Maptalk-Digest Wednesday, December 18 2002 Volume 02 : Number 458
001 Re: MAP: Prosecutor: Parents beware of teens with pacifiers
From: Bar n Grill <>
002 Heroin deaths rise dramatically in Mass.
From: "kim hanna" <>
003 Please Help Canadians Understand What We Really Believe
From: Richard Lake <>
004 Re: Please Help Canadians Understand What We Really Believe
From: "J-White" <>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj: 001 Re: MAP: Prosecutor: Parents beware of teens with pacifiers
From: Bar n Grill <>
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 18:52:23 -0800 (PST)
Most interesting fact I gleaned from this item was the
quote, "Over 2 million hits of ecstasy are smuggled
into U.S. EVERY WEEK"
So this tells us that 100 million hits are consumed
annually and what, 57 die? (or whatever)
This almost gives us evidence the using ecstasy
prolongs life....heh
Steve
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------------------------------
Subj: 002 Heroin deaths rise dramatically in Mass.
From: "kim hanna" <>
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 07:54:51 -0500
Yesterday the CSM published the article on the 'gateway theory':
US: OPED: A Weed by Any Other Name Smells the Same
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2281/a03.html
Newshawk: Jane Marcus
Webpage: http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1216/p09s01-coop.html
knowing full well the report on heroin use was coming. It was on yesterdays
local TV. CSM is just dying to escalate the drug war.
Let's slam the Globe with LTE's.
=============
Newshawk: Kim Hanna
Source: The Boston Globe
Published: December 18, 2002
Author: Stephen Smith
Heroin deaths rise dramatically in Mass.
Report says lure growing in suburbs
By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff, 12/18/2002
Deaths from heroin and related narcotics in Massachusetts soared close to
fourfold during the 1990s, an increase the state's public health
commissioner described yesterday as an emerging health care crisis.
A report issued by the state Department of Public Health also found that
heroin now ranks as the illegal drug of choice for patients checking into
rehab clinics, with 42 percent of patients who received substance abuse
treatment this year reporting that they had used the drug recently. That
compares with just 19 percent a decade earlier.
The heroin surge, specialists say, is a classic case of market-driven
economics: The drug is both purer and cheaper today, with a hit of heroin
selling in some neighborhoods for less than a six-pack of beer. And, unlike
a decade ago, when heroin was rejected by middle-class users as the province
of street junkies, today the drug is snorted and smoked, burnishing its
appeal in the suburbs.
''Heroin is suffocating our society,'' said Dr. Howard K. Koh, the
Massachusetts commissioner of public health. ''It has invaded every corner
of our Commonwealth.''
The effects of heroin addiction are evident across New England. All six New
England states have seen heroin use rise in the past decade; Portland,
Maine, alone recorded 27 overdose deaths during the first 10 months of this
year. Health officials also report increasing rates of AIDS and hepatitis C
related to injection-drug use. For addicts seeking help, the outlook is
clouded by budget cuts to a range of agencies that help fund drug treatment
clinics.
The new study, compiled by reviewing government, hospital, and drug
assistance records, found that in 2000, the most recent year for which
numbers are available, there were 363 overdose deaths from heroin or another
narcotic, such as OxyContin, in Massachusetts. In 1990, there were just 94.
Although the study does not break down that figure into heroin and other
drugs, the counselors who provide treatment to substance abusers believe
that the overwhelming majority of those narcotic-related deaths can be
attributed to heroin.
''There's no question that it's an ever-growing problem that is getting to
parts of the population that would have never considered doing heroin
before,'' said Tom Magaraci, CEO of Habit Management, the largest provider
of narcotic treatment in the state. ''There's a lot of heroin on the street
- - on streets everywhere.
''We're talking to suburban kids who tell us they go to parties, and there
are drugs all around, including heroin, and it's just an accepted thing.''
The report on heroin was issued two months after another state study showed
that cocaine use tripled among Massachusetts middle school students and
doubled among high school students in the past three years.
Across New England, heroin in the past five years has begun claiming more
lives than homicides.
For example, there were twice as many overdose deaths (40) in New Hampshire
in 1999 as homicides (21), according to the New England High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area, a consortium of representatives from law enforcement and
health agencies.
At $5 to $20 for a small bag, heroin represents a cheap and potent high. In
fact, an analysis performed by a Massachusetts state lab concluded that in
2002, the purity of heroin samples ranged as high as 66.9 percent, far
higher than a decade earlier.
