Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 09:30:50 -0700
Subject:SD: White Plume harvest, sells, hemp Up TOC

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.




------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 17:32:27 -0700
Subject:Canada: Hashish Shipments Build Port Legend Up TOC

Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Pubdate: Wed, 07 Aug 2002
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Webpage: http://www.mapinc.org/cancom/A52ACB20-00B6-44DA-8A4B-DC3DBF03DF91
Copyright: 2002 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.
Contact: letters@thegazette.southam.ca
Website: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: George Kalogerakis, of the Montreal Gazette

HASHISH SHIPMENTS BUILD PORT LEGEND

For 25 per cent off the top, Gerald Matticks could get ship containers full
of drugs safe and sound out of Montreal's port.

Anyone willing to pay would bypass high-tech security, video cameras and
paperwork.

"It was systematic," prosecutor Robert Rouleau told a judge yesterday. "He
was paid either in money or in product."

With those words, what police have known for decades became unrefuted
public knowledge - Matticks ran criminal activity in the port of Montreal.

"With his consent and help," Quebec Court Judge Jean-Pierre Bonin added,
"the containers would be delivered by different manoeuvres without danger
to whom they belonged."

Matticks's notoriety in the port even reached the ears of a Senate
committee on security in airports and harbors. Their February report said a
crime family had eyes everywhere in the port and could make containers
disappear.

The report didn't name him, but police knew who it was talking about.

The report said the way the unions controlled who was hired led to the
problem. Incidentally, both Matticks and his son Donald are members of the
checkers' union.

Checkers are the ones who ensure ship containers go to the proper place.

One of the ways police say drugs get through is by a corrupt worker in
another port putting an extra container on a ship, which is then unloaded
in Montreal.

No paperwork exists for the container so it can easily disappear once here.

Evidence in court shows he brokered seven shipments of hashish totaling
33,363 kilograms, and one of 260 kilograms of cocaine. All in a little more
than a year.

Despite Matticks's contacts, a number were seized by police.

If Matticks got his 25-per-cent share in drugs, he would then sell it to
the Hells Angels, Rouleau added.

At times, the biker gang owed him as much as $7 million.

Rouleau said Matticks's sentence of 12 years, which started yesterday, was
agreed to beforehand by the prosecution and defence. It avoids at least two
trials of four months each. Since Matticks has already spent 18 months in
jail awaiting trial, which counts as double, the total works out to 15 years.

Police learned the intricacies of Matticks's port operation when his
right-hand man became an informant last year to get a shorter sentence.

They were able to charge Matticks with more crimes, as well as arrest much
of his gang three weeks ago.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Ariel


------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 17:34:25 -0700
Subject:HI: Latest Green Harvest Report Under Review Up TOC

Newshawk: The War on Drugs IS Terrorism
Pubdate: Wed,  7 Aug 2002
Source: West Hawaii Today (HI)
Contact: wht@aloha.net
Copyright: 2002 West Hawaii Today
Website: http://westhawaiitoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/644
Author: Tiffany Edwards
Note: For more on medical cannabis and cannabis eradication in Hawaii go to
http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Hawaii

LATEST GREEN HARVEST REPORT UNDER REVIEW

HILO - Councilmembers next week will take up a marijuana eradication mission
report that states 14,425 plants were seized in June.

Comparing that to the 3,133 plants seized in the May missions, Police Lt.
Henry Tavares noted police have moved into what they consider to be the
"peak season" for marijuana growing.

Tavares, who leads the Hilo Vice section, said that season runs from June to
September.

More plants are eradicated during this time period because the height of the
plants makes them easier to spot from the helicopter, he said.

Law enforcement personnel are mandated by the councilmembers to keep the
helicopters at an altitude of at least 1,000 feet.

Among other conditions, the council requires them to submit monthly reports
in return for accepting federal funds for the "Green Harvest" program.

The report for the June 24 - 28 mission indicates all 14,425 plants were
seized in East Hawaii, with a majority of them found in Puna subdivisions.

