Drug War Chronicle, Issue #521 -- 2/1/07
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, http://stopthedrugwar.org/user/psmith
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521
A Publication of Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)
David Borden, Executive Director,
http://stopthedrugwar.org/user/borden
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
New Member****p Offer: Three Exciting New Book Offers for Our
Donating Sup****ters
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/three_new_book_offers_for_our_members
Enough is Enough: Petition to Stop the Reckless Drug Raids
http://stopthedrugwar.org/raidpetition
Students: Intern at DRCNet to help stop the drug war now!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/drcnet_intern****ps_to_stop_the_drug_war
Table of Contents:
1. MEDICAL MARIJUANA AND THE RIGHT TO WORK: UNDER ATTACK IN
CALIFORNIA AND OREGON, AT RISK IN MOST OTHER STATES AS WELL
Last week's California Supreme Court ruling allowing employees
to fire medical marijuana users has ****ned a light on a gray
area in medical marijuana law. While protections vary from state
to state, they are for the most part limited and untested, and
patients who want to work are at risk.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/marijuana_medical_employee_patient_rights
2. PAIN WARS IN THE HEARTLAND: WITH THEIR DOCTOR BEHIND BARS,
KANSAS PATIENTS WONDER WHERE TO TURN
The feds arrested a Kansas pain doctor and his wife last month,
charging them with improperly prescribing narcotic pain
relievers. While they claim to be protecting the public, the
doctor's patients beg to differ.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/stephan_schneider_pain_doctor_arrest_kansas
3. APPEAL: THREE EXCITING NEW BOOK OFFERS FOR OUR DONATING
SUP****TERS
We are pleased to offer the works "Over the Influence: The Harm
Reduction Guide for Managing Drugs and Alcohol," "Women Behind
Bars: The Crisis of Women in the US Prison System," and
"Cannabis: Yields and Dosage," as our latest member****p premium
gifts.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/three_new_book_offers_for_our_members
4. WEEKLY: BLOGGING @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
THE SPEAKEASY
Scott Morgan brings us: "Barack Obama Comes Out in Favor of
Marijuana Decriminalization," "Berkeley City Council Tells DEA
to Stay Out," "Are Racist Cops Better Organized Than We
Thought?," "What Do You Think About Medical Marijuana Vending
Machines?," "Crazy Sheriff Proposes "Normandy" Style Anti-Drug
Invasion" and "Why Does the Drug Czar's Office Oppose Efforts to
Prevent Drug Overdoses?," "Eric Sage Fights Back."
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/blogging_at_the_speakeasy
5. STUDENTS: INTERN AT DRCNET AND HELP STOP THE DRUG WAR!
Apply for an intern****p at DRCNet for this fall (or spring), and
you could spend the semester fighting the good fight!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/drcnet_intern****ps_to_stop_the_drug_war
6. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A Texas probation officer gets busted, a Baltimore cop gets
caught beating on a suspected drug buyer, a Virginia cop gets
popped for meth, a slew of prison guards get busted in Florida,
and another in New Mexico. Just another week in the drug war.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/police_drug_corruption
7. SENTENCING: US ATTORNEY GENERAL RAISES SPECTER OF VIOLENT
CRIME JUMP IF CRACK PRISONERS RELEASED, WARNS HE COULD TRY TO
BLOCK IT
US Attorney General lashed out against early release for federal
crack cocaine offenders twice last week, resorting to demagogic
claims and warning he may try to block it.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/attorney_general_mukasey_crack_early_release
8. LAW ENFORCEMENT: NEBRASKA MAN FILES COMPLAINT OVER BOGUS
SOUTH DAKOTA BUST
Eric Sage got pulled over on his motorcycle as he left South
Dakota after the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally last summer and ended
up being charged with possession of paraphernalia even though he
didn't possess any paraphernalia. He fought the charges and
faced threats from prosecutors if he didn't plead. Finally, the
prosecutors gave up, but Sage still wants justice.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/eric_sage_south_dakota_paraphernalia_ingestion_complaint
9. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: BERKELEY DECLARES ITSELF A SANCTUARY CITY
With the DEA raiding dispensaries in the Bay Area this year, the
Berkeley City Council voted Thursday to make the city a medical
marijuana sanctuary.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/bekeley_medical_marijuana_sanctuary_city
10. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: FIRST KANSAS BILL INTRODUCED
The first medical marijuana bill in Kansas history was
introduced this week. It would provide a medical defense for
persons arrested for possession.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/first_kansas_medical_marijuana_bill_introduced
11. EUROPE: GERMAN POLICE USE GROW SHOP CUSTOMER LISTS IN
MASSIVE MARIJUANA GARDEN BUSTS
Police across Germany engaged in massive raids on marijuana
grows Monday. Some of the busts were based on information from
grow shop customer lists.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/german_police_marijuana_grow_raids
12. DEATH PENALTY: MORE DRUG EXECUTIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA, MORE
DEATH SENTENCES IN VIETNAM, BUT A RARE SIGN OF LENIENCY IN CHINA
Saudi Arabia executed more drug offenders this week, and Vietnam
sentenced more to death. But in a rare move, China commuted the
death sentences of two Ugandan women.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/death_penalty_drugs_saudi_arabia_vietnam_china
13. LATIN AMERICA: CHAVEZ ENDORSES COCA -- AGAIN
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' embrace of coca continued last
weekend as he publicly chewed the leaf and thanked Bolivian
President Evo Morales for bringing him some more. Coca isn't
cocaine, Chavez pointed out.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/hugo_chavez_endorses_coca_and_thanks_evo_morales
14. WEB SCAN
Too many links to list this week -- check 'em out...
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/drug_policy_links
15. WEEKLY: THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of
years past.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/drug_war_history
16. FEEDBACK: DO YOU READ DRUG WAR CHRONICLE?
Do you read Drug War Chronicle? If so, we need your feedback to
evaluate our work and make the case for Drug War Chronicle to
funders. We need donations too.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/do_you_read_drug_war_chronicle
17. JOB OP****TUNITIES: SYSTEM SUP****T SPECIALIST AND GRAPHIC
DESIGNER, MARIJUANA POLICY PROJECT, WA****NGTON DC
The Marijuana Policy Project is seeking a System Sup****t
Specialist and a Graphic Designer to be based in MPP's
headquarters in Wa****ngton, DC.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/mpp_job_op****tunities
18. WEBMASTERS: HELP THE MOVEMENT BY RUNNING DRCNET SYNDICATION
FEEDS ON YOUR WEB SITE!
Sup****t the cause by featuring automatically-updating Drug War
Chronicle and other DRCNet content links on your web site!
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19. RESOURCE: DRCNET WEB SITE OFFERS WIDE ARRAY OF RSS FEEDS FOR
YOUR READER
A new way for you to receive DRCNet articles -- Drug War
Chronicle and more -- is now available.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/drug_policy_RSS_feeds_now_available
20. RESOURCE: REFORMER'S CALENDAR ACCESSIBLE THROUGH DRCNET WEB
SITE
Visit our new web site each day to see a running countdown to
the events coming up the soonest, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/drug_reform_calendar
(Not subscribed? Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org
to sign up
today!)
================
1. Medical Marijuana and the Right to Work: Under Attack in
California and Oregon, At Risk In Most Other States As Well
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/521/marijuana_medical_employee_patient_rights
Last week's California Supreme Court decision upholding the
ability of employers to fire employees who test positive for
marijuana even if they are patients has shone a spotlight on an
increasingly contested grey area created by the disjuncture
between state and federal policies toward medical marijuana.
With last week's decision, California's more than 150,000
medical marijuana patients now face renewed insecurity on the
job. But 11 other states also have medical marijuana laws, and
patients are equally at risk of job loss in most of them.
While every state medical marijuana law says employers are not
required to accommodate on-the-job use, only a handful have
provisions that could be interpreted as protecting medical
marijuana users' employment rights, and only one, Rhode Island,
explicitly protects patients, according to Karen O'Keefe,
assistant director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy
Project (http://www.mpp.org).
"There are several states -- California, Montana, Nevada,
Oregon, and Rhode Island -- that specify that patients cannot be
punished by professional licensing boards, and New Mexico and a
number of other states have language like 'not subject to
penalty in any manner,'" she said. "In Wa****ngton, it says 'the
people shall not be denied any right or privilege.'"
