HaCKeRz Kr0nlcKLeZ 1/HaCKeRz Kr0nlcKLeZ.iso/drugs/ialfax.3.13

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Date: Tue, 14 Jun 1994 23:07:54 -0700
From: David Borden <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: IAL-Fax #13, June 1, 1994

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                 Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
                            Rapid Response Team
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The following is the June 1st issue of IAL-Fax, the journal of the
International Prohibition League.  DRCNet will not be posting these to
its email list on a regular basis, however, you can subscribe directly by
sending email to "[e-mail]".  (This issue is being posted because a
technical problem prevented many new DRCNet subscribers from receiving
this information.)

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IAL-Fax Year III N. 13, June 1, 1994 -
Contents:

INITIATIVE DEONTOLOGIQUE MEDICALE
Brussels, 4.5.94

COLOMBIA DEPENALIZES DRUG USE
Le Soir, 9.5.94. A.F.P.

DEPENALIZATION IN GERMANY
Le Soir, Le Figaro, Repubblica, AFP, 16.5.94

MEXICO: ANTI-DRUG ADVISOR RESIGNS, DENOUNCES
"NARCODEMOCRACY" IPS, 11.5.94

INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES SEEK UNIFIED DRUG STRATEGY
IPS, 26.4.94

THIRD WORLD SUFFERING FROM NARCOTICS TRADE
IPS, 22.4.94

MARIJUANA HAS SMALLER ADVERSE EFFECTS THAN
ALCOHOL, DRIVING STUDY CONFIRMS
California NORML, 2.5.94

JURY ACQUITS NEEDLE-EXCHANGE ACTIVIST
San Jose Mercury News, 29.4.94

MASSIVE CORRUPTION IN BRAZIL
Le Dpeche Internationale des Drogues. May 1994

------------

INITIATIVE DEONTOLOGIQUE MEDICALE
Brussels, 4.5.94

Following an annulment procedure presented to the Council of State by
Initiative Dontologique Mdicale, the Association of Physicians has
modified the text of article 37b of the professional code, which
defines the conduct to be adopted by doctors when treating patients
with substitute drugs. The modification of the article is perhaps the
final act in the battle that has lasted almost four years between the
170 doctors in Initiative Dontologique Mdicale and the Association of
Physicians.

BACKGROUND

Initiative Dontologique Mdicale was born in October 1990, following
the publication by the Brabant provincial council of the Medical
Association of a "directive" which seriously limited the freedom of
doctors to treat drug users with substitute drugs. The directive
obliged doctors to betray professional secrecy by forcing their drug
addict patients to undergo an examination by a pluri-disciplinary
team, and by establishing lists of these patients which they had to
hand over to the Association. The doctors in IDM demand that the
professional rules protecting patients and the doctor-patient
relationship be respected with regard to drug users. Through a request
to the Council of State, IDM obtained the annulment of the Brabant
directive in January 1993. The national council of the Medical
Association tried to overturn this decision by publishing a new
"recommendation" in February 1993, reiterating the regulations that
had been annulled. This recommendation was suspended by the Council of
State in September 1993. The national council tried to overturn this
new decision by introducing the same directives in article 37b of the
professional code. This article, now modified, obliged doctors
carrying out substitution treatment: - to refer the patient to a
pluri-discliplinary team for the evaluation of the treatment and its
adaptation, as well as of the psychological and social situation of
the drug user patient; - to treat the patient with the assistance of
specialists in psychological and social problems; - to ensure that the
patient uses only the medicine prescribed (and not the "drug"
prescribed, as was erroneously written).

For the text of Initiative Dontologique Mdicale, write to Mr Eric
Picard, place Morichar, 54, 1060 Brussels, Belgium.  Tel.
0032.2.538.76.69.

-----------------------------------------------------------

COLOMBIA DEPENALIZES DRUG USE
Le Soir, 9.5.94. A.F.P.

