Ecstasy: A Fast Drug For Fast Times? "A most unbelievable surge of energy and gentle warmth rushed through my body. It was so brutally intense, all I could do for several minutes was inhale and let the breath come out as one long howl of indescribable joy. Many around me joined in. It seemed as though half the stage was just hollering in joint ecstasy." - -A first-time ecstasy user In the late '60s and early '70s when flower power ruled the scene, the spiritual drug of choice for rebellious teens, besides pot, was LSD. Since then, with the advent of a technological society, our drugs have become increasingly technical, too. More formulas have created more drugs that can pinpoint and treat specific ailments, or for abusers, have distinct effects. Enter MDMA-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-the speedy so-called hallucinogenic club drug of the new millennium, or under its street names: E; X; XTC; Ecstasy; and rolls. [continues 1925 words]
Reuters CALGARY Canada -- A mine deep in the tundra of remote northern Canada has long yielded a steady supply of copper and zinc, but it will soon produce a very different bounty -- the country's first supply of legal marijuana. Canada's health ministry has awarded a $3.8 million (U.S. dollars) contract to a firm that will grow marijuana for medicinal purposes in its lab in the mine, several hundred meters below a lake near the town of Flin Flon in northern Manitoba. [continues 339 words]
California voters made a clear statement in November when they approved Proposition 36, the purpose of which is to divert drug users who are guilty of no other crime to treatment centers rather than to prison. The devil, as they say, is in the details. The main problem is that the strongest opposition to Prop. 36 came from the government agencies that are most directly involved in the drug-abuse issue -- the law enforcement and criminal justice. Officials of those branches of government see the implementation of Prop. 36 as a potential threat to their operations, or that it will tie their hands when dealing with drug-using criminals. [continues 114 words]
RE: '$40,000 program set up for six addicts' (Dec. 14). Spectator reporter Carmela Fragomeni, Milton Councillor Rick Malboeuf and Burlington Councillor Jack Dennison appear caught up in statistics and myths about Halton's needle-exchange program. Public health nurse Jean Clipsham was quoted as saying that, if one life was saved, the $40,000 would be well spent. I totally agree. Halton is not blazing a new frontier; quite the contrary. More than 100 communities across Canada, including Hamilton, Peel and Toronto, have progressive-minded politicians and community workers who see the need to address the health concerns of their citizens and not bury their heads in the sand. [continues 107 words]
Saskatoon Grower Picked To Supply Canada's Medical Marijuana A Saskatoon company is now the federal government's exclusive marijuana supplier after it was awarded a five-year, $5.75-million contract on Thursday. Prairie Plant Systems Inc. (PPS) will be expected to supply 185 kilograms of standard marijuana cigarettes and bulk processed marijuana next year, and 420 kilograms per year after that. The drug will be available to the roughly 140 people who have been granted federal medical exemptions so far. Since June of 1999, the federal government has allowed some people to grow and use marijuana as a treatment for diseases such as multiple sclerosis. [continues 335 words]
Between now and the end of June, some $60 million in drug treatment money promised by Proposition 36 is supposed to be dispensed. Over the next 51/2 years, the state is required to spend another $660 million to treat and monitor addicts who will be diverted from jail and prisons. As evidenced by a workshop sponsored by the treatment advocates who put Proposition 36 on the ballot, it's clear that those responsible for implementing the new law are unclear about how to proceed. They need leadership from the governor and Legislature. [continues 118 words]
Religious Leaders Call For Clemency For Thousands Of Imprisoned Nonviolent Drug Offenders. Dec. 22, 2000 -- SAN FRANCISCO -- With time running out on the Clinton presidency, a group of religious leaders has come together to plead for the freedom of thousands of nonviolent drug offenders. The group, which calls itself the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency, has sent a letter to President Clinton, signed by more than 600 religious leaders, asking him to consider commuting what they view as unfair sentences. "Before William Jefferson Clinton leaves office on January 20, 2001 he should establish, as part of his legacy, demonstrable acts that show he stood for justice by freeing thousands of federal prisoners sentenced unjustly," the letter says. The call for clemency comes amid signs that the drug war zeitgeist is in flux. Steven Soderbergh's new movie "Traffic," starring Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, hits theaters over the holidays, just in time for Oscar consideration. It's one of the few Hollywood films to preach that thewar on drugs is unwinnable. [continues 843 words]
FLIN FLON will be the first place in Canada to legally grow marijuana, with the first crop to be harvested and rolled by this time next year. "I never thought I'd see the day where I'd be the main man providing Canada with marijuana," said Brent Zettl, president and CEO of Prairie Plant Systems, who will grow the pot deep underground, in a mine shaft. Yesterday, Zettl's company was awarded a $5.8-million federal contract to grow medicinal marijuana for five years. They are charged with delivering marijuana, both in bulk and cigarettes, to Health Canada, so it can test the medicinal value of the drug. [continues 638 words]
A jury in the Placer County trial of medical marijuana patients Michele and Steve Kubby came in with an 11-1 "hung" verdict on most of the charges against the part-time Orange County residents. Michele Kubby was acquitted of all remaining charges. Steve Kubby will face sentencing on two minor charges Feb. 2. There is no indication yet whether the prosecution will refile charges. A decision might not be forthcoming until February. "The most important aspect of this case," Steve Kubby told us Thursday, "is that in this most conservative of counties 11 members of the jury voted for acquittal on the basis of the Oakland guidelines for medical patients." Mr. Kubby had been charged with growing plants for commercial sale, but he contended he was following guidelines set up by a panel in the city of Oakland that allowed for indoor "grows," 144 plants, in different stages of development, per patient to provide a year's supply. [continues 108 words]
