• Focus Alerts

    #327 John Walters Does The Drug Czar Dance

    Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006
    Subject: #327 John Walters Does The Drug Czar Dance

    JOHN WALTERS DOES THE DRUG CZAR DANCE

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #327 – Friday, 17 March 2006

    Federal Drug Czar John Walters mustered together one of his
    semi-annual OPED efforts at a national level with Thursday’s
    publication in The Wall Street Journal. His ire was obviously
    stimulated by a Feb 22 WSJ opinion piece penned by Deputy Editor for
    International Affairs George Melloan which contained a lengthy list of
    provocative criticisms of the modern day Prohibition – the War on
    Drugs.

    http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n229/a09.html?302768

    Additionally, the WSJ ran three strong Letters to the Editor on Mar 2
    endorsing Melloan’s observations, penned by a regular citizen and also
    two retired police officers with long experience fighting the futile
    and ineffectual drug war.

    http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n287/a05.html?302768

    http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n287/a07.html?302768

    http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n287/a08.html?302768

    In a one-man rebuttal to all of the above smart messages, Walters
    scoffs at a “regulated” system of drug distribution, citing problems
    related to the accepted system of production and distribution used for
    pharmaceutical drugs. And of course he lumps all illicit drugs under
    one descriptive umbrella – “…inherently dangerous, corrupting and
    incompatible with health and freedom”, again implying that “legal”
    drugs are by their nature non-dangerous, non-corrupting and compatible
    with health and freedom.

    He ignores that our most commonly abused drugs – alcohol, tobacco and
    narcotic pharmaceuticals – are not left to street dealers, but are
    instead licensed and regulated.

    And finally he trumpets supposed recent successes in Afghanistan and
    Colombia as evidence that the drug war is working. This despite other
    released reports from his own Office of National Drug Control Policy
    just the past month which show that illegal drug trafficking remains
    at consistent and constant levels both domestically and
    internationally.

    In short, Mr. Walters is doing the Drug Czar Dance we’ve come to
    expect from the ONDCP. Tell us how great it’s all going, while any
    American citizen can look around their community and see that illicit
    drugs are readily available and that all of the production and
    distribution is left in control of unregulated, unlicensed drug
    dealers and too often – criminal gangs.

    Please consider writing a succinct Letter to the Editor (200 words or
    less is best) and sending it to the Wall Street Journal this weekend.

    Thanks for your effort and support.

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

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

    Contact: [email protected]

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

    US: OPED: Utopia Of Legalized Drugs Is A Delusion

    URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n321.a05.html

    Pubdate: Thu, 16 Mar 2006
    Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
    Copyright: 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
    Contact: [email protected]
    Website: http://www.wsj.com/
    Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
    Author: John Walters
    Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n229/a09.html?302493
    Note: John Walters Director White House Office of National Drug
    Control Policy Washington
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)

    UTOPIA OF LEGALIZED DRUGS IS A DELUSION

    George Melloan, in his Feb. 21 Global View “Musings About the War on
    Drugs” and some of the March 7 Letters in response ( “Our Unwinnable
    War — Against Drugs,” March 7 ) propose new thinking about whether
    drugs should be legalized, but in the end offer a rehash from
    libertarians of yesteryear. Arguments that drug prohibition has
    failed depend upon two points. The first accepts that drug use
    damages the social fabric, but insists that more damage follows from
    the prohibition itself. The second argues that drug prohibition
    doesn’t even have the virtue of achieving its goal. After all, some
    people still use drugs, traffickers still make profits and fighting
    back against drugs means that there is, well, a fight, producing
    violence. Hence, our policy should accommodate the fact of drug use.

    Against the argument for accommodation, I make three points: 1 )
    First, there is no realistic alternative to the fight. Illegal drugs
    are inherently dangerous, corrupting and incompatible with health and
    freedom. The utopian world of regulated, inexpensive, readily
    available ( but somehow scarcely used ) methamphetamine, heroin,
    cocaine and marijuana is a cruel delusion. Consider that Americans
    already suffer from the abuse of prescription narcotic medicines,
    which are highly regulated, yet are the second-leading drug problem in
    the country.

    Second, fighting back against illegal drugs has staved off a worse
    circumstance, with many more drug users, and more ensuing damage to
    the social fabric. Were the laws abandoned, drug trafficking and use
    would be less risky, making drugs cheaper and more available. The
    result would be an increase in demand for addictive substances that
    trap their users. The number seeking help for their disease of
    addiction would diminish, and the bright line of deterrence for an
    emerging generation would fade.

