsible use of
marijuana."
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 19:40:53 -0700
Subject: WV: State Police Find, Destroy $23.5 Million Of Marijuana
Newshawk: chip
Pubdate: Tue, 06 Aug 2002
Source: Herald-Dispatch, The (WV)
Webpage: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2002/August/06/LNtop2.htm
Copyright: 2002 The Herald-Dispatch
Contact: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/hdinfo/letters.html
Website: http://www.hdonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1454
Author: LEE ARNOLD

STATE POLICE FIND, DESTROY $23.5 MILLION OF MARIJUANA

WAYNE -- It took the Wayne Detachment of the West Virginia State Police
only three weeks to find and destroy $23.5 million worth of marijuana, said
Sgt. M.L. Watts.

Since mid-July, police have found 9,400 marijuana plants growing in Wayne
County, 4,100 of which were growing in the Dunlow area. Police have a
suspect in the Dunlow cultivation, but no arrests have been made, Watts said.

The 1999 season was the last time the state police topped 9,000 plants in
the county, Watts said.

This year's rain during the early summer months is part of the reason for
the increased cultivation activity, Watts said.

"The plants we are finding this year are among the biggest I have ever
seen," Watts said. "We have seen plants 15 feet tall."

The majority of the crop recovered this year has been discovered by
helicopter fly-over, but some have come from tips from the public.

State police detachments in other parts of the region are just beginning
marijuana eradication efforts.

In Lincoln County, the state police have destroyed approximately 1,200
plants and have only patrolled a quarter of the county, said Trooper R.L.
Frye of the Hamlin Detachment of the West Virginia State Police. The 1,200
plants were found in just one day of eradication efforts, Frye said.

"We haven't found any big fields, but we have found a lot of small
patches," Frye said.

Calls to other state police detachments were not returned.

Police ask those with information about marijuana cultivation efforts to
call the state police. For the Wayne detachment, call 272-5131, and for
Huntington call 528-5555.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 19:41:15 -0700
Subject: WV: Seizures Of Pot In Area Increase
Newshawk: chip
Pubdate: Sat, 03 Aug 2002
Source: Parkersburg News, The (WV)
Copyright: 2002, The Parkersburg News
Contact: editorial@newsandsentinel.com
Website: http://www.newsandsentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1648
Author: ROGER ADKINS

SEIZURES OF POT IN AREA INCREASE

Area law enforcement agencies have taken to the sky once again to find and
eradicate marijuana crops.

In Ohio, the Meigs County Sheriff's Office last week found from 2,100-2,200
plants and made two arrests, said Deputy Rick Smith. That number of plants
is large considering it still is early in the growing season, Smith said.
Deputies found plants ranging from two feet tall to 12-14 feet tall, Smith
said. The larger plants had started to bud, he said. The approximate street
value for a mature plant is $1,500.

Smith said there is a great deal of marijuana growth in Meigs County
because of its rural location. Deputies said they expect to find many
plants this year.

Deputies divided the county into two parts, the eastern portion and the
western portion. Crews covered both areas in their search, Smith said. They
searched Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday using helicopters and ground crews.

The West Virginia State Police has confiscated five crops this season, said
1st Sgt. B.D. Adkins, district commander. The local district covers Wood,
Wirt, Pleasants and Ritchie counties.

Troopers recently found a crop of 25 plants in the Wadesville area of Wood
County, Adkins said.

The largest find this year was in Ritchie County, which has the local
record for the largest crop found in recent years, officials said. Last
year, law enforcement officers found a crop of 5,000 plants in Ritchie County.

This year, troopers found 71 plants in the Auburn area of Ritchie County,
Adkins said. Other crops in Ritchie County yielded 67 plants in one spot
and 51 plants in another on Leather Bark Road.

The smallest crop was a single plant troopers found growing in the yard of
a St. Marys residence, Adkins said.

In their searches, troopers found plants that were seven feet tall. Mature
plants can grow to 14 feet, police said.

No marijuana arrests have been made this year in West Virginia, but some
are pending, Adkins said.

Wood County Sheriff Stephen Greiner said the presence of marijuana growers
in Wood County is not as apparent as it was a few years ago.

The sheriff's department uses its helicopter in aerial searches, but
deputies have yet to find a substantial crop this year, Greiner said.

"We got one plant the other day," Greiner said. "We've flown three or four
times so far. We used to get a lot, but it's slacked off in the last couple
of years."

