Drug War Chronicle, Issue #533 -- 4/25/08
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, http://stopthedrugwar.org/user/psmith
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533
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 Offer: Clergy Against the War on Drugs Video
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/clergy_against_the_war_on_drugs_video
Students: Intern at DRCNet to help stop the drug war now!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/drcnet_intern****ps_to_stop_the_drug_war
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Table of Contents:
1. FEATURE: NORTH DAKOTA MAN FACING YEARS IN PRISON AFTER BUYING
SALVIA DIVINORUM ON EBAY
In what is most likely the first salvia arrest in the county, a
North Dakota man with an interest in herbalism and spirituality
faces years in prison for $32 worth of salvia leaves he bought
on eBay.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/north_dakota_first_salvia_arrest_kenneth_rau
2. FEATURE: MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL TO BE INTRODUCED IN MEXICO
NEXT WEEK
A bill that would legalize the medical use of marijuana will be
introduced next week in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. It is
part two of a three-part marijuana reform package; a decrim bill
was introduced last fall, and an industrial hemp bill is
pending.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/mexico_medical_marijuana_bill
3. OFFER: NEW CLERGY ANTI-DRUG-WAR VIDEO
Clergy are speaking out against the war on drugs! Donate $16 or
more (or whatever you can afford) and we'll send you a copy.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/clergy_against_the_war_on_drugs_video
4. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A perverted Oklahoma sheriff gets indicted, an Atlanta narc goes
on trial, an Indiana jail guard goes to jail, a Santa Fe narc
doesn't -- and a cop who made these pages three years ago is
found not guilty.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/police_drug_corruption
5. SALVIA WATCH: FLORIDA SENATE VOTES TO CRIMINALIZE THE
DIVINER'S SAGE
Florida is about to become the next state to ban salvia
divinorum as a bill to do so p***** the state Senate and heads
for the governor's desk.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/florida_senate_p*****_salvia_ban_bill
6. LAW ENFORCEMENT: FLORIDA JUDGE THROWS OUT MOST CHARGES IN
TAMPA LATIN KINGS CASE, CHIDES COPS FOR SLEAZY SNITCH
A Florida judge has thrown out racketeering and conspiracy
charges against 23 defendants in the Tampa Latin Kings case,
citing the FBI and Tampa police use of a snitch who committed
crimes and basically created the conspiracy.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/florida_tampa_latin_kings_dismissed_charges_snitch_informant
7. LATIN AMERICA: ARGENTINE COURT DECRIMINALIZES DRUG POSSESSION
IN BUENOS AIRES
An Argentine federal appeals court has ruled that simple drug
use or possession should not be a criminal offense and has
thrown out thousands of pending possession cases. The country's
high court could still overturn the ruling, but it is line with
the position of the Argentine government.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/argentine_court_decriminalizes_drug_possession
8. SOUTHWEST ASIA: IN HARM REDUCTION MOVE, IRAN TO PROVIDE
CONDOMS, SYRINGES IN VENDING MACHINES
The Iranian government may be widely viewed as Islamic
hard-liners, but when it comes to drug use, they are taking an
increasingly pragmatic approach. Now, it's syringes in vending
machines for a nickel.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/iran_syringe_vending_machine_harm_reduction
9. EUROPE: HEAD OF DUTCH POLICE UNION SAYS SAYS LEGALIZE
MARIJUANA, A DUTCH MAYOR IS ON THE SAME WAVE-LENGTH
The head of the Dutch police union says it's time to just
legalize cannabis, and a Dutch mayor wants to start regulating
growing.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/dutch_police_union_leader_legalize_marijuana
10. DEATH PENALTY: MORE EXECUTIONS IN IRAN AND SAUDI ARABIA,
SYRIAN ACTIVISTS CRITICIZE SAUDIS
Both Saudi Arabia and Iran have been busy executing drug
offenders recently, but now the Saudis are taking some heat from
Syria over their treatment of Syrian drug offenders.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/death_penalty_iran_saudi_arabia_syria
11. WEEKLY: THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of
years past.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/drug_war_history
12. WEEKLY: BLOGGING @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
THE SPEAKEASY
"Virginia v. Moore: Just Another Dumb Ruling, Not a Full-blown
4th Amendment Crisis," "The Heroin Addict President Can't Save
Us From the Bombs of Xyzistan," "Drug Czar Creates Handy Guide
For Teens on Where To Obtain Prescription Drugs," "Police Admit
Humiliation After 4/20 Celebration at UC Santa Cruz," "4/20 Gets
Bigger Every Year," "How Can We Debate Them if They Don't Even
Know What Decriminalization Means?," "A Great 4th Amendment
Ruling in Alaska," "Mexico City: Goths and Rockeros and Jipis,
Oh My!," "European Pressure: Turkey Must Fight Drug War, or
Else," "Marijuana: Lead-Laced Pot Newest Prohibition-Related
Disaster."