The decision by the Colombian Constitutional Court to depenalize the
personal use of drugs - in the name of individual freedom - has led to
heated debate in Colombia and has also raised the fear of renewed
tension with the United States on the subject of the traffic of drugs.
Firmly condemning the decision, President Csar Gaviria was the first
to open the debate. He underlined the fact that it could only increase
consumption in Colombia. The decision, founded on the principle of the
respect for individual freedom recognized by the Constitution,
abrogated the thirty-day prison sentence for persons found in
possession of doses not exceeding twenty grams of cannabis, five grams
of cannabis resin, one gram of cocaine and two grams of a hallucinogen
similar to LSD.  The President questioned the concept of individual
freedom referred to by the judges, which in his opinion threatens to
have "extremely undesirable" consequences.  He added that individual
freedom must include reasonable limitations, in particular of age,
asking the court to restrict the freedom to use drugs for minors and
pregnant women, and to prohibit the use of drugs in public places and
teaching institutions. Humberto de la Calle, candidate for the
vice-presidency, spoke in the same terms, adding that the use of drugs
is not a personal issue but a problem of society. The result of the
measure, he said, will be a contradiction within the fight against
drugs:  on one hand the sale of drugs remains illegal, and on the
other the use of drugs is permitted. Colombia will face an impossible
situation. The depenalization measure also comes at a difficult time
in relations between Colombia and the United States. Colombian
officials fear that depenalization will be interpreted by the United
States as a sign that the country is less committed to the fight
against the traffic of drugs.

-------------------------------------------------------

DEPENALIZATION IN GERMANY
Le Soir, Le Figaro, Repubblica, AFP, 16.5.94

The regional government of North-Westphalie Rheinland has ordered that
persons found in possession of very small quantities of hard drugs
should no longer be prosecuted. The announcement was made on Friday by
the regional Minister of Justice, Rolf Krumsiek, and followed the
ruling made on 28 April by the German Constitutional Court, a de facto
depenalization of the possession of cannabis derivates (hashish or
marijuana) "only in small quantities and for private use". Since the
court ruling, which also asked the 16 federal states to standardize
their policies in this sphere, considerable differences have emerged
in the definition of the "maximum quantity" of cannabis authorized for
private use. Mr Krumsiek said on Friday that in his Land the
authorized "small quantity" will be 10 grams. But there will also be
maximum quantities of hard drugs below which there prosecution will
not take place: 0.5 grams for heroin, cocaine and amphetamines, and up
to "three doses" for LSD. These quantities, established by a Land
governed by the Social Democrats, are approximately the equalivalent
of a daily dose.

----------------------------

MEXICO: ANTI-DRUG ADVISOR RESIGNS, DENOUNCES
"NARCODEMOCRACY" IPS, 11.5.94

A government anti-drug advisor resigned Wednesday, denouncing Mexico
as a "narcodemocracy" where the drug trade has gained control over the
nation's political and socio-ecomomic affairs. Eduardo Valle began
working in the Ministry of Justice in Jan. 1993, combatting corruption
in police and judicial bodies, but became frustrated with police
powerlessness in the fight against the drug mafia.  He denounced the
murder of Guadalajara bishop Juan Jesus Posades in May 1993 and the
killing of ruling party presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio
last March 23, as well as hundreds of kidnappings of businessmen in
recent years. Valle also mentioned frequent shoot-outs between federal
police, state police and gangs of drug traffickers where no one is
quite sure how to separate the good guys from the bad guys. In his
resignation letter, the former advisor asked, "when will we have the
courage and political maturity to tell the Mexican people that we
suffer from a type of narcodemocracy?" He questioned the anti-drug
plans and programmes developed by the Mexican government, calling them
inefficient and deceptive. Valle raised the possibility of drug links
in the Colosio murder, saying "no one can outline a political project
that does not include drug leaders and their backers, because if
anyone does, he dies." He asked, "do we have the intellectual capacity
and ethical strength to recognise that Amado Carrillo, the Arellano
Felix brothers and Juan Garcia Abrego (all known drug traffickers) are
driving forces, even pillars of our economic growth and social
development?"