    Third, drug prohibition is not futile, but has been demonstrably
    effective across a spectrum of drug threats. We have adopted a
    balanced strategy that emphasizes prevention and treatment, and backed
    up that strategy with dollars and effective programs. But equally
    essential have been our efforts to reduce the supply of illegal drugs.
    The consequence of those efforts is a largely untold story of dramatic
    impact.

    Current drug use by young Americans has dropped by 19% since 2001.
    That means 700,000 fewer youth being poisoned and potentially lost to
    addiction. Effective policies have made a difference, as have the
    laws against drug use.

    The fight against illegal drugs represents an international
    undertaking, bound by treaties and shared commitments. While it is
    dismaying to know that more than 4,000 metric tons of opium ( an
    estimated 87% of world supply ) was produced in war-ridden Afghanistan
    last year, few critics acknowledge that world opium production once
    stood at 30,000 metric tons. Today, the countries of the Golden
    Triangle are virtually opium-free, while opium cultivation in Colombia
    has plummeted 67% since 2001.

    Coca cultivation, limited to three nations in the Andes, has fallen
    more than 30% in the past five years. As a result, Colombia has been
    revived as a land of improving human rights, the rule of law and
    prosperity. That is, a nation nearly broken by narco-terrorists now
    has a positive future, because it would not give in to
    narco-corruption and violence.

    Moreover, the impact of these efforts on the streets of America is
    encouraging. In 2004, we saw a 22% drop in the retail-level purity of
    South American heroin, and evidence of a 15% decline in cocaine purity
    for the first three quarters of 2005, along with corresponding
    increases in their respective prices.

    Pubdate: Thu, 16 Mar 2006
    Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
    Copyright: 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
    Contact: [email protected]
    Website: http://www.wsj.com/
    Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
    Author: John Walters
    Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n229/a09.html
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)
    URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n321.a05.html

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

    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 =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #326 Drug Policy Debate On BBC

    Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006
    Subject: #326 Drug Policy Debate On BBC

    DRUG POLICY DEBATE ON BBC

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #326 – Saturday, 11 March 2006

    Can the War on Drugs Be Won?

    What Do You Think of the Drug Laws in Your Country?

    It’s estimated that five percent of the world’s adult population has
    used drugs over the last twelve months. The illegal trade is said to
    be worth as much as $400 billion per year.

    This week, the Afghan government started to destroy fields of opium
    poppies, but a bumper harvest is still expected. Farmers say they need
    the income. Others say the drugs destroy lives and the profits can be
    used to fund terrorism.

    There are signs in the U.S. that drug use is falling among teenagers,
    but illegal use of prescription drugs is on the increase.

    What’s the best way to tackle drug supply and abuse? Is drug use
    becoming socially acceptable? Would legalization make the problem
    better or worse?

    These questions will be addressed on the BBC program “Have Your Say”
    on Sunday, 12 March at 9 am EST, 8 am CST, 7 am MST 6 am PST in North
    America, or 2 pm (14:00 hours) UTC/GMT wherever you are. The program
    actually starts at five minutes after the hour immediately after the
    news break.

    This is sure to be a lively and informative discussion between Antonio
    Marie Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime;
    Danny Kushlick of Transform Drug Policy Foundation, the United
    Kingdom’s leading drug policy reform organization; and Law Enforcement
    Against Prohibition Executive Director, Jack Cole.

    The show is broadcast on both radio and TV to 65 countries and over
    the internet. For details, see

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/talking_point_programme/default.stm

    To find out how you can listen to the program please go to Radio
    Schedules at

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/worldservice/psims/ScheduleSDT.cgi

    Please check your local cable/satellite TV listings to see if you may
    watch the show.

    To get involved in the discussion before and during the show, go to
    the BBC website at

    http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=1261&start=0&&&edition=2&ttl060311055416

    Please consider writing at least one short question and submitting it
    to the producers prior to the show. Also consider writing a follow up
    note after the broadcast to BBC with your perceptions of the event.

    You may use this form to provide the BBC with feedback

    http://www.bbcworld.com/content/template_customer_feedback.asp?pageid11

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

    To learn more about Law Enforcement Against Prohibition visit the LEAP
    website http://www.leap.cc

    For more information about Transform please visit their website
    http://www.tdpf.org.uk/

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

    Thanks for your effort and support.

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

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

    Additional suggestions for increasing media coverage of drug policy
    reform issues can be found 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 and how to increase your
    local newspaper, radio and television coverage of drug policy reform.