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/blogging_at_the_speakeasy
13. 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/533/do_you_read_drug_war_chronicle
14. 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/533/drcnet_intern****ps_to_stop_the_drug_war
15. 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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16. 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/533/drug_policy_RSS_feeds_now_available
17. 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/533/drug_reform_calendar
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today!)
================
1. Feature: North Dakota Man Facing Years in Prison After Buying
Salvia Divinorum On eBay
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/533/north_dakota_first_salvia_arrest_kenneth_rau
In what is likely the first arrest for possession of salvia
divinorum anywhere in the nation -- and definitely a first in
North Dakota -- a Bismarck man now faces years in prison after
he bought a few ounces of leaves on eBay. Kenneth Rau, a
bottling plant worker with an interest in herbalism, altered
states, and religion and spirituality, was arrested by Bismarck
police on April 9 when they searched his home looking for his
adult son, who was on probation for drug charges.
Police found a marijuana pipe, eight ounces of salvia leaf, a
quantity of amanita muscaria mushrooms, and a number of other
herbal products. Rau now faces multiple charges, said Burleigh
County States Attorney Cynthia Feland.
"He is being charged with possession of salvia with intent to
deliver, as well as possession of psilocybin with intent, and
possession of marijuana," she said. Although Rau told the
Chronicle he thought he would be charged with a school zone
violation as well, which would have made his intent offenses
Class A felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison, that is
not the case, said Feland. "He is not being charged with a
school zone violation," she affirmed.
(The psilocybin charges could go up in smoke. The amanita
muscaria mushrooms that he possessed are not controlled
substances under federal law and, while hallucinogenic, do not
contain psilocybin. The active ingredient in amanita muscaria
mushrooms is muscimole.)
Rau was being charged with possession with intent because of the
weight of the leaves, she said. "We look at the typical use
quantity," she said, "and it is similar to marijuana, with a
typical use dose of .25 grams to .5 grams, and he had
significantly more than that," she said.
Salvia divinorum, a member of the Mexican mint family, has been
used by Mazatec shamans for hundreds of years. Smoking or
chewing the leaves, or more commonly, concentrated extracts, can
produce intense, albeit short-lived hallucinogenic experiences.
While the plant has become notorious through YouTube videos of
young people smoking it and behaving strangely, it is also of
interest to "psychonauts," or people attempting to explore
consciousness through herbal means.
Researchers say that while salvia's effects on consciousness may
be disquieting, the plant has not been shown to be toxic to
humans, its effects are so potent it is unlikely to be used
repeatedly, and its active property, salvinorin A, could assist
in the development of medicines for mood disorders.
There are hazards to messing with hallucinogens, one expert was
quick to point out. "It's an hallucinogen, and while its
hallucinogenic actions are different from those induced by LSD
and other hallucinogens, it has the liabilities that
hallucinogens do," Bryan Roth, a professor of pharmacology at
University of North Carolina's School of Medicine, the man who
isolated salvinorin A, told Drug War Chronicle last month
(http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/war_on_salvia_divinorum_heating_up).
"When people take it, they are disoriented. If you don't know
where you are and you're driving a car, that would be a bad
experience."
Still, said Roth, while it may make you freak out, it isn't
going to kill you. "There is no evidence of any overt toxicity,
there are no re****ts in the medical literature that anyone has
died from it. The caveat is that there have been no formal
studies done on humans, but the animal data suggests that it
doesn't kill animals given massive doses, and that's usually --
but not always -- predictive for human pharmacology."
The DEA considers salvia a drug of interest, but has yet to move
to place it under the Controlled Substances Act. A DEA spokesman
told the Chronicle recently that the plant is being reviewed to
see if it meets the criteria for inclusion on the list of
controlled substances.
