Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005
Subject: #315 Feds Escalate War On Activists

FEDS ESCALATE WAR ON ACTIVISTS

*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #315 – Tue, 16 August 2005

It is becoming increasingly clear that the federal government is
seeking to silence marijuana activists in every way possible. When it
appears that a medical marijuana activist may walk under state laws,
the feds step in.

Fred Gardner’s column “Feds Takeover Prosecution of Dustin Costa”
discusses a good example. Please read the column for details:

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n1327.a10.html

You would not know the full story without reading Mr. Gardner’s column
by reading the article, below, from the Merced Sun-Star. Please send a
letter to the editor to the Sun-Star focusing on the full story.

Also please consider writing about this issue to the other newspapers
in the valley from Bakersfield to Sacramento. Here is a list of major
newspapers with the contacts for letters:

Bakersfield Californian Contact: [email protected]

Fresno Bee Contact: [email protected]

Lodi News-Sentinel Contact: [email protected]

Modesto Bee Contact: [email protected]

Sacramento Bee Contact: [email protected]

**********************************************************************

Pubdate: Mon, 15 Aug 2005
Source: Merced Sun-Star (CA)
Copyright: 2005 Merced Sun-Star
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.mercedsun-star.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2546
Author: Mike De La Cruz

MARIJUANA SUSPECT’S HEARING SET

FRESNO — A 58-year-old Winton man indicted by a federal grand jury on
marijuana-growing charges is awaiting a hearing in federal court.

Dustin Robert Costa, also known as the Rev. D.C. Greenhouse, was
arrested recently on federal charges of cultivation of marijuana,
possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, and possession
of a firearm in connection with drug trafficking offenses.

A detention hearing is scheduled Wednesday for Costa in Fresno Federal
District Court and a status conference is scheduled for Aug. 22, said
Assistant United States Attorney Karen Escobar, who is prosecuting the
case.

Court documents indicate Costa reportedly was growing marijuana at his
Winton residence in early 2004.

Merced County Multi-Agency Narcotics Task Force agents reportedly
found 908 growing marijuana plants and 8.8 pounds of processed
marijuana at his home.

According to his Web site, Costa is a cannabis patient and a caregiver
to patients.

United States Attorney McGregor Scott said that although California
voters passed Proposition 215 in 1996, which legalizes marijuana for
medical use, marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal law, as
affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court last June.

Escobar said Costa faces a mandatory-minimum five years or a maximum
of 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $2,000 for each drug charge.

For the gun charge, Costa is facing a mandatory consecutive term of
five years.

Costa remains in custody at the Fresno County Jail, Escobar
said.

“Costa has been flaunting the law for months now under the guise of
Proposition 215,” Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin said. “What Costa
has done is take the original intent of medical marijuana and has used
it for his own agenda.”

**********************************************************************

Thanks for your effort and support.

It’s not what others do – it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center:

http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides

Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal
tips on how to write LTEs that get printed.

[email protected]

Future media activism sessions in the DrugSense Virtual Conference
Room are announced at http://www.mapinc.org/resource/pal_sched.php

**********************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others
may learn from your efforts.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

**********************************************************************

Prepared by: Richard Lake =.

Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005
Subject: #314 Is Canada A United States Puppet?

IS CANADA A UNITED STATES PUPPET?

*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #314 – Friday, 5 August 2005

Readers of this alert are likely aware of the arrests of Marc Emery,
Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek, and Gregory Williams – Canadians – at the
request of the United States government.

Already much has been published in the Canadian press, and some
articles in the United States press.

Cannabis Culture http://cannabisculture.com/ has posted on line at
http://cannabisculture.com/articles/4471.html a list of “5 things you
can do to help Marc Emery.” While not every action listed is
something those outside of Canada may do, number 3 on the list “Write
to Canadian media” is clearly appropriate. We ask your help in letting
the Canadian media know what you think about these arrests.

Already many newspaper clippings may be found at http://www.mapinc.org/people/Marc+Emery
– with more being added every day.

An extensive list of Canadian media with letter to the editor contacts
is on line at http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/press.htm Media with larger
clipping counts are likely to be better targets for your letter
writing efforts.

On August 3rd the Globe and Mail, one of Canada’s two national
newspapers, printed an OPED by Alan Young which provides a fair view
of the issues in our opinion, so we are providing it below.

Is Canada a United States puppet? We hope not, but in this case only
time will tell.