------------------------------------------

INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES SEEK UNIFIED DRUG
STRATEGY
IPS, 26.4.94

Representatives from 35 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas
began four days of meetings in Ecuador Tuesday seeking to develop a
common strategy in the war on international drug trafficking. U.S.
ambassador to Quito Peter Romero and the Ecuadorean police force are
co- hosting the XII Anti-Drug Conference, to end Friday.  Romero
warned that countries with slight drug problems today may find
themselves with serious ones tomorrow.  Participants include over 160
international experts and anti-drug police, as well as representatives
from the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control, the Interamerican
Commission for Drug Abuse Control, and the International Police
(Interpol). Issues to be addressed include drug production and
distribution systems and the fabrication and diversification of
various chemical products in the Latin American region. U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency (DEA) director Thomas Constantine said at the
opening session that the war on drugs must not be an individual
effort, but rather a collective one. When Constantine assumed his post
two weeks ago, he said the United States should not blame other
countries for their problems with drug trafficking. He asked the
United States to acknowledge that the demand for drugs within its own
borders incites much of the violence that exists in the world,
violence which affects not one but all countries in the world. He
added that the United States often blames other countries for its own
problems. Studies carried out by international organisations indicate
that over 40 million people worldwide consume illegal drugs,
supporting a business with annual profits of more than 500 billion
dollars. Ecuador is considered a transshipment country more than a
drug producer. Local studies indicate that the South American country
is frequently used as a stop-off point for Colombian and Peruvian drug
shipments to the United States and Europe. Between 1989 and 1993, the
United States sent 29.3 million dollars to Ecuador for the struggle to
fight drug cultivation, consumption and traffic.

----------------------------------------------------

MARIJUANA HAS SMALLER ADVERSE EFFECTS THAN
ALCOHOL, DRIVING STUDY CONFIRMS
California NORML, 2.5.94

In a major new study, "Marijuana and Actual Driving Performance," the
National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) found
that adverse effects of THC, the major psychoactive ingredient of
marijuana, on driving appear "relatively small" and are less than
those of drunken driving. The study, conducted in the Netherlands,
analyzed the performance of drivers in actual freeway and urban
driving at various dosage of marijuana. It found that THC produces a
moderate, dose- related decrement in driving performance as measured
by road trucking, but it is "not profoundly impairing." It also found
that unlike alcohol, which encourages risky driving, marijuana appears
to produce greater caution, apparently because users are more aware of
their state and able to compensate for it. This is the second major
study NHTSA driving study released this year to find that marijuana is
a lesser safety hazard than alcohol. In February, NHSTA released the
most comprehensive fatal driving accident survey to date, which found
thah alcohol was by far the "dominant problem" in drug-related
accidents, while marijuana and other drugs were a relatively minor
hazard except when combined with alcohol or other drugs. It reported,
"there was no indication that marijuana by itself was a cause of fatal
accidents."

------------------------------------------------------

JURY ACQUITS NEEDLE-EXCHANGE ACTIVIST
San Jose Mercury News, 29.4.94

In a case that has been closely watched around the nation, the Alameda
County jury acquitted Scott Halem, an AIDS activist who admitted he
broke the law by giving addicts clean needles, agreeing with him that
it was necessary to help stop the deadly disease. "I feel absolutely
fantastic," Scott Halem said outside the Berkeley-Albany Municipal
Court. "This sends a clear message to the district attorney, to the
Oakland and Berkeley Police Departments, to leave us alone and let us
get on with the challenge of AIDS- prevention work." The verdict is a
good news for needle- exchange proponents across the country, said
Joey Tranchina, executive director of AIDS Prevention Action Network,
whose 1991 San Mateo County trial on similar charges ended in a hung
jury. Many activists and health professionals have held back from
creating new programs beacuse of the fear of prosecution. Now,
Tranchina said, they may forge ahead. Halem, 50, was arrested in July
1990 for possessing more than 400 needles and he won the right to
present a "necessity defense" - meaning he knowingly broke the law
because he felt he had no alternative to slow down the spread of AIDS
among addicts. Halem's attorney plan to ask Alameda County District
Attorney John Meehan to drop the pending charges. If Meehan doesn't,
the attorney will appeal the matter in court, contending Meehan - an
outspoken opponent of needle exchange - is impartial. "I think the
District Attorney would be a fool to prosecute me after this
acquittal," Halem said. "It's a complete waste of taxpayers' money at
a time when there's a budget crunch.  He's wasted a fortune trying to
convict me."

