MAPTalk-Digest Sunday, December 21 2003 Volume 03 : Number 284
001 Innocent People Killed During Drug War Crackdown
From: Tim Meehan <>
002 ONDCP WATCH: Cognative dissonance: 'Media Campaign working' according t
From: Tim Meehan <>
003 Wall Street Journals Robert Bartley dead at 66
From: "kim hanna" <>
004 Edmonton cop: Today's cannabis '300X stonger, crackheads won't touch it
From: Tim Meehan <>
005 Julien Ninio: Is America Sick? - 'The IHO Syndrome'
From: "Jack R. Lebowitz" <>
006 Demand in Europe Driving Cannabis Cultivation in Morocco, UN Anti-Drug
From: Herb <>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj: 001 Innocent People Killed During Drug War Crackdown
From: Tim Meehan <>
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 00:27:02 -0500
Innocent People Killed During Drug War Crackdown
http://civilliberty.about.com/b/a/050199.htm
December 14, 2003
Most of the time when I speak of the injustice of the drug war, I am speaking of
the failed policies here in America. But we need to remember that Nixon's
foreign policy began the spreading of American drug policy to other nations. In
nations with fewer protections than America, this international policy has
resulted in egregious human rights violations.
For instance, recently Thailand escalated it's war on drugs, including a
terrible "shoot to kill" policy, resulting in over 2600 dead by some estimates -
including a number of innocent children and other citizens.
------------------------------
Subj: 002 ONDCP WATCH: Cognative dissonance: 'Media Campaign working' according to Media Campaign
From: Tim Meehan <>
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 00:29:43 -0500
MEDIA CAMPAIGN FLASH – December 19, 2003
TEEN MARIJUANA USE DOWN 11 PERCENT
** New Data Demonstrates Effectiveness of Media Campaign's Anti-Marijuana
Efforts **
** Campaign Partners, Stakeholders and Community Coalitions Play Key Role **
Marijuana use has declined significantly among youth and their perceptions of
harm associated with the drug have increased, according to the results of the
2003 Monitoring the Future Study released today. From 2001 to 2003, current
marijuana use among 8th, 10th and 12th graders declined 11 percent (from 16.6
percent to 14.8 percent); past year use also declined 11 percent (from 27.5
percent to 24.5 percent); and lifetime use declined 8.2 percent (from 35.3 to
32.4 percent). During this time, the Office of National Drug Control Policy's
National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign coordinated a comprehensive effort -- in
conjunction with partners, stakeholders and community coalitions -- to educate
parents and teens about the serious threats of youth marijuana use.
"This is an early holiday gift to the many parents and partner organizations who
helped reduce youth marijuana and other illicit drug use," said Director
Walters. "Fewer teens are using drugs because of the deliberate and serious
messages they have received about the dangers of drugs from their parents,
leaders, and prevention efforts like our National Youth Anti-Drug Media
Campaign. Not only is teen drug use at a level that we haven’t seen in nearly a
decade, but we were able to exceed President Bush's two-year goal of a 10
percent reduction in drug use by 2003."
Under the leadership of Director Walters and with the goal of supporting the
President’s drug use reduction goals, the Media Campaign was reworked in 2002 to
produce harder-hitting ads and outreach that focused specifically on the harms
of marijuana. Among kids who use drugs, approximately 60 percent use marijuana.
Of the 7.1 million Americans that need drug treatment -- 19 percent of which are
teenagers -- over 60 percent need treatment for marijuana.
Other key findings from the Monitoring the Future Study released today:
* Among 8th, 10th and 12th graders, the perceived risk of using marijuana
increased markedly since the inception of the Media Campaign in 1998, with more
than half of the increase occurring in the past two years. Data is particularly
striking among 10th graders, the primary target audience of the Media Campaign.
* Since the inception of the Media Campaign in 1998, exposure to anti-drug
advertising has had an effect on improving youth anti-drug attitudes and
intentions. Among all three grades, such ads have made youth attitudes to a
"great extent" or "very great extent" less favorable toward drugs and less
likely to use them in the future. Again, more than half of the increase in this
outcome has occurred in the past two years with striking results among 10th
graders.
* For 8th graders, there has been a slow but steady progress toward reduction of
marijuana use. Past year use decreased significantly from 14.6 percent in 2002
to 12.8 percent in 2003. This is the lowest rate for 8th graders seen since
1993, and is well below the peak of 18.3 percent in 1996.
* Among 10th graders, 28.2 percent reported past year marijuana use,
significantly below the peak of 34.8 percent in 1997
The Media Campaign's anti-marijuana effort includes advertising, news media
outreach, partnerships with corporate and non-profit organizations, online and
print resources for parents, influential adults and teens, and outreach to the
entertainment community. An analysis of marijuana messages in print and
television news found that after the 2002 launch of the Media Campaign's
marijuana effort, the messages about the risks of marijuana in the media
increased significantly (26% to 78%) as compared to pre-launch coverage.