But whether such language really means patients are protected
from being fired for testing positive on a drug test is likely
to be sorted out only by court cases or legislation. Better to
get that explicit protective language written into the law in
the first place, suggested Jesse Stout, executive director of
the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition, or RIPAC
(http://www.ripatients.org).
"We did get specific employment protections written into the
law, as well a protection from discrimination in terms of
enrolling in schools and leasing property," said Stout. "This
happened because we went to our patients and asked them what
they thought, and they said they wanted marijuana treated like
any other medicine."
While Rhode Island advocates had to take other measures out of
the bill to ensure passage, employment protections were not
controversial. "They weren't a problem," Stout said.
As a result, Rhode Island's 600 medical marijuana patients are
among the best protected in the county when it comes to
employment protection. And they don't have to rely on the courts
or the legislature to provide protection after the fact.
In California, on the other hand, the Supreme Court has settled
matters -- at least for now -- with its ruling last week. In
that decision
(http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/do***ents/S138130.PDF),
the Court found that employers may fire workers who use medical
marijuana in compliance with California's Compassionate Use Act
-- even if they are off duty and even if their use does not
affect their job performance.
In that case, Gary Ross, whose doctor recommended medical
marijuana for chronic back pain resulting from an injury
incurred while serving in the Air Force, was hired by Raging
Wire as a systems engineer in 2001 and was required to take a
drug test as a condition of employment. He provided the company
with a copy of his doctor's recommendation, but the company
fired him a week later because of a positive test result.
Ross sued, alleging that the company violated the California
Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) by not accommodating his
disability. He also argued that the company fired him in
violation of public policy because the Compassionate Use Act
legalized medical marijuana in the state.
But in siding with employers, the state high court said the
state's Compassionate Use Act protected users only from criminal
prosecution. "Nothing in the text or history of the
Compassionate Use Act suggests the voters intended the measure
to address the respective rights and duties of employers and
employees," wrote Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdeger for the
majority. "Under California law, an employer may require
pre-employment drug tests and take illegal drug use into
consideration in making employment decisions."
Additionally, Werdeger noted, even though medical marijuana is
legal under state law it remains illegal under federal law, and
"the FEHA does not require employers to accommodate the use of
illegal drugs."
Justice Joyce Kennard was scathing in her dissent. The decision
was "conspicuously lacking in compassion," she wrote. "The
majority's holding disrespects the will of California's voters."
The voters "surely never intended that persons who availed
themselves" of the medical marijuana act "would thereby
disqualify themselves from employment," Kennard said.
She wasn't the only one. "This was an atrocious decision that
generated a scathing dissent," said Joe Elford, legal counsel
for the medical marijuana defense group Americans for Safe
Access (http://www.safeaccessnow.org),
who argued the case for
Ryan. "When California voters passed a law ensuring the right of
ill Californians to use marijuana, they didn't expect people to
be fired for exercising that right."
"This is a decision is based on tortured logic designed to lead
to an absurdly narrow reading of the law," said Bruce Mirken,
San Francisco-based communications director for MPP. "The court
is claiming that California voters intended to permit medical
use of marijuana, but only if you're willing to be unemployed
and on welfare. That's ridiculous on its face, as well as cruel,
as Justice Kennard rightly observed in her dissent."
If the California Supreme Court has slapped patients in the
face, at least one legislator is prepared to seek redress in
Sacramento. In a press release
(http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a13/press/20080124AD13PR01.htm)
the same day, San Francisco Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno
announced he would introduce legislation protecting medical
cannabis patients' right to employment.
"Today's California Supreme Court ruling strikes a serious blow
to patients' rights," stated Leno. "In the coming weeks I will
introduce legislation that secures a medical cannabis patient's
right to use their doctor recommended medication outside the
workplace. Through the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996 and SB
420 in 2004, the people of California did not intend that
patients be unemployed in order to use medical marijuana."
If in California the battle over the employment rights of
medical marijuana users will ultimately be decided in the
legislature, in Oregon, the state with the second highest number
of medical marijuana patients, some 16,000, the legislative
battle is already in its second year. But instead of legislation
seeking to protect patients' rights, Oregonians are faced with
competing proposals to instead protect the rights of employers
to fire those patients.