In one day, 4,898 plants ranging from seedlings to 6 feet tall and spread
out in 203 plots were recovered in that area.

Police reported they received 12 calls regarding the June missions,
including several complaints about low - flying helicopters.

One person reportedly told police "this is a war zone and the government
does not own the sky," the report states.

Another claimed to be a Vietnam veteran who did not want the "post traumatic
stress" of helicopters being near his home, according to the document.

One man called police asking them to fly over his property and check for
marijuana, after he encountered several people walking across the property,
according to the report.

One Fern Forest subdivision resident called to express appreciation for the
eradication efforts in that neighborhood and to offer police a cup of coffee
while they were there, the report indicates.
__________________________________________________________________________
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 17:35:17 -0700
Subject:NV: Marijuana Ballot Issue - Police Back Legalization Up TOC

Newshawk: Krissy www.mpp.org
Pubdate: Wed, 07 Aug 2002
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2002 Las Vegas Review-Journal
Contact: letters@lvrj.com
Website: http://www.lvrj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/233
Author: Jane Ann Morrison

MARIJUANA BALLOT ISSUE - POLICE BACK LEGALIZATION MEASURE

Board Of State Group Says Officers Have More Pressing Concerns

Advocates of changing the Nevada Constitution to decriminalize possession of 3
ounces or less of marijuana landed a significant endorsement from an unlikely
Source: police.

Andy Anderson, president of the Nevada Conference of Police and
Sheriffs, said Tuesday that the group's board voted 9-0 to support
Question 9, the ballot question that would block the arrest or
prosecution of people 21 or older found with 3 ounces or less of marijuana.

NCOPS' rationale: Police should be working more serious
crimes.

"We're not endorsing marijuana, we're not saying marijuana is good.
We're saying we should be spending our time protecting and serving the
public," Anderson said. "It's not cops for pot."

However, the victory by ballot measure proponents was muddied
somewhat. One board member was confused and thought he was voting on
medical marijuana use. Also, the largest organization within NCOPS
disagrees with the endorsement.

Mick Gillins, assistant executive director of the Las Vegas Police
Protective Association, said he voted yes Monday under the belief he
was supporting the use of marijuana for medical purposes. That was the
Question 9 ballot question of 1998 and 2000.

Gillins said while he initially misunderstood the ballot question,
after discussing it again with Anderson, "I'm sticking with my vote."

However, David Kallas, his boss at the PPA, said the PPA will not
support the part of Question 9 that legalizes marijuana use for
adults. The question also contains some language regarding the use of
marijuana for medical purposes.

"We don't have an issue with a proposal legalizing marijuana for
medical purposes based on a doctor's prescription," Kallas said.

NCOPS is an umbrella group representing police unions from Las Vegas,
North Las Vegas, Henderson, the Clark County School District and other
police officer organizations in Nevada. NCOPS represents more than
3,000 members, of which 2,100 are PPA members.

"The bottom line is, we think we can use our resources better than
making simple marijuana arrests," Anderson said.

Anderson predicted the NCOPS endorsement will have a major impact to
help the passage of the question, which will be on November's ballot.

Current polls show that Nevadans are divided on this question, which
is opposed by federal drug officials and the Clark County district
attorney's office.

Billy Rogers is point man for the question's backers, Nevadans for
Responsible Law Enforcement, which is a subsidiary of the national
Marijuana Policy Project.

"This endorsement puts us over the top," he said, because it
reinforces the message that police are spending too much time
arresting people using small amounts of drugs.

Rogers said his group spent $375,000 on the petition drive that
qualified the ballot question and has raised about $150,000 so far for
the campaign promoting the question.

The NCOPS endorsement will be part of the group's ad campaign because
officers are the most credible spokespersons on the issue, Rogers said.

Both he and Kallas were surprised by the NCOPS endorsement. "A month
ago, if you had told me we'd get this endorsement, I would not have
thought it possible," Rogers said.

Two candidates for sheriff both said they oppose Question
9.

