XPost: alt.drugs.psychedelics, alt.hemp.politics, rec.drugs.cannabis
From: bliss@mouse-potato.com

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1019 -- 5/10/18
Phillip S. Smith, Editor,psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1019

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director,borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Table of Contents:

1. NYC MAYOR DE BLASIO ENDORSES SAFE INJECTION SITE PLAN
New York City now joins Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle in pushing for
safe injection sites. But the DEA says they're illegal. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/may/03/nyc_mayor_de_blasio_endorses

2. ILLINOIS COP'S WARNING: IF YOU LEGALIZE WEED, WE'LL HAVE TO KILL OUR DRUG DOGS
The stench of desperation is in the air. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/may/09/illinois_cops_warning_if_you

3. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
A pair of Missouri medical marijuana initiative campaigns have handed in lots and lots of signatures, a federal appeals court upheld a DEA rule that CBD is a
Schedule I controlled substance, the Utah initiative campaign gets organized opposition, and
more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/may/09/medical_marijuana_update

4. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
We have a pill-peddling former deputy, a Baton Rouge cop who made a joint mysteriously disappear, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/may/09/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

5. CHRONICLE AM: WORKPLACE DRUG TESTING FOR MARIJUANA BEGINS TO FADE, NYC SAFER
INJECTION SITE RALLY, MORE... (5/3/18)
Pre-employment workplace drug testing for marijuana appears to be going out of style, a federal appeals court disappoints on scheduling cannabinoids, a Vermont saliva drug testing bill is killed, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/may/03/chronicle_am_workplace_drug

6. CHRONICLE AM: NYC MAYOR ENDORSES SIFS, CO CANNABIS TASTING ROOM BILL PASSES,
MORE... (5/4/18)
Colorado could become the first state with a marijuana social consumption law, a new poll suggests New Yorkers are ready to free the weed, New York City's mayor gets behind safer injection facilities, a leading Colombian presidential contender trashes
the drug war, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/may/04/chronicle_am_nyc_mayor_endorses

7. CHRONICLE AM: MO MMJ INITS HAND IN BEAUCOUP SIGNATURES, OH RACIAL PROFILING DRUG DOGS, MORE... (5/7/18)
Two separate Missouri medical marijuana initiatives appear set to qualify for the November ballot, the Utah medical marijuana initiative is generating organized opposition -- including the DEA -- Canada's prime minister says it's full steam ahead for
marijuana legalization, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/may/07/chronicle_am_mo_mmj_inits_hand

8. CHRONICLE AM: NO HOME GROW FOR NH THIS YEAR, AUSTRALIA WELFARE DRUG TEST PLAN, MORE... (5/8/17)
A new report finds legal marijuana makes a marginal contribution to state budgets, a major Las Vegas casino quits pre-employment testing for marijuana, an Australian Senate panel advances a controversial plan to drug test welfare recipients, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/may/08/chronicle_am_no_home_grow_nh

9. CHRONICLE AM: MCCONNELL JUST SAYS NO TO LEGAL WEED, WALMART TIGHTENS PRESCRIBING, MORE... (5/9/18)
Mitch McConnell just says no, a House committee advances a VA medical marijuana
bill, Pennsylvania's governor and attorney general aren't down with a Philadelphia safe injection site, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/may/09/chronicle_am_mcconnell_just_says

(Not subscribed? Visithttps://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up today!)

================

1. NYC MAYOR DE BLASIO ENDORSES SAFE INJECTION SITE PLAN https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/may/03/nyc_mayor_de_blasio_endorses

Just a day after close to a hundred community activists, reform advocates, and local elected officials took to the streets outside New York City's City Hall Wednesday to demand that Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) move on a long-delayed feasibility study on
safe injection sites, the mayor has moved -- and further than they expected.

On Thursday evening, the mayor's office announced de Blasio's support (https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/992158726802018304) for a plan to open four of the sites, which the office refers to as Overdose Prevention Centers, a
year from now, after a
period of consultation with stakeholders.

"After a rigorous review of similar efforts across the world, and after careful
consideration of public health and safety expert views, we believe overdose prevention centers will save lives and get more New Yorkers into the treatment they need to beat
this deadly addiction," de Blasio said in a statement.

Safe injection sites (SISs) -- or safe injection facilities or supervised injection facilities or supervised consumption sites or overdose prevention centers -- allow drug users to inject (or sometimes inhale) their own drugs under medical supervision.
They typically also have a social services component that aims to assist drug users in finding drug treatment and other services.