"While marijuana remains the most commonly used illicit drug among youth,
today's results show that advertising as well as media and community outreach
efforts have been powerful tools in educating American parents and teens about
the serious threats of marijuana. There is still much work to be done to reach
the President's goal of reducing drug use by 25 percent over five years, but
these findings confirm that we are on the right track and the Media Campaign is
working," said Director Walters. "Youth are getting the right message that drug
use is a dangerous activity with significant consequences. Our ads and media
messages are contributing to a climate of disapproval of drug use that is so
imperative to reducing the human, social and financial costs of this deadly
disease."
Two other recent studies have shown that the National Youth Anti-Drug Media
Campaign's efforts are working. The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS)
reported on September 24th that the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign
positively affects teen attitudes on drug use by making teens less likely to try
or use drugs. They found a strong correlation between regular exposure to the
ads and increased perceptions of risk associated with marijuana use.
Additionally, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) released
September 5th by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
found that youth who heard or saw anti-drug messages outside of school actually
used drugs less than youth who had not seen such messages. NSDUH research also
showed that a vast majority of youth aged 12 to 17 -- over 80 percent --
reported to have seen or heard drug prevention messages outside of school in the
past year.
The Monitoring the Future survey is designed to measure drug, alcohol and
cigarette use and related attitudes among adolescent students nationwide.
Survey participants report their drug use behaviors across three time periods:
lifetime, past year and past month. Overall, 48,467 students from 392 public
and private schools in the 8th, 10th and 12th grades participated in this year's
survey. The survey is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a
component of HHS' National Institutes of Health, and conducted by the University
of Michigan. The survey is one of three major surveys that the National Youth
Anti-Drug Media Campaign uses to monitor youth substance use patterns and ensure
that resources are targeted to areas of greatest need.
Additional online resources are available on the Media Campaign's Web site for
parents at www.TheAntiDrug.com. The site features helpful advice for parents,
articles and an opportunity to sign up for the Media Campaign's free parenting
tips e-mail. More information on Monitoring the Future can be found at
www.hhs.gov/news; or www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov.
Contact us at to discuss your organization's specific anti-drug
information needs!
***************************************
MEDIA CAMPAIGN FLASH is your source of the latest news on the National Youth
Anti-Drug Media Campaign. Feel free to forward this information.
ABOUT THE MEDIA CAMPAIGN: The White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign reaches youth ages 9-18, with
emphasis on middle adolescents (ages 14-16), their parents and other adults who
influence choices young people make to lead drug-free lives.
To get the word out across every economic and cultural boundary, the Media
Campaign uses a mix of modern communications techniques to educate and empower
young people to reject illicit drugs. The Media Campaign also teams up with
civic and non-profit organizations, faith-based groups and private corporations
to enlist and engage people in prevention efforts at school, at work and at
play. For more information on the Media Campaign, check out
www.MediaCampaign.org.
***************************************
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------------------------------
Subj: 003 Wall Street Journals Robert Bartley dead at 66
From: "kim hanna" <>
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 07:27:33 -0500
This is a long article at the World Socialist Website.
============
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/dec2003/bart-d20.shtml
Robert Bartley, editor emeritus of the Wall Street Journal, died in New York
City December 10 after a battle with cancer. He was 66. Bartley became
editor of the Journal’s editorial page in 1972. During his tenure in that
position, which lasted nearly three decades, the newspaper’s editorial page
became notorious as the sounding-board of extreme right-wing and fascistic
elements in the Republican Party.
Bartley was neither a journalist nor a serious commentator on American
social life; he was a propagandist of the ultra-right, an enemy of working
people and a defender of privilege. Throughout his editorship at the Journal
he exhibited contempt for honesty, truthfulness and basic decency.
We are reposting below a profile of Bartley, originally posted on the WSWS
on January 8, 2001 [Who is the Wall Street Journal’s Robert Bartley?], as
part of a series on the American media in the wake of the hijacking of the
November 2000 presidential election by the camp of George W. Bush. The
article begins with a description of the Journal’s editorial reaction to the
theft of the vote.
Worried about inbox overload? Get MSN Extra Storage now!
http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es
------------------------------
Subj: 004 Edmonton cop: Today's cannabis '300X stonger, crackheads won't touch it'
From: Tim Meehan <>
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 14:10:58 -0500
"The veteran officer claims today's weed is 300 times stronger than pot grown
30 years ago -- he says he knows of crackheads who won't touch the stuff."
And he's suppose to be a "drug expert?"