**********************************************************************

JUST SAY NO TO UNCLE SAM’S DEA

Washington wants to take over the prosecution of those who flout
Canada’s marijuana laws. Ottawa should tell it to butt out, says law
professor ALAN YOUNG

On July 27, in Halifax, RCMP officers arrested Marc Emery, Canada’s
self-styled “Prince of Pot,” after a U.S. federal grand jury indicted
him on charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds, conspiracy
to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
Mr. Emery, who ran a lucrative marijuana seed business, may not be
everyone’s idea of a hero, but many Canadians are outraged by the
Americans waging their war on drugs within our borders.

There is little doubt that Mr. Emery’s seeds found their way into the
hands of eager U.S. pot-smokers, and U.S. drug agents had a legitimate
concern about the prince’s business activities. However, this concern
should have led to a request that Canadian police enforce our existing
laws to sanction Mr. Emery. Instead, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
asked Canadian police to execute a wide-ranging search warrant in Mr.
Emery’s home town, Vancouver, and to deliver him and other Canadian
marijuana activists to be prosecuted in the land of mandatory minimum
punishments.

From the Canadian perspective, Mr. Emery’s constant flouting of our
marijuana laws were tolerated and his activities seen as part and
parcel of our continuing debate over marijuana law reform.

I recognize that the sale of viable cannabis seeds appears to be a
crime both in Canada and the United States, and that there may be a
legal basis for seeking extradition as these seeds found their way
onto U.S. soil. But I’m deeply concerned about subjecting a Canadian
citizen to the draconian laws of a foreign nation when we don’t bother
charging this person for violating our laws. A Canadian citizen is now
exposed to U.S. drug sentences which border on cruel and unusual
punishment — for violating a law we rarely enforce in Canada.

Mr. Emery has publicly boasted about the size of his enterprise (“I
sell four million seeds a year”) and the DEA claims that he makes
about $3-million a year from his seed sales.

But the Americans fail to mention that much of this money has been
funnelled into legal challenges, compassion clubs, drug treatment
centres and political activism.

Mr. Emery is not the kingpin of some British Columbian cartel,
breaking the law for personal gain; rather, he is an activist who has
flouted the law as a political statement and in order to acquire
resources to change the law.

Had he had been prosecuted and convicted under Canadian law, he would
probably receive a fine and a short prison term. It’s unlikely that
U.S. courts will respect or understand the political context of Mr.
Emery’s alleged criminality. In many aspects of criminal-justice
policy, the differences between Canada and the United States have
grown exponentially. When we extradite to the United States, we must
recognize that we are sending someone to a very different legal and
political culture.

In Canada we have a medical-marijuana program in which patients can
lawfully use marijuana; in Oklahoma, an army vet who grew pot to cope
with his own crippling arthritis was sentenced to 90 years in prison.

In dealing with the Americans, we must take care that mutual legal
assistance does not become legal domination, as has the U.S. war on
drugs in Latin America. The DEA’s pursuit of the Prince of Pot isn’t
the first instance of Canada’s deferring to U.S. drug-law enforcement
policy.

One summer day in 2004, an off-duty Vancouver policeman was driving
near Hope, B.C., when he was stopped by a Texas state trooper.

Constable David Laing, annoyed by the involvement of Texans on a
Canadian highway, refused to submit to a random drug search.

A minute later, he was stopped by another trooper and an RCMP officer,
who did a thorough search (they found no marijuana). Mr. Laing went to
his lawyers; his civil suit was settled out of court.

The Texans later explained that they were taking part in a
training-exchange program with the RCMP. Although the Texas program is
unconstitutional by Canadian standards, our law enforcement officials
were somehow convinced that there was much to be learned by letting
U.S. officials violate the rights of Canadians on Canadian soil.

Imposing American values, including attitudes towards drugs, on the
global village can only harm the U.S. in the long-term, by fuelling a
growing anti-American sentiment.

In the case of the Prince of Pot, I hope that Canada’s Minister of
Justice will exercise his discretion to block this extradition if a
court finds the request to be technically proper.

At a minimum, Irwin Cotler should refuse to extradite unless an
undertaking is provided that Mr. Emery won’t be subjected to the cruel
minimum sentences if convicted in a U.S. court.

Mutuality dictates that the Americans show some respect for our legal
and political values, as we do for theirs.

But we must show backbone to resist U.S. efforts to enforce their drug
laws on our soil.

**********************************************************************

Thanks for your effort and support.

It’s not what others do – it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center:

http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides

Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal
tips on how to write LTEs that get printed.

[email protected]

Future media activism sessions in the DrugSense Virtual Conference
Room are announced at http://www.mapinc.org/resource/pal_sched.php

**********************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others
may learn from your efforts.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

**********************************************************************

Prepared by: Richard Lake =.

Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2005
Subject: #313 The DEA’s War Against Patients

THE DEA’S WAR AGAINST PATIENTS

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DrugSense FOCUS Alert #313 – Tuesday, 19 July 2005

We’re not referring to the War On Patients where the DEA agents roll
up on medical marijuana hospices all decked out in SWAT paramilitary
gear and poke automatic rifles into the faces of bedridden cancer patients.

No, it’s the OTHER DEA war against otherwise law-abiding medical
patients, where the DEA agents roll up on chronic pain patients who
are simply trying to obtain needed pharms. And this war extends to
law-abiding physicians who are deemed by the DEA to be prescribing
either too many pain meds, or inappropriately prescibing them.

Pain management doctors from across America have been begging the DEA
for a set of minimum guidelines to help assure that they are more in
compliance with government-mandated directives, but the DEA refuses to
issue such guidelines.

This week’s TIME magazine contains excellent coverage about how the
DEA is persecuting doctors. From Tuesday’s NY Times comes an OPED by
John Tierney that gives grim detail to how the DEA’s ambigious
policies trickle down to the state level and put individual patients
at risk – highlighting Richard Paey of Florida who is currently doing
25 years for illegal possession of 28 Percocet tablets.

Please consider writing a succint Letter to the Editor and sending it
to TIME and/or The New York Times.

**********************************************************************

Thanks for your effort and support.

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

US: Why Is The DEA Hounding This Doctor?

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1136/a06.html

Contact: [email protected]

Letters to Time Magazine should not exceed 100 words for best chance
of publication.

US NY: OPED: Punishing Pain

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1138/a05.html

Contact: [email protected]

The New York Times has a 150 word count limit on LTEs and letters sent
must be exclusive to the NYTimes.

**********************************************************************

Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism
Center:

http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal
tips on how to write LTEs that get printed.

[email protected]

And of course, you are welcome to join Steve and other LTE writing
friends of MAP for one of our Media Activism Roundtables held in the
DrugSense Virtual Conference Room.

See http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for all details on how
you can participate in these important meeting of leading minds in
reform. Discussion is conducted with live Voice (microphone and
speakers all that is needed) and also via text messaging. The Paltalk
software is free and easy to download and install.

The password for these meetings is PW: welcome-pal (all lower
case)

**********************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others
can learn from your efforts.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

**********************************************************************

Prepared by: Stephen Heath, MAP Media Activism Facilitator
=

Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2005
Subject: #312 America – A Last Bastion Against Harm Reduction?

AMERICA – A LAST BASTION AGAINST HARM REDUCTION?

*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #312 – Wednesday, 06 July 2005

Tuesday’s Washington Post carried a startling update of new policies
in Iran. Once a staunch co-supporter of U.S.-style zero tolerance
drug policies, the government of Iran appears ready enact some smarter
programs.

Fearing an AIDS epidemic, Iran’s government has dropped a
zero-tolerance policy against increasingly common heroin use and now
offers addicts low-cost needles, methadone and a measure of social
acceptance.

Reports from the past few weeks indicate that other former
zero-tolerance governments are making similar shifts, including China
and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. the Office of National Drug Control Policy
continues to work against nearly every form of harm reduction.

But, perhaps, policies are changing. See ‘U.S. Supports Harm Reduction
in UN HIV Prevention Policy’: http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/070605unaids.cfm

Please consider writing a Letter to the Editor to the Washington Post
about the article, below.

**********************************************************************

Pubdate: Tue, 05 Jul 2005
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page: A09
Copyright: 2005 The Washington Post Company
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Karl Vick, Washington Post Foreign Service

AIDS CRISIS BRINGS RADICAL CHANGE IN IRAN’S RESPONSE TO HEROIN USE

Health Concerns Given Precedence Over Prosecution

TEHRAN — Fearing an AIDS epidemic, Iran’s theocratic government has
dropped a zero-tolerance policy against increasingly common heroin use
and now offers addicts low-cost needles, methadone and a measure of
social acceptance.

For two decades, Iran largely avoided the global AIDS crisis. But
today, officials are alarmed by a 25 percent HIV infection rate that
one survey has found among hard-core heroin users and worry that
addicts may channel the virus into the population of 68 million.

Supporters of the government’s new approach laud it as practical and
devoid of the wishful thinking and moralism that they contend hampers
policies on drug abuse and AIDS in some other countries, including the
United States. “I have to pay tribute to Iran on this,” said Roberto
Arbitrio, head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime in Tehran.

Bijan Nasirimanesh, who heads a drop-in clinic that dispenses needles,
bleach and methadone in a hard-hit area of south Tehran, said, “It’s
ironic that Iran, very fundamentalist, very religious — very
religious — has been able to convince itself” to embrace such policies.

