Compiled by
Paul Stanford
The following wire stories are provided as a public service by
Tree Free EcoPaper, makers of 50% hemp (cannabis) and 50% cereal straw
paper. Tree Free EcoPaper is the world's only supplier of wholesale
quantities of hemp paper. We offer an electronic catalog which you can
recieve by dropping us an e-mail request. We'll send you our free samples
and hemp paper catalog if you give us a postal address. You can call us
toll-free at 1-800-775-0225 from the U.S. and Canada. Our phone number
for calls outside the U.S. is 503-295-6705. Our headquarters is in
Portland, Oregon and our paper is produced in Asia. Without further
ado, please enjoy the news:
RTw 10/26/93 POLICE PONDER CASE AGAINST ALLEGED "ROBIN HOOD" DRUG DEALER
By Stan Darden
ATLANTA, Oct 26 (Reuter) - Authorities seem puzzled about how to deal with
an alleged drug trafficker known as "Robin Hood" who curries favour with
inner-city residents by sharing his prosperity with the poor and aged.
James "Haircut" Watkins, 47, lives in the predominantely black Cascade
Heights section of Atlanta, which is known as the "Black Mecca" because of its
affluence, but runs a grocery store and laundromat in a poor downtown area.
Aside from a federal conspiracy indictment last January that connected him
with the sale of cocaine and marijuana, Watkins is best known for his habit of
giving money to the unemployed, food to the elderly and rent-free accommodations
to the homeless.
Police, who claim to have an iron-clad case against him, say Watkins'
generousity is just a smoke screen.
"He does these things so he can insulate himself within the community. He
has a habit of seeing that people are on his side and meanwhile he's peddling
this poison in the community," said Atlanta Police Major Vernon Worthy, who
heads the city department's special operations division.
But just as Watkins was expected to plead guilty last week, federal
prosecutors stunned local authorities by dropping the charges against him.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Candace Howard said in a court filing that the
Atlanta case was dismissed to make way for charges from a more serious federal
narcotics investigation in Houston.
Meanwhile Atlanta police are left wondering what's likely to come next.
"We feel the prosecutor's decision to drop the charges may be part of a
strategy she's using," said Worthy.
"We do have an excellent case against him, and we intend to carry that case
forward."
Officials with the U.S. attorneys' offices in Atlanta and Houston declined
to comment on the case.
According to the federal indictment, Watkins was prepared to plead guilty
to conspiring to distribute 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg) to 11 pounds (5 kg) of marijuana
through his downtown businesses.
But just before the plea, the U.S. Attorney's office in Houston notified
Atlanta prosecutors that Watkins is also being investigated there in connection
with alleged drug sales involving more than 6,600 pounds (3,000 kg) of
marijuana.
Watkins remains free on $85,000 bond.
REUTER
RTw 10/26/93 PRO-POT GROUP OVERCOMES OBJECTIONS AND ADOPTS ROAD
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct 26 (Reuter) - Someone should remind the latest member of
Ohio's adopt-a-highway programme -- don't try smoking the potholes.
The National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) has
joined scores of Boy Scout troops, Elks Clubs, and other community groups in the
programme in which participants clean up sections of Ohio state's highway
system.
The state's Department of Transportation denied NORML's application twice
previously, arguing it would be helping to advertise a "controversial activist"
group.
The American Civil Liberties Union stepped in, and Ohio's attorney general
forced transportation officials to relent.
In exchange for cleaning up litter from a two-mile (three kms) stretch of
route 235 near Yellow Springs, Ohio, four times a year, the state will erect a
sign with the group's name.
REUTER
10/26/93 [untitled - Albuquerque Journal Editorial]
------
Oct. 26
Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal on using the National Guard in Washington, D.C.:
The National Guard should not be used to augment crime control efforts in the
nation's capital.
Calling up the National Guard for anti-crime street duty is ill-advised
because it is the wrong tool for the job. The National Guard is not trained in
criminal investigation, routine traffic control or other jobs performed by
trained police officers. The guard is trained for military operations, riot duty
and crowd control without much regard to civil rights.
The precedent of using the Guard for extended periods on routine police work
should be avoided. It would leave a strong impression that local police have
lost control of crime in the nation's capital. There is no quick fix to criminal
activity. Rather than asking President Clinton call up the Guard, the mayor
should first fill 300 vacancies on the police force. If there isn't enough money
in the city's budget for additional police, Congress should make the necessary
appropriation.
The nation's capital should be safe for everyone, resident, members of
Congress, government workers and the 19 million people who visit Washington each
year. Putting National Guardsmen on the streets to fight crime would do great
harm to this nation's democratic image. The world is all too familiar with the
image of armed soldiers patrolling the streets of strife-torn nations around the
world. Don't let it happen here.
------
RTw 10/27/93 MEXICAN POLICE SEIZE 11 TONS OF MARIGUANA
MEXICO CITY, Oct 27 (Reuter) - Mexican police seized more than 11 tons of
marijuana in four days of raids in the north of the country, officials said
Wednesday.
The biggest haul was in the state of Chihuahua, where police seized and
burned 7.5 tons of marijuana plants they found sown over 18 acres, the attorney
general's office said in a statement.
Two men were arrested in a separate incident when police found 1.4 tons of
marijuana hidden in a truck in Sonora state. Lesser quantities were also seized
in the states of Baja California and Nuevo Leon.
REUTER
WP 10/27/93 Call on Love, Not Guards, To Help D.C.
