Maptalk-Digest Friday, December 26 1997 Volume 97 : Number 554
SENT LTE RE: SS Series FOCUS
From: "Bob Melamede Ph.D." <> (by way of "MAPnews Sr. Editor" <>)
ART: SF Chronicle, 12/26/97
From: "Tom O'Connell" <>
LTE SENT Sun Sentinel: The War On Drugs Can Be Won-- in a pigs eye!
From:
Defense attorney pool of info?
From: (Rose Ann Fuhrman)
LTE SENT: MMJ Ploy To Legalize Use Of Addictive Drug
From:
Re: Legalization Masterplan?
From: Jim Rosenfield <>
Re: Can Be Won-- in a pigs
From: Jim Rosenfield <>
SENT: letter to the editor
From: Kenji Lawrence Klein <> (by way of "MAPnews Sr. Editor" <>)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj: SENT LTE RE: SS Series FOCUS
From: "Bob Melamede Ph.D." <> (by way of "MAPnews Sr. Editor" <>)
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 12:43:46 -0500
Hi I sent of the following
It is clear for James G. Driscoll's article that he can write, however,
it appears that he can neither read nor think. There is overwhelming
scientific evidence that marihuana has a variety of important medical
uses. These can easily be found if one bothers to read the scientific
literature. These articles are written by professionals in their field
of expertise. Hopefully if Mr Briscoll should ever require medical
treatment for cancer, HIV, AIDS, anorexia, glaucoma, arthritis, chronic
pain, spasticity, migraine he will not consult a psychiatrist, although
may he should anyway.
- --
Bob Melamede
Assistant Professor
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
University of Vermont
802 656-8501
http://www.uvm.edu/~rmelamed/
- --
Bob Melamede
Assistant Professor
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
University of Vermont
802 656-8501
http://www.uvm.edu/~rmelamed/
------------------------------
Subj: ART: SF Chronicle, 12/26/97
From: "Tom O'Connell" <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 09:54:20 -0800 (PST)
San Francisco can be so progressive that it's sometimes hard to remember
that it's part of the US:
Friday, December 26, 1997 Page A23
©1997 San Francisco
Chronicle
S.F. Official Calls For Easing Curbs On Methadone
Help sought for heroin addicts
Yumi Wilson, Chronicle Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO
Contending that efforts to halt drugs at the border or to ``Just
Say No'' have failed, San Francisco Supervisor Gavin
Newsom says it is time to treat heroin abuse less as a crime and
more like a medical problem.
Newsom is asking the board to seek a federal waiver that
would ease restrictions and allow private doctors ``full
discretion'' to prescribe methadone, a synthetic drug that
blunts the craving for heroin.
Currently, only state-licensed and federally approved clinics
can distribute the drug, which means there are long waiting
lists in most places.
Such waivers have been issued only in New York City,
Connecticut and Baltimore -- which has the highest rate of
heroin-related emergency room visits in the nation.
The board's Family, Health and Environment Committee is
expected to hear the matter next month. Meanwhile, Newsom
is asking for public input at a town hall meeting on January 24
at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House.
The waiver is badly needed here, Newsom believes, because
San Francisco ranks third nationally for heroin-related
emergency room visits. Also the number of deaths from heroin
overdose has increased by 17 percent from 1992 to 1995.
``Our statistics show (that) the drug policy has been a
failure,''
he said. ``It's incumbent upon us to take a totally different
approach and start looking at the problem as a medical one.''
Although there is wide agreement that the local heroin problem
is getting out of control, there are still questions about
Newsom's approach.
Critics say methadone does nothing to eliminate drug
dependency. They contend that such treatment coddles people
who engage in criminal behavior, citing studies claiming that
many addicts revert to heroin after they run out of methadone.
``We still allow the person to keep the addictive mentality,''
said the Rev. Arnold G. Townsend, a recovering drug addict
who uses the Bible to teach others how to break the habit. ``So
the problem will never be solved because if they can't get
methadone, they'll go back to another drug.''
Newsom acknowledges that methadone isn't the perfect
solution. But he believes that the city needs every weapon
possible to combat all forms of drug abuse that last year cost
the city $1.7 billion dollars in emergency room visits, treatment
and incarceration.
The Department of Public Health favors the waiver,
particularly in light of the city's past, less punitive
approaches
to drug abuse.
In fact, the city has already declared a state of emergency so it
could hand out millions of hypodermic needles to drug addicts
each year. And for several years, the city has allowed cannabis
clubs to serve marijuana to the sick and dying.
In addition to the growing number of public health officials
who support methadone use, the White House also is urging
for more physician control of dosing and distribution of the
drug.
And a committee at the National Institutes of Health concluded
in November that heroin is a medical problem that can be
treated effectively with methadone.