Capt. Randy Oaks said, "I am opposed to the legalization of even small
amounts of marijuana, and while I empathize with the very few people
who could benefit from its medicinal qualities, the experience in
California is that it was largely abused and the people pushing this
are not the people who need it for illness."

Like Gillins, Oaks said he thought the Question 9 on this year's
ballot was the medicinal marijuana question, which passed and is
already in the Nevada Constitution. In the public's eyes, the two
clearly have become intertwined, Oaks said, contending that leads to
confusion.

Deputy Chief Bill Young couldn't be reached Tuesday but told the
Review-Journal editorial board on July 25 he opposes the new marijuana
proposal because it "sends the wrong message to young people."

He said the current way marijuana use is handled, with possession of 1
ounce being a misdemeanor that no one goes to jail for, is about right.

However, he did add, "If older folks want to smoke (marijuana) in
their own homes, I could care less."

Young is endorsed by NCOPS, and Oaks said the pot question endorsement
"speaks to the credibility of their endorsement."

While federal drug officials have urged Nevadans to vote against
Question 9, no group opposing it yet has organized formally.

Gary Booker, the chief deputy district attorney in charge of the
vehicular crimes unit, said that's about to change. A coalition of DUI
and victims groups will be organizing to fight the ballot because of
concern that the question will weaken DUI prosecutions.

Booker said Nevada will be a laughingstock if the question passes.
"Nobody else has mandated it's legal to smoke pot as a constitutional
right," he said. "You amend your constitution to free slaves or enact
women's rights or where there is a true constitutional evil. You don't
change your constitution to allow people to smoke drugs."

Booker said NCOPS was being "myopic" by taking the position that
officers are wasting their time making drug arrests. He said this
overlooks broader policy issues about drug use.

Rogers pointed to the elements of the petition's language that would
limit pot use. The question says the Legislature should write laws to
provide penalties for driving dangerously while under the influence of
marijuana, smoking pot in a vehicle or public place or distribution in
a jail, prison or school.

In 2000, the previous Question 9 approving marijuana for medical use
passed with the support of 65 percent of voters. This new Question 9
must be approved by voters in 2002 and 2004 before taking effect.

If the question is approved, Nevada, which had the strictest marijuana
laws in the nation until 2001, would have the most lenient. Among the
most lenient states, Ohio, New York, Maine, Mississippi and Nebraska
now require police merely to issue citations for people possessing
small amounts of marijuana. Offenders pay small fines, usually $100.

Before 2001, possession of even small amounts in Nevada was a felony
offense that could carry prison time but rarely did. After the medical
use question passed, the Legislature decriminalized possession of 1
ounce or less in 2001.

A recent Review-Journal and reviewjournal.com poll indicated Nevada
voters are almost evenly split on the issue. The poll results
concluded that 44 percent of Nevada voters surveyed support the
initiative, 46 percent oppose it, while 10 percent are undecided.

Cited: Marijuana Policy Project (www.mpp.org)

Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?162 (Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement)
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Derek


------------------------------
Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 17:35:57 -0700
Subject:HI: Police To Return Pot - Again Up TOC

Newshawk: The War on Drugs IS Terrorism
Pubdate: Wed,  7 Aug 2002
Source: Hawaii Tribune Herald (HI)
Contact: htrib@hawaiitribune-herald.com
Copyright: 2002 Hawaii Tribune Herald
Website: http://www.hilohawaiitribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/185
Author: Jason Armstrong
Note: For more on medical cannabis and cannabis eradication in Hawaii go to
http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Hawaii

POLICE TO RETURN POT - AGAIN

A Big Island man running for governor received court approval Tuesday to
retrieve nearly an ounce of marijuana police seized from his wife last
October.

However, Jonathan Adler learned he must wait until Monday for the District
Court to release the 27 grams of marijuana he plans to smoke as treatment
for chronic pain.

When that occurs, Adler will become the fourth Big Islander in the last
month to recover medical marijuana police had confiscated.

The pot Adler is seeking is his, yet prosecutors used it as evidence July 11
in convicting his wife, Nuansawat, of misdemeanor possession, resulting in a
$25 fine.