BY COURTLAND MILLOY
In this compact capital city, where political symbols often clash, another
conflicting scene has emerged: The temporary headquarters for Sasha Bruce
Youthwork, one of the District's most successful services for troubled
teenagers, recently opened across the street from the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks
on Eighth Street SE.
On one side, armed soldiers patrol the sidewalks, ever ready for battle. On
the other, a 1960s peace and love era-inspired group of counselors hug and tutor
wayward youths, taming the beast within.
Both scenes are compelling. But imagine seeing either one replicated all over
town. Which would make this a better place: more guns or more love?
Of course, no proposal to deploy the Marines (or more love, for that matter)
has been taken seriously. But in a town that is addicted to enforcers, including
the D.C. police, the FBI, DEA, ATF, Secret Service, Capitol Police, U.S. Park
Police, Postal Police, Metro Transit Police, Zoo Police and Army and Navy
Intelligence and still doesn't feel safe, it's a safe bet that a few more office
clerks dressed up as the National Guard won't do the trick, either.
"We know that guns are not the answer, so why continue down that path?" said
Deborah Shore, executive director of Sasha Bruce Youthwork. "During a visit to
Ireland to talk with youth workers there, I saw children on the front line of
war, just like children in Washington, throwing rocks at soldiers. The more
force that was used against them, the more disrepectful of authority they
became."
Shore, who founded Sasha Bruce Youthwork in 1974, directs an impressive array
of services for youth and families that include emergency shelters, parenting
skills training, home-based family preservation programs and substance abuse
prevention.
The prospects of expanding organizations like hers ought to generate great
excitment. Instead, the pleas of many neighborhood-based social service groups
are virtually ignored. On the other hand, as soon as residents become desperate
enough to cry out for soldiers on the streets, the pleas get attention at the
highest levels of national government.
"It's an outrage," said Kevin Grey, president of the American Civil Liberties
Union in South Carolina, where several cities have deployed the National Guard
to combat neighborhood drug dealing. "Residents are reporting abuses of civil
rights such as spotlights being shined into their homes and intimidation on the
streets. And the National Guard has had no impact on crime. I think Sister Kelly
is being naive."
To suggest that the National Guard could be used to successfully interdict
drugs in the District, as Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly has, shows that she has not
paid much attention to the failures of the Coast Guard, Customs Service and the
Air Force, which even tried using war-ready spy planes.
Of course, it was not all Kelly's fault.
"The culprits in D.C. are crack and Ronald Reagan," Shore said. "They go
together. During the 12 years of the Reagan presidency, we watched in horror as
the distance between the haves and have-nots expanded like crazy. Cocaine
flooded the city, and every conceivable division between human beings - race,
sex and religion - was emphasized to prevent any meaningful dialogue about what
to do about the problems."
It was time to learn from our mistakes and move on, Shore said.
"A problem with the `War on Poverty' was that we knew very little about the
people we were trying to help," she said. "Now we know who we are dealing with,
and we know what works."
That knowledge came from getting inside the homes where the children were
being raised, not just being on the street where they hang out, Shore said.
Unencumbered by government bureaucracy, Sasha Bruce Youthwork is free to move
swiftly in developing and deploying services where they are needed most.
An example of their work can be found around the corner from the Sasha Bruce
headquarters, where a former client is employed at a copying service. He said
that he was placed in a Sasha Bruce youth home in 1979 after being caught
stealing cars.
"I was suppose to be going to school, but a Sasha Bruce counselor became
suspicious and began following me," the former client recalled. "He tracked me
down and discovered I was skipping class. I was shocked, not so much because I
had been followed but because somebody cared enough to do it."
The youth eventually straightened up and has become one of many success
stories that are rarely acknowledged.
It is more than a little baffling that the District, of all places, would
lead the call for military presence on civilian streets. One possible
explanation is that people in some parts of the city have come to view
themselves as residents of a Third World, incapable of self-government and
deserving of a colonial force to keep them in check.
For Shore, such a state of mind is unacceptable.
"There is a humanism and a hopefulness that is needed to replace a defeatist
mentality," Shore said. "Having so many oppressed people in the nation's capital
cannot be tolerated."
The most pressing problem, she said, is fear.
"Our children have a tremendous sense of being alone, unprotected, unwanted,"
Shore said. "That's why they like guns. As adults, we must give them something
better."
UPwe 10/28/93 Measure backs legalization of marijuana
SACRAMENTO (UPI) -- A group of Californians is proposing a ballot measure
that would legalize marijuana use in the state.
Supporters of legalized marijuana use have submitted an initiative to the
Attorney General's Office that would allow anyone over the age of 20 to smoke
marijuana.
The so-called "California Hemp Initiaitive of 1994" would also allow farmers
to grow hemp products.
Attorney General Dan Lungren's office will review the proposal, prepare a
summary of the measure and send it on to the secretary of state.
If there are no glitches, that agency will then clear the initiative,
allowing supporters to gather signatures to place the proposal before voters.
UPwe 10/28/93 Four arrested in drug bust
SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) -- Federal authorities said three California residents
and one New Yorker were charged Thursday with possession of and conspiracy to
distribute more than $200 million worth of marijuana imported from Thailand.
The arrests last week of Marshall Way, 47, of San Francisco, Karen Green, 42
of Napa, Robert Singer, 40, of New York, N.Y., and Joel Hillman, 44, of Mill
Valley, were the result of a four-month investigation that led to the seizure of
12.5 tons of marijuana, according to a statement issued by U.S. Attorney Michael
Yamaguchi.
The four face sentences of up to life imprisonment and fines of up to $4
million if convicted.
