Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 08:50:24 -0700
Subject:Canada: 'Life And Death' Medical Marijuana Case Delayed Up TOC

Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Pubdate: Thu, 08 Aug 2002
Source: Chilliwack Progress (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 The Chilliwack Progress
Contact: editor@theprogress.com
Website: http://www.theprogress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/562
Author: Robert Freeman
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

'LIFE AND DEATH' MEDICAL MARIJUANA CASE DELAYED

A 'life and death' request for a court-ordered medical marijuana exemption
was adjourned for two weeks by a B.C. Supreme Court Justice in Chilliwack
Tuesday.

Justice Robert Hunter also refused to order an interim exemption for Steve
Kubby, a U.S. marijuana activist who claims the drug is the only thing that
has kept him from dying of cancer.

"Without an exemption to allow Mr. Kubby to use medical marijuana, in my
submission it will endanger his life," defense lawyer Dale Pedersen told
the court. "If he's not allowed to use medical marijuana, his adrenal
glands are going to start pumping adrenaline into his system - and even a
minimal amount could kill him."

But federal crown counsel Peter Kennedy suggested the two-week adjournment
to Aug. 19 would not affect Mr. Kubby's health, according to medical
evidence submitted to the court, and that he would not in any case be
"deprived" of his marijuana.

"There's nothing about use affected (by the adjournment)," he said.

But Mr. Pedersen said his client, already charged with growing marijuana in
his Sechelt home, does not have a "stable source" and the court delay would
force him to obtain the drug illegally - and possibly be arrested again.

"I'm not sure if the Crown is condoning (the illegal purchase)," Mr.
Pedersen said.

This is the second adjournment requested by the federal Crown since the
case came to the Chilliwack court last month.

Mr. Kennedy in his submission for the adjournment also noted the
defendant's legal status in Canada has not yet been determined. Mr. Kubby,
a 55-year-old California resident, moved to Canada in May 2001 and is now
seeking political refugee status here.

Justice Hunter refused to order the exemption Tuesday, or to grant an
interim order as requested by Mr. Kubby's lawyer.

"I'm not prepared to make that order today," he said.

"You're putting my husband's life in danger," Michelle Kubby, angrily told
the Justice, whose decision was made before her husband and a small group
of supporters had returned to the courtroom.

"The court told me to go out and break the law for two weeks," Mr. Kubby
said later outside the courtroom. "I'm astounded by that."

He said marijuana compassion clubs do not stock enough of the drug to meet
his needs of nearly one pound per month. In April police seized 154 plants
growing in his Sechelt home, which led to his arrest.

Brian Carlisle, who is also seeking a medical marijuana exemption, and
recently opened a compassion club in downtown Chilliwack, was also not in
the courtroom when his case was adjourned to Sept. 3.

But earlier he sat in the courtroom, grim-faced and choking back tears,
after a spectator outside had accused him of faking his medical condition.

Mr. Carlisle, who has been seeking a marijuana exemption from Health Canada
for nearly two years, said he was recently informed his condition is now
terminal.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Alex
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 08:51:29 -0700
Subject:GA: Nevada Is Not Just Blowing Smoke About Up TOC

Newshawk: chip
Pubdate: Sat, 10 Aug 2002
Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA)
Copyright: 2002 Athens Newspapers Inc
Contact: news@onlineathens.com
Website: http://www.onlineathens.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535
Author: Ed Tant
Note: The author has been an activist since 1968 and a journalist in Athens
since 1974.

NEVADA IS NOT JUST BLOWING SMOKE ABOUT MARIJUANA REFORM

"All great ideas are controversial, or have been at one time," said
courageous American journalist George Seldes.

In November, voters in Nevada will have a chance to vote on the great but
still controversial issue of marijuana law reform. According to The New
York Times of Aug. 2, "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."

This is an idea whose time has come in Nevada and around the nation. Billy
Rogers of Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, the group that put the
reform measure on the state's November ballot, told the Times, "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."

Actually, most Nevadans seem about equally divided over the issue. The Las
Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada's largest daily newspaper, polled voters in
the Silver State and found that 44 percent of them favored the marijuana
legalization initiative, 46 percent were against it and 10 percent were
undecided.