"We hold all evidence for 30 days for the appeal period," court clerk
Pauline Tanaka told the Tribune - Herald after denying Adler's demand that
the marijuana be returned.

Monday will be the first business day following the mandatory waiting
period, she said.

News of the delay did not sit well with Adler, who came to the court with an
order District Judge Jeffrey Choi signed earlier in the day authorizing the
return of the marijuana.

"I want my medicine now," Adler shouted in the crowded court office.

Adler, 50, said the seized marijuana is "some of the best I ever produced,"
but added he is unsure it is still usable after being stored for nearly a
year.

He earlier went to the Hilo Police Station seeking his property, but was
told that while the judge's order is valid, the marijuana is being held at
the courthouse and he would have to go there.

Wearing an aloha shirt he said he found Monday at the Keaau transfer
station, Adler remained very excited throughout much of his roughly two -
hour effort.

"They're making me do so much legwork," he said.

Adler said he suffered a head injury in a car accident, which has left him
with frequent pain that makes him eligible under state law to use and grow
limited amounts of marijuana.

Nuansawat Adler produced a state - issued card authorizing her to act as a
caregiver for her husband, who holds a similar card stating he can use
marijuana as medicine.

A vocal marijuana advocate and frequent candidate for elected office, Adler
was arrested in 1998 after police found 89 marijuana plants growing on his
property.

During the course of the ensuing trial, Adler missed a court appearance,
resulting in the issuance of a bench warrant for his arrest.

Police arrested him last year at his Hawaiian Paradise Park home, he said.

Nuansawat Adler said police later called to instruct her to bring her
husband's medicine, which she delivered along with marijuana to the Hilo
cellblock the following morning, at which time police arrested her for
possession.

Police last month returned 1.5 ounces of marijuana seized earlier in the
month from three Kona residents registered with the state to possess the
drug.

Police involved with the case said it was the first time in Hawaii, and
probably the nation, that law enforcement officials returned pot to its
owner.

Motivated by that case, Adler vowed to not give up until he obtains the
marijuana police took from him.

"You got to have some degree of tenacity to do what I do," he said. "It's
not easy."
__________________________________________________________________________
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: Thu, 08 Aug 2002 07:40:16 -0700
Subject:Nevada Voters Evenly Split on Pot Issue Up TOC

Newshawk: PLEASE HELP! Visit http://www.nrle.org/
Pubdate: Sun, 04 Aug 2002
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV)
Webpage: http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2002/08/04/20879.php
Copyright: 2002 Reno Gazette-Journal
Contact: rgjmail@nevadanet.com
Website: http://www.rgj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363
Author: Steve Timko
Note: GIF images of the poll are at http://www.mapinc.org/temp/13502.gif
and http://www.rgj.com/news/files/2002/08/05/13502.gif.php
Cited: Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement http://www.nrle.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?162 (Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement)

NEVADA VOTERS EVENLY SPLIT ON POT ISSUE

Nevada voters are evenly split on a ballot initiative that would legalize
adult possession of 3 ounces or less of marijuana, a new poll shows.

But in Reno and Washoe County, a clear majority of residents oppose the
legalization of small amounts of marijuana, according to a Reno
Gazette-Journal/News 4 poll. The poll of 600 likely voters was conducted in
July by Rockville, Md.-based Research 2000.

Statewide, 48 percent of Nevadans support the ballot question that takes
marijuana beyond medical use approved two years ago; 48 percent oppose it.
Four percent were not sure.

Opposition rises to 58 percent in Washoe County and 54 percent in Reno, the
poll shows.

"We think it's good news," said Billy Rogers, spokesman for Nevadans for
Responsible Law Enforcement, the group pushing the ballot measure. "Based
on these results, I think it's likely we'll win this election."

Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick, who strongly opposes the
measure, expected the issue to have more support in Clark County than the
rest of Nevada.

"I expect conservatism runs a little more rampant in Washoe County and the
cow counties than in Clark County," Gammick said. "All these people leave
California to get away from that kind of stuff, and then when they get
here, they want to bring all that stuff with them."