More than 11 tons of the high-grade marijuana were found in a Novato, Calif.,
warehouse, the statement said.
A number of federal and local law enforcment agencies cooperated in the
investigation, including the Coast Guard, the Drug Enforcment Administration and
police and sheriffs' departments in San Franciso, Marin County and Sonoma
County.
RTw 10/28/93 U.S. MILITARY CHANGES ROLE IN WAR ON DRUGS
(Eds: Updates with announcement)
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuter) - In a major policy shift, the Pentagon said
Thursday it will cut drug interdiction efforts by warships and aircraft in the
Caribbean and move to help South America fight cocaine cartels at the source.
Officials said the move could cut $200 million a year from the Pentagon's
$1.1 billion annual drug-fighting budget and that providing intelligence, radar
and training to help destroy laboratories and catch drug kingpins made more
sense.
Deputy Assistant Defence Secretary Brian Sheridan stressed that U.S. troops
would not be used on anti-drug missions by police and military forces in
Colombia and other nations under the new aid policy.
But he said the change would mean more support for counter-drug efforts
along the border with Mexico and that the armed forces will begin pilot
programmes to cut drug demand in disadvantaged U.S. neighbourhoods.
The pilot programmes would be similar to drug abuse programmes in the
military. Those programmes, which feature regular testing and threats of
punishment, have been highly successful.
"There was a sense that we needed to adjust our efforts and programmes,"
Sheridan said at a Pentagon news conference.
"The Department of Defence has issued new policy guidance redirecting its
counter-drug programme to emphasise support to nations battling cocaine
cultivation and processing, while shifting away from high seas interdiction."
About half of the current U.S. military drug budget is spent on Air Force
radar planes and sophisticated warships in the Caribbean that help detect small
drug-smuggling planes and boats for U.S. Customs and Coast Guard officials.
But a Clinton administration drug policy review in recent months concluded
that those interdiction efforts were making only a very small dent in the flow
of cocaine northward from Colombia and other Latin American nations.
Sheridan did not give details on what kind of aid or training that would
be provided to Colombia and other countries, but he suggested that monitoring
efforts by U.S. warships and radar planes was not getting the job done.
About 1,100 metric tons of cocaine is produced in Latin American annually
and the United States consumes only about 300 metric tons, he said.
"At the end of the day, cocaine is still available on our streets,"
Sheridan added when asked if current interdiction efforts were adequate.
The official said that new technologies -- such as a special
over-the-horizon radar now based in Virginia -- could monitor Caribbean drug
smuggling from afar instead of using high-cost warships on the scene.
"We will continue to do some monitoring (by ships and planes), but we will
do less of that," Sheridan told the news conference.
The United States, he noted, has begun using smaller radar ships manned by
civilian crews to monitor drug traffic at a cost of only about $3 million a year
compared to the $20 million annual operating cost of a sophisticated Aegis
cruiser.
REUTER
APn 10/29/93 White House-Virus
By CHRISTOPHER CONNELL
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Were the computer disks the White House handed out with
the 1,342-page Clinton health plan infected by a virus that flashes a "legalize
marijuana" message?
That rumor swept Washington Friday after a business news service reported
that such a virus turned up on the computer disks it got from the White House.
However, that appears to be the only reported sickness among the 1,000 sets
of two, 3 1/2-inch computer disks that the White House ordered from a Virginia
firm in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, shortly before Clinton took a copy
of his bill to Capitol Hill.
Johannah Brookwell, president of Controlled Copy Support Systems Inc. in
Fairfax, Va., insisted the disks were clean when they left her shop.
Jeff Eller, the White House director of media affairs, said the Bloomberg
News Service is the only organization that has found anything wrong with its
disks.
Both the White House and the duplication company spot-checked for viruses and
found none, said Eller.
"Nobody else has got it. I think the disks that left here were healthy," said
Eller. But he added that he could not say with 100 percent certainty that all
the disks were virus-free since they were not all checked beforehand.
"Maybe they missed one," said Paul Heldman, a health reporter for Bloomberg,
who discovered the virus on his disks Thursday.
Heldman and another Bloomberg reporter had used the disks in their laptop
computers at the White House on Wednesday and lent them briefly to a television
reporter to use as a prop.
When Heldman stuck one of the disks in a computer at his office Thursday, it
issued a virus warning. The computer was not damaged and the message never
flashed, but a check showed both disks were infected by the "Stoned III" virus,
Heldman said.
That virus can damage a computer's hard drive and flash the message, "Your
P.C. is stoned -- LEGALIZE MARIJUANA."
Heldman said neither the laptops nor his office computer were infected. "We
checked out every other possible source of the virus," he said.
UPwe 10/29/93 DEA chief steps down
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The administrator for the Drug Enforcement
Administration, Robert C. Bonner, stepped down Friday after three years in
office to enter private law practice in Los Angeles.
Attorney General Janet Reno named Stephen H. Green, who is deputy
administrator, to serve as acting administrator. Green is a 25-year veteran of
the DEA.
Bonner was a federal judge in Los Angeles before he was sworn in as
administrator of the DEA on Aug. 6, 1990. Before he become a judge, Bonner
served as a U.S. attorney from 1984 to 1989.
Bonner's successor will be named by Prsident Clinton and Reno.
Bonner announced his plans to resign in August.
UPsw 10/31/93 White House shows "absence of leadership" on nation's drug problems
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The departing head of the Drug Enforcement Administration
said the Clinton Administration has allowed the country to "backslide" in the
war on drugs, The Washington Post said Sunday.