    [email protected]

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

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

  • Focus Alerts

    #325 Washington’s Drug War Contradictions

    Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006
    Subject: #325 Washington’s Drug War Contradictions

    WASHINGTON’S DRUG WAR CONTRADICTIONS

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #325 – Monday, 6 March 2006

    On Wednesday, March 2nd the Bush administration published an annual
    report on international narcotics control, listing its accomplishments
    in disrupting the production and trafficking of cocaine, heroin,
    marijuana and other drugs to the United States.

    Sadly, the proclaimed successes come on the heels of a different
    report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy released a few
    weeks ago saying that “cocaine is widely available throughout most of
    the nation.” The ONDCP offered similar assessments for heroin and marijuana.

    The U.S. “War on Drugs” is well into it’s 36th year. Leading federal
    officials seem to remain blind to the utterly ineffectual results
    proffered by a policy of criminal prohibition. Their ignorance comes
    with an increasing audacity given that their own offices and leaders
    report contradictory data.

    Coverage ran Thursday in the New York Times, but failed to attract
    significant attention in other newspapers.

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

    Pubdate: Thu, 02 Mar 2006
    Source: New York Times (NY)
    Copyright: 2006 The New York Times Company
    Contact: [email protected]
    Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
    Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
    Author: Joel Brinkley
    Note: The 2006 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report
    (INCSR) is an annual report by the Department of State to Congress
    prepared in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act. It describes
    the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the
    international drug trade in Calendar Year 2005. The 900 page report
    is on line here http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2006/
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/international+narcotics+control
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Colombia
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Afghanistan
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Bolivia

    U.S. LISTS ITS PLUSES AND MINUSES IN FIGHTING NARCOTICS WORLDWIDE

    WASHINGTON- The Bush administration published an annual report
    Wednesday on international narcotics control, listing its
    accomplishments in disrupting the production and trafficking of
    cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other drugs to the United States.

    But perhaps the most important measure of the programs’ efficacy was
    issued just a few weeks ago, when the White House drug-policy office
    reported that “cocaine is widely available throughout most of the
    nation.” The office offered similar assessments for heroin and marijuana.

    “Yes, narcotics are readily available,” said Anne Patterson, the
    assistant secretary of state for international narcotics enforcement.
    “But if we weren’t doing these projects, the problem would be
    dramatically worse.” The government spent more than $1 billion last
    year fighting drugs.

    The successes included Colombia’s extradition of 134 suspects to the
    United States on trafficking and other criminal charges during 2005,
    the most ever. The report also noted that Laos had reduced its opium
    poppy cultivation to negligible levels, and that Thailand, once a
    major producer, had “practically eliminated” drug production, though
    that point was also made in the 2004 report.

    In singling out trouble spots, the State Department report focused on
    two countries in particular, Colombia and Afghanistan.

    In Colombia, the United States has financed a multibillion-dollar
    antidrug program since 2000. Every year, thousands of acres of coca
    plant have been sprayed with herbicides; the department reported
    record spraying of 36,000 acres in 2005.

    But each year, growers plant new bushes so quickly that for the past
    three years, acreage under cultivation has remained stable. As a
    result, the report said, “Colombia is the source of 90 percent of the
    cocaine entering the United States.”

    Congress is to debate the financing for the Colombia project this
    spring.

    The antidrug campaigns have run for more than 25 years, but, officials
    acknowledged, traffickers have almost always been able to meet
    American market demands. Drug enforcement officials measure their
    success on small fluctuations in purity and price.

    On Wednesday, an official pointed to a note in the report that said
    preliminary reports indicated that enforcement efforts “may have led
    to an increase in the U.S. street price of cocaine” and “a reduction
    in purity.”

    Afghanistan is the other country of major concern. About 30 percent of
    Afghanistan’s economic activity is a result of opium poppy
    cultivation, which supplies about 90 percent of the world’s heroin.

    Ms. Patterson said intelligence information shows that poppy
    cultivation in Afghanistan was increasing this year. Last year, the
    administration warned that Afghanistan was “on the verge of becoming a
    narcotics state.”

    On Wednesday Ms. Patterson said at a news conference that controlling
    production in Afghanistan “is going to be a huge challenge” and “is
    going to take years and years and years.” Most of the heroin produced
    from Afghan poppies is sold in Europe and Asia, not the United States.

    Though the report did not address it, the administration remains
    gravely concerned about Evo Morales, the new president of Bolivia, who
    once led a major coca planters’ union and has vowed to end the
    American-financed eradication programs.