Const. Conrad Moschansky
(780) 421-2716
- ---
Newshawk: CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap)
Pubdate: Saturday, December 13, 2003
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Contact:
Website: http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/
Author: Olivia Cheng / Freelance
Webpage: http://www.mapinc.org/cancom/c8a323ee-63d6-428e-a463-14b9497bfb91
Ed puts Weed behind the wheel
Olivia Cheng
Freelance
Dan Bui is messed up. He can only mumble incoherently, and every now and
then someone has to rush for a trash can when it looks like he's about to
hurl. Yet in spite of suffering the awful results of being a drug education
guinea pig, the 23-year-old soldiers on with a test of his drugged-driving
skills.
With the buzz around proposed legislation to decriminalize marijuana, Ed
figured it was a good time to probe the controversial issue of drugged
driving. Some say it's not an issue at all, while law enforcement agencies
and anti-drunk-driving groups fear legalization will spark an epidemic of
drug-impaired drivers.
Bui, a marketing student, is one of two volunteers enlisted to smoke up
before being evaluated by researchers from Edmonton's DriveABLE assessment
centre. The centre originally developed its computer-based driving program
to analyse medically at-risk drivers, such as those affected by brain
injuries, Alzheimer's disease, heart conditions or psychiatric disorders.
But DriveABLE agreed to lend its services for our experiment, which is by no
means a scientifically sound undertaking.
First, a little background on our test subjects: Bui has a clean driving
record and is practically a weed virgin. He only smoked the stuff once
several years ago. On this particular day, before inhaling three-quarters of
a joint, Bui says his friends who toke up and drive claim the drug "makes
the experience better. They say, 'Driving is cool when you're high, it's an
awesome feeling.' But it's not something that I'd try personally."
Test subject No. 2 is 23-year-old Chris Martin, a drummer for the local band
Jackdicky. Except for a couple of speeding tickets, Martin also has a clean
driving record. When it comes to hitting the bong, he estimates he blazes
two or three times a week.
"I've driven high," Martin admits. "But it's been a couple of hours since I
smoked it so I never smoke and then (drive right away)."
He questions whether drugged driving is a serious problem. "I don't think
you see many people getting into head-on collisions and stuff from smoking a
joint. I don't think you get really careless, I think you get more
attentive."
In fact, after smoking an entire joint, Martin appears alert and
comprehending during testing. For an hour, DriveABLE's Laura Morgensen runs
him through a series of tasks ranging from tapping the computer screen when
certain shapes appear, to making snap decisions about 10 video clips
depicting unsafe driving situations.
The company's general manager and research co-coordinator, Barb Carstensen,
says the tests are "highly correlated with actual on-road performance." The
exams assess crucial skills like visual awareness, attention and
decision-making abilities. Carstensen stresses the trials are "very
sensitive to changes in (a subject's) mental abilities."
Not surprisingly, considering his state, Bui does terribly. In one exercise
designed to simulate lane-changing, he crashes into car after car. When he
slumps over in his seat for the third time, Morgensen is clearly unsure
whether to continue, saying, "Oh dear. Dan, are you OK? Dan? Dan? Can you
please touch the screen? Dan?"
After Martin and Bui are finished, the computer calculates their results.
Their performances are compared to validated, empirical evidence of how
healthy, normal drivers their age would do. A sober 23-year-old with no
medical issues should only score a one-per-cent probability of failing a
real road test. Martin scores 28 per cent. Bui comes in at 58 per cent.
A further breakdown shows Martin was in the normal range for motor speed and
control, as well as complex judgment. However, he crashed in the categories
of component driving abilities and attention shifting. Bui failed miserably
in most categories but also scored in the normal range for motor speed and
control.
Dr. David Cook, a University of Alberta pharmacologist, says it's hard to
say whether our experiment proves anything. While there's indisputable
evidence of alcohol causing "driving behaviour that is both uncoordinated
and risky," Cook says test subjects influenced by cannabis can "summon up
the ability to perform reasonably well." Research also shows marijuana tends
to produce a cautious response in people, skewing objective results and
leaving no guarantee of how a pothead will perform on the road once the
pressures of a testing situation are removed.
However, police say there's no question about the dangers of drugged
driving. As head of the Edmonton Police Service's Alcohol and Breath Testing
Unit, Const. Conrad Moschansky says drugged driving is "a big problem" law
enforcement is just beginning to tackle.
Moschansky is one of only 30 officers in the country trained to perform drug
recognition evaluations, or DRE, in roadside checkstop situations.
Moschansky says nailing a drunk driver is easy enough with a breathalyser
test. However, with no similar test for dope, figuring out if a driver is
high on illegal or prescription drugs is much harder to prove.
