LAUSANNE, Switzerland - No matter how hard they tried to claim victory, International Olympic Committee leaders couldn't disguise the reality: Their authority has eroded even further. In a blunt rejection of that leadership, the 15 European Union governments refused to accept a watered-down final resolution at the Olympic drug summit, which ended Thursday. Their stance was a sharp setback for the IOC and its president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, as they struggled to regain credibility in the wake of the Salt Lake corruption scandals. [continues 932 words]
Site Scandal Is Discussed Insecret LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The International Olympic Committee, scrambling to keep its drug summit from being overshadowed by the Olympic corruption scandals, ran into disputes yesterday over key issues in the antidoping fight. On the eve of what was billed as a watershed meeting in the war against performance-enhancing drugs, there were signs that the IOC was in for a contentious meeting. Differences emerged over the structure of a proposed international drug agency, the definition of doping and the severity of sanctions. [continues 445 words]
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Still caught up in a widening corruption scandal, the International Olympic Committee now has to deal with another ethical issue that is potentially just as damaging: drugs. With the bribery crisis unfolding, the IOC finds itself in the tricky position of staging a world summit next week against the escalating use of performance-enhancing drugs. The timing couldn't have been worse. Does the IOC and its embattled president, Juan Antonio Samaranch have the ethical authority to lead a crusade against drugs when the committee's own standards are under attack in the biggest corruption scandal in Olympic history? [continues 1070 words]
Police need to be applauded for their efforts in using a preventative approach to help turn the tide of the soaring heroin toll by focusing their attention on the victims (The Age, 8/1). The heroin problem facing the youth of Melbourne is not one confined to the streets of Footscray, Seddon and Yarraville. It is a community issue, which transcends all socio-economic classes, and is the great "mountain of fear" for all parents. Members of the police and ambulance services, who each hour, day and night, face first-hand the reality of the destruction of young lives, need our support, Those dealing with the tragedy of trying to resurrect the lives of victims know only too well the need for new approaches and closer insight. [continues 90 words]
GASTONIA -- Gaston school board members gave the first round of approval Monday night to testing high school athletes for drugs, alcohol and, possibly, steroids. The question of whether steroids and other performance-enhancing substances will be covered in the random tests likely will be settled by Gaston County commissioners, who will be asked to pony up the additional money it will take -- as much as $135 per student. The commissioners also will decide with their dollars what percentage of athletes will have to take the urine tests. It will cost $4,000 to randomly test 10 percent of the county's high school athletes and cheerleaders. [continues 248 words]
GASTONIA -- Gaston County's high school athletes could lose their right to play if they test positive for the kind of drugs that make them high or make them hallucinate. But they won't be tested at all for substances that make muscles grow big and strong. The countywide drug-testing program the Gaston County School Board will consider Monday night will focus only on illegal street drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and LSD. The randomly administered urine tests won't cover prescription steroids or "performance enhancers" such as creatine and androstenedione. [continues 953 words]
South Korea--Australian Olympic officials are taking a hard-line approach to drugs in sports -tougher, in some ways, than the International Olympic Committee. A highly placed member of the IOC suggests it's tough enough to scare away athletes from international events in that country. But John Coates, president of the Australian Olympic Committee, refutes the suggestion by IOC executive board member Jacques Rogge that international sports organizations would refuse to stage events in Australia if athletes could face jail for doping offenses. "I don't think it's going to cost us," Coates said Tuesday. "A number of people could say the reverse: We are selecting a country that is doing everything possible to make it a clean event." The two Olympic representatives made their feelings known during an executive conference. Olympic officials are in Seoul to discuss preparations for a world anti-drug conference to be held at Lausanne, Switzerland, Feb. 2/4. The four-day conference, called in the wake of the drug scandals that marred the Tour de France, will finalize plans for the creation of a special Olympic agency to coordinate drug-testing throughout the world. [continues 400 words]