On July 7, the newspaper endorsed the idea, saying that current harsh pot
laws push "the needless harassment of individuals who peacefully and
privately use marijuana. Nine states have in the last six years passed
initiatives allowing patients to use marijuana with a doctor's prescription
to ease the symptoms of such ills as AIDS and cancer, and about a dozen
states have ceased jailing citizens for possession of small amounts of
cannabis since Oregon pioneered marijuana decriminalization in 1974.

The proposed reforms in Nevada are far more sweeping than those in any
other state. The initiative would end criminal penalties for possession of
up to three ounces of the weed by citizens 21 or older and would, according
to The New York Times, "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."

Pro-pot backers of the legalization measure say that, if enacted, it would
have safeguards such as bans against advertising marijuana, selling it to
anyone under 21 or selling it near schools or in public places such as parks.

Keith Stroup of the Washington-based National Organization for the Reform
of Marijuana Laws called the Nevada proposal "a landmark initiative that
seeks more than what any state has accomplished so far." He also admitted
the federal government would probably never stand for the initiative. "It
is highly unlikely that the federal government would allow a state to
create a legal market," said Stroup, "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."

It's time for Congress, the courts and the White House to quit standing in
the way of freedom and compassion on the marijuana issue. For too many
decades, America's benighted pot laws have shown the hemp hypocrisy of both
major political parties.

Thirty years ago, in 1972, Republican President Richard Nixon ignored the
results of a national commission that recommended reforms in the pot laws.
In spite of the fact that the Nixon-era commission was chaired by a GOP
governor of Pennsylvania, Nixon dismissed its findings by snarling on his
now notorious White House tapes, "Every one of the bastards that are out
for legalizing marijuana are Jewish."

Under the White House administrations of both William J. "I Didn't Inhale"
Clinton and George W. "I Won't Say if I Did or Didn't" Bush, marijuana
arrests have soared to record numbers and cannabis clubs for medical
marijuana buyers have been hounded by big government federal agents from
both political parties.

While Europe currently reaps the benefits of pot law reform there, American
politicians of both major parties would do well to heed the wise words of
Abraham Lincoln who said, "Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in
that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a
crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow
at the very principles upon which our government was founded."
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Alex
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 08:52:54 -0700
Subject:NY: Pot Ring Charges A Shock To New Lebanon Residents Up TOC

Newshawk: Alex
Pubdate: Sat, 10 Aug 2002
Source: Times Union (Albany, NY)
Copyright: 2002 Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation
Contact: tuletters@timesunion.com
Website: http://www.timesunion.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/452
Author: Andrew Tilghman

POT RING CHARGES A SHOCK TO NEW LEBANON RESIDENTS

AUTHORITIES PLAN MORE ARRESTS IN HUGE UPSTATE MARIJUANA INVESTIGATION

NEW LEBANON -- Residents around this tiny town reacted with shock Friday, a
day after a local businessman and racing team owner was named as a leader
of one of the largest marijuana rings broken up in years.

"He had it made without doing that stuff," said Jim Thomas, a 39-year-old
Pittsfield resident and regular at the Lebanon Valley Speedway. "It came as
a surprise to everyone."

Meanwhile, federal officials said they planned to make a second wave of
arrests following the roundup of Thomas Overbaugh and six others this week
on charges that they brought hundreds of pounds of Mexican marijuana from
Arizona into upstate New York and western Massachusetts.

"This is not the end of it," said Bill Hebert, group supervisor of the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration's Albany office. "There's going to be more
arrests in our area."

The biggest draw in this rural corner of Columbia County is the speedway
where Overbaugh, a 40-year-old father of two, was known as the only owner
of a two-car racing team. On the track on Thursday night, Overbaugh's
driver raced in a car that had been stripped of its Overbaugh Motorsports
logo, Thomas said.

A yearlong wiretap investigation led to the indictment in Albany federal
court Wednesday of seven accused marijuana dealers on a single count of
conspiring to buy and sell marijuana. The government plans to seize more
than $1 million in real estate, cash and cars from the group.

A couple who lived in Arizona and rented a home in New Lebanon, Kevin and
Terry Driscoll, both 41, appeared Friday in federal court in Tucson, Ariz.
They waived their extradition hearing and will be sent to Albany to answer
the charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian said.

The seven defendants are accused of scheming to transport and deal between
400 and 700 pounds of marijuana from the Driscolls' home in Tucson to the
"stash house" they rented on Route 20 a few miles from the Massachusetts
border.

