'A slice through the politics and policies with regard to cannabis from accross the Globe, a sideways swipe at grass stupidity and the hidden agendas with a political slant, cannabis politics with a
whiff of the of hypocrisy, cannabis politics of the Christian right, cannabis politics of the far left, enjoy...

'alcohol is the drug of choice'
April 29th 2005
Melissa Tresner

TEXAS: Even though alcohol is cheap, well advertised, readily available and popular among adolescents, communities can take action to put a plug on underage drinking, a representative from a statewide coalition said Thursday at a meeting in Longview. Nicole Holt, with Texans Standing Tall, said alcohol is the drug of choice for many children . The average age for first-time alcohol use in Texas is about 12. Texans Standing Tall is a statewide organization made up of community groups and people who work to prevent underage drug use by changing availability, attitudes and regulations. Longview's Partners in Prevention is a part of the organization and sponsored the meeting Thursday night at the Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center. According to Texans Standing Tall statistics, in 2002, alcohol was blamed in the deaths of 614 people younger than 21 in this state. That's almost five times the number of youth deaths from all other illicit drugs combined. Full Story....................

'Plan Colombia and Beyond'
April 28th 2005
Ari Rockland-Miller

"The International War on Drugs: Plan Colombia and Beyond," Peter Andreas, assistant professor of political science and international studies, admitted that he once inadvertently contributed to Bolivia's cocaine economy by agreeing to sit on top of a large stack of toilet paper on a public bus.Unbeknownst to Andreas at the time, toilet paper is used to dry coca paste, and Bolivia's cocaine production depends on the surreptitious import of this seemingly innocuous product. Andreas used the anecdote, though ironic, as a reflection of the inanity of the current state of the international drug war, which panelists said was riddled with contradictions. Excellent Read........

'a genetic cousin to marijuana'
Associated Press
April 28th 2005

SACRAMENTO - A landmark bill that would allow California farmers to grow hemp - a genetic cousin to marijuana - fell two votes short of passage before a key legislative committee Wednesday. Long recognized for its utility on the production of a long list of marketable items from food to clothing, hemp cannot be legally grown in the United States without a permit from the Drug Enforcement Administration. Supporters of the crop said the agency has issued only one permit. But a recent appeals court decision may have weakened the DEA's position, prompting Assembly Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, to proposed a state law that would allow the state Department of Food and Agriculture to issue licenses to grow and process hemp. Full Story...............

'a 14-man firing squad'
Emma Tom
April 27th 2005:

THERE has been a lot of talk lately about the dumbness of the Bali Nine. "How could anyone be stupid enough to traffic drugs in a country where Lady Justice has replaced her scales with a 14-man firing squad?" we've wondered aloud in cafes and pubs. "Didn't these idiots realise there's no such thing as a free nasi goreng?" Taping industrial adhesive to one's sensitive inner thigh areas didn't seem to indicate a monster IQ either. What's been even dumber than all this, however, is the erroneous crap the rest of us (let's call us the Australian 19,999,991) have been spouting about drugs from the complacency of our legal habits. Over coffee, cigarettes and alcohol, we've railed about the evil of addictive substances and the ruin they bring not only to all those innocent kiddies jabbed by pushers in cinemas - but to the entire nation. We've joined politicians and police saying the drug mules deserve bullets because their cargo would have definitely killed folk back home. More Erroneous Crap..............

'police have cracked down on grow-ops'.
April 26th 2005:

MONTREAL - Since the shooting deaths of four Mounties outside an Alberta grow-op early last month, police takedowns of marijuana-producing facilities have been receiving more media coverage. But authorities and pot advocates alike agree there has been no increase in busts of grow-ops. Wayne Oakes, spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of Alberta, says the increased media attention is due to the fact grow-ops now play a larger role in public consciousness. "Any time a tragic incident happens, it will heighten awareness," he says. While Oakes says more people are paying attention, he denies the police have cracked down on grow-ops. He says the rigorous process necessary to obtain a search warrant ensures police are not doing things any differently because of the shootings. "It usually starts off with a very subtle belief, but we cannot act on mere suspicion. We need enough credibility for a search warrant to be justified," he says. In Montreal, Dominique Lacasse, who is in charge of drug offences for Saint-Henri and Pointe-Saint-Charles, agrees there has been no significant increase. "I see busts every week, but there's been no change," he says. Full Story.....................