Robert C. Bonner resigned as head of the DEA shortly after Attorney General
Janet Reno gave the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation the
authority to resolve disputes between the two law enforcement agencies, although
a proposal to merge the agencies was turned down. A former federal judge and
U.S. attorney, Bonner was appointed by President Bush.
Designating the head of the FBI to resolve disputes with the DEA, is like
"trying to resolve disputes between IBM and Apple" by giving the job "to the
head of IBM," Bonner told the Post.
Bonner disagreed with the Clinton administration's increased emphasis on drug
treatment, saying it amounted to a decrease in emphasis on law enforcement and
the pursuit of cooperation from foreign governments.
"My perception is the drug problem is not only not a priority issue" for the
White House, "it does not appear to me to be an issue of any real importance,"
Bonner told the Post. In the "absence of leadership" from the White House,
Congress has been able to "chop up" the budgets of federal agencies attacking
the drug problem, Bonner said.
The Post said Clinton administration drug control policy director Lee P.
Brownresponded, saying, "I don't think there's any room for us to be engaged in
rhetoric about who's tougher on drugs."
WP 10/31/93 Departing DEA Chief Has Harsh Words for Clinton Anti-Drug Policy
By Michael Isikoff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Outgoing Drug Enforcement Administration chief Robert C. Bonner has accused
the Clinton administration of permitting the country to "backslide" in the war
against drug abuse by treating the problem as a "non-issue."
Amid signs that the use of heroin has reached record levels, Bonner said
there has been a "vacuum" and "an absence of leadership" from the White House
that has permitted Congress to "willy-nilly chop up" the budgets of federal
agencies seeking to attack the drug problem.
"In terms of leadership at the White House, this is a non-issue," said
Bonner, whose resignation takes effect today. "My perception is the drug problem
is not only not a priority issue (at the White House), it does not appear to me
to be an issue of any real importance."
Bonner also dismissed the administration's new anti-drug "strategy" as a
largely rhetorical and misguided document that is "going to fail." By placing
primary emphasis on the treatment of hard-core drug abusers, White House drug
control policy director Lee P. Brown is ignoring that "there really isn't an
effective treatment for cocaine and crack addiction."
"Drug treatment, particularly in this town, is the real feel good (method)
for how you deal with the drug problem. It doesn't deal with any enforcement of
the laws. It makes everybody feel all warm and fuzzy. . . . I think treatment is
being oversold."
Bonner's comments were made during a two-hour interview last week in which he
harshly criticized administration policies on a number of fronts. A former
federal judge and U.S. attorney in Los Angeles who was appointed three years ago
by President George Bush, Bonner said he is leaving of his own accord, although
he acknowledged he had not been encouraged to stay on indefinitely. The office
has no fixed term. Stephen H. Greene, the deputy administrator, will become
acting administrator.
"Perhaps I may be something of a voice in the wilderness here, but I still
believe the drug problem in all its various dimensions is the greatest single
threat facing America," Bonner said. After several years of a "strong clear
signal" of social disapproval of drugs, "I'm very concerned that clear signal is
becoming much more ambiguous and . . . muted and we're beginning to backslide."
Asked about Bonner's comments, Brown said: "I don't think there's any room
for us to be engaged in rhetoric about who's tougher on drugs."
Brown said that, contrary to Bonner's assertions, President Clinton was
"very, very concerned about this issue" and had demonstrated that by designating
the drug policy director a member of the Cabinet. He also emphasized that while
the administration's approach will place more emphasis on treatment of addicts,
"we're not contemplating reductions for the law enforcement agencies."
Bonner said the most serious new drug threat has been a "dramatic" resurgence
of heroin abuse, with many new users snorting or smoking the drug. After years
of worldwide bumper crops of opium poppies in the late 1980s, "I would say from
all the data I've examined there is more heroin available in the United States
today than perhaps at any time in the nation's history."
While acknowledging "there is no hard data," Bonner said he also believes the
total number of users of heroin has expanded "well beyond" traditional estimates
of 500,000 to perhaps 1 million.
Other federal officials and drug experts in recent months have said there is
no accurate way to measure the number of heroin addicts and fears of a heroin
"comeback" have been expressed by DEA officials for some time. But Bonner and
other agency officials last week cited a number of statistics to back up their
claims, including a record number of heroin emergency admissions to hospitals,
reports of heroin being distributed at crack houses in major U.S. cities, and
substantial increases in street-level purity of the drug.
At least part of the problem, Bonner said, is the lack of a vigorous
international attack in the "source" countries. While the largest supplier of
raw opium to the United States is Burma (Myanmar), that country's government "is
not hearing any message from the U.S. government" on drugs because of what he
contended was the State Department's preoccupation with human rights abuses.
Bonner's resignation comes shortly after he and his agency won a crucial
bureaucratic victory, staving off a proposal by Vice President Gore to fold the
DEA into the FBI. Instead, Attorney General Janet Reno gave FBI Director Louis
J. Freeh new powers to resolve operational disputes among all Justice Department
agencies, including the DEA.
But Bonner said the new setup created many potential problems. Within hours
of Reno making her announcement last month, DEA agents and FBI agents in one
city began squabbling over who should prepare an affidavit - with bureau
officials threatening to "take it up to the Freeh committee," Bonner said.
Designating the FBI director to adjudicate disputes between the FBI and DEA
is like "trying to resolve disputes between IBM and Apple" by giving the job "to
the chairman of IBM," he said.
circa 10/31/93 [untitled - Justice Department Appeals Judge's Decision]
By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- The Justice Department is appealing a judge's
decision that a phone system in prisons across the country discriminates against
inmates because they can't make unlimited collect calls.
