They Will Not Be Reassigned From Fresno, Modesto And Bakersfield. WASHINGTON -- Sacramento-based FBI officials have assured Congress they have no intention of cutting the bureau's anti-methamphetamine campaign in the San Joaquin Valley. That means the bureau's five special agents assigned to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program will remain at their posts in Modesto, Fresno and Bakersfield. "We constantly reassess our assignments, but we don't have any plans a to reduce our commitment to HIDTA," FBI spokesman Nick Rossi said Friday. [continues 337 words]
Doubts Raised On Trumping Of Federal Law WASHINGTON -- Skeptical-sounding Supreme Court justices on Wednesday confronted the sobering question of medical marijuana use. Watched closely by clients of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, some of whom already had taken a therapeutic morning toke, the nation's highest court raised serious doubts about whether medical necessity should trump federal drug laws. "You're asking us to say this defense exists in broad, sweeping terms," Justice Anthony Kennedy told the cannabis club's attorney. [continues 811 words]
Justices Question Whether Need Should Beat Laws. WASHINGTON -- Skeptical-sounding U.S. Supreme Court justices Wednesday confronted the sobering question of medical marijuana use. Watched closely by clients of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, some of whom already had taken a therapeutic morning toke, the nation's highest court raised doubts about whether medical necessity should trump federal drug laws. "You're asking us to say this defense exists in broad, sweeping terms," an unconvinced Justice Anthony Kennedy told the cannabis club's lawyer. [continues 463 words]
WASHINGTON -- The war on drugs is taking a toll on San Joaquin Valley asparagus growers -- in a manner of speaking. Federal auditors note in a new report that asparagus imports soared by 215 percent during the 1990s. Much of this came from Peru, benefiting from a trade law designed to wean Andean countries from the illegal drug trade. "If the (trade law) is re-authorized, domestic producers of asparagus, and in particular, asparagus for processing, will likely face continued displacement," the General Accounting Office noted in its new report, "but consumers can expect continued benefits from the year-around availability of fresh asparagus." [continues 430 words]
WASHINGTON -- On the eve of President Bush's inaugural visit to Mexico, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein Thursday sought to soften a perennial sore spot between the two countries. After years of unsuccessfully pushing bills to sanction Mexico for thwarting U.S. anti-drug efforts, Feinstein proposed suspending the annual congressional exercise. She credited her change of heart to reform-minded Mexican President Vicente Fox. "I was very impressed by President Fox's determination to move ahead in an orderly way," Feinstein said. "I believe he's sincere, I believe he's committed ..., and so I am very happy to give him time to compile a record." [continues 342 words]
Questions Remain Whether Courts Will Allow The Heat-seeking Device. WASHINGTON -- A potential tool for sniffing out chemicals used in Central Valley methamphetamine labs provokes an intriguing constitutional debate. The core question seems simple but grows quickly complicated. What is a search? It's a legal question that expands with every technological leap. A search is certainly the police combing through a suspect's house. But is it also police parked outside while scooping up heat emissions from a pot grower's house or chemical emissions from a meth cooker's kitchen? [continues 861 words]
Fresno County Sheriff's Department To Get $500,000. WASHINGTON -- The San Joaquin Valley will be getting new federal funding to fight methamphetamine, while the country will be getting a new drug czar to oversee the efforts. A massive end-of-year spending package expected to be signed by President Clinton this week includes $500,000 for the Fresno County Sheriff's Department's anti-meth efforts. The money is relatively open-ended but could target either the production or distribution end of the illegal speed business. [continues 521 words]
Two men who were caught with cannabis valued at pounds 145,000 have each been jailed for six years by Judge Elizabeth Dunne at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Englishman Roy Foster, 52, and Dutchman Jan August Neijens, 49, both with addresses in the south of Spain, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply and to unlawful importation of the drugs on February 5, 2000. Detective Garda Danny Kelly told Mr Paul Coffey BL, prosecuting, that on foot of confidential information he got a search warrant for a flat in Abbey Street, Dublin. Foster was there when the search began and Neijens arrived in a taxi shortly afterwards. [continues 255 words]