That increase in purity means two things: Users can buy less heroin and get
the same high, and the risk of overdosing rises substantially.
In just one city, Lynn, heroin has claimed more than 50 lives in the past
six years, police chief John Suslak said. It has also spawned crime - armed
robberies, for instance - by users trying to support their habits.
Increasingly, those users no longer fit the profile of a heroin junkie. A
decade ago, drug counselors said, the typical addict was a middle-aged man.
Today, the junkie is increasingly likely to be young and, more than ever,
female.
The Department of Public Health report found that from 1996 to 2001, there
was a 230 percent increase in 15- to 24-year-olds who received hospital
treatment because of their addiction to heroin and other narcotics.
''If people picture an addict in the alley injecting themselves, they'd
better get that picture out of their head,'' said George C. Festa, executive
director of the New England consortium.
For heroin abusers, gaining access to treatment programs could prove more
difficult in the coming year.
Bay Cove Human Services, which provides drug treatment services in Boston,
has 286 patients in its long-term methadone program, but 50 more are waiting
to get in, said Stan Connors, the agency's president.
Because of federal and state budget cuts, agencies such as Bay Cove expect
that dozens of patients will lose benefits that help provide methadone to
wean them off heroin. Bay Cove executives estimate that 35 of the patients
in the methadone program will stop receiving care when they lose government
benefits next year.
''Just recently, we had two 19-year-olds come in who both had five-year
histories of using heroin,'' Connors said. ''Where are they going to go if
we have even more cuts?''
Stephen Smith can be reached at .
This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 12/18/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
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------------------------------
Subj: 003 Please Help Canadians Understand What We Really Believe
From: Richard Lake <>
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 10:43:13 -0500
:
PLEASE HELP CANADIANS UNDERSTAND WHAT WE REALLY BELIEVE
*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #258 Tue, 17 Dec 2002
Below we are requesting you write Letters to the Editor to Canadian
newspapers to help present the actual views of the U. S. public on
the question of decriminalizing cannabis. Dr. Joycelyn Elders in the
following OPED best described the situation:
Pubdate: Sat, 14 Dec 2002
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2002, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:
Author: Dr. Joycelyn Elders
Note: Dr. Joycelyn Elders was U.S. surgeon-general from 1993 to 1994. She
currently is distinguished professor of public health at the University of
Arkansas School of Medicine in Little Rock.
CANADA HAS IT RIGHT ON MARIJUANA
On Dec. 12, the House of Commons special committee on the non-medical
use of drugs released a report calling for the decriminalization of
marijuana, and Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has said he plans to put
forth a decriminalization bill early in 2003.
It is a safe bet that the U.S. government reaction will be hostile,
just as it always seems to be when people talk about reconsidering
marijuana laws.
Canadians should understand that on drug policy, the U.S. government is
increasingly out of step with Americans. Canadians should use their own
good sense, make their own judgments, and disregard U.S. bullying, as
most of our drug laws were made on a racist foundation instead of
science.
In September, when the Canadian Senate special committee on illegal
drugs issued a report that recommended replacing marijuana prohibition
with a system of regulation, the official U.S. reaction was swift and
blunt. John Walters, director of the White House Office of National
Drug Control Policy (commonly termed the Drug Czar) was quoted on both
sides of the border expressing his dismay. He even hinted at a border
crackdown that could strangle trade between our nations.
U.S. drug-policy leaders should spend more time talking with
knowledgeable Canadians such as Senate committee chairman Pierre Claude
Nolin to learn why they have reached such dramatically different
conclusions from the U.S. drug warriors. If they did, they might learn
that much of their rhetoric about marijuana being a "gateway drug" is
simply wrong. After decades of looking, scientists still have no
evidence that marijuana causes people to use harder drugs. If there is
any true "gateway drug," it's tobacco.
And tobacco, through its direct physical effects, kills many thousands
of people every year. So does alcohol. And it is easy to fatally
overdose on alcohol, just as you can fatally overdose on prescription
drugs, or even over-the-counter drugs, such as aspirin or acetaminophen
(the active ingredient in Tylenol).
I don't believe that anyone has ever died from a marijuana overdose.
This is not to say that marijuana is harmless. It's not, and there are
good reasons not to use it -- especially for young people.