Research 2000 President Del Ali said that, statewide, the issue appears to
be a dead heat. There are also very few undecided voters, who traditionally
tend to vote against ballot initiatives.

Twelve percent of those polled strongly disapprove of the measure compared
to 9 percent who strongly support it, noted Ali. Based on those numbers, he
thinks the measure will be voted down.

Initiative supporters have to spend a lot of money and time to get their
campaign right, Ali said.

"And they're going to have to give a real compelling reason why they want 3
ounces of marijuana made legal," he added.

While the marijuana issue had no gender gap, Democrats supported it much
more heavily than Republicans and independents, Ali said.

Support Among Medical Pot Users

In 1998 and 2000, Nevada voters approved licensing people who want to use
marijuana for medical reasons.

Rogers said his group believes law enforcement has better things to do than
arrest people for having small amounts of marijuana in their home. The 3
ounces is often associated with medical marijuana use.

The proposed law would forbid public use of marijuana and driving while
under the influence of marijuana. It would require prison sentences for
people who sell marijuana to children.

"This protects responsible people and punishes irresponsible people,"
Rogers said.

Gary Brown, a employee at Hippies pipe and incense shop in Sparks and the
14th person to receive a medical marijuana card in Nevada, said young
people are telling him they are registering to vote just so they can
support the marijuana question.

"I wish the government would lighten up on us," Brown said. "I consider
this to be truth in democracy. This is what this is about, people voting
for something they feel is worth voting for."

Brown said he was a Navy corpsman attached to the Marines in Vietnam in
April 1967 when he was injured in an ambush and left 70 percent disabled.

After Nevada law allowed marijuana use for medical reasons, Brown signed up
for the license that says he has a medical need to use medical marijuana.
As of July 8, the state had received 186 applications.

After work, as he starts relaxing for bed, Brown will take a few puffs of
marijuana to cope with the pain, he said. He said the marijuana is a
substitute for prescribed medication that makes him groggy.

While the latest initiative makes it legal for any adult to have up to 3
ounces of marijuana, Brown notes it also makes the state provide low-cost
marijuana for people who have medical needs for it. People with the medical
marijuana cards currently can grow up to seven plants at home, but it's
still illegal in Nevada for them to buy marijuana.

Brown wishes the proposal only allowed up to 2 ounces for adults because
that might get a wider range of support than the proposed 3 ounces.

"I think 2 ounces is great," Brown said. "It would have been an easier
number to swallow."

He's also glad the proposal limits the age to 21, like alcohol, because
that will do a better job of keeping it out of the hands of children.

"Eighteen is too young. I think 21 is still great," Brown said.

"It is a gateway drug for the younger people," Brown said of marijuana.
"But so is alcohol. Beer is a gateway drug and this state has one of the
highest alcoholism rates in the nation."

Officials Oppose

Gammick said telephone calls he's getting show people are confused and
believe the issue deals with medical marijuana only. It's to legalize up to
3 ounces for any adult, or as many as 90 marijuana cigarettes, Gammick said.

"This is not a small amount of marijuana for personal use," the district
attorney said.

Drug Enforcement Administration Director Asa Hutchinson came to Nevada last
month and said the initiative, if passed by voters, would encourage teens
to experiment with drugs and put Nevada in conflict with federal law.

Lisa Eggen of South Lake Tahoe said it is "about time" Nevada looked at
making possession of smaller amounts of marijuana legal.

"This is a state that has legalized prostitution and gives away alcohol,
and yet marijuana possession, until very recently, was a felony," Eggen said.

But Eggen was surprised the latest marijuana proposal has such strong
support statewide. She thinks it might be economically driven as people
look for something to offer in Nevada that can't be offered at Indian casinos.

Douglas M. Morrin of Reno fears the latest proposal will mean more people
on the streets driving dangerously while under the influence of marijuana.

"My attitude is that I don't like drugs, period," Morrin said. "If they
legalize 3 ounces, then they're going to carry 3 ounces all the time."