'Bali is not the problem, drugs are'
April 26th 2005

The current trial in Bali of a 27-year-old Australian woman, Shapelle Corby, arrested at Bali's airport with 4.1 kilograms of marijuana in her checked baggage, and the arrest last week of 9 Australians in connection with the discovery of 8.3 kilograms of heroin destined for Australia onboard an Australian Airlines flight, are raising concerns that Indonesia's handling of these cases will damage relations between Canberra and Jakarta and cause a "tourism backlash" of Australians deciding not to take their holiday in Bali. While one on-line poll shows nearly 70% of Australians support Indonesia's handling of these drug cases, there are spirited debates on local travel forums questioning the integrity of the Indonesian legal system and the policy of capital punishment for convicted drug smugglers. Full Problem...................

'Catch 44'
April 25th 2005
Proposed rules could unintentionally assist federal prosecution

Federal drug agents who want to crack down on marijuana use in San Francisco, medical or otherwise, say the city's plan to regulate the drug may give law enforcement what it needs to do its job: a paper trail. Documents such as business permits, licenses and financial records do not exist at many of the 43 known pot clubs in San Francisco. But new city regulations -- including some proposed last week by Mayor Gavin Newsom -- could force clubs to begin keeping such records. "Yes, we can subpoena documents," said Lawrence Mendosa, assistant special agent in charge for the San Francisco Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Those documents would assist federal agents in mapping the infrastructure of the marijuana distribution system in the city, he said.
While many pot club operators and medical marijuana users in San Francisco agree the city needs regulations, the record-keeping issue most certainly will be raised today when a Board of Supervisors committee meets for the first time to explore marijuana regulations.
Newsom, who describes himself as a strong proponent of medical marijuana, says the threat of DEA action because of city regulation is "a legitimate question that should be explored." The DEA's mission is to stop the sale, use, possession and cultivation of illegal substances Northern California -- and marijuana is second on its priority list, after methamphetamine. "Our responsibility is to enforce federal law and to bring justice those who violate the law,'' Mendosa said. "Whether it's legal in the state really doesn't affect what we do." The DEA has raided clubs and crops across the state but so far has not conducted a wide-scale assault on clubs in San Francisco, which has more dispensaries than any other city in the nation, according to marijuana activists. More Catches...................

'marijuana evolution'
By Andrew Gumbel
18 April 2005

It does not take long to realise that the Galapagos Islands, the world's last surviving wilderness archipelago, are on a collision course with the needs and appetites of the 21st century. Already on the plane from mainland Ecuador, the sheer strange-ness of the place becomes apparent as all passengers, Ecuadorians as well as foreigners, are handed a landing card, as though the destination were not just islands 600 miles off the coast but another country altogether. "If one of the products you are bringing is not permitted," warns the small print on the card, "it will be retained and incinerated." And the island officials mean business. At the airport on the tiny island of Baltra, baggage inspectors pull tightly wrapped clumps of garden vegetables out of suitcases with the satisfaction of customs officers making a marijuana seizure. Read On....................

"This letter is just bewildering.
April 17 2005.

Lawyers for Schapelle Corby have accused Australian police of a cover-up and warned their "bewildering" lack of cooperation may have condemned the former beauty student to 27 years in a Bali jail. Revelations a former airport security officer tipped authorities off to a domestic drug-running operation at Sydney Airport, before he mysteriously died in 2002, proved the Australian Federal Police knew more than they were admitting, said an adviser to Corby's team, Vasu Rasiah. Former Australian Protective Services (APS) officer Gary Lee-Rogers was found dead in his Queanbeyan flat in October 2002 after alerting authorities to the racket in a letter. His family and whistle-blowers believe he was the victim of a revenge murder. "This letter is just bewildering. This AFP is startling us from the beginning," Vasu said. Corby's legal team had only recently asked the AFP and Justice Minister Chris Ellison, Full Bewilderment..............

Peers and MPs join furore over 'rushed' ban on magic mushrooms

Mark Honigsbaum
Saturday April 16, 2005
The Guardian

Peers, MPs and drug advocacy groups have rounded on a new law reclassifying magic mushrooms as a class A drug, saying the legislation was rushed through parliament in last week's "wash-up" without adequate debate and will criminalise a group of people who were doing no harm to themselves or others. Home Office sources have indicated that clause 21 of the new drug bill could come into effect in time for the Glastonbury festival in June. Magic mushroom retailers have vowed to challenge the ban, saying the statute contravenes European free trade regulations and is deeply flawed. Retailers to challenge class A classification amid claims that new law will drive trade underground. the Full Trip.................