But from a public-health perspective, there is a solid case to be made
that arresting marijuana users, giving them criminal records and
disrupting careers and families does more harm to more people than the
drug itself does.
Why do U.S. officials such as Mr. Walters so adamantly resist even
having this discussion? The answer lies in the numbers. We have a
massive antidrug bureaucracy that is largely fuelled by our war on
marijuana: Nearly half of all drug arrests in the United States are for
marijuana-related charges, and 89 per cent of those are for simple
possession. Take away those arrests and massive antidrug budgets are
much harder to justify.
But if our officials start making threats again, Canadians should
remember that those officials don't represent the views of the American
public. A Nov. 4 Time magazine poll found that 72 per cent of Americans
don't believe marijuana users should go to jail. Eighty per cent
believe seriously ill people should be able to use marijuana for
medical purposes, despite our government's rigid opposition to that
humane and sensible idea.
If Canada needs guidance, it can look toward Europe, where many
governments have moved toward enlightened policies, and others are
conducting serious, thoughtful examinations of their marijuana laws. If
we are lucky, Canada will set an example that the United States will
eventually follow.
- -----------------------
The above OPED contains facts you can add to your own to help drive
home your point in letters to as many Canadian newspapers as possible
to let Canadians know that the views of our Drug Czar are not the views
of either science or the public in the United States.
WRITE A LETTER TODAY
Thanks for your effort and support.
It's not what others do it's what YOU do
**********************************************************************
PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID
(Letter, email messages, etc.)
Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list () if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing
a copy directly to if you are not subscribed. Your
letter will then be forwarded to the list so others can learn from your
efforts and be motivated to follow suit.
This is _Very_ Important as it is one very effective way of gauging our
impact and effectiveness.
Subscribing to the Sent LTE list () will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches
as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts.
To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see
http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm
and/or
http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form
**********************************************************************
CONTACT INFO
Since the House of Commons special committee report recommendations on
cannabis were announced MAP has archived over 100 news items related to
the announcement. Most of these items are worthy targets for your
Letter to the Editor efforts. To review these potential targets please
click this link:
http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm
This will provide a list of the headlines, with the most recent printed
first. A few of the items will be Letters to the Editor, and a few not
related to the announcement. But the majority are.
To obtain more details to help you select potential targets without
before reading the actual article go to the bottom of the page where
you will find the Power Search Drugnews webform. Simply use the Details
dropdown to change the details to High and click the search button. The
resulting pages (be sure to notice that you will be able to move
through ten pages, of which the first six or seven will contain good
targets) should help you select your targets. Then just go to the
actual article to obtain the newspaper's Contact: line for sending off
your letter.
IF you choose to write to more than one newspaper, and we hope you
will, please consider modifying your letter at least a little for each
one. And email each letter to each newspaper by itself. This will
increase your chances of publication.
Please remember that even if your letters are not selected for
publication, they still have an impact on the newspaper's editors as
they note reader interest which results in increased coverage of our
issues.
**********************************************************************
SAMPLE LETTER
(Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify
it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies
of the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for
his/her work.)
To the editor of ??? Newspaper in Canada:
Noting the criticism by the United States Drug Czar towards Canada's
proposed reforms in marijuana policies, I find it interesting that any
Canadian leaders are giving John Walters' opinion serious attention.
Over the past 20 years as the U.S. federal government has escalated the
War on Drugs, I notice they didn't check first to see what Ottawa
thought.
When we decided to increase drug arrests in our country to the point
where we became the planet's largest jailer, no one in Washington
sought out Canadian viewpoints. When John Walters formed a plan to
deluge our media with his propaganda about pot smokers funding
terrorists, I'm sure he didn't care one hoot what Canadians thought.
Why then are some of your leaders worried about whether or not Canada
chooses to follow in lockstep the draconian drug policies endorsed by
the United States? You are on the correct, common-sense track - a
track already in place in several European countries as well as several
U.S. and Australian states. Don't be knocked astray by U.S. government
fueled hysteria about decriminalizing or even legalizing responsible
adult marijuana use.
Respectfully submitted,
Stephen Heath
(Always include your address and phone number for newspaper
verification. Most papers will not print your letter otherwise.)