Methamphetamine is the prime target for eradication in Wood County, Greiner
said. "With meth labs, you hear stories every day," he said.

Mid-Ohio Valley residents can help their law enforcement agencies in the
marijuana eradication process by being vigilant and reporting suspicious
activity in rural areas, Adkins said. Residents who own land and spend time
in the woods and fields in the area can learn to identify the signs
marijuana growers leave behind.

"They may see tracks or paths where vehicles or people have gone into the
woods," Adkins said. "There may be areas that have been cleared to allow
the sunlight in."

Residents may see chicken wire around plant beds, he said. Buckets or pots
used to start the plants also may be in the area of a crop.

Growers often plant their crops on property that does not belong to them,
Adkins said. However, they also have been known to plant marijuana on their
own property in secluded areas, he said.

Marijuana growers sometimes grow the plants in their gardens among the
other crops, he said.

Some growers even grow their crops indoors, but those can be found using
infrared vision, Adkins said. Buildings in which the plants are grown are
significantly hotter because the growers use heat lamps and other lighting,
he said.

Many growers install traps around their crops to protect them. Residents
should be cautious if they stumble upon a marijuana patch, officials said.

Marijuana eradication is not done with helicopters alone, Adkins said.
Often the helicopter cannot land in areas where the crops grow. Ground
crews must hike to the area over which the helicopter hovers.

"Sometimes the terrain isn't in your favor," Adkins said. "The helicopter
hovers and ground crews have to find the spot. A lot of times it's
difficult to get to."

Officers yank the plants from their beds, haul them to headquarters in
trucks, collect samples for evidence and burn the rest with diesel fuel or
other accelerants, Adkins said.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 22:29:14 -0700
Subject: Canada: Pot club offers 'compassion'
Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Source: Abbotsford News (CN BC)
Date: August 6, 2002
Website: http://www.abbynews.com/
Address: 34375 Cyril St., Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 2H5
Contact: editor@abbynews.com
Copyright: 2002 Hacker Press Ltd.
Fax: 604-853-9808
Author: Robert Freeman

                       Pot club offers 'compassion'

A marijuana "compassion club" is opening just a stone's throw away from the
new courthouse in downtown Chilliwack.

A grand opening of the Holy Smoke Healing Center at 45965 Princess Ave. is
planned today (Tuesday) when marijuana activists Brian Carlisle and Steve
Kubby will ask the B.C. Supreme Court to order medical exemptions for them.
Carlisle says five =B3patients=B9=B9 have already joined the Chilliwack club 
to obtain medical marijuana to treat ailments ranging from cancer to AIDS to
glaucoma.

Norm Siefken, a B.C. Marijuana Party candidate in the last election, says he
is joining the Chilliwack club, but will also keep his membership in the
Vancouver compassion club where he has been obtaining medical marijuana.
He says police in Vancouver, and several other communities around the
province, have been turning a blind eye to the clubs.

"There's a lot of compassion clubs popping up in B.C. . . . and the
 police have turned a blind to them, he says.

But Chilliwack RCMP Const. Dave Aucoin says =B3in no way, shape or form will
the Chilliwack detachment allow the club here to break any drug laws.
"We will enforce all statutes relating to drugs," he says.

=B3If we have the evidence that there is illegal activities (at the centre)
then we will take the appropriate action.

Carlisle, who suffers from glaucoma, says he is asking the court to grant
him a medical exemption from marijuana laws after failing to obtain one from
Health Canada.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 22:29:53 -0700
Subject: Canada: West Vancouver cops sail ferries looking for drugs

Newshawk: How to be a MAP Newshawk (http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm)
Source: North Shore News (CN BC)
Date: August 6, 2002
Website: http://www.nsnews.com/
Address: 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V7M
2H4
Contact: editor@nsnews.com
Copyright: 2002 North Shore News
Author: Matthew Wild

                 WV cops sail ferries looking for drugs

WEST Vancouver Police Department used five drug-detecting dogs to sniff out
ferry-bound marijuana smugglers on Tuesday.

Dogs from five police forces joined in the aptly-named Operation High Seas
which took place on BC Ferries vessels travelling between Nanaimo and
Horseshoe Bay. The police operation led to eight arrests and the seizure of
7.2 kilograms (16 pounds) of marijuana, said Sgt. Bob Fontaine.

But the police action has drawn criticism from civil liberty watchdogs amid
allegations police overstepped their powers.