The appeal, filed Thursday, seeks to lift a preliminary injunction that U.S.
District Judge Henry Wilhoit Jr. issued Oct. 13. It applies to federal prisons
nationwide.
Wilhoit ordered the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to stop the use of a
multimillion-dollar direct-dial phone system called the Inmate Telephone System
unless an unrestricted collect-calling system remains available to inmates. The
new system has been installed in about half of all federal prisons.
Wilhoit ruled that the direct-dial system "plainly discriminates against
indigent inmates." Before the bureau began installing the system, prisoners were
allowed to make collect calls to virtually anyone who was willing to accept the
charges. The collect calls were monitored by prison officials.
Under the new system, inmates have to pay for direct-dial calls with money
received from families or for prison work. Wilhoit noted that some inmates are
unable to work for medical reasons, and wages for prison work are low.
Wilhoit also found that the system limited inmates to 20 phone numbers,
raising "serious prior restraint concerns." Prison officials routinely restrict
the list to relatives, friends and attorneys.
No date has been set by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati
to hear arguments from government attorneys and lawyers for the 14 plaintiffs,
who are inmates at the women's federal prison in Lexington.
"Obviously we believe the appeal is improper and that the preliminary
injunction is completely proper," Lexington attorney Douglas McSwain, who is
representing the plaintiffs, said in a telephone interview Friday.
McSwain said some of the restrictions may stem from the case of a prisoner
who made accusations against Vice President Dan Quayle during the 1988
presidential campaign. The prisoner said he sold marijuana to Quayle years
before; Quayle denied the allegations.
"The political implications of this are pretty astounding," McSwain said.
"This new ITS system would take care of that problem -- you'd seldom, if ever,
be able to call the press."
Officials in the U.S. attorney's office in Lexington declined to discuss the
case, and Justice Department officials in Washington could not be reached for
comment.
APn 11/04/93 Jail Raid
By LEROY TILLMAN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Five city jail guards were arrested Thursday for allegedly
taking bribes to smuggle illegal cocaine and marijuana to inmates.
The illegal drugs and other contraband were brought into the prison between
May 1992 and August 1993 and federal investigators launched an undercover
operation after being tipped off to the smuggling, said U.S. Attorney Eric
Holder.
Even though "we do pat searches" of the guards, "there are many, many ways"
to bring in drugs, said District of Columbia Corrections Director Walter Ridley.
"I think we have to continue to work and find better ways of selecting
employees."
Ridley said part of the problem may be attributed to familiarity between
inmates and officers who may have known each other previously.
The arrests marked the fourth time in three years that city corrections
officers were arrested for drug-related offenses involving inmates, said Ridley.
The five -- plus a sixth person, a former corrections officer -- were charged
with bribery, possession and distribution of cocaine, possession and
distribution of marijuana and introduction of contraband into a penal
institution.
The arrests of the four men and two women culminated a two-year investigation
called Operation Inside Track.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth set bond at $20,000 each.
UPn 11/04/93 Driveways off limits without warrant
SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) -- A federal appeals court ruled unanimously Thursday
that a homeowner's driveway located 50 to 60 feet from his house could not be
searched by police without a warrant.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the drug and gun possession
convictions of a North Idaho resident whose home was searched after a police
officer smelled marijuana while standing in the driveway.
The court said the driveway was within the protected area of Robert Depew's
house, which made the officer's warrantless entry to the property and detection
of the marijuana an illegal search in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Depew, a practicing nudist who had posted "No Trespassing" signs on his
property, had the expectation of privacy both in and around his house, the court
said.
Without the officer's testimony, the court said, a federal judge would not
have permitted police to search Depew's house in an operation that yielded more
than 1,000 marijuana plants and unregistered firearms.
UPwe 11/10/93 Judge to decide on probation termination
SAN DIEGO (UPI) -- A judge said Wednesday he will consider terminating the
probation of a man infected with the AIDS virus who cultivated and used
marijuana to stop nausea and other symptoms of the deadly disease.
Samuel Skipper, 39, of La Mesa, pleaded guilty in 1991 to cultivating
marijuana and was placed on three years probation. Skipper said he and his male
lover had AIDS and used the drug for treatment.
As a condition of his probation, he was ordered not to use marijuana.
But Skipper continued to use the drug and was charged again with marijuana
cultivation. He was acquitted Oct. 15 marijuana cultivation charges after he
used the "medical necessity" defense.
Skipper's attorney told San Diego Municipal Court Judge Charles Rogers that
Skipper should be allowed to cultivate marijuana since the jury accepted his
explanation that he needs the drug.
"All Mr. Skipper wants is to be left alone," argued Juliana Humphrey. "This
is a very unique situation."
Deputy District Attorney David Williams told the judge not to terminate the
remaining year of probation.
The judge will make his decision on December 10.
UPsw 11/15/93 Drug dealing suspected in shooting deaths of two women
FORT WORTH, Texas (UPI) -- Authorities said Monday that two young college
women whose bodies were found Saturday in a vacant lot may have been involved in
dealing drugs.
Channing Freelove and Melanie Golchert, who had been close friends for
several years, were shot to death early Saturday in a lot on Fort Worth's south
side.
Police said the two, who were killed execution style, may have been the
victims of a drug deal gone bad, as suspected narcotics were found in an
apartment belonging to one of the women.