Opponents often argue that tolerance of life-destroying drugs is
simply unacceptable and in the long run breeds acceptance and higher
drug use. But in the theocracy’s most dramatic rejection of that
approach, the ayatollah who heads Iran’s conservative judiciary issued
an executive order embracing “such needed and fruitful programs” as
needle exchanges and methadone maintenance.

Ayatollah Mohammad Esmail Shoshtari, the justice minister who has shut
more than 100 newspapers and imprisoned political opponents,
instructed prosecutors in a Jan. 24 letter to ignore laws on the books
and defer to Iran’s Health Ministry to counter the spread of AIDS and
hepatitis C.

“This was a very crucial step,” said Ali Hashemi, director of Iran’s
Drug Control Headquarters, a cabinet-level office. “Inevitably we have
to do this in order to reduce the risk of AIDS.”

The policy demonstrates the complexities of Iran a quarter-century
after the Islamic revolution and U.S. Embassy takeover that still
defines its theocratic government for many Americans. Though power
remains concentrated in unelected clerics who brook little political
dissent, the government has demonstrated flexibility on a variety of
subjects, including birth control and sex-change operations, which the
clerics recently authorized.

Until recently, the HIV infection rate among intravenous drug users in
Iran had been estimated at 5 percent. But in blood tests of 900 users
over eight months, the Persepolis clinic headed by Nasirimanesh found
a rate of 25 percent.

“The bomb exploded,” he said.

Officials said that rate was confirmed by a more recent study
conducted through Japan’s Kyoto University. A lower rate, about 13
percent, was recorded among users who get their methadone at the
addiction studies treatment center. Mokri said that was presumably
because the center’s clients are typically better off than the often
homeless junkies at the Persepolis drop-in center and have avoided
time in prisons where dirty needles are far more common.

But the rates in all surveys are headed up. “The potential is very
bad,” said Arbitrio of the U.N. agency. “If you have 160,000
injecting plus 3 million drug users, you have all the elements to have
the spread of HIV/AIDS very quickly.”

How quickly the virus might reach into the general population via
sexual contact is a sensitive issue in Iran. Experts here do not see
transmission though gay sex as an important avenue, but fear HIV will
spread in a big way through heterosexual sex.

Though the government has promoted a puritanical view on premarital
sex, it has tolerated prostitutes, who by many accounts have risen
sharply in numbers in recent years.

“I know some who are drug addicts,” said Sorraya Heidari, 39, as she
waited for methadone at the Persepolis clinic. “To get the money they
need for drugs, they have to work as prostitutes.”

There is also evidence that young people — half of Iran’s population
is under age 20 — are more sexually active than some researchers
believed. Fully 70 percent of capital residents ages 15 to 20 have
had sex outside marriage, and almost none reported using condoms,
according to a survey of 2,000 Tehran young people by Tehran
University and the State Welfare Organization.

“Before, Iran always said this is something from outside,” said Hamid
Reza Setayesh, the UNAIDS officer for Iran. “Now they are accepting
this is not only for drug users, but growing among people who are
sexually active.”

Experts say the official reluctance to promote condom use generally is
a major drawback in Iran’s evolving policy toward AIDS. Another is
the lack of anonymous testing for the virus. “They ask for your name,”
Setayesh said. “And they should not ask.”

Public health specialists also caution that many of the new policies
have yet to be launched on a large scale. “The policies are very
good,” said Gelareh Mostashari, a physician in the U.N. drugs office.
“But there are practical applications that have to be executed.”

Still, many drug experts say the government has shown a consistent
disregard for orthodoxies in this fight. Mokri said he was astonished
to encounter no official resistance when he set out to launch a pilot
program that will dispense actual opium instead of methadone to addicts.

He noted a bill pending in the U.S. Congress calling for imprisoning
Americans who failed to report marijuana dealers. “Sometimes I think
the ayatollahs are more liberal,” Mokri said.

**********************************************************************

Thanks for your effort and support.

It’s not what others do – it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center:

http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides

Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal
tips on how to write LTEs that get printed.

[email protected]

Join Steve and other LTE writing friends of MAP this Sunday evening at
9 p.m. EDT for a roundtable discussion of how to write LTEs that see
print.

See: http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for details on how you
may join in this important meeting with leading reform
activists. Discussion is conducted with live Voice (microphone and
speakers all that is needed) and also via text messaging.

The Paltalk software is free and easy to download and
install.