Fontaine said the department launched the operation, involving seven West
Vancouver officers along with five officers and dogs from other municipal
forces, to stem the flow of drugs through West Vancouver. He said the
"non-invasive" initiative took place on the ferry vehicle decks during
sailings while occupants were in other parts of the ship, explained
Fontaine. When drugs were detected police waited at a discreet distance to
make arrests once the owners had returned, he said.

Fontaine said there were seven seizures and eight arrests, but only three
people will be facing charges. In the first incident, a 43-year-old man and
30-year-old woman from Lasqueti Island were allegedly found with four
kilograms (nine pounds) of marijuana, and in the second a 37-year-old man
from Lantzville was found with 3.1 kilograms (seven pounds) of the drug.

"The dogs are trained to detect marijuana, cocaine, heroin and
methamphetamines," said Fontaine. "People are not allowed in their vehicles
during the sailing, they are up top."

He dismissed allegations that the operation breached people's rights, saying
it set out to detect suspected drugs smugglers and no cars were opened in
their owners' absence.

But B.C. Civil Liberties Association research and communications assistant
Dave Eby said the police breached Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, which protects people from unreasonable searches. "The courts have
defined that the police need reasonable cause before they can do a search,"
he said. "It cannot be just on a hunch or a suspicion."

He said police need evidence before they search people's property, saying it
is wrong to claim this can come from a search by a police dog.

"Police do not have rights to check your car," he continued. "Roadblocks are
a special exception.

"If you are driving you have a reduced expectation to privacy. It feels
wrong that people are on the ferry with no idea the police are searching for
drugs. It feels like a police state. Saying people with nothing to hide have
nothing to fear sounds like something the East Germans would have said."

The association does not believe drugs should be illegal.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 00:23:34 -0700
Subject: OR: Judge Tosses 2 Stoudamire Arguments

AUGUST 06, 16:49 ET

Judge Tosses 2 Stoudamire Arguments

OREGON CITY, Ore.  (AP) A judge rejected two arguments by prosecutors
trying to justify a search of the home of Portland Trail Blazers guard
Damon Stoudamire in which a large bag of marijuana was found.

Judge John Lowe said Tuesday there was no legal justification for the
search that turned up marijuana behind an attic access door in
Stoudamire's home.

Lowe also ruled there was no express or implied consent to search the
home just because Stoudamire had installed an alarm system.

The decision could lead to the dismissal of the case.  Lowe did not say
when he would rule.

Police, responding to a burglar alarm at Stoudamire's home in suburban
Lake Oswego on Feb.  23, found the front door ajar, searched the home
and discovered the marijuana.

The Lake Oswego officials will wait for Lowe's ruling before deciding
whether to appeal.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 00:34:43 -0700
Subject: Nevadans May Make Pot Legal

Newshawk: Sledhead - State Congress - http://www.plylar.org
Pubdate: Mon, 05 Aug 2002
Source: Deseret News (UT)
Copyright: 2002 Deseret News Publishing Corp.
Contact: letters@desnews.com
Website: http://www.desnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/124
Author: Michael Janofsky, New York Times News Service

NEVADANS MAY MAKE POT LEGAL

LAS VEGAS - After voting two years ago to ease state drug laws, Nevada
voters could go even further this year, making their state the first to
legalize marijuana and derive taxes from a regulated sales system.

It is a stunning possibility in a state where possession of more than 1
ounce of marijuana is still a felony, punishable by up to four years in
prison, and possession of less than an ounce remains a misdemeanor that
carries a $650 fine.

Yet the November ballot initiative follows two major changes in 2000 that
seemed to reflect shifting sentiments in Nevada toward marijuana. Voters
approved a measure to allow the use of marijuana for medical reasons, and
as part of the language to codify the measure, lawmakers reduced penalties
for possessing less than an ounce.

The combination made Nevada one of the nine states that have allowed legal
access to the drug for patients with a doctor's prescription and one of the
12 that have eased penalties for some offenses.

But the new initiative would catapult Nevada to the forefront of all states
reconsidering their approach to drug laws.

It would eliminate penalties for possessing up to 3 ounces for any reason
and direct the Legislature to treat marijuana much like tobacco products
and alcohol, regulating it through a system that would oversee how it is
grown, distributed and sold, generating tax revenue in the process.

"This is a landmark initiative that seeks more than what any state has
accomplished so far," said R. Keith Stroup, executive director of the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a nonprofit group
working to reduce state and federal penalties for marijuana use.