Cannabis use under any guise is mind altering
April 15 2005,
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Labour MP Wants to Legalise “Tim Barnett, Labour’s Christchurch Central MP, sounds like he’s been smoking the wacky backy himself with his latest promotion of yet another minority cause – marijuana law reform.”, says Brian Connell, MP for Rakaia. Mr Connell is commenting on claims from Mr Barnett revealed in marijuana magazine ‘Norml News’ in which, Mr Barnett says that “a strong bloc of Labour MPs in the next Parliament is very important to the cause”.“He’s actually indicating that this is already Labour Party policy. “Here’s a guy with a track record of championing legislation for minority groups and he’s at it again. “New Zealand needs to stand up against this type of social re-engineering. “I for one don’t want to live in a society where drug use is considered acceptable” says Mr Connell.

'Cannabis was seen as largely benign'
Thursday, 14 April 2005, 5:00 pm

Paul Holmes revealed to New Zealand a different side to the ruling paradigm of all and any drug use leading all of weak moral fiber to hell in a cart full of bovine excreta.
Douglas Sellman from the highly regarded Christchurch based Addiction Center revealed that most users, despite the highly addictive qualities ascribed to "P" or pure methamphetamine go on to lead perfectly normal lives. We hear now that addition rates run a poor second to the harms and costs of legal alternatives such as alcohol and tobacco. Further, that cannabis was seen as largely benign even in this enlightened dialogue speaks volumes for taking a more measured evidence based approach to drug use, and more importantly, distinguishing misuse and abuse as a health issue, not a criminal and/or justice one, Full Enlightenment................

Morocco: 16,3 ton potato shipment revealed to be hashish
April 14 2005

Tholen - Morrocan police has confiscated a 16,3 ton shipment of hashish. The drugs were hid in a truck which was about to board a transport under the Cypriot flag in the harbour of Cassablanca. It was destined for a fictive company in France. The cargo had been cleared as a shipment of potatoes with a value of approximately € 11.000, but instead the drugs represent a market value of € 14,54 mln. The shipment was registered to a Frenchman living in Casablanca and director of an export company. The man has been taken into custody. The Spanish driver of the truck, as well as a Moroccan broker have both been taken into custody as well, in reference to the ongoing investigation to unmask whoever is behind the crime.
The cultivation of Cannabis in the Moroccan Rif mountains is estimated at 134.000 hectares, according to sources in Africa. Morocco is the worlds largest exporter of hashish, with a yearly export of 100.000 tons (!). This volume represents a value of $ 2 billion a year.

Northern Ireland Prison Service
By Michael McHugh
13 April 2005

Concerns at drugs use in Ulster's prisons surfaced again today after a huge increase in the amount of sleeping tablets recovered. Prison authorities logged a rise to record levels of diazepam and ecstasy while the amount of cannabis confiscated from prisoners also rose during 99 searches between December and February.The news has sparked concern from prison officers about the availability of drugs.233 diazepam tablets were found by Northern Ireland Prison Service authorities, a six-fold increase from the previous three months. The chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, Finlay Spratt, admitted that drug use made his members' jobs more difficult. More difficulties................

"Are you thinking what we're thinking?" No,!
Cannabis would be changed back to a Class B drug. Now there's a surprise.
April eleven 2005

The Conservatives launched their election manifesto today: a slim volume with no picture of party leader Michael Howard on the
Instead, the front is a stark black-and-white list of what Mr Howard called "the simple longings of the British people". The six - "more police, cleaner hospitals, lower taxes, school discipline, controlled immigration and accountability" - appear hand written. cannabis would be changed back to a Class B drug. And they are underlined by the Tories' campaign slogan: "Are you thinking what we're thinking?" Obviously most of the British public aren't, the bookies will give 12/1 on a Tory win, wankers, not the bookies. Something of the night perhaps.

MONTEL WILLIAMS
April Eleven 2005

You may know me as a television talk-show host, but here in 40 states, I am also a criminal. My crime? Using the medicine that has allowed me to lead a normal life, despite having multiple sclerosis: medical marijuana. Being diagnosed with MS, in 1999, felt like a death sentence. I doubted my ability to function as a father, son, brother, friend, talk-show host and producer. I honestly couldn't see a future. I had always taken excellent care of my body; I'd worked out, followed a healthy diet and looked the picture of health. What no one could see was the mind-numbing pain that seared through my legs, as if I were being stabbed with hot pokers. My doctors wrote me prescriptions for some of the strongest painkillers available. I took Percocet, Vicodin and Oxycontin on a regular basis, two at a time, every three or four hours. I was knowingly risking overdose just trying to make the pain bearable. In my desperation, I even tried morphine. Yet these powerful, expensive: More Talk...............