"We're waiting for legislation to change so we can use (drug recognition
evaluations) more readily on the street," he says. Currently, unlike
alcohol, there's no legal limit on drug use while driving since no one can
agree upon a level that causes impairment.
With marijuana, Moschansky says the stink is usually the big giveaway. Plus,
the drug's effect on a user's eyes can't always be hidden with a few drops
of Visine.
"I don't care about redness," explains Moschansky. "I'm checking for
dilation, contraction (of the pupils), and how the eyes react to different
lighting situations."
Moschansky says when he suspects a driver is high, he performs the steps on
the DRE checklist to confirm his hunch. "I'm going to take the pulse of this
person, I'm going to check their blood pressure. I'm going to check the
rigidity of their muscles, and their body temperature as well."
The veteran officer claims today's weed is 300 times stronger than pot grown
30 years ago -- he says he knows of crackheads who won't touch the stuff.
Moschansky is frustrated by the public's generally laid-back attitude about
drugged driving, "I don't think the message is out there strong enough that
marijuana can impair you and makes you just as dangerous or more dangerous
than drinking and driving."
When asked what demographic of drivers are the worst offenders, Moschansky
tells a surprising story about pulling over a 44-year-old who was smoking up
with his two teenage boys. "So do we have to just teach the kids? No. We
have to teach the old guys too."
As for how our two test subjects rated their performances once the highs
wore off, Chris Martin was pretty impressed with his results.
"I think I did very well considering how high I was," he shrugs. "But
driving under any influence, no matter what the substance, isn't a good
idea."
Bui agrees. Edmonton's new poster boy for the anti-drug movement sheepishly
concedes, "I got my ass taken to school by weed. I don't even remember how I
did in the test. It felt like I wasn't in control. If somebody who reacts
the way I do (to weed) steps behind the wheel ... they're asking for it.
They're dead."
------------------------------
Subj: 005 Julien Ninio: Is America Sick? - 'The IHO Syndrome'
From: "Jack R. Lebowitz" <>
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 19:19:14 -0500
Today I read this article which appeared last Monday 12/15/03 in the Sydney
(Australia) Morning Herald, courtesy of a news "aggregator" site(memigo.com):
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/15/1071336859827.html
Definitely interesting stuff...I will be reading Ninio's book when it comes
out.
A couple of excerpts, from the introduction and an example:
>In "Stupid White Men" and "Bowling For Colombine", Michael Moore
>introduced millions of readers and moviegoers worldwide to some of
>America's ills: guns, corrupt politicians, fearful citizens, unchecked
>corporations, crumbling social services. These are big problems for a
>nation that plays such a dominating international role.
>
>Understanding them is one thing, but what can be done to fix them?
>
>In his unpublished manuscript, The IHO Syndrome, Julien Ninio suggests the
>best way to understand America's ailments is to study their symptoms, in
>the same way a doctor examines a patient - and that the diagnosis is of a
>disease that can be cured by both Americans and non-Americans.
>
>In the five excerpts here, Ninio examines America's self-image: the
>"cradle of democracy", the "land of plenty", the "beacon of justice", the
>"best way of life", the "land of the free". He finds gaps between the
>self-image and the reality, which he calls the "symptoms" of the disease.
>He argues that the symptoms can be traced to a powerful cocktail of
>ignorance, hypocrisy and obedience - the "IHO syndrome". As a cure for
>this disease, Ninio proposes that people replace ignorance with knowledge,
>hypocrisy with sincerity and obedience with resistance.
For instance:
>A dictator could leave us our right of free speech, because it serves a
>mostly ornamental role. Subtle but effective devices of coercion ensure
>that anyone who speaks up finds herself out of the game. We would impress
>the dictator; rather than employing dedicated censors, we use the high-end
>in censorship technology, a decentralised system that spreads the job of
>silencing critics among the entire population. A man who comes up with a
>thought outside the purple-to-mauve spectrum, finding himself alone, will
>likely conclude his logic has gone astray. A woman with enough confidence
>to speak green or brown becomes not a journalist, but a dissident, and few
>will hear her. For those to whom it matters the most, the freedom of
>speech often reduces to a freedom to shout at walls.
>
>Symptoms
>
>Despite free speech laws, we have lies and silence instead of truth.
J
------------------------------
Subj: 006 Demand in Europe Driving Cannabis Cultivation in Morocco, UN Anti-Drug Agency Says
From: Herb <>
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 10:55:12 -0800
FYI -
Demand in Europe Driving Cannabis Cultivation in Morocco, UN Anti-Drug Agency Says
http://allafrica.com/stories/200312160311.html
Herb
------------------------------
End of MAPTalk-Digest V03 #284
******************************
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Media Awareness Project /' _ ` _ `\ /'_`)('_`\
P. O. Box 651 | ( ) ( ) |( (_| || (_) )
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