Overbaugh and a co-defendant who appeared in federal court with him on
Thursday, Bernard O'Neil, 41 of Stephentown, remained at Schenectady County
jail on Friday, held on $300,000 bail.

Overbaugh owns Taconic Valley Trucking, a hauling company in Pittsfield,
Mass., with 40 employees. Prosecutors said the firm is deeply in debt and
that Overbaugh used proceeds from marijuana trafficking to meet his payroll.

Surveillance of the New Lebanon home revealed O'Neil often dropping by and
leaving moments later with a bag, Hartunian said.

The Driscolls had rented the modest, midsize home in New Lebanon for more
than five years, and their landlord, Ralph Chittenden, who lived nearby,
said he knew nothing about their alleged drug activity. "All I knew is they
paid their rent," he said Friday.

Neighbors surrounding the alleged "stash house" along Route 20 recalled
occasionally seeing the motor home that belonged to James Womble of
Arizona, who also was indicted, in the driveway of the house.

"I never thought anything of it," said Pat Whitman, a 34-year-old New
Lebanon man who said he moved out of Albany's South End neighborhood
several years ago because of increased drug activity and related problems.

During a July 31 raid, federal agents found several pounds of marijuana but
made no large seizure of drugs. They did find more than $262,000 stowed
behind a wall in O'Neil's home, which prosecutors believe would be used to
pay for a new delivery.

Defendants Shane Power and Charles Smith, of Pittsfield, Mass., appeared in
federal court in Springfield, Mass., Wednesday and were released on $50,000
bail pending arraignment in Albany.

Federal officials have begun forfeiture proceedings against the seven
alleged drug runners, seeking to seize 10 cars, three properties and more
than $400,000 in cash uncovered in the raid.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Alex
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 08:54:05 -0700
Subject:AZ: Pot-Themed Sandwich Shops Grow In E Valley Up TOC

Newshawk: Kirk Muse
Pubdate: Sat, 10 Aug 2002
Source: East Valley Tribune (AZ)
Copyright: 2002 East Valley Tribune
Contact: BSchuster@AZTrib.com
Website: http://www.aztrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1795
Author: Dave Woodfill

POT-THEMED SANDWICH SHOPS GROW IN AREA

Scott Jennings' marijuana themed submarine sandwich shop business is
growing like a weed in the East Valley. Soon, it will expand to other parts
of Arizona.

The 32-year-old owner of Cheba Hut shops in Tempe and Mesa started his
first pot-themed restaurant only five years ago, but today he is planning
three franchises in Tucson, Flagstaff and Lake Havasu.

The sandwich shops -- which proudly display the motto "Where the only thing
fried is an occasional customer" on the door -- are at 960 W. University
Drive in Tempe and 1710 W. Southern Ave. in Mesa.

The two Cheba Hut locations in the East Valley are adorned with ubiquitous
marijuana imagery. Even the restaurant's name "Cheba" is slang for pot.
Jennings went as far as to give Cheba Hut's 25 sandwiches their own
marijuana monikers such as the "Cronic," "The Shwag," and "Acapulco Gold."
Instead of referring to the sandwich sizes as "small," "medium" and
"large," Cheba Hut's menus calls them pinners, nugs and blunts -- slang for
various sizes of marijuana joints. The prices range from $2.20 to $6.89.

Jennings, an Arizona State University alumnus with a degree in
communications, said he worked at several sandwich shops when he was a student.

"Nobody was really doing anything cool . . . just selling food," Jennings
said. "You got to have a ploy."

He wouldn't disclose how profitable the business is, but he said it is
profitable. In his own words: "In the volume of business we do, I'd put it
up against anyone in the sandwich realm."

Kyle Dakota, manager of the Mesa shop, which is across the street from Mesa
Community College, said he serves up to 300 people during lunchtime when
school is in session.

He said the restaurant theme doesn't bother most customers.

The idea to start the restaurant came to Jennings after he saw the Cheech &
Chong film "Nice Dreams." In the film, the two main characters figure out a
way to get rich by covertly selling pot from an ice cream truck decorated
with images of the plant. Like Jennings' sandwiches, the various ice cream
flavors in the movie all had their own weedtheme name.

"I actually thought it was a pretty ingenious marketing idea," said Mesa
resident Paul Brice, who was eating at the Mesa restaurant with his
girlfriend, Katherine Pfleuger-Riley, this past week.