"What it would do is place enormous pressure on Congress to take a rational
look at the nation's drug laws. As we begin to get more and more states
considering legalization, it will be impossible for Congress to stand in
their way."

Last week, the House took a step in that general direction when a
bipartisan bill was introduced to allow all states to approve marijuana for
medical purposes, thus eliminating any conflict with federal law. The
measure is considered a long shot, but the 36 sponsors reflect a wide
political range, from Rep. Barney Frank, a liberal Democrat from
Massachusetts, to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a conservative Republican from
California.

Besides Nevada, eight other states - Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and Washington - have passed exemptions since 1996 to
allow patients with a doctor's prescription to use marijuana to relieve
pain and discomfort.

Arizona has initiatives on the November ballot to reduce possession
penalties. Other jurisdictions also have fall ballot measures, including
the District of Columbia, with a medical marijuana proposal, and San
Francisco, with a plan for the city to grow and distribute the drug for
patients living there. Ohio and Michigan have initiatives that would
provide treatment instead of imprisonment for some drug users.

But nothing appears to be as far-reaching as Nevada's effort, which can
only become law through a state constitutional amendment approved by voters
this year and again in 2004. The medical marijuana measure here passed with
59 percent of the vote in 1998 and with 65 percent in 2000. (By law,
amendments to the Nevada Constitution require voter approval in two
consecutive elections.)

Organizers of the campaign that put the current initiative on the November
ballot, Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, are selling it strictly
as a law enforcement issue. As Billy Rogers, campaign manager for the
effort, said, "Most Nevadans think it is a waste of taxpayers' money to
arrest people for small amounts of marijuana when the time could be better
spent arresting murderers and rapists."

Whether or not that means "most" Nevada voters would favor the new measure,
it has generated an unusually high level of support for such a big
controversy. A recent poll by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the state's
largest newspaper, found that 44 percent of state voters favored the
initiative, 46 percent opposed it and 10 percent were undecided. The survey
had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

In addition, the Review-Journal endorsed the idea in a July 7 editorial,
calling it "a promising first step" toward ending "the needless harassment
of individuals who peacefully and privately use marijuana."

And, perhaps mindful of the poll results, none of Nevada's leading
political figures, including Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican seeking
re-election this fall, have openly opposed the idea.

So far, the most outspoken critics of the initiative have been two recent
visitors from Washington - Asa Hutchinson, chief of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, and John Walters, head of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy.

Walters warned that passage could make Nevada "a vacation spot for drug
traffickers," but said, "I don't believe you'd see federal officials coming
in to enforce possession laws."

The proposal includes what organizers describe as safeguards, including
prohibitions against advertising, selling marijuana to anyone under 21, or
selling it in any public place like schools and parks or anywhere that
allows gambling. In addition, anyone caught driving dangerously under the
influence of marijuana could be arrested.

In general, Rogers said, the initiative "protects the responsible use of
marijuana."

------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 02:20:54 -0700
Subject: Philippines: Cops Weed Out P187M Worth Of Marijuana

Newshawk: Free the Weed
Pubdate: Wed,  7 Aug 2002
Source: Sun.Star Baguio (Philippines)
Copyright: 2002, Sunstar
Contact: sunstar@bgo.cyberspace.com.ph
Website: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/affiliate.php3?locid=2
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1942
Author: Cheryl G. Cruz
Note: To read more about the Philippines latest anti-drug crusade visit
http://www.mapinc.org/areas/philippines .

COPS WEED OUT P187M WORTH OF MARIJUANA

THE Benguet Provincial Police Office has already confiscated and destroyed
some P187.76 million worth of marijuana and its derivatives after the
conduct of 11 eradication operations in various areas in the province since
January this year.

In Tuesday's Kapihan sa Benguet at Kalapaw Restaurant, Sr. Supt. Conrado
Minano Jr., Benguet provincial police director, reported that the
eradication operations led to the destruction of 616,262 fully gown
marijuana plants; 838 dried marijuana stalks; 1,900 marijuana seedlings;
230.50 kilograms of dried MJ leaves, and 20.26 kilograms of seeds.

"The office has also conducted five anti-prohibited drugs operations
resulting to the arrest of seven suspects and confiscation of 79.2 kilograms
of dried MJ leaves and 5.74 grams of shabu," he added.

Minano said that sustained anti-marijuana eradication drive would be
conducted in response to the directive of Chief Supt. George Alino, director
of the Police Regional Office in the Cordilleras, to weed out marijuana
plantations in the province.