Freelove, 19, was a freshman at Texas Christian University, while Golchert,
18, attended Tarrant County Junior College.
A police report obtained by Dallas television station WFAA indicated that on
the night before she and her friend were killed, Freelove asked her parents for
$6,000 in cash to pay her drug dealer.
The station said the parents told police that Freelove had been a narcotics
dealer, and that 10 pounds of marijuana was missing from her apartment. Another
girl who shared an apartment with the two women said she heard Freelove pleading
for her life in a telephone conversation with her drug dealer.
Officers who searched the apartment said they found 2 1/2 pounds of marijuana
and $1,000 in cash.
UPwe 11/19/93 Berekely man indicted in pot forest
SACRAMENTO (UPI) -- A Berkeley man was indicted Friday by a federal grand
jury for allegedly growing more than 2,000 marijuana plants in Lassen National
Forest.
John Dennis Reagan, 33, faces up to life in prison and a $4 million fine if
convicted.
Reagan was arrested in a remote section of the Northern California forest
after a helicopter spotted the illegal plants. Drug agents destroyed 2,130
plants, many of them more than 20 feet tall.
Authorities said the plants had a street value of more than $8 million.
APn 11/19/93 Helicopter Crash
HILLSBORO, Mo. (AP) -- A federal drug agency helicopter crashed Friday while
conducting surveillance, killing a St. Louis police officer and critically
injuring the pilot.
The Drug Enforcement Administration helicopter crashed into a rural, heavily
wooded area 15 miles south of St. Louis, authorities said. The cause wasn't
immediately known.
Stephen Strehl, 35, a 14-year department veteran assigned to a DEA drug task
force, was killed, said Christine Nelson, a police spokeswoman.
Pilot Hawthorn Lee was hospitalized in critical condition, the DEA said.
Strehl was part of a team observing suspected drug activity in the area. The
crash wasn't expected to jeopardize the drug investigation.
APn 11/22/93 Lite-Drug-Sniffing Pig
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Harley is a pig in a dog's world.
The Vietnamese miniature potbellied pig is the newest animal member of the
Portland Police, sniffing out drugs in a job usually reserved for canines.
Harley has his advantages. Pigs have keener noses and are cheaper to feed and
train, says his trainer, Officer Ronald Cash.
On the other hand, pigs aren't known for their athletic ability. Cash
realizes there will be times when he'll have to carry Harley instead of running.
No problem, says Cash, who's been assigned to prepare the 40-pound pig for
the streets and take care of him at home.
"I hold him close to my chest so he can hear my heart beat and he knows that
I love him," said Cash, a former Army Ranger who works with the bureau's Gang
Enforcement Team.
"You also have to grunt with him," he says. "It's part of the bonding
process."
Police adopted Harley in June as a piglet. Chief Charles Moose was looking
for creative ideas to fight drugs.
Cash said he hopes to train Harley to sniff out marijuana, heroin and cocaine
within a year. Eventually, he wants to convert half a patrol car's back seat for
Harley.
For now, Cash takes his pig out on a leash almost every day. People stop,
point and begin laughing once they realize he's not a dog.
But the straight-laced officer doesn't feel the least bit foolish. In fact,
he sees it as an honor.
"I wouldn't care if it was a rat," Cash said. "I'd be just as proud to walk
around with a hamster if it helps drug suppression."
RTw 11/23/93 DANISH HIPPIE COLONY THRIVES AS "PARADISE FOR LOSERS"
By Lars Foyen
CHRISTIANIA, Denmark, Nov 24 (Reuter) - Behind the graffiti-sprayed walls
of an evacuated military compound, a Danish hippie colony continues to live out
a 1960s dream of anarchy, love and marijuana.
Christiania, a picturesque 18th century citadel comprising 35 hectares (86
acres) of prime waterfront real estate in central Copenhagen, was occupied by
hippie squatters in 1971 who declared it an autonomous "free town."
About 700 adults and 250 children still live in the controversial compound
which ordinary Danes see as either a worthy social experiment or a provocative
anachronism.
"Christiania is as close to anarchy as you will ever get," explained Wanda
Liszt, a spokesman of the Christianites, as the free town's inhabitants call
themselves.
"Our only laws are: "no hard drugs', "no guns', "no violence' and "no
cars'."
Some 500,000 people visit Christiania each year, many coming to buy
marijuana on the infamous "Pusher Street" where soft drugs are openly displayed,
or for the area's restaurants, night spots, rock concerts and theatres.
"Social security clients...the young with no jobs, the homeless -- they all
come here to enjoy the peaceful green setting and the magical mixture of village
and urban life," says a Christiania guide leaflet.
"They cannot find these things where they live, in dark apartments and
dreary institutions where nobody has time to talk and a person enjoying a beer
on a park bench is frowned upon," it says.
"Christiania is a paradise for losers."
A visitor to Christiania is struck by the heaps of junk and rubbish, the
smell of firewood used to heat the old stone barracks, building facades in need
of a coat of paint and seemingly passive people.
"Laws. No thanks," someone has scrawled on a wall.
"Who's to decide how clean Christiania should be. Should the inhabitants
set the standards or should you. We don't go poking around your backyard," says
Peter Soerensen, another Christianite spokesman.
Half of Christiania's inhabitants live on the Danish state's generous
social security cheques but there is a dynamic side to the community.
It has its own day-care centres for children, a cinema, an opera, various
workshops, a bathhouse, a hairdresser, riding stables, shops, art galleries and
even a post office.
"Christianites also receive mail," said Liszt with a grin. "Usually from
the authorities.