Given the rapid growth of Nevada, particularly by people relocated from
California, Morrin wasn't surprised by the support for the ballot question.

"Ten years ago I would have said you couldn't have gotten that passed,"
Morrin 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: Richard Lake


------------------------------
Date: Thu, 08 Aug 2002 07:42:01 -0700
Subject:HI: Time To Say More Than Just "No" Up TOC

Newshawk: The War on Drugs IS Terrorism
Pubdate: Thu,  8 Aug 2002
Source: Maui Weekly (HI)
Contact: info@mauiweekly.com
Copyright: 2002, Maui Weekly
Website: http://www.mauiweekly.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2345
Author: Louis Silverstein
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Note: For more on medical cannabis and cannabis eradication in Hawaii go to
http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Hawaii

TIME TO SAY MORE THAN JUST "NO"

Our country seemingly remains hell-bent on continuing to waste billions of
dollars year after year on the longest waged war in U.S. history. Prison
systems are overflowing with drug users and low level drug dealers;
incarceration of youth is given a higher priority than educating them; and a
huge and costly governmental/ corporate complex is erected, ostensibly
designed to wage a war against drugs, but, in reality, completely dependent
on the continued presence of "the enemy" in order to justify its very
existence.

Our officially sanctioned policy of "Just Say No Or Say Nothing" serves not
to prevent drug abuse, but rather to bar a necessary,
all-informed-viewpoints-welcome, including divergent and alternative
perspectives, public dialogue from taking place. The goal of such a
discussion should be the formulation of an effective, intelligent, humane,
protective of civil liberties and individual rights, national policy on
drugs.

I urge that such a dialogue recognize these facts:

Current drug policy has created vicious and ever expanding criminal networks
that corrupt society, including police forces, and cause far worse damage
and destruction than the substances being regulated.

It is the war against drugs, not the drugs themselves, which has turned drug
dealing into an enormous profit making machine, resulting, as was the case
with prohibition, in gangs and cartels killing each other, as well as
innocent members of their communities, in the pursuit of the greenback
dollar bill.

The harmfulness of a drug has nothing do with its legality or illegality.
Compare these facts: estimated U.S. deaths in the year 2001 attributed to
tobacco: 400,000; alcohol: 110,000; prescription drugs:'100,000; aspirin and
related painkillers: 7600; marijuana: 0.

Drugs have always been associated with human populations and are here to
stay, if only because the biological impulse to get high rivals the
biological impulse for food, water and sex.

Drug use must be distinguished from drug abuse. Drug abusers are those in
bad relationships with drugs, whether legal or illegal.

Preventing drug abuse is a viable goal. We can teach people how to satisfy
their needs and desires without recourse to drugs. We can also teach people
how to form good relationships with drugs so that if they choose to use
drugs, they remain users and not abusers.

As described in my recently published book," Deep Spirit & Great Heart:
Living In Marijuana Consciousness," responsible, respectful and disciplined
use of marijuana affords one the insight that it is a plant teacher
possessing potential enormous beneficial and healing qualities, that heaven
is not a place, but a state of consciousness, in which a joyous daily
existence, awareness of eternal truths, sexual ecstasy, heightening of
ecological awareness, and spiritual enlightenment can become a life reality.

It is time for the silence to be broken, for the truth to be told. America
needs to adopt a drug policy that heals not harms our county and its people.
We must learn from our past mistakes. We can do better than destroying the
village in order to save it.