``Only very few people seriously question methadone
maintenance as the No. 1 response to heroin addiction,'' said
Jim Stillwell of the city's Health Department, working to
increase treatment options to the needy. ``Most studies say it
should be the primary response.''
The biggest problem, however, remains the lack of methadone
for most heroin addicts. According to epidemiologist John
Newmeyer, there are roughly 8,000 to 12,000 heroin users in
San Francisco. But city health officials say only 1,500 have a
slot in nonprofit methadone clinics. Another 100 or so are in
another, short-term heroin detoxification program.
The waiver would make it easier for more people to get
methadone, said Newmeyer, who works at the
Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic, where heroin addicts do not get
methadone.
``Any kind of treatment -- our kind, methadone, therapy,
community
--we need more of it,'' Newmeyer said. ``This waiver is
cost-effective. The city would reap the benefits.''
For example, many middle- class users say they don't go to the
clinics because they fear losing their privacy, Newmeyer said.
Others say work and family obligations prevent them from
going to the clinics and picking up the pill every day.
The waiver, Newsom says, would allow addicts to get the
drug from their own doctors, and some patients to get more
than a day's supply at once. The waiver also could make it
easier for teenagers to get methadone. Because parental consent
is currently necessary, many teenage addicts go without
treatment.
© The Chronicle Publishing Company
------------------------------
Subj: LTE SENT Sun Sentinel: The War On Drugs Can Be Won-- in a pigs eye!
From:
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 12:12:10 -0800
James G. Driscoll, Editorial Writer for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, has
written a series of Reefer Madness articles that would make Harry Anslinger
beam with pride that his outrageous lies are still fooling people.
Doing target practice on James Driscoll's highly exposed ass will improve
your debating skills and let the narcomaniacs know that people are on to
their lunatic propaganda. Driscoll repeats the narco line without
equivication, so he's wide open to assault from all sides.
Check these addresses for Driscoll's articles.
with a Contact:
Note: For LTEs we suggest using the form at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/SunServe/letters_editor.htm
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/drugwar.htm
Here's my response to some of Driscoll's intellectual bankruptcy and moral
degeneration.
R Givens
Editor:
The notion that the drug war can be won is the biggest prohibitionist lie.
We tried alcohol prohibition in the 20s and at the end people were drinking
more than at the beginning. Never on their best day did the revenuers come
close to stopping the bootleggers. The same thing applies to drug
prohibition.
We've been at it for 83 years and drug use is higher than when we began.
Crusades to rid the country of drugs have been tried many times, but never
with more ruthless energy than in the last 15 years. Contrary to the
propaganda Driscoll panders, Clinton has not relaxed the drug war in the
slightest. Marijuana arrests are higher than at any time in history. Every
item in the drug prohibition budget has increased every year of Clinton's
administration.
Drug use among kids began increasing again under the Bush administration,
so Driscoll is putting his own spin on the facts.
Of course, it's all an exercize in futility because the DEA admits that
they never interdict more than 10% of the illicit drugs. Short of a state
of war on the high seas and in the air there's no way to stop more than a
small fraction of the drugs coming in. Any serious blockage of the drug
traffic would paralyze world trade.
South Florida is an excellent example of the impotence of drug prohibition.
When the DEA made life in the Miami area difficult for the drug cartels,
they simply switched to other smuggling routes.
Drug prohibition is such a failure that heroin and cocaine purity is at an
all time high and street prices are lower than in 30 years in spite of the
greatest "zero tolerance" effort in the history of mankind.
If Driscoll advocates jailing 20 million illicit drug users, he should
first tell us where we'll get the $TEN TRILLION dollars per year to pay for
their incarceration. We'd also have to build the biggest concentration
camps in history. The enormous police, prison and court budgets necessary
to accomplish this would cost another $TEN TRILLION DOLLARS. Added to all
of this would be huge economic losses from taking so many people out of the
workforce that the damage is impossible to estimate. The welfare costs for
drug users children would cost billions more every year.
Any attempt to enforce a true zero tolerance ban on drugs would destroy
the country long before such a goal is achieved.
The solution to our substance problems is to legalize drugs for adult use
and regulate them the way we do alcohol. It is good to remember that
Elliot Ness and his bumbling Feds didn't put the beer barons out of
business, repeal did!
Redford Givens
------------------------------
Subj: Defense attorney pool of info?
From: (Rose Ann Fuhrman)
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 12:17:47 -0800
I met a defender last evening who is about to be confronted with his first
215 case. Besides sending him to the druglibrary, can anyone think of other
resources (besides busy attornies) for him to contact for info on what has
been tried, what nasty DA's tricks other defenders have been faced with,
etc.?
It occurred to me--wouldn't it be great if there were a bulletin board or
something that 215 veterans could scan documents into for other defenders
to access? Maybe there is already and my web capability is too limited for
me to find it. If so, can someone give me info to pass on?
