Maptalk-Digest Friday, December 18 1998 Volume 98 : Number 497
Re: MAP: Today in the history of the drug war
From: (Matt Elrod)
Fwd: Drug Test Machine
From: Mark Greer <>
Fwd: drug war clock
From: Mark Greer <>
Maptalk List issues
From: "McNamara, Mark P." <>
SENT: Re: Legalization argument evasive, misleading
From: Mike Gogulski <>
RE: Maptalk List issues
From: "Cliff Schaffer" <>
Do Embryos Turn on, Tune in, Drop out in Infertile Women?
From:
ART: Illegal plant grown for medicine, man claims
From:
OPINION: Money-laundering inquiries could invade your privacy
From:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj: Re: MAP: Today in the history of the drug war
From: (Matt Elrod)
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 08:20:48 -0800
December 17, 1973
Dr. Maurice LeClair, deputy minister of health, confirmed that Health
Department officials had been ordered to make no comments on the final
report of the LeDain commission on the non-medical use of drugs.
------------------------------
Subj: Fwd: Drug Test Machine
From: Mark Greer <>
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 10:40:05 -0800
>X-Authentication-Warning:americium.baremetal.com: mapinc set sender to
> using -f
>Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 22:16:13 -0500
>From: "Van E. Estes, III" <>
>Organization: Apple Country Realty
>X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.08 [en] (Win95; I)
>To: ,
>Subject: Drug Test Machine
>
>To the Editor,
>
>To those who feel they have nothing to fear from the Drug-Test machine I
>can only say good luck. With a 10% false positive rate, the only way
>that you have nothing to fear, is to stay away from Jamaica. I have
>been subject to random drug testing on numerous occasions during my
>employment with the Federal Aviation Administration. On all occasions,
>the preliminary screening has been by EMIT, but the error rate is so
>high, and the consequences of a false positive so great, that positive
>results must be confirmed with GC/MS. Without confirmation, many
>innocent individuals would have been subjected to prosecution (and
>persecution) for no reason.
>
>Van Estes
>Former Radar Unit Chief
>Asheville, NC
>
Mark Greer
Executive Director
DrugSense
http://www.drugsense.org
http://www.mapinc.org
------------------------------
Subj: Fwd: drug war clock
From: Mark Greer <>
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 10:11:35 -0800
Matt and all:
We will do this if Mike, Chuck, or whoever can provide a web page or link to a
factual source for the numbers cited. We have been unable to find a credible
source for these claims and would rather be unassailable in our facts than show
big numbers.
>Subject: drug war clock
>
>>From: "chuck beyer" <>
>>To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" <>
>>Subject: drug war clock
>>Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 12:17:17 -0800
>>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>>X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2173.0
>>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.0810.800
>>Importance: Normal
>>Reply-To:
>>Sender:
>>
>> If Mark Greer from "Drug Sense" is on this list serve I wanted to point
out
>>that the Drug war clock is a most effective tool . It would be far more
>>effective however if it displayed the other 35 Billion spent by individual
>>states bringing the total from 15 on the present clock to $50 Billion
>> enough to put a serious dent in world hunger or enough to a man on Pluto)
>>
Mark Greer
Executive Director
DrugSense
http://www.drugsense.org
http://www.mapinc.org
------------------------------
Subj: Maptalk List issues
From: "McNamara, Mark P." <>
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 20:26:05 -0600
I recently received a snail-mail from NORML, and in it they list the
"Top Ten Bad Guys of Marijuana Prohibition" or something like that. One
of the entries mentioned that the person "carries water for the NRA". I
know no offence was intended as I am sure none was intended in the
posting of an NRA alert accompanied by the statement "And no I'm not a
member. Don't worry".
I am.
It seems that people assume that if you are anti-prohibition then you
must be anti-gun, but to me that would be philosophically inconsistent.
To my way of thinking, you cannot take the U.S. Consitution a-la-carte.