    Although Mr. Morales has not said what he intends to do, he has
    offered the paradoxical position that he will not impede coca
    cultivation but will fight drug trafficking. Government troops in
    charge of coca eradication have stopped work, awaiting orders.

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

    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]

    And of course, you are welcome to join Steve and other LTE writing
    friends of MAP this Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central,
    7 p.m. Mountain, or 6 p.m. Pacific for a roundtable discussion of how
    to write LTEs that get print and specifically how to best respond to
    this Focus Alert.

    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: 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 =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #324 Is The Drug War Damaging America?

    Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006
    Subject: #324 Is The Drug War Damaging America?

    IS THE DRUG WAR DAMAGING AMERICA?

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #324 – Wednesday, 22 February 2006

    In his column, below, the Wall Street Journal’s Deputy Editor for
    International Affairs George Melloan provides a lengthy list of
    provocative criticisms of the modern day Prohibition – The War on Drugs.

    This is good news for those seeking increased discussion in major
    media regarding failed public drug policies. The Wall Street Journal
    is the second most widely read newspaper in the United States. It is
    well known for opinion page support of the drug war.

    But it is also know for printing letters in response to it’s opinion
    page content, as illustrated by the seven letters printed in response
    to this editorial in 1998:

    http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98/n439/a04.html

    Please consider writing a Letter to the Editor and sending it
    immediately. Letters of 200 words or less are more likely to be printed.

    Thanks for your effort and support.

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

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

    Pubdate: Tue, 21 Feb 2006
    Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
    Column: Global View
    Page: A19
    Copyright: 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
    Contact: [email protected]
    Website: http://www.wsj.com/
    Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
    Author: George Melloan

    MUSINGS ABOUT THE WAR ON DRUGS

    Economist Milton Friedman predicted in Newsweek nearly 34 years ago
    that Richard Nixon’s ambitious “global war against drugs” would be a
    failure. Much evidence today suggests that he was right. But the war
    rages on with little mainstream challenge of its basic weapon,
    prohibition.

    To be sure, Mr. Friedman wasn’t the only critic. William Buckley’s
    National Review declared a decade ago that the U.S. had “lost” the
    drug war, bolstering its case with testimony from the likes of Joseph
    D. McNamara, a former police chief in Kansas City, Mo., and San Jose,
    Calif. But today discussion of the war’s depressing cost-benefit ratio
    is being mainly conducted in the blogosphere, where the tone is
    predominantly libertarian. In the broader polity, support for the
    great Nixon crusade remains sufficiently strong to discourage
    effective counterattacks.

    In broaching this subject, I offer the usual disclaimer. One beer
    before dinner is sufficient to my mind-bending needs. I’ve never
    sampled any of the no-no stuff and have no desire to do so. So let’s
    proceed to discuss this emotion-laden issue as objectively as possible.

    The drug war has become costly, with some $50 billion in direct
    outlays by all levels of government, and much higher indirect costs,
    such as the expanded prison system to house half a million drug-law
    offenders and the burdens on the court system. Civil rights sometimes
    are infringed. One sharply rising expense is for efforts to interdict
    illegal drug shipments into the U.S., which is budgeted at $1.4
    billion this fiscal year, up 41% from two years ago.

    That reflects government’s tendency to throw more money at a program
    that isn’t working. Not only have the various efforts not stopped the
    flow but they have begun to create friction with countries the U.S.
    would prefer to have as friends.

    As the Journal’s Mary O’Grady has written, a good case can be made
    that U.S.-sponsored efforts to eradicate coca crops in Latin America
    are winning converts among Latin peasants to the anti-American causes
    of Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. Their friend Evo
    Morales was just elected president of Bolivia mainly by the peasant
    following he won by opposing a U.S.-backed coca-eradication program.
    Colombia’s huge cocaine business still thrives despite U.S. combative
    efforts, supporting, among others, leftist guerrillas.

    More seriously, Mexico is being destabilized by drug gangs warring
    over access to the lucrative U.S. market. A wave of killings of
    officials and journalists in places like Nuevo Laredo and Acapulco is
    reminiscent of the 1930s Prohibition-era crime waves in Al Capone’s
    Chicago and the Purple Gang’s Detroit. In Afghanistan, al Qaeda and
    the Taliban are proselytizing opium-poppy growers by saying that the
    U.S. is their enemy. The claim, unlike many they use, has the merit of
    being true.