San Mateo's poor ranking prompts $4.3 million remedy Stung by a report that ranked San Mateo County's drug and alcohol treatment services near rock bottom, supervisors committed yesterday to a seven-year, $4.3 million system overhaul. Despite its affluence, the county scored poorly on a recent survey that compared services in the state's 15 largest counties. The county ranked 14th for the waiting time to get into a treatment program and was tied for last in the number of treatment slots available per 10,000 population. [continues 512 words]
SEOUL, South Korea--The International Olympic Committee declared its opposition Monday to the possibility of athletes being jailed for taking banned performance-enhancing drugs. The Australian Olympic Committee last month said the penalty for possession, manufacturing, trafficking and use of steroids and other banned substances should be the same as those for illicit narcotics. Under the proposal, anyone importing large amounts of performance-enhancers into Australia could be jailed for life. An athlete caught using doping substances could also face criminal charges. [continues 471 words]
County to study drug's effects on seriously ill As authorities statewide are snuffing out pot clubs, San Mateo County embarked on an ambitious plan yesterday to provide medical marijuana and study whether it helps as much as proponents say. Officials see the proposed three-year study as a way to provide marijuana to seriously ill people without the legal complications faced by so-called cannabis clubs, which are facing troubles throughout the state. Supervisors voted 3 to 1 to spend $50,000 to design a research project that would take the issue out of politics and courtrooms and into the laboratory. [continues 486 words]
SYDNEY, Australia -- Moving to close a loophole exposed by the Ross Rebagliati case in Nagano, the IOC said today that marijuana and other "social drugs" will be included on its list of banned substances. The International Olympic Committee executive board agreed to draft new provisions in the Olympic Charter and the IOC medical code dealing with marijuana and other recreational drugs. IOC officials said marijuana would be added to the banned list, even though it is not considered a performance-enhancing drug, and that any athlete testing positive for the drug would be disqualified. [continues 517 words]
Using a mere 1/20 of 1 percent of the entire coca-growing region, 795 metric tons of cocaine are produced annually using primitive farming methods. The coca-growing region of South America is approximately the size of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. One hundred percent of the world's cocaine comes from South America. Most Americans can't keep crab grass out of their own back yards, and yet they continue funding a glorified weed-pulling program in a tropical jungle. The certification process begins with "certified idiots": utopian policy-makers in lock-step with warmongering drug cartels. Let's eradicate stupidity. Let's certify harm reduction and tolerance. John F. Wilson Waco [end]
This tired strategy inevitably fails. One hundred percent of the world's cocaine comes from South America. The coca-growing region of South America is approximately the size of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. What percentage of this land is required to produce the tons of cocaine? A mere one-twentieth of 1 percent of the entire coca-growing region. What about interdiction efforts? Worldwide, 530 metric tons goes undetected. Only 10 percent of all illegal drugs bound for the United States are stopped at the border. The certification process begins with certified idiots: utopian policy-makers in lock-step with warmongering drug cartels. It's time to certify alternative policies of harm reduction and tolerance. These are the truly successful alternatives responsible for reducing trafficking and drug abuse. John F. Wilson Waco, TX [end]
One must ask: How is it that the most aggressive anti-drug policy in the history of the world failed to communicate the lethal potential of all opiates - regardless of the method of ingestion? Answer: This policy has many deadly flaws. And the most deadly flaw lies with policy-makers who refuse to share the theater with qualified personnel. Rational alternatives to our mortally wounded war on drugs continue to be shunned. Who seeks alternatives? Associations of trained professionals and private citizens who have taken the time to discover the success of alternatives such as needle exchange programs and decriminalizing marijuana for adults. Ask policy-makers to pursue alternatives under a model of harm reduction and tolerance. We can treat addiction, we can even live with it, but who is profiting from this barrage of open caskets, private prisons and hollow promises? John F. Wilson Waco, TX [end]
In keeping with the war on drugs theme, Drug War Roofing Company reminds all customers: Ninety percent of your leak will continue indefinitely. DWR can't stop the leak. You know it. We know it. Heck, we admit it in advance. You insist on paying us anyway. Our motto: "If it keeps just one kid from abusing a leaky roof, it's worth it." Federal law dictates that you use our approach to roof repair. There is only one way to fix a roof. All loyal Americans know this. Go ahead and complain. DWR will ignore your complaints and hire more people to produce the same results - all the while charging you a higher rate than we did last year. [continues 115 words]