But driven by little more than the YouTube videos and the story
of one Delaware youth whose parents blamed his suicide on
salvia, state legislators have not waited for the DEA's measured
considerations to act. Since Delaware became the first state to
ban salvia, a handful of others, including North Dakota,
followed suit. Moves are currently afoot in a number of other
states to join the club.
Salvia became illegal in North Dakota on August 1, after a bill
sponsored by three Republican lawmakers, state Sens. Dave Oelke
and Randel Christmann and state Rep. Brenda Heller sailed
through the legislature earlier this year. None of the three
legislators responded to Chronicle requests for comment this
week.
After Rau was arrested earlier this month, Bismarck police
warned that it could be only the beginning in the fight against
the member of the mint family. "It sure looks like there could
be a market, based on the amount he had, Lt. Bob Hass told
re****ters. "This is the first we've seen of it." Hass did not
return Chronicle calls for comment this week.
While salvia information web sites like Salvia.Net
(http://www.salvia.net)
do place a single dose of salvia leaf at
between .25 gram and one gram, similar to County Attorney
Feland's estimate, intent to deliver still seems a stretch. "I
bought eight ounces of leaf on eBay by bidding $32 for it,"
said Rau. "Now they're charging me with possession with intent.
That's silly. Nobody wants leaves. Everyone is buying those 10X
and 20X and 30X extracts." [Ed: Not to mention that on eBay one
buys what is being offered a sale, not half or a tenth or
twentieth of it.]
Rau was also not impressed by the prosecutor's dosage estimates.
"This is a clear ploy to exaggerate the number of saleable
units," he complained. "These drug warriors have long used this
ploy to make dealers out of everyone. Accepting those figures,
an ounce of Salvia Divinorum would give 120 doses and make
anyone holding an ounce of it a dealer. This is ridiculous since
an ounce is clearly the standard saleable unit for leaf.
Applying the prosecutor's standard marijuana dosage and saleable
quantity would be the amount that would fit in the end of a
pinch hitter. This standard would make anyone holding even an
eighth ounce of marijuana a dealer."
Rau also scoffed at the notion that anyone is going to be buying
fractions of an ounce of salvia leaf. "You can buy an ounce
online for as little as $10," he pointed out. "Who is going to
split that up into smaller quantities? Hell, you would probably
end up spending more on baggies that you did on the leaf," he
said.
"This is ridiculous legislative overreaching," said Rau of the
new law. "They only based it on those wacky YouTube videos, and
even on those, you see people trying to abuse the stuff as much
as possible and ham it up, and it still doesn't hurt them. And
why jump from selling it in stores to making it a felony," he
asked, "don't they do misdemeanors anymore? I didn't even know
it was illegal here, and with their first prosecution they go
for the max."
The local TV station's web site has inadvertently sup****ted
Rau's point. At the time of this writing, an online version of
the news re****t
(http://www.kxmb.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=226739)
about
Rau's arrest was still pulling up salvia ads by Google. Rau
emailed the link to Drug War Chronicle, proving that the salvia
ads are showing up on computers in North Dakota.
A mild-mannered 46-year-old, Rau's interest in salvia derived
from a broader interest in herbalism, religion and spirituality,
as well as efforts to deal with his own inner demons. "I read
that salvia facilitates lucid dreaming, so I tried chewing some
leaves before bed time, and it was interesting because I would
see faces and remember names I had long forgotten."
He also tried salvia as a cure for depression. "I have some
childhood issues to deal with. They had me on Paxil," he said.
"They want you to take their pharmaceuticals, but if you want to
take an herbal remedy, they want to throw you in prison. Are
they going to save me from myself by throwing me in prison for
years?"
Now, Rau is fighting for his freedom, but there aren't many
resources in North Dakota, and he doesn't even have a lawyer
yet. "The ACLU doesn't even list anyone in the state," he said.
"I've emailed the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project
(http://aclu.org/drugpolicy),
but I haven't heard back from them
yet."
Still, he said, his arrest has motivated him. "Maybe this is an
op****tunity for me to join the fight," he said. "I've never been
a drug user, never been arrested. I started experimenting with
this stuff because I thought it was legal. I didn't want to get
into trouble, but now they're treating me just like some meth
dealer."
================
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco
"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.
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