    Milton Friedman saw the problem. To the extent that authorities
    curtail supplies of marijuana, cocaine and heroin coming into the rich
    U.S. market, the retail price of these substances goes up, making the
    trade immensely profitable — tax-free, of course. The more the U.S.
    spends on interdiction, the more incentive it creates for taking the
    risk of running drugs.

    In 1933, the U.S. finally gave up on the 13-year prohibition of
    alcohol — a drug that is by some measures more intoxicating and
    dangerous to health than marijuana. That effort to alter human
    behavior left a legacy of corruption, criminality, and deaths and
    blindness from the drinking of bad booze. America’s use of alcohol
    went up after repeal but no serious person today suggests a repeat of
    the alcohol experiment. Yet prohibition is still being attempted, at
    great expense, for the small portion of the population — perhaps
    little more than 5% — who habitually use proscribed drugs.

    Mind-altering drugs do of course cause problems. Their use contributes
    to crime, automobile accidents, work-force dropouts and family
    breakups. But the most common contributor to these social problems is
    not the illegal substances. It is alcohol. Society copes by punishing
    drunken misbehavior, offering rehabilitation programs and warning
    youths of the dangers. Most Americans drink moderately, however,
    creating no problems either for themselves or society.

    Education can be an antidote for self-abuse. When it was finally
    proved that cigarettes were a health risk, smoking by young people
    dropped off and many started lecturing their parents about that bad
    habit. LSD came and then went after its dangers became evident.
    Heroin’s addictive and debilitative powers are well-known enough to
    limit its use to a small population. Private educational programs
    about the risks of drug abuse have spread throughout the country with
    good effect.

    Some doctors argue that the use of some drugs is too limited.
    Marijuana can help control nausea after chemotherapy, relieve
    multiple-sclerosis pain and help patients whose appetites have been
    lowered to a danger level by AIDS. Morphine, some say, is used too
    sparingly for easing the terrible pain of terminally ill cancer
    patients. It is argued that pot and cocaine use by inner-city youths
    is a self-prescribed medicine for the depression and despair that
    haunts their existence. Doctors prescribe Prozac for the same problems
    of the middle class.

    So what’s the alternative? An army of government employees now makes a
    living from the drug laws and has a rather conflictive interest in
    claiming both that the drug laws are working and that more money is
    needed. The challenge is issued: Do you favor legalization? In fact,
    most drugs are legal, including alcohol, tobacco and coffee and the
    great array of modern, life-saving drugs administered by doctors. To
    be precise, the question should be do you favor legalization or
    decriminalization of the sale and use of marijuana, cocaine, heroin
    and methamphetamines?

    A large percentage of Americans will probably say no, mainly because
    they are law-abiding people who maintain high moral and ethical
    standards and don’t want to surrender to a small minority that flouts
    the laws, whether in the ghettos of Washington D.C. or Beverly Hills
    salons. The concern about damaging society’s fabric is legitimate. But
    another question needs to be asked: Is that fabric being damaged now?

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

    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]

    Please join Steve and other LTE writing friends of MAP this Thursday
    evening at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central, 7 p.m. Mountain, or 6 p.m.
    Pacific for a roundtable discussion of how to write LTEs that get print.

    See: http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for details on how you
    can participate in this meeting. 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: welcome-pal

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

    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 =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #323 United States Students Score

    Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006
    Subject: #323 United States Students Score

    UNITED STATES STUDENTS SCORE

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #323 – Tuesday, 7 February 2006

    First it was a superb editorial in the New York Times Saturday “The
    High Cost of Public Information” http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n142/a05.html

    Today it was a feature article in USA TODAY “College Financial Aid
    Rules Loosened” http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n161/a05.html

    What’s the fuss about?

    In 1998 Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) http://www.daregeneration.com
    was organized to oppose a little known provision of the Higher
    Education Act (HEA). College students with drug convictions were
    blocked from receiving federal financial aid. The drug provision was
    slipped into the 257-page HEA reauthorization bill without debate or a
    recorded vote.

    After organizing campus chapters across the country, and years of
    lobbying, a bill is on it’s way to the President that sharply limits
    the drug conviction provision. Instead of applying to all past
    convictions, the law will, as the USA TODAY article says, change the
    standards: “But students convicted of a drug felony or misdemeanor in
    college will still be disqualified from receiving federal aid for at
    least one year.”

    This is only a partial victory. Students who are convicted of other
    serious felonies or misdemeanors have always been eligible for federal
    financial aid. And students with the financial ability to attend
    college without federal financial aid are not punished by the HEA provisions.