Thanks and Happy New Year,
Rose Ann
------------------------------
Subj: LTE SENT: MMJ Ploy To Legalize Use Of Addictive Drug
From:
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 12:39:00 -0800
James G. Driscoll, Editorial Writer for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, has
written a series of Reefer Madness articles that would make Harry Anslinger
beam with pride that his outrageous lies are still fooling people.
Doing target practice on James Driscoll's highly exposed ass will improve
your debating skills and let the narcomaniacs know that people are on to
their lunatic propaganda. Driscoll repeats the narco line without
equivication, so he's wide open to assault from all sides.
Check these addresses for Driscoll's articles.
with a Contact:
Note: For LTEs we suggest using the form at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/SunServe/letters_editor.htm
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/drugwar.htm
Here's my response to some of Driscoll's intellectual bankruptcy and moral
degeneration.
R Givens
***************************
re: Medical Marijuana Just A Ploy To Legalize Use Of Addictive Drug
"This is the answer to anyone who claims smoking marijuana relieves the
nausea and vomiting that sometimes accompanies chemotherapy: Tested and
safe medicines are available, now, for nausea and vomiting, and they are
more effective than marijuana." James Driscoll
*************************
James Driscoll demonstrates abject ignorance of cannabis and medical
matters in general with the assertion that standard medications are more
effective for nausea and vomiting than marijuana. Driscoll's
amateurishness becomes clear once we address the problem of administering a
medicine to a person in the throes of nausea and vomiting so violent that
esophigal tears occur. How can patients use a medicine they cannot
swallow????
That leaves injections, suppositories and skin patches as methods of
administration. As far as I know, injectable Zofrin is the only really
effective nausea reliever the pharmaceutical industry has come up with for
this situation. Unfortunately, an IV drip can only be administered under
the supervison of a health care professional. That means a hospital or
clinic visit costing several hundred dollars for each use of Zofrin. Since
the effects of the Zofrin only last a few hours this is not a practical
medicine for the long term nausea caused by AIDS, cancer, chemotherapy and
other conditions.
Marijuana, on the other hand, can be used even in the midst of violent
retching and nausea. A few puffs and the nausea is GONE and the patient can
eat again. Marijuana not only suppresses nausea, it stimulates appetite.
Chemo patients using marijuana have been known to stop off for a Big Mac,
shake and fries immediately after a session. No standard medication can
match that!
Enabling patients to eat is critical to their recovery because many cancer
victims die of malnutrition before the disease can kill them. Marijuana
prevents patients from "wasting away" and enables them to survive the chemo
until the cancer is gone.
It is intellectually bankrupt and morally degenerate to deny patients
effective medicine because of ridiculous Reefer Madness myths. James
Driscoll and the Sun-Sentinel should be ashamed.
Redford Givens
San Francisco
415-776-1596
------------------------------
Subj: Re: Legalization Masterplan?
From: Jim Rosenfield <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 13:25:34 -0800
At 01:48 PM 12/26/97 EST, you wrote:
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Maximillien Baudelaire <>
>actual ... plans for the implimentation of a full drug legalization policy?
> There are lots of them, or recommendations for progress, in the Major
>Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy. ... Nixon's refusal to read his own
commission's
>report is a good example of the real problem.
And, perhaps this is the time for activists to gather around and get vocal
about
a plan, an implementable procedure that could actually get the other side
talking.
Among the 'other side' are clearly many with doubts. A thoughtful plan might
bring them out of the woodwork and cause real trouble for the Califanos and
Lungrens.
Jim Rosenfield
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
tel: 310-836-0926 fax: 310-836-0592
http://insightweb.com
------------------------------
Subj: Re: Can Be Won-- in a pigs
From: Jim Rosenfield <>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 13:27:53 -0800
How many readers does this paper have and what is its repute among
journalists?
Does Driscoll ahve a reputation?
At 03:14 PM 12/26/97 EST, you wrote:
>James G. Driscoll, Editorial Writer for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, has
>written a series of Reefer Madness articles that would make Harry Anslinger
>beam with pride that his outrageous lies are still fooling people.
>
>Doing target practice on James Driscoll's highly exposed ass will improve
>your debating skills and let the narcomaniacs know that people are on to
>their lunatic propaganda. Driscoll repeats the narco line without
>equivication, so he's wide open to assault from all sides.
>
>Check these addresses for Driscoll's articles.
>
>with a Contact:
>Note: For LTEs we suggest using the form at:
>http://www.sun-sentinel.com/SunServe/letters_editor.htm
>Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/drugwar.htm
>
>
>Here's my response to some of Driscoll's intellectual bankruptcy and moral
>degeneration.
