In article <a9e9cacf&n0hh30kbMkuP092yn at islandnet.com>,
mgreer at drugsense.org wrote:
> **********************************************************************
>> DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
>> **********************************************************************
>> DrugSense Weekly, July 9, 1999 #105
>> A DrugSense publication http://www.drugsense.org/>> Read This Publication On-line At: http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm>> TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, DONATE OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS PLEASE
> SEE THE INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS NEWSLETTER
>> Please consider writing a letter to the editor using the email
> addresses on any of the articles below. Send a copy of your LTE to
>MGreer at mapinc.org.>> ------------------------------------
>> TABLE OF CONTENTS:
>> * Feature Article
>> Kubby Case Has National Significance
> By Tom O'Connell, M.D.
>>>>> * Hot Off The 'Net
>> The Steve Kubby 'Inside Edition' Piece Can Now be Viewed On-line
> ABCNews.com Positive Medicinal Marijuana Piece
> Video "Emperor of Hemp" for Sale on the Web
>> * Quote of the Week
>> Carl Sagan
>>************************************************************************
>> FEATURE ARTICLE
>> KUBBY CASE HAS NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE
> Tom O'Connell, M.D. <tjeffoc at sirius.com>
>> The essential details of the "medical marijuana' case involving Steve
> and Michele Kubby are accurately covered by Pat McCartney, Auburn
> Journal City Editor and author of an instructive article at:
>>http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n699.a04.html>> The only significant addition I would have is: not only will the
> outcome be important for Placer County - it will have an impact all
> over California and carries major implications for our national drug
> policy as well.
>> As Dan Baum pointed out in "Smoke and Mirrors" in 1996, marijuana
> arrests provide cannon fodder for the drug war; without them, it would
> be impossible to maintain the massive edifice law enforcement (in its
> broadest sense) has built out of our drug laws since 1980. As Mike
Gray
> pointed out in "Drug Crazy," the 'medical marijuana' issue directly
> threatens all those arrests; the apt nature of his analogy - a ratchet
> which can only be tightened - is borne out by a look at the behavior
of
> all three levels of law enforcement in most California venues since
> Proposition 215 was passed in November, 1996. It shows that with
> certain noteworthy exceptions, distributors and medical users have
been
> targeted for harassment, arrest, prosecution and sentencing out of all
> proportion to whatever hazard they might conceivably represent to
> public safety. The time, resources, and effort expended by law
> enforcement agencies to oppose any reasonable implementation of
> Proposition 215 speaks volumes about the real importance of marijuana
> prohibition to all of them.
>> That a task force headed by State Sen. John Vasconcellos has been
> completely unable to formulate legislative recommendations and is
still
> struggling with that task 30 months after passage of 215 and over six
> months after election of a nominally friendly AG is further eloquent
> testimony of the commitment of entrenched forces to their favorite
> prohibition. Emphasis in those discussions has remained on what hoops
> patients and caregivers must jump through - despite the declared
intent
> of the initiative - which was to protect them from arrest and
> harassment from law enforcement. To describe the performance of
> allegedly 'friendly' AG Lockyer in this arena as a "disappointment" is
> akin to calling Hurricane Andrew a "big storm" or Loma Prieta a "minor
> temblor;" the only bigger disaster would have been Lungren as
governor.
>> Because the Kubby case embodies all the excesses present in a host of
> hitherto unpublicized (therefore, largely unknown) medical cases, and
> because he is relatively well-known and has gone out of his way to
> court publicity, the chances are excellent that his and Michele's
> prosecution will attract national media attention. This raises risks
as
> well as potential benefits. The recent trial of Dr. Michael Baldwin
and
> his wife in front of the same judge on very similar charges
> demonstrates that the prosecution's arguments, ludicrous as they are,
> can resonate with a conservative Placer county jury. We are fortunate
> that impeachment and Kosovo are out of the headlines and there seem to
> be no distractions looming; a reasonable outcome is favored by intense
> media scrutiny. Everyone in the reform movement should follow this
> trial closely and support the Kubby's to the extent possible.
>> It could be a hot July.
>> Dr. O'Connell is a retired Army surgeon who uses his extensive medical
> training and experience to serve as a drug policy analyst and editor
> for The DrugSense Weekly. He also sits on the DrugSense Board of
> Directors.
>>************************************************************************
>> WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
>>========================================================================
>> Domestic News- Policy
> ---------------
>> COMMENT: (1)
>> A crushing victory for MAP: the drug czar's lame Washington Post op-
ed
> in defense of policy provoked a flood of critical mail- and
apparently
> no support. Last Saturday, the newspaper printed four hostile
> responses to McCzar's June 29 opus.
>> (1) DEFEATED IN THE DRUG WAR
>> In his June 29 op-ed "Don't Legalize Those Drugs," drug czar Barry
> McCaffrey claims that addictive drugs were criminalized because they
> are harmful, not the other way around. This argument hardly holds up
> against the large body of scientific research.....
>> [snip]
>> Aleksandar Perovic
>> Barry McCaffrey's plea to maintain his little bureaucratic fiefdom
> lumps together heroin, cocaine, LSD, methamphetamine and marijuana as
> "psychoactive drugs" and then speaks of their "harms" as if all of
> those drugs are equally harmful....
>> [snip]
>> Shane Ham
>> Barry McCaffrey is making a big assumption when he says that "drug
> legalization" is "condoning drugs."....
>> [snip]
>> Arthur Livermore
>> To paraphrase Barry McCaffrey, "We are not involved in a drug war, and
> if we are, we are winning!"....
>> [snip]
>> Tony Goins
>> Pubdate: Sat, 3 July 1999
> Source: Washington Post (DC)
> Copyright: 1999 The Washington Post Company
> Address: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
> Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm>
The pseudo-scientific "War On Drugs" is also blatantly
ethnocentric and jingoistic. It can and must be stopped. To fail to do
so will place human liberty in jeopardy forever......
Doc
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