Cannabis Gran hoping to take Hain's seat
Matt Withers
April ten 2005

A GRANNY spared jail for cooking cannabis hotpots is to stand for Parliament against Welsh Secretary of State Peter Hain. Dope fan Patricia Tabram, 66, is running in the Commons Leader's Neath constituency on a ticket of legalising the drug.She was handed a suspended six-month sentence and ordered to pay £750 costs last week after admitting possession to supply.But the grass-growing granny from Hexham, Northumberland, has vowed to keep cooking cannabis casseroles and will face Mr Hain for the Legalise cannabis Alliance.Although she is from North East England, the former restaurateur's late husband David came from Swansea. More.................

Irish faith on wane but tolerance rises
Richard Oakley
April ten 2005

IRISH people have lost confidence in the church and state, and are more tolerant of people who take drugs or have abortions, an international survey of attitudes has found. The World Values Survey reveals that between 1990 and 2000 the Irish became less trusting of people and increasingly racist, but somewhat more willing to accept homosexuality, divorce and taking marijuana. In the 1990s, the proportion of people who had a "good deal" of confidence in churches fell from 72% to 52% and those with the same belief in parliament was down from 50% to 31%. Asked if they thought the churches gave answers to moral problems, only 30% of Irish people said yes in 2000 compared with 42% in 1990. "When it comes to the Catholic church this is not surprising," said Fr Harry Bohan of the Ceifin Centre in Clare, a social change initiative. "The church has been damaged by the child abuse scandals and the focus that has been placed on them. "People walked away from the church because it tried to protect itself rather than facing up to its problems. It has done so now. It was forced into it and it's much healthier." Full Confession.......

`We're not kidding about this,'' Walters said.
April nine 2005

In 10 years this super-potent hydroponically produced brand of cannabis has transformed Canada's westernmost province from a land known mostly for frequent appearances in the pages of National Geographic into the main purveyor to the United States of what White House drug czar John Walters calls "the crack of marijuana.''So explosively has the drug trade grown that marijuana is now not only British Columbia's biggest agricultural export but also that of Canada's, outstripping beef cattle and wheat.As a result the trade is attracting organized crime figures, including some with links to Hong Kong, while becoming an irritant in relations with the United States. Walters has even threatened to put Canada on a State Department list of the so-called ``majors'' in the War on Drugs, alongside big-time bad guys such as Myanmar and Columbia. In the latest drugs report, President George W Bush commended Thailand for curtailing the heroin trade and took aim at Canadians for not cracking down harder on Bud production and smuggling. ``We're not kidding about this,'' Walters said. ``This is not [just] some kind of culture war with Canada.'' More Kidding.......................

"as dangerous as crack cocaine and heroin"
By Pete Sherlock
April seven 2005

Since leaving the cabinet, Mr Blunkett has been out of the spotlight, but has played a key role touring the country in preparation for the upcoming General Election.Last month, one of his more liberal policies was questioned when his successor, Charles Clarke, introduced a review into the decision to re-classify cannabis from a class B drug to class C. Was the change a mistake?
“I don’t think it was,” said Mr Blunkett. “Firstly cannabis is dangerous and we never said it wasn’t. Secondly, it’s nowhere near as dangerous as crack cocaine and heroin, which are killer drugs, and thirdly, re-classification has saved an enormous amount of police time.“What we did was to ratify what the Met police was already doing, which was to treat cannabis differently to drug dealing and class A drugs. That has freed up 14,500 police hours across the country,” he added. The Full Crack...

"its a puppet"
Daily Post April seven 2005

AN international puppeteer, who who was jailed for drug offences 12 years ago, is standing as a Legalise cannabis Alliance candidate at next month's general election in the marginal Ynys Mon seat. Yesterday, as he picked up his election papers from county council headquarters in Llangefni, Tim Evans, 48, who entertains under the name Professor Tim, said he was determined to make his mark on the campaign trail in Anglesey, which has already been singled out by political pundits as one of the key election battlegrounds in Wales. Mr Evans, a former commercial diver, who has lived on the island since 1963 - his father was an officer at RAF Valley - breeds award-winning Rhodesian Ridgebacks at his cottage home in Bodorgan and last month won prizes at Crufts, the world's greatest dog show. "I am standing to get the legalise cannabis message across as I believe the Government's drug laws are wrong, especially when it leads to people who use the drug for medicinal purposes being convicted, which is happening every day." He was sent to prison for possessing cannabis in 1993. "I used the drug when I was in a wheelchair, a legacy of my diving days, and waiting for an operation. I used it to wean myself off more powerful legal painkillers that were doing far more damage."