Operating in around 90 cities in Europe, Australia, and Canada, they are a proven harm reduction intervention (http://sifnyc.org/index.php/library/). Numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown they reduce public disorder; increase access to
treatment, reduce the risk of HIV, Hep C, and bacterial infections; reduce drug
overdose deaths; and reduce medical costs thanks to a reduction in disease and overdose, while at the same time increasing access to cost-saving preventive healthcare. What
SISs don't do, the studies have found, is increase crime, injection drug use, or the initiation of new drug users.

Yet no such sites operate in the United States. Pushes are underway in several cities, including Philadelphia (http://www.philly.com/philly/health/addiction/safe-injection-sites-overdose-deaths-opioids-philadelphia-officials-support-20180123.html), San
Francisco (http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/10/25/safe-injection-sites-board-of-supervisors-committee/), and Seattle (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/seattle-king-county-move-to-create-2-injection-sites-for-drug-users/), but all have
faced challenges ranging from moralism and NIMBYism to the fact that they would
appear to violate federal law. Just this week, DEA spokesman Melvin Patterson said they violate the Controlled Substances Act and are "subject to being prosecuted (https:// www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-health-202/2018/04/30/the-health-202-supervised-injection-facilities-are-illegal-in-the-united-states-these-cities-want-to-open-them-anyway/5ae5dbc630fb043711926901/)." Given the proclivities of the Trump
administration, that is probably not a threat to be taken lightly.

Still, the cities are willing to push on the issue, the American Medical Association has endorsed the notion (https://www.ama-assn.org/ama-wants-new-approaches-combat-synthetic-and-injectable-drugs), and legislatures in a number of states are pondering
bills to allow them. And now, with the country's largest city coming on board, momentum for the sites is only growing stronger.

In New York City, where the SIF NYC Campaign (http://sifnyc.org/index.php/library/), a coalition of dozens of community, drug reform, public health, medical, and religious groups has been pressuring the administration to act for months, the mayor's
announcement was greeted with relief.

"Mayor de Blasio's embrace of safer consumption spaces is a critical step forward in preventing overdose deaths in New York City. We know that safer consumption spaces are an evidence-based solution that can help dramatically in
saving lives, reducing
criminalization, and improving public health," said Kassandra Frederique, New York state director at the Drug Policy Alliance. "New York can and must be a leader now in saving lives by opening safer consumption spaces swiftly."

That will take some political acumen in dealing with city district attorneys and the state Health Department, which answers to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, with whom de Blasio's relations are strained at best. It will also take some political fortitude in taking
on the Sessions Justice Department and the DEA.

De Blasio's announcement marks the successful culmination of the campaign to bring the city on board with safe injection sites as a harm reduction and overdose prevention measure, but it's just the beginning of the fight to actually get them up and
running.



================  ...


                                         ___________________

                                          It's time to correct the mistake:
                                       
Truth:the Anti-drugwar
<http://www.briancbennett.com>

                                      Cops say legalize drugs--find out
why:
<http://www.leap.cc>

                                       Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
                                       ___________________

     bliss -- Cacao  Powered... (-SF4ever at DSLExtreme dot com)

--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

      "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
      It is by the beans of cacao that the thoughts acquire speed,
      the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
      It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
         --from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)

XPost: alt.drugs.psychedelics, alt.hemp.politics, rec.drugs.cannabis
From: bliss@mouse-potato.com

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1032 -- 8/16/18
Phillip S. Smith, Editor,psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1032

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director,borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Table of Contents:

1. SAYING GOODBYE TO MR. METHADONE: DR. BOB NEWMAN DEAD AT AGE 80
They called him "Mr. Methadone" for a reason. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/aug/15/bob_newman

2. HORRIBLE WISCONSIN "COCAINE MOM" LAW COULD FINALLY BE REPEALED
Advocates are hoping a campaign aimed at changing public opinion can do what the courts have so far failed to do: kill the law. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/aug/08/wisconsin_cocaine_mom_law

3. THIS SURPRISING STATE COULD BE THE NEXT TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA [FEATURE] Hint: It's located between Canada and South Dakota. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/aug/14/surprising_next_legalization_possibility

4. PSYCHEDELICS ARE SHOWING REAL PROMISE FOR TREATING MENTAL DISORDERS
These powerful substances are making their way into the heart of the psychology
establishment and starting to be understood as powerful therapeutic tools. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/aug/14/psychedelics_treatment

5. DOES MICRODOSING PSYCHEDELICS REALLY IMPROVE YOUR LIFE?
Some groundbreaking research begins to look for answers. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/aug/06/does_microdosing_psychedelics

6. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
A new bill in Guam would allow home cultivation, Oklahoma officials still have issues with the voter-approved medical marijuana initiative, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/aug/15/medical_marijuana_update

7. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A Mississippi sheriff is in a heap of trouble, a Mississippi prison guard gets caught with contraband. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/aug/15/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

8. CHRONICLE AM: NORWAY HEROIN-ASSISTED TREATMENT PLAN, NJ POL SAYS MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION "SOON," MORE... (8/10/18)
New Jersey's Senate president says marijuana legalization is coming "soon," the
Norwegians begin moving toward heroin-assisted treatment, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/aug/10/chronicle_am_norway

9. CHRONICLE AM: ND MJ INIT MAKES NOVEMBER BALLOT, COLOMBIA TO FORCIBLY UPROOT COCA, MORE... (8/13/18)
North Dakota becomes the second state (after Michigan) to qualify a marijuana legalization initiative this year, Denver's mayor comes around on legalization,
the UN will review marijuana's status under international law, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/aug/13/chronicle_am_nd_mj_init_makes

10. CHRONICLE AM: MPP GETS NEW DIRECTOR, ONTARIO POT SHOPS TO BE PRIVATE NOT STATE-RUN, MORE... (8/14/18)
The Marijuana Policy Project picks a veteran criminal justice advocate as its new head, Canada's most populous province makes a last-minute switch from state-run to privately-run pot shops, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/aug/14/chronicle_am_mpp_gets_new

(Not subscribed? Visithttps://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up today!)

================

1. SAYING GOODBYE TO MR. METHADONE: DR. BOB NEWMAN DEAD AT AGE 80 https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/aug/15/bob_newman

Dr. Robert Newman died earlier this month after being struck by an automobile earlier this summer. He was 80 years old.

If any one man can be credited with carving out a space for the use of methadone as a treatment for heroin addiction, he is that man. Working as a New
York City public health doctor in the 1960s, he was given the task of ensuring that heroin addicts who
wanted treatment could get treatment with methadone. His boss, city health department head Gordon Chase, told him he would be known as "Mr. Methadone."

While he did not achieve the goal of providing treatment to everyone who wanted
it, Newman oversaw the rapid expansion of the city's fledgling methadone program in the early 1970s. The number of patients on methadone went from a handful to more than 10,
000 in two years, and 35,000 by 1975.

And he stood up for those patients. When the NYPD wanted Newman to turn over patients' methadone records, he refused. Instead, he took to the courts to defend his patients' right to privacy -- and he won.

After that, he devoted his career to advocating for evidence-based treatment, traveling the country and the world and picking up a second moniker, "the methadone pope," as he advanced harm reduction ideas decades before they became
popularized.

He faced opposition from abstinence and 12-step proponents, as well as from elected officials like New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who in 1998 tried to shut down the city's methadone program on the moralistic grounds that it merely
substituted one
addiction for another. The diplomatic Newman didn't challenge Giuliani head on but instead used interviews to make his case that methadone treatment allowed addicts to lead productive lives.

Newman also advocated for a humane approach toward addicted mothers and pregnant women, supporting groups such as National Advocates for Pregnant Women
in their fight against the demonization and criminalization of those women. He was a drug policy
reformer who served for decades on the board of the Drug Policy Foundation and then its successor the Drug Policy Alliance (http://www.drugpolicy.org).

As this century's opioid epidemic deepened, Newman was cautiously optimistic that the work he had begun decades earlier would help further destigmatize addiction. "I'm hoping that pragmatism will win out," he said. "As more and more Congresspeople,
people in the general community and physicians have children who develop a problem with prescription drug use and can't get treatment for it, I think it will make people more receptive to opening doors to treatment."

Newman was not only an influential physician in addiction issues, he was a giant in the hospital world as a whole. He served as President of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, and then of the entity that acquired Beth Israel along with other
facilities -- and then of the entity that acquired that entity. But one could still talk him at a drug policy conference, or send him an email, and you'd get
an email back.

Dr. Robert Newman's contribution to an enlightened approach to addiction cannot
be overstated. He will be missed, but his legacy lives on.

(Read Bob Newman's 1998 interview with this newsletter here (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/051/newman.shtml).)

================



================  ...


                                         ___________________

                                          It's time to correct the mistake:
                                       
Truth:the Anti-drugwar
<http://www.briancbennett.com>

                                      Cops say legalize drugs--find out
why:
<http://www.leap.cc>

                                       Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
                                       ___________________

     bliss -- Cacao  Powered... (-SF4ever at DSLExtreme dot com)

--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

      "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
      It is by the beans of cacao that the thoughts acquire speed,
      the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
      It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
         --from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.



--
bliss dash SF 4 ever at dslextreme dot com

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)