>R Givens
>
>
>
>
>Editor:
>The notion that the drug war can be won is the biggest prohibitionist lie.
>We tried alcohol prohibition in the 20s and at the end people were drinking
>more than at the beginning. Never on their best day did the revenuers come
>close to stopping the bootleggers. The same thing applies to drug
>prohibition.
>
>We've been at it for 83 years and drug use is higher than when we began.
>Crusades to rid the country of drugs have been tried many times, but never
>with more ruthless energy than in the last 15 years. Contrary to the
>propaganda Driscoll panders, Clinton has not relaxed the drug war in the
>slightest. Marijuana arrests are higher than at any time in history. Every
>item in the drug prohibition budget has increased every year of Clinton's
>administration.
>
>Drug use among kids began increasing again under the Bush administration,
>so Driscoll is putting his own spin on the facts.
>
>Of course, it's all an exercize in futility because the DEA admits that
>they never interdict more than 10% of the illicit drugs. Short of a state
>of war on the high seas and in the air there's no way to stop more than a
>small fraction of the drugs coming in. Any serious blockage of the drug
>traffic would paralyze world trade.
>
>South Florida is an excellent example of the impotence of drug prohibition.
>When the DEA made life in the Miami area difficult for the drug cartels,
>they simply switched to other smuggling routes.
>
>Drug prohibition is such a failure that heroin and cocaine purity is at an
>all time high and street prices are lower than in 30 years in spite of the
>greatest "zero tolerance" effort in the history of mankind.
>
>If Driscoll advocates jailing 20 million illicit drug users, he should
>first tell us where we'll get the $TEN TRILLION dollars per year to pay for
>their incarceration. We'd also have to build the biggest concentration
>camps in history. The enormous police, prison and court budgets necessary
>to accomplish this would cost another $TEN TRILLION DOLLARS. Added to all
>of this would be huge economic losses from taking so many people out of the
>workforce that the damage is impossible to estimate. The welfare costs for
>drug users children would cost billions more every year.
>
>Any attempt to enforce a true zero tolerance ban on drugs would destroy
>the country long before such a goal is achieved.
>
>The solution to our substance problems is to legalize drugs for adult use
>and regulate them the way we do alcohol. It is good to remember that
>Elliot Ness and his bumbling Feds didn't put the beer barons out of
>business, repeal did!
>Redford Givens
>
>
>
>
>
Jim Rosenfield
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
tel: 310-836-0926 fax: 310-836-0592
http://insightweb.com
------------------------------
Subj: SENT: letter to the editor
From: Kenji Lawrence Klein <> (by way of "MAPnews Sr. Editor" <>)
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 21:52:02 -0500
From: Kenji Lawrence Klein <>
I sent the following letter to the Star Bulletin in response to their
article on the Michigan Monitoring the Future Study.
To:
Subject: letter to the editor
Dear Editor:
Your December 20 headline "National leaders agree parents can win
war on drugs" is misleading. Many respected national leaders believe that
the Drug War is doomed to failure. They argue that, although we can
decrease the harm caused by drugs in our society, we will not halt the
spread of drugs by incarcerating more people and seizing more supplies.
George Shultz, former Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan;
Joseph McNamara, Hoover Institute scholar and former San Jose Chief of
Police; Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-winning economist; Kurt Schmoke,
twice-elected mayor of Baltimore; William F. Buckley Jr., conservative
spokesperson and editor of the National Review; John L. Kane Jr., Senior
U.S. District Judge; and many, many more respected people believe this
policy does not halt the influx of illegal drugs. Rather, like alcohol
prohibition in the 1920s, the Drug War causes more problems than it
solves. By artificially inflating prices, the Drug War creates a huge
profit incentive for dealers and producers, promotes gang violence, and
undermines the stability of our society. The victims of this policy are
our children, who are easy prey for those desperate or greedy enough to
take advantage of the huge profit margins.
The results of the Michigan study cited in your article support
this view. During a decade of the Drug War we have spent billions of
dollars and incarcerated millions of people, yet drug use among our
children continues to rise. Half of all students surveyed have used an
illegal drug. One in ten have tried cocaine, and one in fifty have used
heroin! Seventy-five percent reported illegal drugs are easy to get, and
twenty percent of all 8th graders said they could easily obtain heroin if
they wanted it!
Our present policy is failing dismally. We must find a new and
effective approach. Part of the answer lies, as your article suggests, in
parents communicating openly with their children about the dangers of drug
use. But we must do more. We must consider wise, rational, and effective
alternatives. I urge all people who care about the problem of drugs in our
society to learn more about the alternatives supported by the leaders
mentioned above. It is the only way we can protect our children and heal
our society.
Kenji Klein
------------------------------
End of Maptalk-Digest V97 #554
******************************
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Media Awareness Project /' _ ` _ `\ /'_`)('_`\
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