The password for this gathering will: welcome-pal (all lower
case)

Future media activism sessions in the DrugSense Virtual Conference
Room are announced at http://www.mapinc.org/resource/pal_sched.php

**********************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others
may learn from your efforts.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

**********************************************************************

Prepared by: Stephen Heath, MAP Media Activism Facilitator
=

Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005
Subject: #311 John Walters Defends Endless Drug War

JOHN WALTERS DEFENDS ENDLESS DRUG WAR

*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #311 – Saturday, 18 June 2005

National syndicated columnist George Will released a column Thursday
discussing the continued viability of waging a never-ending War on
Drugs. He opens with a pertinent perspective offered by former
Washington policymaker George Schultz wherein Schultz expresses his
belief that as long as there is a demand for illegal drugs, the
criminal market will thrive and never be quelled, regardless of how
many or how big a busts law enforcement achieves.

Then Will turns the discussion over to federal Drug Czar John Walters
and quotes him on a wide range of drug policy opinions. As usual, the
center of the Czar’s focus is on marijuana law enforcement.

The column has already been picked up in numerous newspapers and given
George Will’s wide reach, should run in many other newspapers over the
next few days.

An interesting aspect of this column is that in the numerous outlets
we’ve seen it so far, the wording of the headline – as determined by
the individual newspapers – varies widely. These headlines provide us
with a minor insight into the thoughts of the newspapers about the
content of Walters statements.

Please consider writing at least one succint Letter to the Editor and
sending it to the newspaper closest to your hometown. A similar
letter with some minor modifications, can also be sent to other
newspapers which carried the column, thus increasing your chances of
being printed.

**********************************************************************

To see a listing of the newspapers which have printed the column, go
to http://www.mapinc.org/author/Will+George

The first date of publication is June 16. Remember the varying
headlines.

**********************************************************************

Thanks for your effort and support.

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center:

http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal
tips on how to write LTEs that get printed.

[email protected]

And of course, you are welcome to join Steve and other LTE writing
friends of MAP this Sunday evening at 9pm EDT for a roundtable
discussion of how to write LTEs that get print and specifically how to
best respond to this Focus Alert. We’ll also be talking about LTEs
directed at Opinion items concerning the Raich decision from the
Supreme Court.

See: http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for all details on how you
can participate in this important meeting of leading minds in reform.
Discussion is conducted with live Voice (microphone and speakers all
that is needed) and also via text messaging. The Paltalk software is
free and easy to download and install.

The password for this gathering will be PW: welcome-pal (all lower
case)

=

Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005
Subject: #310 Newspaper Printed Opinions In Response To Raich

NEWSPAPER PRINTED OPINIONS IN RESPONSE TO RAICH

*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #310 – Saturday, 11 June 2005

As we predicted in the last FOCUS alert the press did have a field day
with the Raich decision. See http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0309.html

Below we have selected and provide links to editorials, columns and
OPEDs which we believe are from newspapers that accept letters to the
editor from writers outside their circulation area. We suggest you
write to those nearest you first, and then as many of the rest of them
as you wish.

Please remember that even if your letter is not printed, it encourages
the editorial page editors to give our issues more coverage.

**********************************************************************

US MI: Editorial: No Compassion For People In Pain?
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n936/a04.html

US MI: Editorial: Medical Pot Ruling Tramples States’ Rights
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n936/a06.html

US HI: Editorial: Federal Law Needed For Medical Marijuana
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n936/a01.html

US TX: Editorial: Marijuana Ruling Was About Federal Law, Not Medicine
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n936/a02.html

US OR: Editorial: Reclassify Marijuana As a Schedule II Drug
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n935/a07.html

US MA: Editorial: Marijuana And Congress
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n935/a03.html

US OH: Editorial: Where Is the Compassion
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n935/a04.html

US CO: Editorial: High Court Twists Pot Ruling
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n935/a06.html

US FL: Editorial: Opening A New Front
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n934/a03.html

US WI: Editorial: High Court Muffs Ruling On Medical Marijuana
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n934/a01.html

US WI: Editorial: Let States, Doctors OK Marijuana Use
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n934/a02.html

US FL: Editorial: Marijuana Ruling Burns States
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n933/a01.html

US: Editorial: High On The Commerce Clause
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n933/a02.html

US GA: Editorial: Court Goes To Pot
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n933/a05.html

US NY: Editorial: Let The Sick Use Marijuana
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n933/a07.html

US TX: Editorial: Congress Should Make Exception To Drug Laws
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n933/a08.html

US OR: Editorial: Oregon’s Medical-Marijuana Law Just Got Hazier
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n933/a09.html

US CA: Editorial: Court Ruling Allows Persecution By Feds
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n932/a10.html

US NC: Editorial: State Law Allowing Medical Use of Pot Is Not Invalid
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n932/a01.html

US CT: Editorial: A Medical Setback
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n932/a04.html

US MA: Editorial: The Case For Medical Pot
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n932/a06.html

US OH: Editorial: The Court On Pot
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n931/a07.html

