Ending War On Drugs Has Downside San Francisco --- "The war on drugs wrecked my life much more than drugs," Amy Pofahl told the Associated Press this month. No lie. A federal court sentenced Pofahl to 24 years behind bars because she was found guilty of conspiracy in her husband's drug operation, while he apparently arranged a plea bargain with federal officials that limited the time he served to some four years in a German clink. This month, President Clinton pardoned Pofahl, who had served nine years of her sentence, as well as four other victims of draconian federal drug policy. This prompted readers to write in and ask: Why not end the war on drugs? [continues 551 words]
Amy Pofahl got a raw deal. In 1989, her estranged husband Charles Frederick "Sandy" Pofahl was arrested for drug trafficking in Germany. She helped round up ill-gotten money to help her husband make bail - which was a crime. Thanks to draconian federal drug laws and prosecutorial madness, her kingpin husband, who cooperated with prosecutors, served, no time in federal prison; the Feds cut a deal that gave him credit for some four years he served behind German Vars. Amy Pofahl was sentenced to 24 years. [continues 513 words]
"I try to spend the least amount of time possible talking about sentencing," U.S. drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey told The Chronicle's editorial board Wednesday. That's a shame because when McCaffrey talks about sentencing, he makes more sense than the draconian federal sentencing system. He says things that could give cover to politicians who know the system is overly harsh with minnows in the drug world, but fear pushing for change lest they seem to be defending the sharks. [continues 556 words]
MANY INSIDERS believe that if the pro-choice Rep. Tom Campbell had won the GOP nomination in the U.S. Senate race in 1992 instead of the anti-abortion Bruce Herschensohn, Democrat Barbara Boxer never would have won that race. For voters who think there are no principled politicians, Campbell is tonic. He voted in favor of impeachment of President Clinton, and he voted against re-electing Newt Gingrich as House speaker because Gingrich had misled the House Ethics Committee. When Campbell announced that he would run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Dianne Feinstein, he seemed a shoo-in to win the primary and be a contender in the general election. [continues 514 words]
IN 1995, a federal judge sentenced Kemba Smith to 24 1/2 years in prison without parole. Smith didn't murder anyone. She didn't beat anyone. She wasn't a major crime figure. She was a black single mother in her 20s with the rotten judgment to have fallen for a violent drug dealer. According to a piece in Emerge magazine, after lying to authorities, Smith was getting ready to cooperate with federal investigators who were after her boyfriend Peter Hall. But when Hall's dead body was found, the Feds used their full force on Smith. [continues 557 words]
HOUSE JUDICIARY Committee Chairman Henry Hyde believes the Willie Jones story provides a fitting introduction to what he calls the ``Kafkaesque world of civil asset forfeiture,'' or the government seizure of property believed to be associated with criminal conduct. In 1991 Jones, a Tennessee gardener, bought a plane ticket to Houston where he planned to look at some nursery stock. The ticket agent alerted authorities because Jones, who is (probably not coincidentally) black, paid cash. Nashville police searched Jones for drugs. They found none. [continues 573 words]
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde believes the Willie Jones story provides a fitting introduction to what he calls the "Kafkaesque world of civil asset forfeiture," or the government seizure of property believed to be associated with criminal conduct. In 1991 Jones, a Tennessee gardener, bought a plane ticket to Houston where he planned to look at some nursery stock. The ticket agent alerted authorities because Jones, who is (probably not coincidentally) black, paid cash. Nashville police searched Jones for drugs. They found none. [continues 595 words]
HOUSE JUDICIARY Committee Chairman Henry Hyde believes the Willie Jones story provides a fitting introduction to what he calls the ``Kafkaesque world of civil asset forfeiture,'' or the government seizure of property believed to be associated with criminal conduct. In 1991 Jones, a Tennessee gardener, bought a plane ticket to Houston where he planned to look at some nursery stock. The ticket agent alerted authorities because Jones, who is (probably not coincidentally) black, paid cash. Nashville police searched Jones for drugs. They found none. [continues 574 words]
CODY'S bookstore owner Andy Ross used to call the section of Telegraph Avenue where his store is ``the Rodeo Drive of intellectuals.'' This year, Ross started to describe his 'hood as a place of ``social collapse'' and of a ``reign of terror.'' Cody's has weathered its share of interesting times. In 1968, the bookstore became a first-aid station for tear-gassed anti-war protesters. When other bookstores, cowed by terrorists' threats, removed copies of Salman Rushdie's ``Satanic Verses,'' Ross continued to sell the book. Cody's was firebombed. Ross still sold the book. [continues 516 words]
WHENEVER a panel of judges cites the Magna Carta, it won't be long before you pinch yourself and ask who died and made these folks king. Witness the recent out-of-the-blue decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver. The judges decided that it is illegal for federal prosecutors to offer immunity in exchange for testimony; then likened their ruling to the lesson King John was taught at Runnymede in 1215. [continues 495 words]
SAN FRANCISCO'S needle exchange program has been an unqualified success: The city has not reported a single case of pediatric AIDS in three years. And there's not exactly a shortage of junkie moms in San Francisco either. HIV infection among women is low. Nationally, 14.9 percent of adults with HIV are women. In San Francisco the figure is about 3.2 percent. ``One of the reasons is that we've had needle exchange from early on in San Francisco,'' Derek Gordon of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation opined. The needle initiative prevented HIV from spreading through the needle community. For the bargain price of about $500,000 annually, the program has spared the lives of children born to drug shooters. [continues 465 words]
San Francisco's needle exchange program has been an unqualified success: The city has not reported a single case of pediatric AIDS in three years. And there's not exactly a shortage of junkie moms in San Francisco either. HIV infection among women is low. Nationally, 14.9 percent of adults with HIV are women. In San Francisco the figure is about 3.2 percent. ``One of the reasons is that we've had needle exchange from early on in San Francisco,'' Derek Gordon of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation opined. The needle initiative prevented HIV from spreading through the needle community. For the bargain price of about $500,000 annually, the program has spared the lives of children born to drug shooters. [continues 469 words]
If you want to support the National Policy and Youth Smoking Reduction Act being crafted in Washington these days, try not to think too hard. Don't ask yourself whether the legislation really will "reduce teen smoking in America," as President Clinton said in a speech last week. Don't look at the rise in teen smoking, despite campaigns against the lethal habit. Teen smoking has increased every year since Clinton became president and declared war on the nasty habit among teens. I don't blame Clinton for the rise, but considering the lip service he has given to this cause - with the result that the number of high school seniors who smoke rose from 17.2 percent in 1992 to 22.2 percent in 1996 - I hardly expect him to deliver the cure. [continues 469 words]