"Christiania is like the old Montmartre (bohemian) quarter in Paris with
its ragtag mixture of people. Although you won't find artists like
Toulouse-Lautrec here, you will find the odd pickpocket and whore," Liszt said.
A row of new private houses, some quite fashionable, which residents built
along a scenic waterfront, tell another story.
"You'll find all kinds here, hippies, drug dealers, and even people with
rather bourgeois lifestyles, leaving their kids at the day-care centre, working
nine to five and watching television in the evening," Soerensen said.
Christiania does not believe in representational democracy through majority
decisions. It is ruled through open meetings at local house, area and community
levels where, in principle, all must agree for a decision to be carried out.
The community's relations with the Danish state and the Defence Ministry,
which owns the area, have always been stormy.
But Denmark, with a tradition for tolerance and shunning confrontation, has
never sent in police or troops to throw the squatters out. Plans to somehow
evict them faded as Christiania became an accomplished fact.
In the late 1970s, a motorcycle gang moved in and began using Christiania
as headquarters for the hard drug trade and turned it into a red-light district.
The Christianites kicked out the gang and the hard drugs trade in 1980.
The 1990s have seen the start of peaceful co-existence between the Freetown
and the Defence Ministry which agreed to let the anarchists stay if they paid
utility bills, taxes and Value Added Tax, maintained the buildings and abided by
drug laws.
Defence Ministry section chief Soeren Stensbo said Christiania was,
perhaps, not such a bad deal for society.
"It would cost a lot more to house these people in city apartments and
social institutions, and to provide municipal day-care for their children," he
said.
But many Christianites have mixed feelings about "normalisation," its
effects on autonomy and on the marijuana trade which police want to stamp out.
"Why not normalise the rest of society instead, let it enjoy our kind of
self-government. Why can't we be allowed to enjoy a leisurely marijuana joint in
the sun without being harassed by police," said Soerensen.
REUTER
WP 11/25/93 Proposal to Merge Firearms Bureau Into FBI Is Scrapped
By Pierre Thomas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Vice President Gore's plans to merge the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms into the FBI as part of his "reinventing government" drive have been
scrapped, bureau and Treasury Department officials said yesterday.
Administration officials apparently backed off the proposal after receiving
little congressional support for it and after reevaluating the wisdom of
eliminating the country's principle enforcer of federal firearms laws at a time
when gun violence has reached epidemic proportions in many communities.
Gore's "National Performance Review (NPR) has advised the Department of the
Treasury of its intention to withdraw the recommendation that ATF be merged with
the FBI," ATF Director John W. Magaw said in a dispatch to all ATF stations.
"With this violence, timing may have been a factor," Magaw, who had opposed
the merger, said in an interview yesterday. "Guns and crime are a priority."
The decision ends months of speculation about the tiny agency's fate that
began last February with the violent confrontation near Waco, Tex. between ATF
and the Branch Davidian sect.
Four agents and at least two Davidians were killed when the ATF raided the
sect's compound. A Treasury Department review later found that top ATF
administrators had botched planning for the raid and then tried to mislead the
public about the tragedy. The findings led to an overhaul of the bureau's top
management.
The National Performance Review recommendations had preceded the Treasury
review and were based on the premise that federal law enforcement would be
strengthened by centralizing some efforts under the FBI. Many critics said the
scathing Waco inquiry confirmed that ATF, at least as a separate law enforcement
division, should be eliminated.
Despite the criticism and concern about ATF's performance, Gore's proposal
generated little support among Attorney General Janet Reno and congressional
leaders, who would have had to approve the merger, administration and
congressional sources said.
A number of law enforcement organizations came to ATF's aid, saying the
bureau has expertise in firearms, explosives and arson investigations that might
be lost. A similar proposal to merge the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration
died in October when Reno granted FBI Director Louis J. Freeh authority to
oversee all Justice Department investigations and overlapping law enforcement
efforts.
"I think we can make ATF and the FBI work more efficiently, but I think that
they perform distinct functions that can be complementary to one another," said
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), who oversees funding for ATF as chairman of the
House Appropriations subcommittee on the Treasury, Postal Service and general
government.
Ronald K. Noble, the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for
enforcement, confirmed NPR's decision, saying, "With the growing gun-related
violence, ATF is positioned to do battle in that arena. I've met with Director
Louis Freeh and we're committed to working together to help address the
problem."
The appointment of former Secret Service director Magaw to replace Stephen E.
Higgins as ATF director helped the agency's position, said Sen. Dennis DeConcini
(D-Ariz.), a staunch ATF supporter.
"I'm pleasantly surprised," the senator said. "People were misinformed about
ATF vis-a-vis Waco and they deserved some criticism, but they perform invaluable
services. The merger didn't make sense and it wouldn't have saved any money."
FBI officials declined to comment.
The Gore panel concluded that federal law enforcement efforts suffered from
duplication, competition and squabbling and that taxpayer dollars could be saved
if ATF and DEA became part of the FBI.
The proposals drew quick fire within ATF and the DEA as agency officials
sought to justify their existence and to privately accuse the larger,
better-known FBI of being arrogant and power-hungry.
If a merger were to occur, "FBI personnel would view ATF personnel as less
than full partners and the opportunity for advancement or representation in
management would be limited," said an ATF position paper circulated within the
government. "An alignment would create the appearance that the federal firearms,
explosives and arson laws are less of a priority."