If you wish to have the protection of the first, fourth, fifth, and
sixth amendments, you must respect the rights of those to whom the
second amendment is dear. Likewise, if you hold the second amendment to
be the most important (the argument is that it protects the others), you
must respect the rest, even when you disagree on how those rights are
being exercised.
If we must, let's agree to disagree. I do not wish to get involved in a
debate on this matter, let's just keep in mind that there are reasonable
people on this list that will disagree on non-drug-prohibition topics
like gun control, abortion, public school vouchers, and for some of us
these other issues are just as important as ending drug prohibition.
Sincerly,
Mark McNamara
A member of the NRA, NORML, the SCCA, and the Libertarian Party of
Missouri
------------------------------
Subj: SENT: Re: Legalization argument evasive, misleading
From: Mike Gogulski <>
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 21:45:29 -0500
>Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 15:25:09 -0800
>X-Authentication-Warning:americium.baremetal.com: mapinc set sender to
using -f
>From:
>To:
>Subject: #M# SENT: Re: Legalization argument evasive, misleading
>Sender:
>Reply-To:
>
>Newshawk:
>
>XPubdate: Thu, 17 Dec 1998
>Source: San Antonio Express-News (TX)
>Contact:
>XWebsite: http://www.expressnews.com/
>Forum: http://data.express-news.net:2080/eshare/server?action4
>XCopyright: 1998 San Antonio Express-News
>
>
>Author:
>
>Dear San Antonio Express-News Editors:
>
>Al Ronnfeldt claims that the argument for legalizing drugs is a
>non-sequitor, "so flawed that it is intuitively obvious that it is
>wrong" ("Legalization argument evasive, misleading" -- 12/15/98). Of
>course, it is also "intuitively obvious" that the Earth is flat and
>orbited by the Sun. While we're on the topic of non-sequitors -- Mr.
>Ronnfeldt acknowledges that drug enforcers have accidentally killed
>innocent people in the course of their work. Yet he supports his
>argument in favor of the drug war by posing the question "What is the
>price tag of a human life?" Apparently, the answer is the "price tag"
>varies depending on who's doing the killing.
>
>Lastly, Mr. Ronnfeldt misses the strongest argument of all for
>prohibition: it has created a booming market in drug trafficking
>which, according to the United Nations, now accounts for eight percent
>of total world trade.
>
>Investors take note!
>
>Craig Schroer
>--snip--
>
------------------------------
Subj: RE: Maptalk List issues
From: "Cliff Schaffer" <>
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 21:00:42 -0800
I have been a member of the NRA myself, for about the last forty years, off
and on.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: []On
> Behalf Of McNamara, Mark P.
> Sent: Thursday, December 17, 1998 6:26 PM
> To: ''
> Subject: MAP: Maptalk List issues
>
>
> I recently received a snail-mail from NORML, and in it they list the
> "Top Ten Bad Guys of Marijuana Prohibition" or something like that. One
> of the entries mentioned that the person "carries water for the NRA". I
> know no offence was intended as I am sure none was intended in the
> posting of an NRA alert accompanied by the statement "And no I'm not a
> member. Don't worry".
>
> I am.
>
> It seems that people assume that if you are anti-prohibition then you
> must be anti-gun, but to me that would be philosophically inconsistent.
> To my way of thinking, you cannot take the U.S. Consitution a-la-carte.
> If you wish to have the protection of the first, fourth, fifth, and
> sixth amendments, you must respect the rights of those to whom the
> second amendment is dear. Likewise, if you hold the second amendment to
> be the most important (the argument is that it protects the others), you
> must respect the rest, even when you disagree on how those rights are
> being exercised.
>
> If we must, let's agree to disagree. I do not wish to get involved in a
> debate on this matter, let's just keep in mind that there are reasonable
> people on this list that will disagree on non-drug-prohibition topics
> like gun control, abortion, public school vouchers, and for some of us
> these other issues are just as important as ending drug prohibition.