US TX: Editorial: States’ Rights Go Up in Smoke, Thanks to U.S. Supreme Court
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n931/a09.html

US MO: Editorial: A Stretch Of Court’s Reach
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n930/a03.html

US: Editorial: The High Court Errs
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n928/a08.html

US NC: Editorial The One Drug You Can’t Have URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n928/a01.html

US IL: Editorial: Marijuana As Medicine
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n927/a14.html

US NC: Editorial: Court Ruling Ensures Enforcement
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n926/a05.html

US MT: Editorial: Idea of Limited Government Goes to Pot
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n926/a07.html

US FL: Editorial: Suffering and States’ Rights
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n926/a01.html

US AL: Editorial: Myths Up In Smoke In Medi-Marijuana Case
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n923/a05.html

US CA: Editorial: Just Where Is The Humanity?
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n923/a06.html

US KY: Editorial: Expanding Federal Power
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n923/a02.html

US TN: Editorial: Open Up Marijuana Debate
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n922/a07.html

US GA: Editorial: Congress Needs To Decide
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n921/a03.html

US AZ: Editorial: Medical Marijuana Up In Smoke
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n919/a05.html

US NY: Editorial: High Court Flops On Medicinal Pot
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n919/a09.html

US RI: Editorial: The Marijuana Ruling
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n919/a10.html

US TN: Editorial: States Should Decide Legality Of Medical Marijuana Use
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n919/a02.html

US DC: Editorial: Not About Pot
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n918/a01.html

US AL: Editorial: Just Say No
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n918/a03.html

US NJ: Editorial: Still a Wisp Of Hope
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n918/a07.html

US VT: Editorial: A Criminal Prescription
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n917/a05.html

US TX: Editorial: U.S. Must Turn to Congress After Ruling
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n916/a04.html

US IL: Editorial: Pot and the Constitution
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n915/a03.html

US MA: Editorial: Marijuana Not Yet Ready For Medicine Box
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n914/a04.html

US CA: Editorial: State Should Push Federal Medical Marijuana
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n913/a06.html

US ME: Editorial: Medical Marijuana Debate Headed Where It Belongs
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n912/a06.html

US WI: Editorial: Court Ruling Was Dopey
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n911/a05.html

US NY: Editorial: The Court and Marijuana
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n909/a01.html

US TX: Editorial: Let States Decide
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n909/a02.html

US MA: Editorial: Some Justices Need To Take A Pill
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n908/a07.html

US SC: Editorial: Supreme Court Limits the Right of States to Make Their
Own Decisions and Laws
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n903/a03.html

US OR: Editorial: High Court Points the Way on Pot
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n901/a05.html

US OR: Editorial: Supreme Court Clouds Medical Marijuana Laws
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n901/a07.html

US MA: Editorial: Medical Marijuana Not Reefer Madness
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n897/a06.html

US MA: Editorial: A Win For U.S. Drug Laws
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n896/a08.html

US MO: Editorial: U.S. Supreme Court – Pot and Power
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n896/a10.html

US: Editorial: Court’s Ruling on Marijuana Reeks of ‘Reefer Madness’
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n896/a03.html

**********************************************************************

US IN: Column: You Make The Judicial Call
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n936/a05.html

US MI: Column: Getting Tough on the Terminally Ill
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n936/a03.html

US MA: Column: Align Drug Laws With Common Sense
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n935/a08.html

US UT: Column: States’ Rights Get Burned By Medical Marijuana
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n935/a09.html

US FL: Column: Hard To Tell Who’s An Activist
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n935/a10.html

US FL: Column: How Congress Can Quickly Strike a Blow for Common Sense
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n935/a01.html

US GA: Column: Why Put Pot To The Test?
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n933/a03.html

US IL: Column: Dazed and Confused About Federal Power
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n933/a10.html

US FL: Column: High Court Burned Medical Pot
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n932/a08.html

US OK: Column: Ruling Clouds Assumptions
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n925/a01.html

US AL: Column: Justices Keep Defying Simple Political Categorization
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n925/a03.html

US MA: Column: Justices Aren’t Always Predictable
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n924/a03.html

US MA: Column: Justices Aren’t Always Predictable
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n924/a06.html

US FL: Column: In The Grip Of Reefer Madness
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n919/a03.html

US DC: Column: Judging This Court
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n917/a04.html

US NH: Column: Lifting A Glass, Or A Joint, To States’ Rights
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n917/a06.html

US MT: Column: Ridiculous Court Ruling
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n917/a07.html

US CA: Column: Getting Tough With The Terminally Ill
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n917/a08.html

US MS: Column: Just How ‘Conservative’ Was It to Ban Home-Grown Cannabis
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n916/a03.html