Pfleuger-Riley and Brice said the marijuana motif doesn't offend them and
they became loyal customers after their first visit.

"The toasted subs are better, the food is fresher," Brice said.

Jennings said his customers come from all walks of life -- from college
kids to business professionals.

"We actually get a lot of baby boomers in here," he said. They come in and
say, 'Oh, I can remember that.' It makes them kind of smile." Asked if he
was glamorizing or encourage drug use, Jennings replied, "I don't want to
glamorize it. I just want people to be realistic about it. It's just a weed
. . . They outlawed a weed."

Jennings said he chose to start his own business because he liked people,
but he hated working for others. But he acknowledges that to become
successful in business, a person can't be afraid of long hours and doing a
lot of grunt work. He said in the first two or three years operating Cheba
Hut he was working 90 to 100 hours a week.

"You got to put your time in. It's just now getting to the point where I
can start thinking about expanding," he said. Asked what makes his
customers return to Cheba Hut, Jennings said it is a combination of food
quality and atmosphere.

"It's the non-corporate attitude where you actually look people in the
face," he said. "My employees -- we're happy here.

"Everything's fresh, everything is made to order. Nothing's sitting under
the heat lamp."

Despite the restaurant's theme, Jennings said he won't tolerate employee
drug use.

"We obviously have to be very strict," he said. "We can't have my employees
coming in high."
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Alex
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 08:57:15 -0700
Subject:NV: Police Group Retracts Support of Marijuana Ballot Up TOC

Pubdate: Sat, 10 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, Review-Journal
Cited: Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement http://www.nrle.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?162 (Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement)

POLICE GROUP RETRACTS SUPPORT OF MARIJUANA BALLOT MEASURE

A Nevada police organization responded to a three-day outcry against its
support of a ballot question that would relax marijuana possession laws by
yanking its endorsement Friday.

Andy Anderson, the leading advocate of the endorsement, then resigned as
president of the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs, saying he didn't
want to harm the credibility or integrity of the organization he helped
found 23 years ago.

"I don't want NCOPS' endorsements watered down," he said. "The bottom line
is, I care for this organization."

The controversy created by the support for Question 9 would have had a
spillover effect into the group's highly sought candidate endorsements,
Anderson said.

But he insisted there is a silent majority, even within police, who believe
that arresting people in possession of small amounts of marijuana is a
waste of resources and detracts from more important crimes.

After a formal board vote, NCOPS now opposes Question 9, which will ask
voters in November to place in the Nevada Constitution language
decriminalizing home use of less than 3 ounces of the drug. It would make
Nevada's marijuana laws the most lenient in the United States.

Anderson, who supports Question 9, conducted a phone survey on the question
and announced Tuesday the endorsement was approved by a 9-0 vote.
Afterward, law enforcement officials from police, the district attorney's
office and unions objected to the highly publicized endorsement.

Then it was revealed there was no board meeting and no formal vote.

The endorsement had been a coup for Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement, the group formed to promote the ballot question, and its
leader, Billy Rogers, predicted the endorsement would help them win the
vote in the Nov. 5 general election. On Friday, Rogers said, "I don't think
this means we will lose the election. We would have won the election
without NCOPS endorsement or with it."

But he challenged the veracity of the NCOPS board members, who said they
were confused when Anderson called and asked them how they felt about
Question 9.

Four out of five NCOPS board members contacted Thursday said they hadn't
thought it was a vote, nor had they understood the question. The four said
they believed it was a question involving medical use of marijuana. There
had been a Question 9 in 1998 and 2000 on permitting the medical use of the
drug.

"Either they were not telling the truth or they had their head in the sand
the last month," a clearly angry Rogers said.

Mick Gillins, the NCOPS vice president who became president upon Anderson's
resignation; David Burns, president of the Henderson Police Officers
Association; Mike Mcban of the North Las Vegas Police Officers Association;
and Ron Cuzze of the State Peace Officers Council all told the
Review-Journal they thought the question was related to medical marijuana,
not the decriminalization of small amounts of the drug.

In another move, Rogers said he believes two law enforcement officials
might have violated state and federal law by appearing on television with
bags of marijuana to show how much marijuana comprises 3 ounces.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker and Las Vegas police Detective
Todd Raybuck both appeared on television with the bags of the drug.