He admitted that while there exist marijuana plantations in Benguet, the
expanse of these cultivations was only known after police started to focus
its energy uprooting the prohibited plant.

The other day, Benguet Gov. Raul Molintas conceded that marijuana
plantations in Benguet and the other three provinces - Kalinga, Mt.
Province, Ifugao - are thriving because they have become one of the means of
livelihood for some individuals and armed groups.

Molintas, however, pointed out the barangay chiefs are mandated to report to
the authorities such kinds of illicit activities, adding that appropriate
criminal charges await those whose areas of jurisdiction will be subjected
to at least three successful anti-drug operations by the police without
their knowledge.

Molintas, who chairs the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council, also proposed
the establishment of a "three-strike system" in the province wherein
appropriate charges will be filed against barangay officials whose been
remiss in their obligation to rid their areas of illegal drugs, particularly
marijuana.

To make sure that all the 140 barangay chiefs in the province are aware of
the programs of PADAC, the Provincial Government will conduct a Benguet-wide
anti-drug summit involving all the officials with drug law enforcement
agencies as lecturers.

"The anti-drug summit will be conducted as soon as the winners of the recent
joint barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections take their oaths," he
said.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 09:45:13 -0700
Subject: Boston Globe: Is Canada's Tourism Going to Pot?

Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Author: Alex Beam, Globe Columnist
Published: August 6, 2002
Copyright: 2002 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: letter@globe.com
Website: http://www.boston.com/globe/


Not for the first time, Canada has embarked on a tourism-promotion binge
intended to lure Americans to the land of the maple leaf and cheap
prescription drugs. Canadian travel ads never fail to amuse. My favorite,
which I spotted in a glossy magazine about six months ago, depicted a dreamy
Newfoundland seascape bathed in radiant sunshine.

I know they can do anything with photographs these days, but a fogless day
in ''Shipping News'' country is as rare as a pro-George Bush editorial in
the mainstream Canadian press.
With a touch of cynicism - or is it realism? - Canada's government-funded
Tourism Commission raised its US marketing budget by more than 50 percent
this year, figuring that post-Sept. 11, American travelers would not stray
far from home. By 2003, the commission figures, Americans will be jetting
off to Tuscany again, barring any new terrorist attacks.

As I do almost every year, I spent a week of my summer in Nova Scotia, one
of the provinces that constitute Atlantic Canada. (The others are New
Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and - good luck finding it in the fog -
Newfoundland.) The provinces spent about $12 million advertising themselves
to New Englanders this year, with mixed results. ''We just are not getting
the numbers we need,'' columnist Sandra Porteous wrote in the Halifax Daily
News last week. Worried that Atlantic Canada is being improperly marketed to
stay-at-home rubes in Maine and New Hampshire, Porteous suggested: ''Maybe
our only hope is to target cities - and to be blunt.''

I think I can help. Here are a few modest proposals for Canadian tourism
promotions that will really work:

Canada is Cannabis Country!

You bet! There are 30,000 ''grow houses'' in the Vancouver area alone,
puffing up what is said to be a $6 billion local industry. A special police
unit called Growbusters raided about 600 homes last year, but arrested only
200 people. Judges deal gently with most offenders, letting them walk with a
$2,500 fine, about one percent of their estimated yearly revenue.

So it should come as no surprise that the United States' No. 1 ''reefer
refugee'' makes his home in British Columbia. Steve Kubby, who suffers from
adrenal cancer, was busted for owning 200 marijuana plants in California in
1999, and fled to a town about an hour north of Vancouver with his wife and
two children. He now produces content for the Web site Pot-TV
(www.pot-tv.net) and is seeking political asylum.

Visit Canada, the Land of No-Oz!

How do they get by? I learn from the National Post, one of the country's two
magnificent national dailies (the other being the Toronto Globe and Mail)
that most Canadians can't watch such shows as ''The Osbournes,'' MTV's
''Jackass,'' and Fox's ''The O'Reilly Factor'' because of restrictions
imposed by the government's Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission. This has nothing to do with content - there is plenty of
American bilge in the Canadian ether - but involves regulations about using
government airwaves to retransmit US cable signals.

So the ostensible good news for Canadians is that the over-the-air CTV
channel will start broadcasting ''The Osbournes'' this fall. The bad news,
of course, is that the Osbournes are about as hot as last week's donair
(spiced lamb on a spit) in Digby. ''The Osbourne backlash has begun,''
Entertainment Weekly reported on the same day that CTV trumpeted its cool
new fall lineup. So it goes, eh?