US MN: Column: Legal Medical Pot Now Up To Congress
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n915/a01.html

US CA: Column: How to Treat Terminally Ill? Let ’em Suffer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n914/a06.html

US IL: Column: Will Congress Have the Guts to Tackle Medical Marijuana
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n913/a04.html

US OK: Column: Setback For Terminally Ill
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n912/a10.html

US MS: Column: Let Those Poor Sick Folks Inhale
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n911/a06.html

US FL: Column: Getting Tough With The Terminally Ill
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n909/a06.html

**********************************************************************

US WI: OPED: High Court Must Be On Something URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n935/a02.html

US CO: OPED: High Court Has Gone Potty URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n932/a02.html

US TX: OPED: Reading The Smoke Signals URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n931/a01.html

US DC: OPED: ‘Medical’ Pot Up In Smoke URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n917/a03.html

US CA: OPED: Medical Marijuana Needs Remedy URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n916/a01.html

US NY: OPED: Smoke Must Have Blinded The Court URL:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n915/a07.html

US NY: OPED: Good To Grow URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n914/a02.html

US CA: OPED: Pot Fight Far From Over URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n913/a02.html

US WI: OPED: Medical Marijuana: Should It Be Legal?
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n901/a01.html

US WI: OPED: Medical Marijuana: Should It Be Legal?
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n900/a10.html

**********************************************************************

Additional targets for your letters are being added to the MAP
archives. Check these links for new targets:

http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich

http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm

We doubt that there are any daily newspapers who have not given some
coverage to the Raich decision. Please consider writing to all of your
local/state newspapers. You really do not need to tie your letters to
a specific article when this issue is as hot as it is!

You may find the letter contacts for many of your state newspapers by
using the location dropdown at:

http://www.mapinc.org/media.htm

Finally, have you contacted your member of congress yet? As many of
the editorials say, it is congress that needs to act. But it is not
the editorials which will decide how the representatives vote this
Tuesday. It is the contacts from voters in their district that count
the most. That’s You!

Please see the DrugSense Editorial ‘Please Contact Your
Representative!’ for more details and easy ways to make that contact
now: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n929/a05.html

Thanks for your effort and support.

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center:

http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal
tips on how to write LTEs that get printed.

[email protected]

Please also see the suggestions at http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0309.html

**********************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others
can learn from your efforts.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

**********************************************************************
Prepared by: Stephen Heath, MAP Media Activism Facilitator =

Date: Mon, 06 Jun 2005
Subject: #309 Suggested Actions In Response To The Raich Decision

SUGGESTED ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO THE RAICH DECISION

*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #309 – Monday, 6 June 2005

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that state medical marijuana laws don’t
protect users from a federal ban on the drug – allowing federal
authorities to prosecute sick people for their use of medical
cannabis, even if on the advice of their doctors.

The decision is on line in various formats here http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1454.ZS.html
and as a 79 page .pdf file here http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/03-1454.pdf

In its majority opinion against Raich and Monson (page 6), the Supreme
Court issued a significant word of warning about the wisdom of current
federal laws:

“The case is made difficult by respondents’ strong arguments that they
will suffer irreparable harm because, despite a congressional finding
to the contrary, marijuana does have valid therapeutic purposes. The
question before us, however, is not whether it is wise to enforce the
statute in these circumstances; rather, it is whether Congress’ power
to regulate interstate markets for medicinal substances encompasses
the portions of those markets that are supplied with drugs produced
and consumed locally.”

**********************************************************************

Organizations are calling for you to act and providing detailed advice
on the best ways to respond. Please see:

http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=25197

http://www.mpp.org/raich/

http://www.raichaction.org/

http://hinchey.kintera.org

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6550

http://www.angeljustice.org

**********************************************************************

Here are a few points to consider:

The single most important thing to understand is that state and local
laws on the books protecting medical cannabis patients and their
doctors will continue to stand and are not at all affected by this
ruling.

As you can see from this split decision, the Court has ruled on very
technical legal grounds, particularly on medical cannabis as a
commerce issue. However, we are heartened that the Court was clear in
recognizing the medical necessity for seriously ill patients like Angel.

The Attorney General and the federal government now have a choice:
They can choose to continue wasting taxpayers’ dollars raiding the
homes of sick and dying patients– suffering from diseases like
cancer, chronic pain, leukemia, multiple sclerosis and AIDS–who are
abiding by state and local laws, or they can choose more worthwhile
priorities, like national security or arresting terrorists. The
federal government should not compound the suffering of sick and dying
patients.