Last year, a bill that would essentially have allowed employers
to discriminate against medical marijuana patients handily
passed the state Senate before dying in committee in the House
on the last day of the session. This year, in what is supposed
to be a limited special session that lasts only through
February, legislators are again seeking to provide cover for
employers.
"They are trying to get a watered-down version of last year's
bill through," said Leland Berger, an attorney and one of the
leaders of Voter Power (http://www.voterpower.org),
the group
behind the 1998 passage of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act
(OMMA).
With the special session not yet underway, the bills are
currently in the form of "legislative concepts." A hearing was
held last week to introduce the competing bills, which would
protect employers from lawsuits filed by medical marijuana
cardholder employees fired for positive marijuana tests.
Along with Oregon's panoply of medical marijuana advocacy
groups, the ACLU of Oregon was a staunch sup****ter of patients
rights' last year, and is back at it again this year. "We oppose
both of these bills and any like them for a number of reasons,"
said Andrea Meyer, legislative director for the ACLU of Oregon,
who has been working legislators on the issue. "First, we don't
think they're necessary or effective. They talk about
impairment, but most employers rely on urinalysis testing to
determine impairment, and urinalysis doesn't measure impairment.
We know that marijuana metabolites can stay in the system for up
to 30 days after ingestion, but that has no correlation with
impairment," she said.
"This sort of legislation discriminates against medical
marijuana cardholders," Meyer continued. "Oregonians voted to
enact a medical marijuana law so people could lawfully obtain
marijuana in almost the same manner as any other medicine, and
we don't think patients using marijuana should be treated any
differently than patients using codeine or morphine or
amphetamines," she said.
"We believe in a safe workplace, and we think when an employee
is impaired for whatever reason -- emotional distress, under the
influence of alcohol or lawful medications or illegal drugs,
illness -- the employer has the legal authority to take action,"
Meyer said. "But we aren't any safer when an employee relies on
a urinalysis to determine whether someone is a hazard in the
workplace."
The federal government's refusal to recognize medical marijuana
is a key part of the problem, said Meyer. "If marijuana could be
prescribed like any other controlled substance, I don't think
employers would be suggesting it should be treated differently.
The fact that the federal government proscribes it gives
employers the excuse. What all this says is that we need to
change the Controlled Substances Act and make medical marijuana
available by prescription," she argued.
Barring that unlikely event, it will be up to the states to
protect the employment rights of their medical marijuana
patients. "The California Supreme Court decision is an ill
omen," said ASA's Elford. "Every one of the medical marijuana
states should pass legislation to protect patients, but I'm
afraid that's not going to happen."
================
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco
Ningen banji Human beings do
Samazama no Every single kind
Baka a suru Of stupid thing
--- 117th edition of Haifu Yanagidaru published in 1832
"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cocoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.
later
Bobbie Sellers
--
bobbie sellers - an exhausted former nurse in San Francisco
bliss at california dot com
Del Mar: Where poverty is neither a philosophy nor a way of life.
But it is a misdeameanor.
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - (Back to Angband) Team *AMIGA & SF-LUG*
bliss at california dot com
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - (Back to Angband) Team *AMIGA & SF-LUG*
Formerly of AWest - San Francisco's Amiga Users Group
Your tag lines (k) were stolen! (more)
There is a puff of smoke!
--
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco
Ningen banji Human beings do
Samazama no Every single kind
Baka a suru Of stupid thing
--- 117th edition of Haifu Yanagidaru published in 1832
"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cocoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.
later
Bobbie Sellers
--
bobbie sellers - an exhausted former nurse in San Francisco
bliss at california dot com
Del Mar: Where poverty is neither a philosophy nor a way of life.
But it is a misdeameanor.
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - (Back to Angband) Team *AMIGA & SF-LUG*
bliss at california dot com
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - (Back to Angband) Team *AMIGA & SF-LUG*
Formerly of AWest - San Francisco's Amiga Users Group
Your tag lines (k) were stolen! (more)
There is a puff of smoke!
|