    Letters to the Editor now can help move this issue forward. Your local
    newspapers are good targets. So are your local college or university
    newspapers.

    Newspaper contacts for LTEs may be found by using the MAP media page
    at http://www.mapinc.org/media.htm Use the “List by Area” dropdown to
    select a state. Look for Edu following the newspaper title to identify
    college papers.

    If possible, try working a link to SSDP into your letters. The shorter
    URL http://www.ssdp.org/ may find print more easily.

    For college papers, it never hurts to add a tie, if you have one, to
    the college after your signature block. Tell the paper if you are a
    former student, or if you have a friend or relative attending, for
    example.

    As the sidebar in the USA TODAY article says, many states or specific
    institutions of higher education also limit state and other financial
    aid based on drug convictions. Addressing these issues in your letters
    will be helpful as few are even aware of these additional limits on
    financial aid. Please see the Coalition for Higher Education Act
    Reform website http://www.raiseyourvoice.com/ for more
    information.

    Other LTE targets may be found at http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm

    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]

    You are welcome to join Steve and other LTE writing friends of MAP
    every Tuesday and Thursday evening at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central,
    7 p.m. Mountain and 6 p.m. Pacific time for a roundtable discussion of
    how to write LTEs that are printed.

    See: http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for 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 these gatherings is: welcome-pal (all lower
    case)

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

    PLEASE SEND US COPIES OF YOUR LETTERS

    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: Richard Lake, Sr. Editor, www.drugnews.org =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #322 Steve Kubby Is In The Placer County Jail

    Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2006
    Subject: #322 Steve Kubby Is In The Placer County Jail

    STEVE KUBBY IS IN THE PLACER COUNTY JAIL

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #322 – Saturday, 28 January 2006

    Name: Kubby, Steven Wynn

    Age/Gender: 59/Male

    Jail ID/Booking No: P00049899/0601064#

    Facility/Floor: PC/N

    Book Date: 1/27/2006 14:41

    Arresting Agency: Placer County Sheriffs Department

    Custody Status: In Custody

    Authority: Charge(s): Bail:

    Bench Warrant 1. 11377 (A)HS Possess Controlled Substance

    Total Bail: 0

    With the above data from http://www.placer.ca.gov/sheriff/jail/jailreports/incustody_BN.htm
    we now know Steve Kubby’s current status.

    His friends and supporters are asking us to contact the
    following:

    Bradford R. Fenocchio, Placer County District Attorney

    Phone: (530) 889-7000

    Fax: (530) 889-7129

    Email: [email protected]

    Note: Deputy DA Christopher Cattran may be contacted at the above phone number.

    —–

    Sheriff Edward N. Bonner (who has ultimate responsibility for the
    jail)

    Phone: 530-889-7800

    Fax: 530-889-6883

    Email: [email protected]

    You may also make complaints via this web form:

    http://www.placer.ca.gov/sheriff/save/commend/complaint.htm

    —–

    Additionally, contacting the county’s Board of Supervisors could be
    helpful.

    See: http://www.placer.ca.gov/bos/bos.htm

    —–

    We ask that your keep your messages to the point and be respectful.
    The goal is to insure that Steve remains in good health, and that the
    County is aware of it’s responsibilities under the law.

    Please keep a record of your contacts. While we pray it will not
    happen, you may thus be able to provide evidence in a wrongful death
    suit.

    Good news: After much pain & anguish Attorney Bill McPike reports that
    Steve Kubby is to receive Marinol in the Placer County Jail! He is
    currently being housed in the infirmary.

    He is scheduled to be arraigned at 1 p.m. in Dept. 13 of Placer County
    Superior Court, 11532 B Avenue, Auburn, California, Tuesday.

    This hearing is going to be an arraignment hearing on his misdemeanor
    violation of probation. Bill McPike, Steve’s attorney, has indicated
    that Cattran, the prosecutor, will probably ask for more time.

    Here’s how to contribute to Steve’s commissary:

    Anybody can put money on Steve’s books for commissary & health items.
    These must be a US postal money order.

    No letters may accompany the money orders. Letters of support may be
    sent to the same address.

    MOs should be made out to Steve Kubby.

    Steve Kubby

    BK 49899

    c/o Placer Co Jail

    2775 Richardson Drive

    Auburn, CA 95603

    While many organizations have providing information about what has
    happened to Steve since Wednesday, the Friday evening blog by Ann
    Harrison http://www.cannabisreport.com/blog/archives/2006/01/sf_sup_investig.php
    is informative.