>
> Sincerly,
> Mark McNamara
> A member of the NRA, NORML, the SCCA, and the Libertarian Party of
> Missouri
>
------------------------------
Subj: Do Embryos Turn on, Tune in, Drop out in Infertile Women?
From:
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 08:28:24 -0600 (CST)
Here's something I came across regarding mj and fertility.
- --------------------------
Do Embryos Turn on, Tune in, Drop out in Infertile Women?
From The Journal of NIH Research, Volume 9: May 1997
http://www.unc.edu/~wbollenb/cannabinoid.html
[Fig. 1] Four-cell (left) and blastocyst-stage (right) mouse embryos
have brain-type cannabinoid receptors, which appear reddish-brown after
immunostaining with an antibody against the receptor's amino-terminal
region. Concentrations in the uterus of the receptor's endogenous
ligand, anandamide, may regulate the timing of implantation.
Abbreviations: tr, trophectoderm; icm, inner cell mass. [Reprinted with
permission from Z.-M. Yang et al., Bio. Reprod. 55, 756 (1996).]
Like a software designer who reuses odd bits of earlier programs in
unexpected ways, evolution has often placed particular combinations of
molecules and their receptors in very different tissues. In the newest
twist on this theme, researchers in Kansas and Minnesota have found that
anandamide--the natural ligand of the brain receptors that mediate the
psychotropic effects of marijuana--may play an important role in the
female reproductive system in mammals. In fact, they suggest, altered
regulation of anandamide concentrations in the uterus might underlie
some cases of unexplained female infertility in humans.
Much as the human body produces natural opioids (endorphins) that are
the natural ligand for the opiate receptors in the brain, so the body
produces the arachidonic-acid derivative anandamide as a ligand for the
two classes of cannabinoid receptors that researchers have identified:
brain-type receptors (CBI-R), which are in fact found in many body
tissues, and spleen-type receptors (CB2-R), which are found only in
cells of the lymphoid system which includes lymphocytes, macrophages,
and mast cells. Both receptors act through inhibitory guanine-nucleotide
binding proteins (G proteins). It is through the brain-type receptor
that [delta]9-tetrahydrocannabinol ([delta]9-THC), the active ingredient
in marijuana, exerts its psychotropic, sleep-inducing, tranquilizing,
pain-lulling, and other effects on the nervous system.
Anandamide--named for the Sanskrit word for "bliss"--was identified in
1992 by William Devane--then of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, now
of the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy in Madison--and his
colleagues in Israel and Scotland. The researchers isolated anandamide
from pigs' brains and found that it displaced the binding of
radiolabeled [delta]9-THC to the cannabinoid receptor. They reported in
the Dec. 18, 1992, issue of Science that anandamide is the endogenous
ligand of the brain cannabinoid receptor, which Devane and Allyn Howlett
of St. Louis University had identified in 1988.
Now, in the April 15 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences (PNAS), Sudhansu Dey and Bibhash Paria of the University of
Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City and Harald Schmid and his
colleagues at the University of Minnesota's Hormel Institute in Austin
report that the concentrations of anandamide in the mouse uterus change
during early pregnancy, suggesting that the molecule might regulate
embryonic implantation. Moreover, "the mouse uterus contains
orders-of-magnitude higher concentrations of anandamide than does its
brain," says Dey.
Previously, Dey and his colleagues had shown that the gene encoding
CB1-R, the brain-type cannabinoid receptor, is expressed in the mouse
uterus and embryo around the time of implantation and that radioactive
anandamide binds to embryos cultured in Vitro. In the October 1996 issue
of Biology of Reproduction, the researchers reported that immunostaining
of polyacrylamide gels for the receptor is more intense in samples from
mouse embryos than in those from mouse brains. They also reported that
agonists of the cannabinoid receptor-including anandamide-can prevent
the normal development of preimplantation embryos in vitro.
In the April 15 PNAS paper, Dey, Schmid, and their colleagues described
measuring anandamide concentrations in lipid extracts of mouse uterus
and mouse brain by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. They found that
uterine tissue contained an anandamide concentration of as much as 20
nanomoles (nmol) per gram; in contrast, brain tissue contained only
10-15 picomoles (pmol) per gram.
