As debate rages over how to solve San Francisco's seemingly intractable homeless problem, city leaders, academic researchers and even some formerly homeless people themselves say progress is being made every Thursday afternoon inside Department 15 at the city's gloomy Hall of Justice.

For a couple of hours each week, the courtroom fills with dozens of defendants with serious mental illnesses who have been charged with or convicted of crimes ranging from misdemeanor theft to felony assault and robbery. Almost all were homeless or on the brink of living on the streets at the time of their arrests, and many of them struggle with drug or alcohol abuse.

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Re "Closing crack's 100-1 ratio," Opinion, Nov. 2

The U.S. Sentencing Commission has shown Congress that now is the time to reform the crack cocaine sentencing scheme. The commission introduced an amendment, made effective Nov. 1, that lowers the bottom of the recommended sentencing ranges for crack cocaine-related crimes so that they are no higher than the mandatory minimum sentences required by federal law. The change is expected to affect more than 3,500 people each year and would reduce defendants' sentences on average by 15 months. While this step is encouraging, only Congress can eliminate the punitive, racist disparity between powder and crack cocaine sentences. The increased penalty for crack has not aided urban communities. Instead, it has devalued men and women and stripped them from their communities for excessive periods of time.

Jasmine L. Tyler

Washington



[end]

Mandatory minimum prison sentences have done little other than give us a high incarceration rate. The deterrent value of tough drug laws is overrated. Crack use declined after the 1980s not because of a slick advertising campaign or mandatory minimum sentencing laws -- the younger generation saw what crack was doing to their older siblings and decided for themselves that it was bad news. This is not to say nothing can be done about hard drugs. Access to substance-abuse treatment is critical. Diverting resources from prisons and into cost-effective treatment would save tax dollars and lives.

Robert Sharpe

Washington

The writer is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy.

[end]

My Colombian War A Journey Through the Country I Left Behind By Silvana Paternostro, HENRY HOLT; 325 PAGES; $26

In 2000, the United States put in place Plan Colombia, its third largest military aid package after those given to Israel and Egypt. Colombia at that time had the highest rates worldwide for kidnapping, murder and other crimes. Left-wing rebels and right-wing paramilitary organizations were equally brutal, killing civilians with chain saws and arranging body parts in grotesque bouquets for surviving family members. Drugs and politics but mainly social inequalities were behind the violence. Today, human rights violations are still rampant, but the bloodshed has lessened significantly since the 2002 election of a hard-liner president.

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Recently I heard about a poll taken of high school students that asked them two questions. The first was: "What are the benefits of being a citizen of the United States of America?"

The students generally responded by furnishing a long list of benefits, such as enjoying our Constitutional freedoms, entitlement to a good education and such things as clean air and water, the promise of a good job and a gratifying life.

The second question was: "What are the responsibilities of being a citizen of the United States of America?"

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Seven years ago Jim Bettencourt of Willows learned from a phone call that his then 15-year-old son was having a seizure.

Being a happy family with no history of drug abuse, or even drug awareness, Bettencourt said he was surprised to find his son's four grand mal seizures, kidney failure and four days on life support were the result of what many argue is the most used and abused illegal drug and what Bettencourt called "an all consuming destructive evil" - methamphetamine.

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The San Francisco Police Department has a drug problem.

But it is not what you are thinking.

Faced with a shortfall of as many as 900 officers over the next four years, the SFPD - like law enforcement agencies all over the country - - is struggling to fill its ranks with recruits.

And one thing that is making it harder is the cultural shift that has made casual drug use commonplace. Potential recruits come to the department with an extensive, albeit recreational, history of using drugs like ecstasy, cocaine or methamphetamine. Although specific numbers are not available, those in the department say it is hitting the recruiting classes hard.

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LOS ANGELES - Researchers have learned that rats overwhelmingly prefer water sweetened with saccharin to cocaine, a finding that demonstrates the addictive potential of sweets.

Offering larger doses of cocaine did not alter the rats' preference for saccharin.

Scientists said the study, presented this week in San Diego at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, might help explain the rise in human obesity, which has been driven, in part, by an overconsumption of sugary foods.

"Intense sweetness is more rewarding to the rats than cocaine," said co-author Magalie Lenoir of the University of Bordeaux in France.

[end]

Pouring Money and Equipment into Mexico's Battle Will Do Little If We Don't Attack Addiction at Home.

In Mexico, the phrase "war on drugs" is not just a figure of speech. Since President Felipe Calderon took office, tens of thousands of soldiers have been deployed to battle drug cartels, and corrupt officials have been ousted. The cartels, however, haven't blinked. Almost 4,000 people have been killed in the last two years. Now the United States and Mexico have negotiated a major initiative that includes $1.4 billion worth of equipment and aid, most of it going to Mexico and a small portion to several Central American countries.

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Riverside County is about to get a new clinic for medical marijuana patients.

And Lanny Swerdlow, president of the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, is going to be running it.

Swerdlow, also a registered nurse, announced he will be opening the clinic, to be called THCF Medical Clinic, at 647 N. Main St., Riverside. The clinic should be open by early December, he said.

THCF stands for The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, a nonprofit that runs similar clinics in Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. The clinics issue letters of recommendation to patients. They do not sell marijuana.