"end imprisonment for use of any drug"nice,

The Guardian
April six 2005

Charles Kennedy rightly attacks "doom-mongers" who insist "no one cares" and rightly states that "there is a great political debate to be had at this election" (This edgy volatility will usher in a three-party era, April 4). But he then came out with a string of false assertions. He challenged the fairness of university funding that abolishes upfront fees for all students, and introduces a grant and bursary scheme of at least #3,000 for students from the poorest backgrounds and an interest-free loan paid back through the tax system, dependent on your income, at a rate you can afford. That's pretty fair. Most strikingly, he made no mention of his policy on drugs - set out in the Lib Dem manifesto - which would end criminalisation of people possessing cannabis for their personal use, put its supply on a legal basis and, most astonishingly, end imprisonment for use of any drug, including heroin and cocaine. Lib Dem MPs also voted against the measures in the 2003 anti-social behaviour bill which would permit police to close down crack houses. When Charles Kennedy says he will "keep a wary liberal eye on the issue of civil liberty", should he not give the same attention to residents whose lives are destroyed by dealers? More Doom.............

'A cannabis-friendly image'
By FRED GARDNER
Oakland, California April 3rd.

The Green Party has a chance to claim the medical-marijuana issue for itself. With polls showing three quarters of the American people favoring legalization for medical use, a cannabisfriendly image would propel the Greens to new heights of popularity.
San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, a Green, has been at the center of the action as San Francisco figures out how to regulate cannabisdistribution. Some 40 clubs are now operating in the city. More than a month ago, Mirkarimi scheduled a hearing for April 25 to discuss "sensible regulations. Then, on March 22, Mayor Gavin Newsom asked one of his favored supervisors, Michela Alioto-Pier, to move for a 45-day moratorium on new clubs. The Chronicle portrayed Newsom as being aghast that a cannabis dispensary was planning to open at a city-funded hotel serving the destitute -and the would-be proprietor immediately withdrew his application. By nightfall Full Story...........

Ken's Blessing
Exclusive By Greg Truscott, South London Press
April 3rd 05

The annual cannabis March and Festival, traditionally held in Lambeth, hopes to rally in world-famous Trafalgar Square, the South London Press can reveal. Thousands of people would be expected to join the May 15 march and rally in central London calling for the drug to be legalised. The event still needs the blessing of London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who would need to give organisers permission to converge on the prestigious landmark. In February, Lambeth's Liberal Democrat and Conservative-run council banned organisers from holding the seventh annual festival in Brockwell Park, Herne Hill, alleging drug dealing had taken place at the previous year's event. Conservative councillor Clare Whelan - Lambeth's executive member for environment - told organisers the council could not "condone letting an event go ahead where drug dealers operate, because that would be completely irresponsible". In the past six years the council has taken organisers to court twice for event licence violations. The council prosecuted organiser Shane Collins in 2003 because music was played at the event for 1 minute 25 seconds after it was supposed to end. The local authority lost the case. More...............

Initiatives prohibition and cultivation top first day of NORML conference

Chris Durant

The Times-Standard April 1, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO -- One panel member at the 2005 National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws conference said the event was like preaching to the choir. If that's the case then the choir was fully attentive during the first day of the conference here Thursday. NORML's Executive Director, Allen St. Pierre, addressed the crowd of about 200 at the Cathedral Hill Hotel. "I don't see a bright and endearing future," St. Pierre said. He said that a majority of the responsible adults who smoke marijuana are unorganized and not connected. "We're very frustrated being too white middle class and male oriented," St. Pierre said. San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi welcomed the crowd to the city saying that he learned of NORML from his mother in the '70s. More..............

Lawmaker wants to legalize marijuana

Montgomery Advertiser

April 1, 2005

One state lawmaker is pushing legislation that would legalize the use of marijuana in the state. But that use would be strictly limited for medicinal purposes, said state Rep. Laura Hall, D-Birmingham. The measure would allow seriously ill and dying patients access to medical marijuana for relief of their symptoms. According to a 2004 survey by the Mobile-Register and the University of Alabama, 76 percent of Alabama residents believe that adults should be allowed to use marijuana for medical reasons. "It's for medicinal purposes only," said Hall, during a news conference announcing her bill today. "It's with a doctor's recommendation. It would be illegal for an individual to get it and sell it." The Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Public Health Association have endorsed the medicinal value of marijuana.