Further, the researchers reported that uterine anandamide concentrations
vary during either pregnancy or experimentally induced pseudopregnancy,
with the lowest concentrations occurring around the time of implantation
and the highest occurring during the time that the uterus becomes
nonreceptive for implantation. For example, at day 5 after
conception--when mouse embryos usually implant into the uterine
wall--the researchers found anandamide concentrations of 8 nmol/g
between implantation sites and approximately 2 nmol/g at implantation
sites. At day 7--when further implantation no longer occurs-the
researchers measured anandamide concentrations of 20 nmol/g between
implantation sites.
Based on these findings, "we believe that [a reduced concentration of]
uterine anandamide is critical in opening the window of opportunity for
implantation to occur," Dey says. He suggests that the embryo induces a
regional decline in anandamide concentration in the uterus to levels
that permit its own further development. This proposal is not
unexpected, inasmuch as he and other researchers have found that the
embryo induces a variety of other changes in the uterus in preparation
for implantation (see February issue, page 41).
"In most [mammalian] species there is preimplantation death of embryos,"
Dey says. "This ligand-receptor combination may help identify the
superior embryo" in a manner yet to be discovered, he says, allowing
only the fittest embryos to implant. Or the
anandamide-cannabinoid-receptor system may ensure that the embryo and
uterus are both at the proper stage of activity and receptivity for
implantation.
When Dey and his colleagues used a mini-osmotic pump to introduce a
synthetic cannabinoid ligand into mated female mice during the
preimplantation phase of pregnancy-thus raising concentration of the
ligand in the uterus--implantation did not take place. This effect was
reversed by administering the synthetic ligand with a
cannabinoid-receptor antagonist, confirming the role of the cannabinoid
receptor, they reported in the PNAS paper.
The human uterus also expresses the brain-type cannabinoid receptor, Dey
notes. He has found that human endometrium can synthesize anandamide,
and he intends to investigate the possible role of anandamide in
regulating human fertility.
Despite the suggested role for anandamide in regulating implantation,
cannabinoids from marijuana are not known conclusively to cause
infertility or problems with implantation in women who use the drug,
says Jag Khalsa of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Rockville,
Md. This does not surprise Dey, because ingested or inhaled cannabinoids
are rapidly degraded by enzymes in the liver. However, an unpublished
study by the Kansas researcher suggests that inhibition of the body's
detoxification system--cytochrome P450--in mice produces higher
concentrations of exogenous cannabinoids in the uterus, which interferes
with early embryonic development. Because cannabinoids can inhibit
embryo development before implantation, a woman who takes these
chemicals in may not realize that she had conceived, says Dey.
Cannabinoid receptors and anandamide appear to be important in the male
reproductive system as well-although Khalsa notes that any effects of
marijuana on male fertility are still unproven. These receptors exist in
human sperm and in the vas deferens, says Alexandros Makriyannis of the
University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy in Storrs. Cannabinoid
receptors can also be found on sea urchin sperm, says Herbert Schuel of
the State University of New York at Buffalo. He and his colleagues
reported in the Aug. 4, 1994, issue of PNAS that anandamide and [delta]9
- -THC block fertilization in sea urchins by preventing the acrosome
reaction, the rupture of a sac of lytic enzymes that has to occur for
the sperm to penetrate the outer coating of the egg.
The sea urchin finding demonstrates that cannabinoid receptors and their
ligands go back at least 600 million years in evolutionary history,
Schuel says. In fact, cannabinoid signaling may be even older--there is
evidence that cannabinoids affect the behavior of insects, and the
physiology of some protozoans, he says.
Why would a receptor system found in the brain be used in so many other
tissues? "It is not uncommon to have a receptor used in two very
different organs," says Billy Martin of Virginia Commonwealth University
in Richmond. Opioid receptors occur in both the brain and the gut, he
notes. Schuel concurs. "There is nothing unique about the signals used
in the nervous system," he says. Virtually all of the neurotransmitters
that are found in the brain function in the interaction between egg and
sperm, says Schuel.