-----------------------------------------------

MASSIVE CORRUPTION IN BRAZIL
Le Dpeche Internationale des Drogues. May 1994

The "jogo do bicho" scandal, which brought to light the massive
corruption of the Brazilian institutions by the mafia organization
behind the illegal lottery business in Rio de Janeiro, has also
revealed the links between these organizations and the Colombian
cocaine cartels. Searches carried out in the homes of the lottery
bosses (bicheiros) have led to the discovery of lists of beneficiaries
(politicians including the ex-President Fernando Collor, the mayor of
Sao Paulo, the governor of Rio and a trade union leader nominated for
the Nobel Prize, Herbert de Souza, at least ten deputies, around 100
police officers, magistrates, and even the Chairman of FIFA, Joao
Havelange). The documents also show that large sums of money were sent
to Cali, and that bribes were given to the anti-drugs units of the Rio
police. The investigators, headed by the Attorney General of Rio,
Antonio Carlos Biscaia, suspect that the bicheiros helped to establish
Brazil as a base for the exportation of cocaine from Colombia to
Europe. The "jogo do bicho" provides work for almost 100,000 people in
Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, with an annual turnover of around 1.4
billion dollars.

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

The International Antiprohibitionist League (IAL) is an association of
scientists, drug experts, journalists, politicians from all over the
world whose aim is to work for the reform of prohibitionist laws on
drugs.

Founded in Rome (Italy) in 1989, the IAL started its activities in
1992 after a federative agreement with the Transnational Radical
Party.

As a multicultural and independent association, the IAL encourages
studies and research projects on the consequences of prohibition and
proposes alternative at both political and social levels.

The IAL activities include:

- organization and distribution of information between members of
scientific community and media, through bulletins, press releases,
printed reports as well as the sponsorship of conferences, seminars,
debates;

- organization of initiatives to inform international parties and
public administrations, with special concern for members of National
parliaments;

- support for the creation of local associations with the same goals.

The executive committee includes: Marie-Andree Bertrand, Professor of
Criminology at the University of Montreal (President); Marco Taradash,
Member of the European Parliament and journalist (Secretary); Antonio
Contardo, businessman (Treasurer)

Among the directive council are: Lester Grinspoon, Professor of
Psychiatry at Harvard University; Roger Lewis, Director of the
Research Centre on HIV, AIDS and Drugs in Edinburgh (UK); Ferdinando
Savater, philosopher and author (Spain); Govert Van de Wijngaart,
Director of the project for the Prevention of alcohol and drugs in
Utrecht (Netherlands); Kevin Zeese, vice-president of the Drug Policy
Foundation.

Among its activities, the IAL sponsored a conference on the damage of
prohibitionism in Bruxelles, worked in close contact with the Italian
anti-prohibitionist movement, and helped the organization of similar
associations in Spain, Portugal, France.

Recently, a report "For a Revision of the United Nations Conventions
on Drugs" was distributed among members of the European Parliament and
other National Parliaments.

The most immediate goal of the IAL is the organization of an
International Conference on the alternatives to  drug prohibition to
be held under the approval of the United Nations in 1995.

Financially supported by its members and private contributions, the
IAL has three different levels for its annual membership:
- US $ 300 supporting member;
- US $ 100 full member;
- US $ 50 associate member.

>From the US, payment can be made by:
- Credit Card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express);
- Bank transfer to IAL, account # 424-6075921-55,
   Kredietbank, Brussels, Belgium.

The IAL publishes a biweekly newsletter - IALFax - which reports
events and news on drug policy from all around the world.
Subscription is free (email only): <[e-mail]>

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

International Antiprohibitionist League P. E., REM 508, 89 Rue
Belliard 1047 Brussels, Belgium Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]



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