Rogers said he'll ask state and federal officials to investigate whether
that broke any laws by using the marijuana as a prop in a political campaign.

Booker's response: "Nonsense."

Said Raybuck: "I did that under the direction of (Undersheriff) Dick
Winget. The narcotics was checked out as evidence and used for the training
and education of the public."

ACLU of Nevada board member JoNell Thomas, a Las Vegas attorney, said if
Booker and Raybuck "want to campaign against Question 9, they shouldn't do
it with taxpayer dollars."

David Kallas, executive director of the 2,100-member Las Vegas Police
Protective Association, earlier said he was embarrassed by the endorsement.
On Friday, he said he hoped the revocation of the endorsement, along with
Anderson's resignation, puts the issue to rest.

"Andy, to preserve the integrity of NCOPS, did something nobody expected
him to do," Kallas said. "He took an extraordinary step, and it speaks to
his character because he put his life into that organization."

This wasn't the first time Anderson butted heads with other police union
officials.

He became president of NCOPS after he was ousted in April 2000 as president
of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association. He opposed demands for an
audit of the PPA's self-insured health plan, which cost him the support of
scores of members.


------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 08:58:45 -0700
Subject:NV: Sheriff Romero Opposed to Question 9 Up TOC

Pubdate: Sat, 10 Aug 2002
Source: Ely Daily Times (NV)
Copyright: 2002 Daily Times
Contact: 297 11th St E Ely, NV 89301
Website: http://www.elynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2325

SHERIFF ROMERO OPPOSED TO QUESTION 9

Supporters of Question 9 on the November ballot won't find any support from
the White Pine County Sheriff's Office.

Earlier this week Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs President Andy
Anderson said the NCOPS nine-member board had voted unanimously to support
the ballot question, which would change Nevada's Constitution, allowing
adults to possess up to three ounces of marijuana legally.

Since Anderson's announcement, NCOPS board members and other police
organizations, have denounced the alleged endorsement (see adjacent story).

But there's no confusion at the White Pine County Sheriff's Office.

"We definitely don't support it," Sheriff Bernie Romero told the Times
yesterday. "The sheriffs and chiefs (of police) don't support it... and I
don't support it."

Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, actually a national group that
started the ballot initiative, claims legalizing marijuana would allow the
police to put more of their resources into fighting serious crimes.

But Romero said since Nevada reduced possession of one ounce or less of
marijuana to a misdemeanor last October, there have been few cases. The
citation is handled like a traffic ticket now. Those charged are either
fined or forfeit their bail.

Romero said he believes that legalizing marijuana would lead to more cases:
driving under the influence, sales, under-aged smokers or smoking in public.

And if it becomes legal, "that's just going to lead to something else,"
Romero added.



------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 08:59:48 -0700
Subject:NV: NCOPS Endorsement of Question 9 Questioned Up TOC

Pubdate: Sat, 10 Aug 2002
Source: Ely Daily Times (NV)
Copyright: 2002 Daily Times
Contact: 297 11th St E Ely, NV 89301
Website: http://www.elynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2325
Author: Jane Ann Morrison, Las Vegas Review Journal

NCOPS ENDORSEMENT OF QUESTION 9 QUESTIONED

Two days after a police organization announced its support for a ballot
question decriminalizing possession of less than 3 ounces of marijuana,
that support crumbled.

Four board members with the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs
disagreed with the assertion earlier this week by the organization's
president, Andy Anderson, that the board's nine members voted unanimously
to support Question 9.

They said that an official vote never took place and that they believed any
discussions on the issue concerned medical use of marijuana, not legalization.

The organization was to hold a board meeting Friday to discuss what several
of its members are describing as a miscommunication.

News that a police group would support a controversial ballot question
received national attention.

But Thursday, board members representing the Las Vegas Police Protective
Association, North Las Vegas Police Officers Association, Henderson Police
Officers' Association, the State Peace Officers Council and the Clark
County School Police Officers Association said their unions will not
support Question 9.

Anderson said he thinks some are changing their position because of
pressure from their members. And he challenged their recollections of the
discussions.

"They all told me they support the initiative that if someone is 21 or
older they can smoke in the privacy of their home," he said.

NCOPS is an umbrella group for police unions representing more than 3,000
members of law enforcement.