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He Was the First Openly Gay Person to Head a Presidential Advisory Council.

R. Scott Hitt, a specialist on AIDS and HIV who was the first openly gay person to head a presidential advisory council, died of metastatic colon cancer Thursday in West Hollywood. He was 49.

Hitt was a Democratic activist and highly regarded Los Angeles physician when President Clinton named him chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS in 1996.

The council moved swiftly under his leadership. Within the first six weeks it outlined eight actions that the White House should take immediately to address the AIDS crisis.

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You Might Be Surprised Who Profits From the Semi-Legal Marijuana Trade

A gentleman with a neatly trimmed beard stands at the counter of an Arcata business on a weekday morning and asks the clerk for an eighth of an ounce of Trainwreck, a popular strain of sinsemilla marijuana. The young woman on the other side of a glass partition, who looks to be a typical Arcata college student, reaches under the counter and produces a bag of fresh green buds. She pours a portion into a paper cup set on an electronic scale, then carefully transfers it to a plastic bag.As she does so, the customer asks questions about other strains available. He's looking for some variety. He ends up buying small bags of several different kinds, paying the going rate - $40 per eighth of an ounce - with a handful of $20 bills.

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Sacramento -- A divided California Supreme Court grappled Tuesday with the application of the state's medical marijuana law in the workplace, debating whether an employee who uses pot to cope with pain or illness can be fired for violating federal drug laws.

The case of Gary Ross, a 45-year-old computer technician fired by a small Sacramento firm for failing a drug test, is the latest in a series of federal-state conflicts since California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, legalizing the medical use of marijuana if a doctor recommends it. At least 11 states have since adopted similar laws.

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Legislation Aims to Establish Legal Standards in California

SACRAMENTO - While motorists may face criminal charges for driving with a blood alcohol level of at least 0.08 percent, the lack of a similar legal standard for driving under the influence of drugs has allowed many to avoid prosecution.

Assemblyman John Benoit hopes to change that.

Benoit, R-Riverside, announced legislation Tuesday to prohibit drivers with detectable amounts of certain dangerous and illegal drugs - such as methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin - from operating a vehicle.

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In the latest test of California's medical marijuana law, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday used the experience of a Sacramento man to question whether employers can fire workers who test positive for the drug used under a doctor's advice.

For about an hour, justices engaged attorneys at the Stanley Mosk Library and Court Building near the Capitol on the letter and intention of the state's Compassionate Use Act of 1996. The act - the first such law in the country - protects medical marijuana users from criminal liability but has left unresolved other key questions, including rights in the work force.

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Extension Could Prevent New Shops From Opening

Licenses for Kern County's six medical marijuana dispensaries were extended one year by Kern County supervisors Tuesday.

Supervisors weren't trying to help the medical marijuana movement.

They made the move, proposed by Supervisor Michael Rubio, with the full knowledge that the people who hold those licenses probably won't use them.

The dispensaries closed after federal drug agents raided Nature's Medicinal Cooperative in Oildale and arrested its owners in July.

Medical marijuana is illegal under federal law.

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Santa Monica staff has prepared a report for the City Council in regards to how to regulate medical marijuana farmacies. The report is designed to provide guidance to the Council, as if this group of conservative Neanderthals will ever take up the issue. There is NO sign this Council will do the right thing and every sign that they will continue to force Santa Monica residents to either buy their medical marijuana through local drug dealers or go out of town for it. Their main argument is that they are concerned about the element it will bring to town; people who are just plain stressed out about life in our modern urban society and need something natural to help them relax instead of prescription Valium, Zanex, or Prozac. And people like cancer patients, who need pain relief, or glaucoma patients who would like to keep their eyesight. Where is the compassion of this City Council for these people?

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Kern County Supervisors Will, on Tuesday, Struggle Once Again With the Tough, Many-Tentacled Problem of Medical Marijuana.

County attorney John Irby has been searching the law for a way to balance the federal government's criminal stance toward the substance and the state's laws, which treat it as a medicine.

He has found some information and a handful of options to offer supervisors.

But Irby said he can offer them no perfect solutions.

"There's not a silver bullet solution," he said.

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Federal Threats Prompt Property Owner to Seek Dec. 31 Eviction

WHITTIER - There will be no more medical marijuana dispensed from the city's only clinic after Dec. 31, the planning commission ruled Monday night.

Additionally, the Whittier Collective, 12450-A Washington Blvd., has reached agreement with its landlord, the Phelan Family Trust - owners of the Washington-Whittier Medical Center - to vacate the site by that date.

The dispensary had applied to extend its conditional use permit until Oct. 31, 2008, but that became moot after the landlord sought to evict the clinic.

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Council Members Will Hold a Public Hearing Monday Night on a Proposal to Ban Medical Marijuana Dispensaries From the City.

HUNTINGTON BEACH - The City Council will consider an ordinance Monday night that would ultimately ban medical marijuana dispensaries from opening in the city.

This comes after the Planning Commission's September vote in favor of being consistent with federal law, which considers medical marijuana dispensaries illegal. Now it's up to the council to make a final decision after a hearing in which residents can voice their thoughts.

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