"One of the things that struck me, as a newcomer to the field, is that
most of the people who work on cannabinoids are fixated on the
psychoactive properties [of the compounds]," Schuel says. "They lose
track of the fact that this signaling mechanism operates in other places
in the body," such as in the reproductive and immune systems. In the
latter, researchers have found that cannabinoids inhibit the activity of
macrophages and lymphocytes, he says.
As a lipid, anandamide 'is chemically a very innocuous compound,"
Makriyannis says--so much so that it has been hard for researchers to
believe that it has such powerful effects. The molecular structures of
[delta]9-THC and anandamide appear very different--yet they bind to the
same receptor active site, he says. The differences may be important,
says Devane, who notes that Christian Giaume of INSERM in Paris reported
in the Aug. 17, 1995, issue of Nature that anandamide inhibits ion
conductance across gap junctions between cultured striatal astrocytes,
an effect that is not mimicked by other cannabinoids nor blocked by
cannabinoid-receptor antagonists. These effects are blocked by pertussis
toxin, an inhibitor of G proteins, suggesting that another G-protein
receptor may be involved--and could be involved in anandamide's actions
in other organs, Devane says.
Makriyannis and other researchers believe that understanding
anandamide's interactions with the cannabinoid receptors will help
researchers understand the physiological effects of marijuana use. It
will also allow researchers to design anandamide derivatives better able
to provide the beneficial effects of medical marijuana-including the
reduction of nausea in people receiving cancer chemotherapy--without the
psychotropic and immune-system effects, they say.
"People are fighting about whether to legalize the medical use of
marijuana," Dey says. "I believe that money could be better spent on
developing drugs based on anandamide, which is a natural product [in
humans]," he concludes.
[Fig. 2] [delta]9-tetrahydrocannabinol (upper left), the active
ingredient in marijuana, has only a passing resemblance to the
endogenous cannabinoid anandamide (upper right). However, both molecules
fit into the same binding site of the brain-type cannabinoid receptor
protein (lower left and right), which is also found in the uterus and
early embryo. [Courtesy Patricia Reggio, Kennesaw State College,
Kennesaw, Ga.]
- --David L. Lewin
------------------------------
Subj: ART: Illegal plant grown for medicine, man claims
From:
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 08:28:17 -0600 (CST)
This is from the article:
"Khat is illegal in the United States because it contains an
amphetamine-like substance in the same category as heroin."
Ya learns sumthin new everyday. ;)
Too bad there's no byline on AP stories. Somebody's grossly misinformed.
From the 12-18-98 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com
- ---------------------------------------------
Illegal plant grown for medicine, man claims
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- The first person in this country arrested for
growing a rare and exotic East African stimulant claimed on Thursday
that he was cultivating the plant for medicinal purposes.
Musa Ahmed Gelan, 40, of Prunedale, Calif., pleaded innocent in U.S.
District Court to manufacturing a controlled substance known as khat,
pronounced "cot." His lawyer, Donald Foley, said Gelan was growing khat
to help control his diabetes.
"He had no idea anything was illegal about this," Foley said. "The
plants are part of his ethnic background."
If convicted, Gelan could face up to 20 years in prison.
The leafy, reddish khat is popular with people in Ethiopia, Somalia and
Tanzania, and the Middle Eastern country of Yemen, Gelan's homeland.
When chewed, users say it produces a mild euphoria.
Khat is illegal in the United States because it contains an
amphetamine-like substance in the same category as heroin.
Gelan was arrested in September when federal and state authorities
raided his quarter-acre field and seized more than 1,000 plants. Drug
enforcement officials said it was the first outdoor khat plantation
discovered in the country.