APn 11/25/93 Netherlands-Pot Purity
SCHIJNDEL, Netherlands (AP) -- Dutch pot smokers can see whether they're
getting their money's worth now that a consumers group is beginning to monitor
soft drugs.
Next week the Consumers Group for Cannabis Lovers opens its new public
service, a quality control laboratory for marijuana and hashish.
"You know exactly what's in every product on the market so why shouldn't soft
drug users have the same right," director Boy Ramsahai said Thursday.
A decade ago the Dutch turned their horticultural expertise to developing
new, locally grown marijuana varieties, known collectively as "Netherweed."
Using crossbreed techniques, superstrength varieties are now on the market
alongside the 50 or so imported varieties available at more than 1,500 so-called
coffee shops in this nation of 15 million.
But some of the Netherweed doesn't make the grade.
"Some of the stuff out there tastes like crap," said Monica Oud, a
receptionist at the Amsterdam Hash Museum.
At the lab, marijuana and hashish from coffee shops will be tested for
quality and levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, their active ingredient.
The lab will also check for dealers' use of fillers to cut the marijuana.
Possession and sale of both soft and hard drugs are allowed in the
Netherlands, with marijuana viewed as a recreational substance and hard drug
abuse an illness rather than a crime.
RTw 11/28/93 COLOMBIA SHOULD LEGALIZE DRUGS - TOP OFFICIAL
BOGOTA, Nov 28 (Reuter) Colombia's war on drugs has failed and the country
should legalise cocaine and marijuana trafficking because the United States and
Europe are decriminalizing consumption, a top legal official said in an
interview Sunday.
"They can't tell us to keep sacrificing people if they are not doing
anything against the consumer," Prosecutor-General Gustavo De Greiff told El
Tiempo newspaper.
De Greiff, who is responsible for bringing cases against Colombia's leading
drug traffickers, said current repressive policies against the cocaine trade
were not working because rich nations did nothing to combat consumption.
"The fight against drugs, in the form in which it has been set out, in the
way it is being carried out, is a failed fight," De Greiff said. "Repression
works only if the industrialised countries combat consumption; but if they
don't, there is no guarantee that the problem will end."
Referring to one of Colombia's big successes in the drug war -- the 1989
killing of Medellin cartel military chief Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha -- De Greiff
said: "We killed Mr Gacha and nothing happened. All because drugs carry on being
taken and now that consumption is being decriminalized."
De Greiff said it was "monstruous to go on with the present situation so
that someone, making a grotesque joke, can say we have to continue the battle
until the last combatant dies ... the last of the Colombians."
President Cesar Gaviria said earlier this month that he did not agree with
De Greiff's views on legalising drug trafficking and believed Colombia should
continue to fight the cocaine and marijuana trade in line with commitments to
the United States.
However De Greiff's views reflect those of many ordinary Colombians, who
believe that after a decade of "drug war" that has cost the lives of scores of
judges, politicians, police, and ordinary citizens as well as wrecking the
country's image abroad, the time is ripe for a new approach.
Colombia dominates the world cocaine trade and also exports large
quantities of marijuana and a growing quantity of heroin.
REUTER
APn 11/29/93 Drug-Alcohol Intervention
By JAMES H. RUBIN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Drug use at work is declining, but the reasons are not yet
clear, federal researchers said Monday.
There is not enough evidence to attribute the change to more drug testing of
workers, a shift in attitude toward drug use or other factors, said Charles P.
O'Brien, head of psychiatry at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and chairman
of a committee of the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine.
The deterrent effects of drug testing never have been clearly demonstrated,
the committee said. It called for more comprehensive studies and better
evaluation of programs aimed at creating a drug-free workplace.
"Clearly workers entering the workforce in the 1990s are likely to have
substantially less experience with illicit drugs than did their counterparts in
the 1980s and the late 1970s," the committee said.
The committee said a 1990 survey indicates that abuse rates in the workplace
are now relatively low.
The survey found that about 7 percent of U.S. workers used an illegal drug
during the preceding month and about 6 percent abused alcohol.
A 1979 study showed that as many as 14 percent of the general population had
used one or more illegal drugs during the preceding month.
Businesses ought to do a better job determining what works in checking drug
abuse, and studies also should focus on whether occasional drug use affects
productivity, he said.
The committee also said that nearly $1.2 billion is spent annually on
urinalysis tests of workers. But there is not much scientific evidence to show
the tests are very good at detecting drug use or dependence.
For example, said Marian Fischman of Columbia University, traces of marijuana
can be found in urine even months after use. There is no scientific proof that
such amounts would affect behavior, she said.
Added Bryan Finkle of the University of Utah, urine testing "tells you a very
limited amount. It doesn't distinguish between use and abuse."
The test results have been over-interpreted, primarily by lawyers and
crime-fighters, he said.
The committee also found that on-the-job drug intervention programs may have
limited value, in part because they do not include systematic follow-up.
"Recovery should be viewed as a process rather than an event," the committee
said.
It said most drug and alcohol intervention programs have focused on finding
new cases of abuse and have "devoted little time to relapse prevention."
"Workplace alcohol and other drug interventions may help a limited number of
patients" but cannot by themselves "solve the nation's problems with alcohol and
other drugs," the committee said.
A separate study released last month by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
said abuse of alcohol, tobacco and drugs is killing more than 500,000 Americans
a year and placing an increasing and heavy burden on the health care system and
society.
The National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine are chartered by
Congress. They are private groups that provide health policy advice to the
government.
The committee on drug use issued a two-volume report and held a public forum
to discuss its findings.
End
Compiled by
Paul Stanford