    For more background information, please see http://www.kubby.com

    It is also important to write Letters to the Editor in support of
    Steve — many targets may be found at http://www.mapinc.org/kubby.htm

    Letters to Placer County’s newspaper, the Auburn Journal
    http://www.auburnjournal.com/ sent to [email protected]
    will help insure that the local public receives the whole story.

    Thanks for your effort and support.

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

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

    Prepared by: The Media Awareness Project of DrugSense =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #321 Will Steve Kubby Become A Medical Cannabis Martyr?

    Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006
    Subject: #321 Will Steve Kubby Become A Medical Cannabis Martyr?

    WILL STEVE KUBBY BECOME A MEDICAL CANNABIS MARTYR?

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #321 – Saturday, 21 January 2006

    Today two large newspapers published articles about Steve
    Kubby.

    The Los Angeles Times article, titled ‘Medical Pot Advocate Loses Bid
    To Bar Deportation From Canada’ is at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n089/a01.html

    And one of Canada’s national newspapers, the Globe and Mail, published
    an article titled ‘Marijuana Activist May Be Deported to U.S. – Return
    Could Mean Death, Wife Says’ which is at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n089/a05.html

    The Globe and Mail article says “Judge Pinard, who was a federal
    cabinet minister under Pierre Trudeau, said it “remains speculative”
    that Mr. Kubby will be jailed in the United States, or that he will
    be denied adequate medical care.”

    Remains Speculative? So the Canadian government is willing to take a
    chance that just maybe Steve Kubby will live when jailed at the
    border, while being transported to California, and then jailed —
    despite all the facts that indicate otherwise?

    The Globe and Mail article also states “A senior official at the
    Placer County jail said that Mr. Kubby could not have marijuana in
    custody. He could be prescribed Marinol, a synthetic form of THC, the
    official said.” but goes on to Mr. Kubby’s response “He explained that
    Marinol is not effective in coping with his cancer, and stressed that,
    apart from his health concerns, “the problem is that no one wants to
    admit this is political.” ”

    So there we have it, Placer County officials still today are willing
    to play doctor with Steve Kubby’s life – in violation of their oaths
    of office and the constitution of the state which makes clear that
    they must follow California law, even in jails. Synthetic THC is only
    one of the medically active ingredients in cannabis – Steve Kubby must
    have other cannabinoids found in cannabis to live!

    While it is important to write Letters to the Editor in support of
    Steve — many targets may be found at http://www.mapinc.org/kubby.htm
    — we also encourage you to Please contact the Canadian Ministers who
    can stop the deportation. Please go to Steve’s website for contact
    instructions:

    http://www.kubby.org/

    Thanks for your effort and support.

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

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

    Prepared by: The Media Awareness Project of DrugSense =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #320 New York Times On Failed Drug Policies

    Date: Fri, 13 Jan 2006
    Subject: #320 New York Times On Failed Drug Policies

    NEW YORK TIMES ON FAILED DRUG POLICIES

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #320 – Friday, 13 January 2006

    This week, The New York Times has printed three good
    items.

    ON Tuesday, Jan 10 they carried an OPED written by Leslie Crocker
    Snyder, a former New York State judge. She states that New York state
    needs to further reform the infamous 1975 “Rockefeller” drug laws.

    ALSO on Tuesday in the Times Health Section, personal health
    columnist Jane E.. Brody takes on the Drug Enforcement
    Administration’s jihad against doctors who try to treat chronic,
    debilitating pain in their patients.

    ON Thursday, Jan 12 the Times editorial board gives a harsh critique
    about the effects of two decades of ever-escalating mandatory minimum
    sentencing for drug offenses.

    Please consider writing at least one Letter to the Editor to the
    editors of The New York Times with your personal comments on one or
    each of the articles.

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

    The three articles can be seen by going to these MAP URLs:

    US NY: OPED: Reform The Reforms

    http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n029/a03.html

    US NY: Column: Let’s Get Serious About Relieving Chronic Pain

    http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n037/a09.html

    US NY: Editorial: Drugs and Racial Discrimination

    http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n050/a03.html

    Letters to the New York Times should not exceed 150
    words.

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

    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]

    You are welcome to join Steve and other LTE writing friends of MAP
    every Tuesday and Thursday evening at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m.
    Central, 7 p.m. Mountain and 6 p.m. Pacific time for a roundtable
    discussion of how to write LTEs that are printed.

