Topics

Human beings have a serious substance-abuse problem. It certainly wouldn't hurt some of us to lay off a bit, but our unquenchable collective appetite for self-administered intoxication of one sort or another would, arguably, have far less ruinous consequences were our societal attitude toward booze and drugs somewhat less complicated and inconsistent. Our biggest problem is with substance abuse as a concept. Alcohol and illicit drugs are, and always will be, a two-fisted moral and legal conundrum because we harbour an innate desire for black-and-white, "right" or "wrong" answers. We don't like gray areas, but the consumption of alcohol and other intoxicants takes place…

Next week Justice Minister Martin Cauchon returns from Europe, determined to introduce legislation decriminalizing marijuana possession. It now seems likely that he'll succeed. Mr. Cauchon is convinced that Canadians are ready to join the Europeans in effectively legitimizing the recreational smoking of pot. Toking on the continent has become so commonplace that people light up on trains and in bars. Police ignore simple possession. Mr. Cauchon would like the same to apply here. But he is only a cabinet minister, and Edmonton is not Paris. Before he can hope to get "decrim" (get used to the word) through Parliament, he must first pass the Cerberus of the Prime Minist…

The number of American children being treated with psychiatric drugs has grown sharply in the past 15 years, tripling from 1987 to 1996 and showing no sign of slowing, researchers said yesterday. A newly published study, the most comprehensive to date, found that by 1996, more than 6 percent of children were taking drugs such as Prozac, Ritalin and Risperdal, and the researchers said the trajectory continued to rise through 2000. While the increase may partly reflect better diagnosis of mental illness in children, the authors said they fear that cost-saving techniques by insurance companies, marketing by the pharmaceutical industry and increased demands on parents an…

The Trial of Ed Rosenthal By Ann Harrison, AlterNet January 17, 2003 A federal judge in San Francisco is blocking a jury from hearing evidence that could exculpate an outspoken medical marijuana activist. Ed Rosenthal, who is facing 20 years in prison on federal drug charges, believed himself to be immune from prosecution when he was deputized by the nearby city of Oakland in 1998 to cultivate cannabis for chronically ill patients. Rosenthal's case is a challenge by federal prosecutors to California's Compassionate Use Act (Prop. 215), a 1996 voter referendum that made the cultivation, possession and consumption of medical marijuana legal in California with a doctor's…

Problem drinkers who also use marijuana may be particularly injury-prone, according to a study of emergency room patients. Rhode Island researchers found that among 433 injured patients considered problem drinkers, those who said they also smoked pot appeared more accident- prone than others. Compared with patients who said they didn't use marijuana, users were more likely to have had another injury in the past year, particularly an alcohol- or driving-related one. Overall, nearly half of the study participants said they had smoked pot in the past three months, according to findings published in the January issue of the journal Academic Emergency Medicine. It is no…

Pot grow sentence surprises everyone Thursday January 16, 2003 FRANCES BARRICK RECORD STAFF KITCHENER -- A kitchen fire caused by a Kitchener man who had a large marijuana grow operation in his rented townhouse resulted in the first-time offender being sentenced yesterday to eight months in jail, a term that shocked even the drug prosecutor on the case. "I was surprised," said Kathleen Nolan, who had asked for a 12-month jail sentence for 28-year-old Michael Broz. Until recently, the most prevalent sentence for first-time offenders convicted of operating indoor pot operations was a period of house arrest, a sentence defence lawyer Harold Cox had asked for his c…

6:23 pm EST January 17, 2003 -- A controversial bill is still smoking in the State House. Medical marijuana was snuffed out by the Senate last May but over the summer, a committee studied the issues surrounding legalizing the drug for patients. Today the Senate Judiciary Committee reviewed its findings, and it's likely this bill will be brought to life again. Katherine Perera has been living with HIV for 15 years and today she tried to explain to Senate Judiciary members how important marijuana is to her for pain relief. "I think there are a lot of examples of people using it medically in a very responsible fashion." Perera was one of 12 members on the Medical Mar…