The federal government actually makes only 1% of all marijuana related
arrests in the country. While 99% protection from arrest isn’t
perfect, it is still substantial. It is more urgent than ever before
for states to act to protect patients from arrests and harassment.

**********************************************************************

The press will have a field day with this story – and will likely make
factual errors in their reporting which will enhance your chances of
being published if you write letters. Expect many targets for letters
to the editor in the days ahead.

Please check this link frequently, watching for news clippings with a
“Pubdate” of Mon, 06 Jun 2005 or later, to help you find targets for
your letters:

http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Raich

**********************************************************************

Thanks for your effort and support.

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center:

http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal
tips on how to write LTEs that get printed.

[email protected]

**********************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others
can learn from your efforts.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

**********************************************************************
Prepared by: Stephen Heath, MAP Media Activism Facilitator =

Date: Wed, 18 May 2005
Subject: #308 USA Today’s Cannabis Policy Opinions

USA TODAY’S CANNABIS POLICY OPINIONS

*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #308 – Wednesday, 18 May 2005

Today USA Today printed an editorial about our marijuana policies and
laws, and an OPED response by John Walters.

You may read the editorial ‘War on Drugs Gone to Pot’ at
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n800.a03.html and the OPED
‘Marijuana Policy Just Right’ at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n800.a04.html

Both links have the USA Today email address for writing LTEs:
[email protected]

With a circulation of just over 2.3 million copies, the largest
circulation newspaper in the United States, the value of even one
printed letter in terms of what it would cost to buy the same space as
an ad is in the range of $10,000 or more.

Please consider sending the paper a LTE today. Someone is very likely
to have their letter printed. It seems likely that more than one will
be printed.

You can help give the USA Today editors a choice of quality letters to
print, but only if you write.

Writing letters now to any newspaper about the push by the Drug Czar
and Congress to escalate the war on cannabis users is likely to meet
with success.

Another good target for your letters is the Washington Post OPED
printed Tuesday, May 17th titled ‘The Right Drug to Target’ at
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n799/a03.html

For more about the efforts in Congress see http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=1876&l’536

Thanks for your effort and support.

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center:

http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal
tips on how to write LTEs that get printed.

[email protected]

You may join in discussions with successful letter writers on ways to
improve your success in the DrugSense Virtual Conference Room. See
http://www.mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm

The schedule for the letter writing sessions is at
http://www.mapinc.org/resource/pal_sched.php

**********************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others
can learn from your efforts.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

**********************************************************************

Prepared by: Stephen Heath, MAP Media Activism Facilitator

=

Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005
Subject: #307 Marijuana Medicine Approved

MARIJUANA MEDICINE APPROVED

*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #307 – Friday, 22 April 2005

This past Tuesday the continuing efforts to put medical marijuana into
a regulated commercial market took a huge step forward. Canada became
the first nation to approve a pharmaceutical prescription spray,
Sativex, made from marijuana — a move that could shift the medical
marijuana debate in the U.S.

Sativex is a natural marijuana extract developed by a British company,
GW Pharmaceuticals. It is a liquid that is sprayed into the mouth.
Made from marijuana plants bred for specific levels of various active
components, called cannabinoids, Sativex is similar to marijuana-based
extracts and tinctures which were legally available in the United
States until 1937.

It is expected to be available in Canadian pharmacies within
weeks.

The approval of Sativex by the Canadian government and the expected
approval in coming months by the government of Great Britain stands as
a direct rebuke of the U.S. government’s insistence that ‘marijuana
has no known or accepted medical value.’

PLEASE CONSIDER writing a Letter to the Editor to one or more of the
newspapers which printed this story.

You can see a continually updating list of these articles
here:

http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Sativex

If you choose to write to more than one newspaper, please vary your
message, especially if the newspapers are in the same geographic market.

Our experience has shown that letters submitted Friday through Sunday
have the best chance of being printed for the following week, so
please consider sending your letters soon.

Even if an article about Sativex being approved for use in Canada has
not been printed in newspapers in your area, a short well written
letter about the facts could still be published in those newspapers.
Medical cannabis is an issue of interest to newspapers! Contacts for
sending letters may be found at:

http://www.mapinc.org/media.htm

Facts about Sativex may be found at these sources:

Questions and Answers About Sativex – Liquid Medical Marijuana:

http://www.mpp.org/sativex.html

GW Pharmaceuticals Frequently Asked Questions:

http://www.gwpharm.com/faqs.asp

Thanks for your effort and support.

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center:

http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

Or contact MAP Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath for personal
tips on how to write LTEs that get printed.

[email protected]

**********************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER

Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others
can learn from your efforts.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see

http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

**********************************************************************

Prepared by: Stephen Heath, MAP Media Activism Facilitator

=