Louis Silverstein is a professor in Liberal Education at Columbia College of
Chicago. His book "Deep Spirit & Great Heart: Living In Marijuana
Conscious-ness" is available at The Hemp Store in Paia, Miracles Bookery in
Makawao and online from www.amazon.com and www.bn.com .
__________________________________________________________________________
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: Thu, 08 Aug 2002 07:47:20 -0700
Subject: Canada: Son Expelled For Pot: Family Sues Durham School Board 

Newshawk: Steven Bacon
Pubdate: Jul 17, 2002
Source: Oshawa This Week
Copyright: 2002 Metroland Printing, Publishing, & Distributing, LTD
Contact: newsroom@durhamregion.com
Website: http://www.durhamregion.com
Author: Mike Ruta

Family Sues Durham School Board

Lawsuit claims wrongful expulsion; asks for $250,000 in damages

Mike Ruta, Staff Writer
Jul 17, 2002

DURHAM -- An Uxbridge student and his parents are suing the Durham
District School Board, five of its trustees and three staff members,
seeking $250,000 in damages and the clearing of the pupil's record.
At issue is the expulsion of the student, now 18, in January 2001.
While he has since been readmitted, the defendants claim he was
expelled based on unproven information from Durham Regional Police,
and that the board bungled the expulsion hearing, violating the
Education Act.

Whitby trustees Elizabeth Roy and Doug Ross, Brock-Uxbridge Trustee
Nancy Loraine, Oshawa Trustee Kathleen Hopper and Pickering Trustee
Jennifer Bridge are named in the suit. As well, the statement of
claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice lists
education director Grant Yeo, Uxbridge schools superintendent Bev
Freedman and Uxbridge Secondary School principal Peter Morris as
defendants.

The student and his parents cannot be identified because he was under
18 at the time of the incident.

In an interview, the student's mother said the family has been
through "hell". She did not deny police caught her son off school
property with marijuana during a holiday break, but denies he sold
drugs at the school, as Durham Regional Police and the board claim.
Sergeant Paul Malik, Durham police spokesman, said Tuesday the teen
was given a conditional discharge in the case.

The parent said she realized something might be amiss when she read
an Uxbridge Times-Journal story about a school board meeting in which
a trustee alleged his colleagues violated the Education Act in
conducting an illegal expulsion hearing. When she saw that the
hearing took place on March 19, 2001, she realized they were talking
about her son's case.

The issue has been a contentious one amongst trustees. Five trustees
formed a committee to conduct an expulsion hearing, and the entire
board of trustees later ratified the decision, a course of action
sanctioned by the board's lawyer.

Two weeks later at a standing committee meeting, Scugog Trustee
Martin Demmers argued his colleagues had no authority to form their
own committee. Other trustees, including Pickering Trustee Paul
Crawford and Oshawa Trustee Cynthia Steffen, supported Trustee
Demmers' motion the board solicit a second legal opinion. That motion
was defeated.

Earlier this year, when board members feuded over a controversial
legal bill incurred by some trustees, the trustees involved indicated
they sought advice from a lawyer after rejecting the opinion of the
board solicitor regarding an expulsion hearing.

The parent confirmed some of the trustees involved in the legal bill,
and their lawyer, had contacted her about her son's case.

In the board's statement of defence, it claims neither the student
nor his parents "took any steps in 2001, whatsoever, to appeal and/or
review the decision of the trustees.

"The defendants plead that the expulsion hearing was properly
conducted and the plaintiff's remedies, arising therefrom, if anyone
or more of them felt aggrieved, were to immediately appeal or seek
judicial review of the decision and that by their failure to do so,
they are now estopped by, amongst other things, their delay and
laches from advancing any such claim in this honourable court."

The statement says the student's arrest "was a continuation of an
investigation that was conducted at the school, relating to (the
student's) direct involvement in the distribution of narcotics on
school property."

Alan Farrer, the board's lawyer, said in an interview there are two
parallel proceedings, a judicial review and a lawsuit, that will be
dealt with at different times. He expected the review to take place
sometime this year but estimated the trial likely would not be held
this year.

Mr. Farrer said it was not appropriate to get into details of the
case. However, he acknowledged Mr. Morris was not present at the
expulsion hearing. The family claims that's a violation of the
Education Act, a claim rejected by Mr. Farrer.