A spokesman for the Office of National Drug Policy said Thursday it would be "silly" for Drug Czar John Walters to file campaign expenditure reports for speaking out against marijuana legalization in Nevada. "Part of the job of the drug czar is to talk about the problem of drug abuse in America, which he feels would be worse with drug legalization," spokesman Tom Riley said. "He doesn't file a campaign statement in each state he goes to. That would be silly." Riley said Walters has received a letter from Secretary of State Dean Heller in which he was asked to explain why he should not comply with the state's campaign contributions and expenditures law. That law req…

It is one thing to have our intelligence insulted by advertisers attempting to separate us from our money. It is quite another when our own government uses our tax dollars to spread disinformation, as with new TV ads linking drug use in America to terrorism. In the latest attempt to bolster public support (and funding) for the failed war on drugs, the White House has unleashed a slick ad series featuring fictional debaters, Nick and Norm, two middle-aged white businessmen dining at an expensive restaurant, talking drugs and terror. In four 30-second vignettes, their argument plays out. After initial resistance, the dark-haired one concedes a connection between drug m…

Wednesday, July 17, 2002 By BEVERLEY WARE - The Daily News A former soldier who helped keep the peace in Cyprus is now fighting the Canadian government for the right to smoke marijuana. Herbert Wilson, 38, of Chester says he needs to grow marijuana so he can smoke it to combat pain from a back condition he got while in the Canadian Forces. Wilson served as a peacekeeper in Cyprus in 1988, as a member of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He was awarded the United Nations Peacekeeping Medal, Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal and Nobel Peace Prize Medal. He has been charged with one count of production of a controlled substance. If convicted, he coul…

ANNAPOLIS -- Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. ® said Thursday that he would sign legislation to legalize medical marijuana, giving new hope to advocates who say the drug can help relieve nausea from chemotherapy and other debilitating conditions. At an unscheduled news conference on his first foray into the governor's State House offices, Ehrlich pointed out that he has long supported legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes, and said that "if the bill makes sense," he would sign it into law. With last year's chief medical marijuana advocate, Del. Donald E. Murphy ® of Catonsville, now out of the legislature, a doctor, a nurse and a cancer survivor are among the lawm…

Another Berlin Wall by Pete Brady (16 Jan, 2003) Canadian-US border problems increase I've been contacted by an increasing number of people who asked me to investigate conditions at the US- Canadian border. Many of my correspondents told me they had been turned away and/or harassed at land and air ports of entry going in either direction. These actions have ruined vacations, business trips, family reunions, weddings, and other important activities, and have cost people much money and heartache. Canadians heading south into the US, especially young women, are increasingly being detained, interrogated, strip- searched and otherwise humiliated by US officials. Vehicl…

GW Pharmaceuticals, which has a Home Office licence to produce cannabis-derived medicines, said yesterday that it was on track to launch the first of its products before the end of the year. Geoffrey Guy, executive chairman, said the company hoped to follow up UK approval with similar licences in Continental countries in the near future, but it could be several years before the product is available in the US. "The US likes to go back to first principles," he said. "They want more work and more cost." He said that GW has had discussions with the US drugs regulator, the FDA, and that he was "happy with the way discussions have gone". However, he said the company woul…

US Legislators Renew Calls for Bio-Attack on Illicit Crops (Austin and Hamburg, 17 December) – As the United States prepares to invade Iraq under the banner of destroying that country's alleged biological weapons programs, US legislators are making new threats to use biological weapons in Colombia's civil war. The weapons are pathogenic strains of fungi designed to kill drug crops. Ascendant Republicans in the US House of Representatives, supported by the US Department of State, lead the push. The Sunshine Project is alerting governments and nonprofits that a new effort is required to stop the US from waging biological warfare in Colombia. This effort should include a…

The Temptation of Dr. Weed by Jed Gottlieb The elusive Dr. Sands stands in one of MSU’s many research greenhouses. After a spate of negative publicity, Sands wants to change his image from monster to miracle worker. Through the window of his Montana State University-Bozeman lab, Dr. David Sands can barely be glimpsed. Almost totally obscured by piles of data and stacks of fungus-filled Petri dishes, patches of the 60- something scientist’s cornflower blue Oxford show through. There’s a knock at lab door and a call. “Hello? Dr. Sands?” “Yeah, I’m here,” he responds from his hiding spot, poking out his bald, bespectacled head. Even expecting invited guests, his …