    See: http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for 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 these gatherings 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 =.

  • Focus Alerts

    #319 2005 – The Year In Review

    Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2006
    Subject: #319 2005 – The Year In Review

    2005 – THE YEAR IN REVIEW

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

    DrugSense FOCUS Alert #319 – Monday, 2 January 2006

    As we enter a new year, the staff and supporters of DrugSense and MAP
    thank the many friends and community activists who have used our
    resources during 2005. Together, we have successfully made the print,
    radio and television media more aware of both the failures in public
    drug policy and of alternatives to status-quo drug war strategies.

    Here are links to the most read news clippings for
    2005:

    Australasia http://www.mapinc.org/find?369

    Canada: http://www.mapinc.org/find?366

    South America http://www.mapinc.org/find?368

    United Kingdom http://www.mapinc.org/find?367

    United States http://www.mapinc.org/find?365

    2005 saw DrugSense and it’s Media Awareness Project grow in many
    ways:

    January saw the launch of our Media Activism Facilitator Project
    http://www.mapinc.org/resource/ with a goal of providing more
    assistance and training for local activists in topics like How To Get
    Drug Policy On the Air in Your Community, How to write a Press
    Release, Preparing For TV and Radio Interviews, and how to write OPEDs
    and Letters to the Editor for publication. Using the MAP Virtual
    Conference Room http://www.mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm numerous
    voice/text training sessions were completed. Current training session
    dates and times are found at http://www.mapinc.org/resource/pal_sched.php
    As a part of the project, The Drug Policy Writers Group
    http://mapinc.org/resource/dpwg/index.php was formed in the Fall to
    help folks who wish to write OPEDs market them to newspapers.

    As many drug policy reform activists are discovering, the highest and
    most direct level of democracy often takes place at the lowest levels
    of government. This is reflected in the many successful municipal
    audits and initiatives that have taken place over the last few years.
    From Seattle’s I-75, to Oakland’s Measure Z, to Syracuse’s Plan B,
    these important local actions can expose and erode the faulty
    presumptions that underpin the war on drugs, and they often resonate
    well beyond their geographical boundaries. Although each municipality
    has a different social and bureaucratic make-up, we believe that
    future initiatives can benefit from reviewing the tactics of those
    that have successfully passed before them. It is with this in mind
    that DrugSense developed during the Summer the “Community Audits and
    Initiatives” webpages http://www.drugsense.org/caip

    The Robert C. Randall Award for Achievement in the Field of Citizen
    Action was awarded to DrugSense in November. See the award and listen
    to audio excerpts of Mark Greer’s and Matt Elrod’s acceptance speech
    at http://drugsense.org/awards/randall.htm

    At the year’s end Drug Policy Central, the web design, hosting and
    internet services wing of DrugSense http://www.drugpolicycentral.com
    was hosting 122 websites and numerous email lists and threaded
    discussion forums for the drug policy reform community worldwide.

    The DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org website continued to grow, but
    perhaps the best kept secret in reform is what is available to users
    that actually register at the website. Many pages do not require
    registration. For those who do register, for free – over 2,300 by the
    end of 2005 – access is provided to audio-visual clips, blogs,
    downloads, forums, music and other content not available to those who
    do not register.

    MAP’s Published Letters Archive http://www.mapinc.org/lte/ saw almost
    a 25% increase in pro-reform published letters in 1995, despite war,
    floods, famine and a wide variety of national and local issues that
    tended to push our issues off of the editorial pages of newspapers.

    Our 10th anniversary occurred in November, when, ten years earlier,
    Mark Greer founded this ground breaking organization
    http://www.drugsense.org/pages/history We will be celebrating this
    milestone throughout 2006.

    Not mentioned above are a variety of other services to the reform
    community, like our DrugSense Weekly, our 25,000 listings media
    contact database, and our news clipping feeds to over two hundred
    websites worldwide.

    All of the above was supported by generous donations and grants from
    the reform community. But with all the calls to give from various
    other good causes, fund raising is difficult. If we are to survive
    through this year financial support from users like you must increase.

    Due to the generosity of a long time DrugSense funder, we have secured
    a matching funds grant! This means that anything you contribute to
    DrugSense and the Media Awareness Project will be matched, thus
    doubling the effective amount of your contribution. Please, please,
    visit our donations page http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm and give!

    “It’s not what others do, it’s what YOU do!”

    **********************************************************************
    Prepared by: Staff http://www.drugsense.org/pages/whoweare =.