=====
peace:-)==U```
Steven

------------------------------
Date: Thu, 08 Aug 2002 07:51:50 -0700
Subject: MPP's paid signature drive fails in DC

D.C. Marijuana Petitions Fall Short
By Michael Vasquez
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 8, 2002; Page B04

  The District's summer of disputed signatures spread to a new forum=
 yesterday
as a local medical marijuana advocacy group found itself butting heads with
the same agency that voted last month to keep Mayor Anthony A. Williams off
the Democratic primary ballot when his nominating petitions were found to be
plagued with irregularities.

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, though acknowledging the possibility
that its staff members made mistakes in examining the signatures, told
representatives from the Marijuana Policy Project that they had failed to
gather enough valid signatures to put the issue before voters. The group has
been working to place on the ballot an initiative that would decriminalize
medical use of marijuana.

For the marijuana initiative to make it onto the ballot, supporters are
required to submit 17,455 signatures -- representing 5 percent of the city's
registered voters. That total must include 5 percent of the voters in five=
 of
the city's eight wards. Election board officials said the marijuana group=
 had
fallen about 100 signatures short of meeting the requirement in one of the
five wards.

But Marijuana Policy Project Executive Director Robert Kampia said the board
had thrown out several hundred valid signatures for no reason. The group=
 says
it may appeal the board's decision in court.

=A9 2002 The Washington Post Company

CRRH is working to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis to adults like=20
alcohol, allow doctors to recommend cannabis through pharmacies and restore=
=20
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/

------------------------------
Date: Thu, 08 Aug 2002 11:36:39 -0700
Subject: DC initiative

       FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 7, 2002


   D.C. Board of Elections Rejects Medical Marijuana Petitions
   Admits 1 Out of 7 Valid Signatures Were Ignored
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is considering its 
legal options after the Washington, D.C., Board of Elections and Ethics 
(BOEE) refused to correct its erroneous omission of thousands of valid 
signatures for Initiative 63, the Medical Marijuana Initiative of 2002.

      "The Board has acted capriciously and unfairly," said MPP Executive 
Director Robert Kampia. "We presented clear evidence of massive errors by 
the Board's staff, but the Board refused to use its discretion to uphold 
the will of D.C. voters."

      Initiative petitions must contain valid signatures from five percent 
of the District's registered voters, and that total must include five 
percent of voters from at least five of the city's eight wards. There is no 
dispute that the more than 18,000 signatures accepted by the Board met the 
citywide requirement, but the BOEE claimed that MPP had presented enough 
valid signatures from only four of eight wards. In Ward 4, the board 
claimed MPP fell approximately 100 signatures short.

      But MPP's review of the Board's work found that massive numbers of 
valid signatures had been falsely ruled invalid. An analysis of nearly 
4,000 allegedly bad signatures found that at least 15 percent were clearly 
valid.

      Kampia and MPP Director of Government Relations Steve Fox met with 
Registrar Kathy Fairley prior to the Board's deliberations and presented 
her with the results of the MPP's analysis. After reviewing a sample of 
petitions, Fairley agreed that a large number of perfectly good signatures 
had been erroneously disallowed -- and reported that finding to the board.

      But rather than owning up to the massive errors and extrapolating the 
results of MPP's analysis, BOEE Chairman Benjamin F. Wilson insisted that 
MPP must either verify each and every falsely invalidated signature -- a 
project that would cost the nonprofit group approximately 400 person-hours 
of staff time, on top of the 100 hours already spent identifying and 
correcting the Board's mistakes -- or trust the same staff that made the 
errors in the first place to re-check their work.

      "This is outrageous," Kampia said. "Whether out of malice or simple 
incompetence, the Board screwed up, and now they insist that our staff and 
members must shoulder the burden of fixing their mistakes. That's not 
acceptable. The Board of Elections and Ethics has fraudulently 
disenfranchised thousands of District voters and then refused to take 
responsibility for its actions. We didn't pick this fight, but we will win it."

      The Marijuana Policy Project works to minimize the harm associated 
with marijuana -- both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are 
intended to prohibit such use. In association with Students for Sensible 
Drug Policy, MPP will hold its first national conference -- featuring a 
special appearance by comedian Bill Maher -- on November 8-10 in Anaheim, 
California.



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 #159
********************************