Possession of up to an ounce of marijuana is a misdemeanor dealt with as a
ticket and punished by fines of up to $600 for the first two offenses.
Question 9 would amend Nevada's constitution to say adults over 21 who are
not in public places cannot be prosecuted for possession of less than 3
ounces of marijuana. Anderson had said NCOPS believes that to arrest and
book people for small amounts of marijuana is a waste of resources.

David Burns, president of the Henderson Police Officers' Association and
secretary-treasurer of NCOPS, said that when he talked to Anderson: "I
thought it was something we were going to place on the agenda for a future
vote. I was not aware we were looking to take a vote. This is important
enough to discuss the pros and cons. ... I believed I was just chatting."

Burns said he was not fully aware of the details of Question 9 and thought
it addressed medical use. He said he is changing his position now that he
knows it addresses decriminalization.

Some of the confusion might be because the medical marijuana initiative
that appeared on the ballot in 1998 and 2000 appeared as a Question 9.
Also, the new Question 9 has language addressing medical use, including how
to cultivate, tax, sell and advertise marijuana for medical purposes.

North Las Vegas Police Officers Association Mike Mcban said he thought
Anderson "was talking about medical marijuana. ... Andy said he wanted to
make a public statement and wanted to sound us out on it. It was not a vote."

Mcban said he would not vote to endorse the question.

Board member Mick Gillins from the Police Protective Association said that
he thought the question concerned medical marijuana and that he now would
vote against it. Ron Cuzze, the board member representing the State Peace
Officers Council, said: "I thought I was being asked an opinion. I've never
read the initiative, and I don't think any of us have." The union's members
are against Question 9, he said.

Phil Gervasi, president of the Clark County School Police Officers
Association and a vice president of NCOPS, was the only member who was not
confused by the question.

Gervasi said he supports Question 9, but his group will not.

"We're definitely not supporting it or taking any stand on it. We deal with
children, and we're not going to make children feel this is the way to go.
My personal feeling is that if they're 21 and in their house, they can do
what they want. But there will be no endorsement."

Though his union may not back Question 9, Gervasi said he may do so as an
individual member of the board. He said he wants to hear a full debate
before making up his mind. He said Anderson explained to him that "this
would put us in the loop where we could be part of the regulation" when the
Legislature would create penalties for public use.

David Kallas, executive director of the Police Protective Association, said
he chooses not to serve on the NCOPS board. "But I've got real issues with
an organization taking a stand on a significant issue without sitting down
and going over every line."

The NCOPS endorsement "embarrassed me personally and professionally because
of our relationship with NCOPS," said Kallas, a former vice officer.

He predicted a turnaround. "It's sure to be pretty much a no-brainer," he
said. "They'll say sorry we've made a mistake, and we're not supporting it."

After the initial endorsement, opponents of the question voiced their concerns.

Clark County Undersheriff Richard Winget said he was shocked at NCOPS'
position. "People with 1 ounce or less get a ticket, that doesn't clog up
the system. Three ounces is a lot of pot. Marijuana is like straw; it
doesn't weigh very much. Three ounces is 120 marijuana cigarettes. That's
not personal use; that's what a dealer might have."

Winget said 36 percent of the people police arrest are under the influence
of marijuana.

As far as Anderson's contention that police are spending too much time
handling petty drug cases, Winget said Las Vegas police this year have
booked just 49 cases in which a small amount of pot was involved. Drug
charges are usually secondary to another crime, he said.

Gary Booker, the chief deputy district attorney in charge of the vehicular
crimes unit, said anti-DUI activists and victims groups will organize to
fight the question because of fears it will weaken drunken-driving
prosecutions.

Billy Rogers, who leads the group promoting the ballot question, declined
to speculate what a withdrawal of the endorsement would mean. He praised
the "tremendous courage" of the nine board members. When told five
associations are not expected to stick with that position, Rogers praised
the "original support."

Despite the loss of support from his board, Anderson said he will continue
to work on behalf of the question. "This was a commitment I made because I
believe in the issue. ... If I have to, I'll carry it as an individual or
as president," 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: Jay Bergstrom

------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 09:00:52 -0700
Subject: CA: War On Drugs Goes To Hollywood Up TOC


Newshawk: The War on Drugs IS Terrorism
Pubdate: Sun, 11 Aug 2002
Source: Hendersonville Times-News (NC)
Contact: tnletters@hendersonvillenews.com
Copyright: 2002 Hendersonville Newspaper Corporation
Website: http://www.hendersonvillenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/793
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?203 (Terrorism)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?194 (Hutchinson, Asa)

WAR ON DRUGS GOES TO HOLLYWOOD

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The people waging the war on drugs have gone Hollywood.