------------------------------
Subj: OPINION: Money-laundering inquiries could invade your privacy
From:
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 09:03:45 -0600 (CST)
It's pretty darn cool seeing an anti-drug war opinion
piece in the business section.
From the 12-17-98 Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
http://www.startelegram.com
- ---------------------
Business Columnists
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Todd Mason
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Updated: Wednesday, Dec. 16, 1998 at 20:10 CST
Money-laundering inquiries could invade your privacy
What's happening in Washington besides all Monica all the time?
Here's an interesting item: Federal banking regulators want to draft
your banker in the war against drugs.
They want banks and thrifts to draw up specific rules about what they
need to know about you and me to make sure we aren't laundering money.
They want financial institutions to designate a vice president in charge
of suspicious accounts.
It is "fundamental for safe and sound operations that financial
institutions take reasonable measures to identify their customers,
understand the legitimate transactions typically conducted by those
customers, and, consequently, identify those transactions conducted by
their customers that are unusual or suspicious in nature," the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corp declares.
The rule would apply to all financial institutions and all customers,
large and small. It's being proposed simultaneously by the FDIC, the
Federal Reserve, the Comptroller of Currency and the Office of Thrift
Supervision.
The FDIC, for its part, specifically invites comment on whether it needs
to be all-inclusive. You'll find the proposed rule and an email link at
www.fdic.gov.
This is dangerous ground, gentle readers. No one would mistake me for
someone with gobs of cash, which is the given in money laundering. But
my finances are just strange enough that I could fall under suspicion if
my bank put Barney Fife in charge.
It gets worse. Banks may soon be unraveling the ownership of trust or
business accounts that won't pass muster with ex-wives, say, even if
they comply with the Bank Secrecy Act.
Don't assume that tougher rules will catch the bad guys. Folks who
deposit gobs of cash earn deference at the bank, as a rule, rather than
close questioning.
A case in point: Raul Salinas, elder brother of former Mexican President
Carlos Salinas, used Citibank to move $100 million to Switzerland
between 1988 and 1994. The bank handled the transfers even though R.
Salinas earned only $190,000 a year as a public official.
The bank told The Washington Post that it thought the money came from
the sale of a construction company. The bank said its officers didn't
seek details, in apparent violation of its voluntary know-your-customer
policy.
Citibank denies wrongdoing, as does Salinas, and the bank hasn't been
charged. Prosecutors must show that a bank willfully disregarded the
illicit source of transferred funds in order to win convictions.
The proposed rule would give regulators an administrative remedy in
cases that fall short of criminal wrongdoing. Regulators have
considerable power to address problems that affect safety and soundness.
So what should banks know about their customers? The FDIC says banks
should know their customers' true identities, their customary sources of
funds, and their pattern of "normal and expected transactions."
The regulators leave the implementation to the banks, except to suggest
that banks set priorities based on motive and opportunity.
In the case of wage earners, "it should be relatively simple task to
identify and document the source of funds as payroll deposits," the FDIC
says.
Oh? The Internal Revenue Service routinely targets waiters, taxi drivers
and others who deal primarily in cash. I'm guessing that the most
successful of these workers would be suspicious characters down at the
bank also.
Businesses and individuals with ties to Mexico would automatically
incite doubt. So would private banking customers with complicated
finances. Rich customers, at least, would be worth the trouble from the
bank's point of view.
I don't want to sound too hysterical. Maybe the regulators can strike a
balance that respects privacy and motivates the banks to turn away drug
money.
We should be talking about it. Unlike Monica, this one matters.
Todd Mason's column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Phone:
390-7552; fax, 390-7774; e-mail:
Send Your Comments to the Editor!
Include your name and email address.
Email Address
------------------------------
End of Maptalk-Digest V98 #497
******************************
Mark Greer () ___ ___ _ _ _ _
Media Awareness Project /' _ ` _ `\ /'_`)('_`\
P. O. Box 651 | ( ) ( ) |( (_| || (_) )
Porterville, CA 93258 (_) (_) (_) \__,_)| ,__/
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URL: http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ (_)
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