Canada - We're Becoming a Lot Like You!

Imagine my un-surprise to read that Ontario's Kevin Moore was thinking of
suing the city of Halifax because a cut on his leg had become infected after
he fell into the water near the city's harbor. It's not about the money, Mr.
Moore told a reporter, it's the principle of the thing. As Bob Dole said in
a very different context - he was eulogizing Richard Nixon at his funeral -
how American.

Of course, the marketing types will never get around to selling the truth
about Canada, which is possibly the most civilized country in the
English-speaking world. So I have adopted my own promotional slogan,
primarily for personal use: Canada - a nice place for me to visit. But do me
a favor and stay away.

Alex Beam is a Globe columnist.

This story ran on page E1 of the Boston Globe on 8/6/2002.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 10:04:27 -0700
Subject: SD: White Plume harvest, sells, hemp

Alex White Plume has become the first farmer within the borders of the 
United States to complete a cycle of planting, growth, harvest and delivery 
of industrial hemp since 1958.


Rapid City Journal
August 02, 2002

Manderson area family harvests hemp crop

By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal Staff Writer

MANDERSON -- The third time was a charm for Alex White Plume and his
family as they quietly harvested their first crop of industrial hemp
this week.

"It really felt good," White Plume said Friday. "Just like a sense of relief."

This was the third straight year the White Plume family planted hemp on
their land near Manderson. Two years in a row, federal agents
confiscated the plants before they could be harvested, although the U.S.
government did not file any charges against any of the White Plumes, who
planned to produce and sell hemp oil and other products from the plants.

This time, family members beat government agents to the punch. They
harvested most of the 3.5-acre crop Monday night.

"They weren't that tall, but they were done pollinating," White Plume
said. "So we took some out, we cut it and it's dried."

The dried hemp already has been sold to Madison Hemp & Flax Co. of
Lexington, Ky., which joined with the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative
Association to ship a trailer full of Canadian hemp to the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation after the White Plumes' first crop was confiscated in
2000. That hemp was to be used for bricks in a hemp house.

Industrial hemp is a form of the cannabis sativa plant, also known as
marijuana. Unlike marijuana, hemp cannot be smoked to get high. But it
can be used to make everything from rope to paper to cloth to soap to
animal feed, and itrequires little water. White Plume said the seeds
they planted contained little or no tetrahydrocannabinol, the ingredient
in marijuana that produces a "high."

Federal laws do not distinguish between hemp and marijuana, making it
illegal to grow either one (although hemp can be legally imported). But
in 1998, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council voted to legalize hemp. Tribal
members say that because the Oglala Sioux Tribe is a sovereign nation,
its laws should apply on the reservation.

The Kentucky buyers will visit the White Plumes on Wednesday, Aug. 14,
to pick up the hemp. That same day, the public is invited to attend a
harvest celebration and symbolic harvest of one small hemp plot.

All are welcome, White Plume said, and thanksgiving ceremonies will
begin about 10 a.m. He has already heard from people all over the
country who are interested in attending. "I can't figure out how they
hear about it," he said. "Somebody's spreading the word."

This year's hemp crop was not as impressive as in years past, when
plants grew to 12 or 13 feet tall. The drought kept this year's plants
to half that size.

But White Plume pointed out that tall prairie grasses grew only about a
foot this year, so the hemp plants "still outgrew everything around."

"I think they were meant to be here," he said.

White Plume would not say how much hemp was harvested, but he said it
was basically a symbolic amount.

"This was a contract between our family and that company from Kentucky,"
he said. "We just wanted to keep our word that we could deliver. It took
a long time, but we kept our word."

There was at least one benefit to the raids of 2000 and 2001. When it
came time to harvest this year's crop, the White Plumes knew what to do.
"I used a Weed Eater," White Plume said. "I learned that from the Bureau
of Indian Affairs and the FBI."

Questions or comments on this story? Call reporter Heidi Bell Gease at
394-8419, or e-mail her at heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com.

CRRH is working to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis to adults like 
alcohol, allow doctors to recommend cannabis through pharmacies and restore 
the unregulated production of industrial hemp.

*Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp*
mail:     CRRH ; P.O. Box 86741 ; Portland, OR 97286 USA
email:   crrh@crrh.org
phone:  (503) 235-4606
fax:       (503) 235-0120
web:     http://www.crrh.org/

------------------------------
End of Restore-Digest V2002 #158
********************************