Officials with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration briefed producers,
directors and writers on the connection between drug trafficking and
terrorism and, offered to consult on movies and television programs.

About 40 people, including film directors Michael Mann and Arthur Hiller and
people behind such TV series as "Third Watch" and "E.R.," gathered at the
Beverly Hills Hotel Wednesday to hear DEA Director Asa Hutchinson, as well
as the agency's intelligence chief and a former undercover agent.

"I was stunned," said Anne Sweeney, president of ABC Cable Networks Group, a
unit of The Walt Disney Co. "It helped deepen people's understanding of the
challenges our country faces in the war on drugs."

The meeting was organized by the Entertainment Industries Council, a
nonprofit group that helps writers and producers depict social and health
issues including AIDS, alcohol abuse and gun violence.

"The DEA knows more about terrorism and drugs than anybody," said Brian
Dyak, the EIC's president and chief executive. "If they're willing to open
their doors a little and the information becomes a part of story lines, it's
a service to the public."

A DEA spokesman said the agency is trying to emerge from its often necessary
shroud of secrecy to offer technical help the same way the Pentagon and the
CIA consult on movies such as the recent blockbuster The Sum of All Fears.

"We don't expect to try and directly shape what some screenwriter is going
to write," DEA spokesman Chris Battle said. "Our goal was simply to provide
a more realistic and accurate version of the drug war and what kind of
challenges, what kind of threats our agents face every day."
__________________________________________________________________________
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: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 09:03:00 -0700
Subject: OH: Drugs-Policy Backers May Make Ballot Up TOC

Newshawk: Plylar - State Congress - http://www.plylar.org
Pubdate: Wed, 07 Aug 2002
Source: Dayton Daily News (OH)
Copyright: 2002 Dayton Daily News
Contact: edletter@coxohio.com
Website: http://www.activedayton.com/partners/ddn/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/120
Author: Kristy Eckert and William Hershey
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?206 (Ohio Campaign for New Drug Policies)

DRUGS-POLICY BACKERS MAY MAKE BALLOT

Group Plans to File Signatures, Force Vote on Issue

COLUMBUS - A group that would require Ohio to treat many nonviolent drug
offenders rather than incarcerate them appears to have collected enough
signatures to put the proposal on the November ballot.

But Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery and four county prosecutors, at
a news conference Tuesday, blasted the group's proposed constitutional
amendment, which would give certain nonviolent drug offenders two chances
in treatment programs before facing limited jail time with their third
offense. The amendment would require the state to spend $38 million a year
on the effort for the first six years.

The Ohio Campaign for New Drug Policies on Tuesday announced that it will
file about 650,000 to 700,000 signatures - roughly twice the required
335,000 needed to put the amendment to a statewide vote.

The filing deadline is today. The petitions are to be submitted to the
secretary of state's office, and signatures will be sorted by county and
given to each county board of elections to be validated. The process will
take three weeks or longer, said Chris Abbruzze, secretary of state spokesman.

Ohioans Against Unsafe Drug Laws, an organization co-chaired by Hope Taft,
wife of Gov. Bob Taft, and created to defeat the amendment, does not plan
to try to invalidate signatures, said spokeswoman Jenny Camper.

"We do expect a real high rate of error," she said, but "we're assuming
that they'll probably have enough valid signatures."

Dave Fratello, political director for the drug initiative's national
organization, said the petitions have been running at a "60 percent- plus"
validity rate.

The Ohio initiative is part of the national Campaign for New Drug Policies,
which has successfully pushed similar changes in Arizona and California,
and mounted a losing effort in Massachusetts, Fratello said. The effort is
backed by billionaires George Soros, Peter Lewis and John Sperling, and
this year is also running campaigns in Michigan and Washington, D.C.

Fratello estimated the campaign will spend about $3 million in Ohio,
including money spent gathering signatures, but, he said, "There's a big X
factor about how much money (Gov. Taft's) going to raise."