**********************************************************************
ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts, Please See:
Writer's Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/
**********************************************************************
Prepared by: Stephen Heath, Focus Alert Specialist, Florida Cannabis
Action Network http://www.flcan.org
**********************************************************************
------------------------------
Subj: 004 Re: Please Help Canadians Understand What We Really Believe
From: "J-White" <>
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 11:51:52 -0500
...don't forget to remind them of what happened when Nixon tried to "crack
down" on the Mexican border...remember that success? Canadians ought to be
laughing at the morons' jester's (that's Bush and Walters respectively)
suggestion that we crack down on the border.
Jim W.
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Lake" <>
To: <>; <>; <>
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 10:43 AM
Subject: MAP: Please Help Canadians Understand What We Really Believe
> :
>
> PLEASE HELP CANADIANS UNDERSTAND WHAT WE REALLY BELIEVE
>
> *********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************
>
> DrugSense FOCUS Alert #258 Tue, 17 Dec 2002
>
> Below we are requesting you write Letters to the Editor to Canadian
> newspapers to help present the actual views of the U. S. public on
> the question of decriminalizing cannabis. Dr. Joycelyn Elders in the
> following OPED best described the situation:
>
> Pubdate: Sat, 14 Dec 2002
> Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
> Copyright: 2002, The Globe and Mail Company
> Contact:
> Author: Dr. Joycelyn Elders
> Note: Dr. Joycelyn Elders was U.S. surgeon-general from 1993 to 1994. She
> currently is distinguished professor of public health at the University of
> Arkansas School of Medicine in Little Rock.
>
> CANADA HAS IT RIGHT ON MARIJUANA
>
> On Dec. 12, the House of Commons special committee on the non-medical
> use of drugs released a report calling for the decriminalization of
> marijuana, and Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has said he plans to put
> forth a decriminalization bill early in 2003.
>
> It is a safe bet that the U.S. government reaction will be hostile,
> just as it always seems to be when people talk about reconsidering
> marijuana laws.
>
> Canadians should understand that on drug policy, the U.S. government is
> increasingly out of step with Americans. Canadians should use their own
> good sense, make their own judgments, and disregard U.S. bullying, as
> most of our drug laws were made on a racist foundation instead of
> science.
>
> In September, when the Canadian Senate special committee on illegal
> drugs issued a report that recommended replacing marijuana prohibition
> with a system of regulation, the official U.S. reaction was swift and
> blunt. John Walters, director of the White House Office of National
> Drug Control Policy (commonly termed the Drug Czar) was quoted on both
> sides of the border expressing his dismay. He even hinted at a border
> crackdown that could strangle trade between our nations.
>
> U.S. drug-policy leaders should spend more time talking with
> knowledgeable Canadians such as Senate committee chairman Pierre Claude
> Nolin to learn why they have reached such dramatically different
> conclusions from the U.S. drug warriors. If they did, they might learn
> that much of their rhetoric about marijuana being a "gateway drug" is
> simply wrong. After decades of looking, scientists still have no
> evidence that marijuana causes people to use harder drugs. If there is
> any true "gateway drug," it's tobacco.
>
> And tobacco, through its direct physical effects, kills many thousands
> of people every year. So does alcohol. And it is easy to fatally
> overdose on alcohol, just as you can fatally overdose on prescription
> drugs, or even over-the-counter drugs, such as aspirin or acetaminophen
> (the active ingredient in Tylenol).
>
> I don't believe that anyone has ever died from a marijuana overdose.
>
> This is not to say that marijuana is harmless. It's not, and there are
> good reasons not to use it -- especially for young people.
>
> But from a public-health perspective, there is a solid case to be made
> that arresting marijuana users, giving them criminal records and
> disrupting careers and families does more harm to more people than the
> drug itself does.
>
> Why do U.S. officials such as Mr. Walters so adamantly resist even
> having this discussion? The answer lies in the numbers. We have a
> massive antidrug bureaucracy that is largely fuelled by our war on
> marijuana: Nearly half of all drug arrests in the United States are for
> marijuana-related charges, and 89 per cent of those are for simple
> possession. Take away those arrests and massive antidrug budgets are
> much harder to justify.
>
> But if our officials start making threats again, Canadians should
> remember that those officials don't represent the views of the American
> public. A Nov. 4 Time magazine poll found that 72 per cent of Americans
> don't believe marijuana users should go to jail. Eighty per cent
> believe seriously ill people should be able to use marijuana for
> medical purposes, despite our government's rigid opposition to that
> humane and sensible idea.