Got a leaky roof? Call Drug War Roofing Company. In keeping with the war on drugs theme, Drug War Roofing Company reminds all customers: Ninety percent of your leak will continue indefinitely. DWR can't stop the leak. You know it. We know it. Heck, we admit it in advance. You insist on paying us anyway. Our motto: "If it keeps just one kid from abusing a leaky roof, it's worth it." Federal law dictates that you use our approach to roof repair. There is only one way to fix a roof. All loyal Americans know this. [continues 143 words]
People suffering from AIDS, cancer and other diseases could register with San Mateo County so police know that it is all right for them to smoke marijuana under a program given a tentative green light yesterday. In a unanimous decision, supervisors pledged to have guidelines ready by early next year showing who could qualify for legal protection under Proposition 215. Supervisors also agreed to study board President Mike Nevin's novel idea to create a governmentrun pot dispensary. In a meeting last week with state Attorney General Dan Lungren, Nevin proposed dispensing pot seized by narcotics agents through county health clinics. [continues 477 words]
Bristow is a member of Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy. Similar organizations are forming in professional circles in Texas. The Drug Policy Forum of Texas is one such organization that provides a forum where alternatives to the war on drugs can be discussed by academicians, policy analysts, public office holders and other interested citizens. Treating Washington's $40 billion a year addiction to the drug war with alternative policies offers a promising prognosis. John Wilson Waco [end]
"Corruption among law enforcement agency personnel continues to be a major impediment to cooperative investigations. Law enforcement initiatives appear to have had only a slight, if any, impact on drug transportation and distribution organizations..." - Jane C. Maxwell, Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, June 1996. "Historically, prohibitions have not been effective and are always very costly to support." - City Judge John Roberts, Waco, January 1997. "At best we will stop 10 percent of all illegal drugs bound for U.S. soil. The ten percent interdiction rate is supposed to deter the 90 percent success rate." - Brad Watson, DEA, Heart of Texas Area Drug Task Force, 1995. [continues 468 words]
War on drugs is an insane failure We're not learning from mistakes and success of past Legalize drugs? Curiously, support can be found in the words of drug war advocates. "Corruption among law enforcement agency personnel continues to be a major impediment to cooperative investigations. Law enforcement initiatives appear to have had only a slight, if any, impact on drug transportation and distribution organizations..." Jane C. Maxwell, Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, June 1996. "Historically, prohibitions have not been effective and are always very costly to support." City Judge John Roberts, Waco, January 1997. [continues 505 words]
Legalize By John Wilson "Historically, prohibitions have not been effective and are always very costly to support." Municipal Court Judge John Roberts, Jan. 8 TribuneHerald. Highway drug traps will succeed only in making the drug trade more lucrative, spawning crime, violence and corruption. "Corruption among law enforcement agency personnel continues to be a major impediment to cooperative investigations. Law enforcement initiatives appear to have had a slight, if any, impact on drug transportation and distribution organizations." Jane C. Maxwell, Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, June 1996. [continues 96 words]
Schedule I drugs are said to have no medical value. Any use of a schedule I drug is considered abuse. Schedule II drugs are available by prescription. Angel Dust (PCP) is available by prescription. Speed (methamphetamine) is available by prescription. Cocaine is available by prescription. Tobacco is sold over the counter. Tobacco kills approximately 1,200 Americans everyday. Where is the medical value of tobacco? How does anyone use tobacco without abuse? When was the last time your doctor said, "Smoke two cigarettes and call me in the morning?" [continues 85 words]
Recent studies recommending that the penalty for crack be reduced are right on target. Unfortunately, current drug laws owe their origin to racism rather than justice. Whatever the reasons, crack cocaine use is more common than powder cocaine use in low-income communities where African-Americans are disproportionately represented. "To determine whether or not a drug should be controlled, it is important to know the pattern of abuse of that substance, including the socio-economic characteristics of the segments of the population involved in such abuse." - Controlled Substances Act, 1970. [continues 102 words]