Taft has sent letters to potential donors asking up to $25,000 each to help
him defeat the issue.

Critics argue that the issue belongs in the General Assembly, not the state
constitution. But Ed Orlett, the campaign's Ohio director, said,
legislation similar to the initiative has been introduced in the General
Assembly, and remained untouched since last October.

He also said the mandated $38 million a year is "pretty puny compared to
what (other constitutional amendments) have done."

"Ohio's drug abuse problem is also a serious, unmet social need," said
Orlett, a former state representative from Dayton.

Attorney General Montgomery, however, called the amendment "a systematic
and dangerous attempt to dismantle the checks and balances that are
embedded in our criminal justice system."

Montgomery, a former state legislator and county prosecutor, said it would
be a mistake to pass the proposal as a constitutional amendment. As such,
no changes could be made without a vote of the people, even if mistakes
were found, she said.

In addition, the state would be required to make the spending on drug
programs a priority above education, prisons, parks and other areas not
specifically covered in the constitution, Montgomery said.

The proposed amendment, at 6,500 words, is longer than the U.S.
Constitution, she added.

"It's complex. It's vague. It's full of loopholes," said Montgomery, a
Republican.

Two Democratic prosecutors - Lynn Grimshaw of Scioto County and Victor
Vigluicci of Portage County - and two Republican prosecutors - Stephen
Schumaker of Clark County and Mike Allen of Hamilton County - said the
proposed amendment would hamper efforts to fight illegal drugs use.

"It's basically a decriminalization bill," Grimshaw said.

Education, treatment and law enforcement all are required to combat drugs
and the amendment would badly hamper law enforcement said Schumaker,
president of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

Orlett said, "They're just trying to scare people. . . . I guess that's
what you do in war when you're losing."

Fratello said polls show 65 percent of Ohioans support the issue, a higher
percentage than Californians who supported it at this time in that election.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 09:17:12 -0700
Subject: OH: 700,000 Ohioans Sign Petitions Backing Plan For Drug Offenders

Title: 700,000 Ohioans Sign Petitions Backing Plan For Drug Offenders Up TOC
Author: The Blade
Source: The Blade
Contact: letters@theblade.com
Website: http://www.toledoblade.com/
Pubdate: Thursday, August 8, 2002

Ohio -- Supporters of a constitutional amendment that would require
treatment instead of jail time for first and second-time drug offenders
said they turned in 700,000 signatures yesterday to get the measure before
state voters.

Diane Firlik, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Secretary of State, confirmed
signatures were turned in, but said she did not know how many.

The Ohio chapter of the Campaign for New Drug Policies needs 335,442 valid
signatures to get the item on the ballot. Lucas County election officials
have been investigating problems with some of the petitions and many of
the signatures could be ruled invalid.

Rob Stewart, national campaign manager for New Drug Policies, said his
organization is cooperating with election officials in their
investigation. He said because his group turned in more than 700,000
signatures, there should be more than enough signatures. He said at least
65 percent will meet state requirements.

Ms. Firlik said it will take three to four weeks for the state to certify
the signatures.

Mr. Stewart and other local supporters of the ballot initiative held a
news conference in Toledo yesterday.

"Treatment costs less than cycling someone in and out of the criminal
justice system," Mr. Stewart said.

Mansour Bey, a minister at First Church of God in Toledo, said too many
drug offenders are spending time in jail instead of getting help.

"America, the land of the free, has become the land of the imprisoned," he
said. "There's not so much a war on drugs as a war on those addicted to
drugs."

Gov. Bob Taft, Toledo Mayor Jack Ford, and local drug-treatment and
law-enforcement officials have criticized the amendment proposal, saying
it is a veiled attempt to legalize drugs.

The opponents have said judges need the "stick" of jail time to convince
drug offenders to shape up. Mr. Ford has said the amendment would increase
crime if passed, something supporters such as Mr. Stewart and Mr. Bey
deny.

First Lady Hope Taft also has criticized the amendment proposal because
she said it is being pushed by rich, out-of-state interests. Voters in
California and Arizona have approved similar measures bankrolled by
billionaire financier George Soros; Peter Lewis, chairman of Progressive
Insurance of Mayfield Heights, Ohio, and John Sperling, who founded the
University of Phoenix.

Copyright The Blade.



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/

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End of Restore-Digest V2002 #163
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