>
> If Canada needs guidance, it can look toward Europe, where many
> governments have moved toward enlightened policies, and others are
> conducting serious, thoughtful examinations of their marijuana laws. If
> we are lucky, Canada will set an example that the United States will
> eventually follow.
>
> -----------------------
>
> The above OPED contains facts you can add to your own to help drive
> home your point in letters to as many Canadian newspapers as possible
> to let Canadians know that the views of our Drug Czar are not the views
> of either science or the public in the United States.
>
> WRITE A LETTER TODAY
>
> Thanks for your effort and support.
>
> It's not what others do it's what YOU do
>
> **********************************************************************
>
> PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID
> (Letter, email messages, etc.)
>
> Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent
> letter list () if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing
> a copy directly to if you are not subscribed. Your
> letter will then be forwarded to the list so others can learn from your
> efforts and be motivated to follow suit.
>
> This is _Very_ Important as it is one very effective way of gauging our
> impact and effectiveness.
>
> Subscribing to the Sent LTE list () will help you to
> review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches
> as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts.
>
> To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see
> http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm
> and/or
> http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form
>
> **********************************************************************
>
> CONTACT INFO
>
> Since the House of Commons special committee report recommendations on
> cannabis were announced MAP has archived over 100 news items related to
> the announcement. Most of these items are worthy targets for your
> Letter to the Editor efforts. To review these potential targets please
> click this link:
>
> http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm
>
> This will provide a list of the headlines, with the most recent printed
> first. A few of the items will be Letters to the Editor, and a few not
> related to the announcement. But the majority are.
>
> To obtain more details to help you select potential targets without
> before reading the actual article go to the bottom of the page where
> you will find the Power Search Drugnews webform. Simply use the Details
> dropdown to change the details to High and click the search button. The
> resulting pages (be sure to notice that you will be able to move
> through ten pages, of which the first six or seven will contain good
> targets) should help you select your targets. Then just go to the
> actual article to obtain the newspaper's Contact: line for sending off
> your letter.
>
> IF you choose to write to more than one newspaper, and we hope you
> will, please consider modifying your letter at least a little for each
> one. And email each letter to each newspaper by itself. This will
> increase your chances of publication.
>
> Please remember that even if your letters are not selected for
> publication, they still have an impact on the newspaper's editors as
> they note reader interest which results in increased coverage of our
> issues.
>
> **********************************************************************
>
> SAMPLE LETTER
>
> (Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify
> it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies
> of the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for
> his/her work.)
>
> To the editor of ??? Newspaper in Canada:
>
> Noting the criticism by the United States Drug Czar towards Canada's
> proposed reforms in marijuana policies, I find it interesting that any
> Canadian leaders are giving John Walters' opinion serious attention.
>
> Over the past 20 years as the U.S. federal government has escalated the
> War on Drugs, I notice they didn't check first to see what Ottawa
> thought.
>
> When we decided to increase drug arrests in our country to the point
> where we became the planet's largest jailer, no one in Washington
> sought out Canadian viewpoints. When John Walters formed a plan to
> deluge our media with his propaganda about pot smokers funding
> terrorists, I'm sure he didn't care one hoot what Canadians thought.
>
> Why then are some of your leaders worried about whether or not Canada
> chooses to follow in lockstep the draconian drug policies endorsed by
> the United States? You are on the correct, common-sense track - a
> track already in place in several European countries as well as several
> U.S. and Australian states. Don't be knocked astray by U.S. government
> fueled hysteria about decriminalizing or even legalizing responsible
> adult marijuana use.
>
> Respectfully submitted,
>
> Stephen Heath
>
> (Always include your address and phone number for newspaper
> verification. Most papers will not print your letter otherwise.)
>
> **********************************************************************
>
> ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts, Please See:
>
> Writer's Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/
>
> **********************************************************************
>
> Prepared by: Stephen Heath, Focus Alert Specialist, Florida Cannabis
> Action Network http://www.flcan.org
>
> **********************************************************************
>
------------------------------
End of Maptalk-Digest V02 #458
******************************
Mark Greer () ___ ___ _ _ _ _
Media Awareness Project /' _ ` _ `\ /'_`)('_`\
P. O. Box 651 | ( ) ( ) |( (_| || (_) )
Porterville, CA 93258 (_) (_) (_) \__,_)| ,__/
(800) 266-5759 | |
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ (_)
|