WASHINGTON -- A newly signed law gives Central Valley meth fighters some potentially powerful new tools. Signed by President Clinton this week as part of a larger children's health bill, the anti-meth measure increases penalties, toughens reporting requirements, authorizes new federal funds and targets the toxic spillover from illegal methamphetamine labs. "(This) will allow us to strengthen our efforts to curtail the emerging use of the drugs methamphetamine and Ecstasy, which imperil the health and safety of our nation's young people," Clinton said when he signed the legislation. [continues 406 words]
WASHINGTON -- The hard-charging former Army general who's overseeing American anti-drug efforts is a relentless taskmaster whose overworked office has suffered disturbingly high turnover, auditors say in a sobering new report released Thursday. Drug czar Barry McCaffrey, whose responsibilities include a new multimillion-dollar campaign targeting the Central Valley's covert methamphetamine trade, comes under sustained fire in the highly detailed audit ordered by Congress. The criticism includes suggestions that McCaffrey's staff at the Office of National Drug Control Policy is stretched too thin to properly oversee programs like the one under way in Sacramento and eight other Central Valley counties. [continues 608 words]
WASHINGTON - The hard-charging former general who's overseeing American anti-drug efforts is a relentless taskmaster whose overworked office has suffered disturbingly high turnover, auditors say in a sobering new report released Thursday. Drug czar Barry McCaffrey, whose responsibilities include a new multimillion-dollar campaign targeting the Central Valley's covert methamphetamine trade, comes under sustained fire in the highly detailed audit ordered by Congress. The criticism includes suggestions that McCaffrey's staff is stretched too thin to properly oversee programs like the one now underway in nine Central Valley counties. [continues 966 words]
WASHINGTON -- The Central Valley's new federal anti-drug task force is in line to get 75 percent more money. Though it only recently got its formal start with $800,000, the task force is being recommended for an immediate increase to $1.4 million. A formal decision on the funding increase, which is being recommended by the staff of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, is expected within days. "We considered $800,000 to be significantly under-funded," said Bill Ruzzamenti, director of the valley's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program. "We have a real strong case that we need more money." [continues 413 words]
The Central Valley's newest anti-drug honcho, Bill Ruzzamenti, once stalked a very different sort of high flier. The kind that steals airplanes in midair. A former air marshal who has been with the Drug Enforcement Administration since the agency's birth in 1973, the 51-year-old Ruzzamenti is about to take over as director of a nine-county, federally funded campaign to combat methamphetamine production. From his new Fresno base, kick-started with $800,000 in federal funds, Ruzzamenti will help coordinate anti-meth efforts from Sacramento to Bakersfield, a region crawling with meth labs. [continues 486 words]
Applicants Cite Manufacturing, Medicinal Uses WASHINGTON -- Californians hoping for a cease-fire in the war on drugs are seeking federal permission to grow marijuana. Potent marijuana. In bulk. And designed for distribution. "We would like to have a quality source," explained Scott Imler, director of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center. "The government's marijuana has never been very good." Imler's group is one of two from California that have filed unusual drug-manufacturing applications with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Imler, based in West Hollywood, directs a program that provides therapeutic pot to 637 cancer, AIDS and other patients. The other applicant, a Northern California business using the name The Church of the Living Tree, wants to use marijuana plants as a raw commodity for hemp paper. [continues 716 words]
WASHINGTON - This is your brain. This is your brain on booze. That's the ad line that could crop up, depending on who wins a political fight that California vintners are just now learning about. Within days, a key House committee will have to unscramble the dispute over whether the government should broaden its anti-drug campaign to target alcohol. "Since wine is not an illegal substance, and since wine has been consumed as the natural accompaniment to meals for thousands of years, it would be surprising to find it included in drug legislation," Lee Nordlund, marketing director for the Manteca-based Delicato Family Vineyards, said Monday. [continues 474 words]
