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Armed Police Invade High School, No Drugs Found

November 7, 2003 . . . A drug sweep Wednesday morning at a South Carolina school has some parents and students questioning police tactics. . . . Surveillance video from Stratford High School in Goose Creek shows 14 officers, some with guns drawn, ordering students to lie the ground as police searched for marijuana. Students who didn't comply with the orders quickly enough were reportedly handcuffed. . . . Police didn't find any criminals in the armed sweep, but they say search dogs smelled drugs on a dozen backpacks. . . . The school's principal defended the dramatic sweep. . . . "We received reports from staff members and students that there was a lot of drug activity," said George McCrackin. "Recently we busted a student for having over 300-plus prescription pills. The volume and the amount of marijuana coming into the school is unacceptable." . . . The parents of some students who were subjected to the sweep disagree. . . . "I was just upset knowing they had guns put to their head and a canine was barking at them and about to bite somebody," said Latonia Simmons, the parent of one student. "It was awful."

[Click on the above link for more of the story and a detailed series of photographs of the police attack on the students.]

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 8:10 AM

 

What You Can Do to Stop the War on Drugs
When you are looking for up-to-date, and very accurate, information about anything to do with psychoactive substances, I believe you already know that the ONLY place to begin your search is on the Erowid.org Web site. It is so far ahead of the next most comprehensive library on the subject that you will seldom need to search farther. And don't think that this Web site is only for those who are interested in using these substances. It is a fact that the Erowid team also receives many notes of thanks from parents who are dealing with the issue of drug use with their children and have not been able to find valid information on the subject elsewhere. This is truly one of the most important Web sites on the Internet. ... AND THEY NEED OUR HELP!

Access to Erowid is free and does not require membership, but it is through contributions from our visitors that the site is able to be maintained and developed.

Due to a series of unexpected challenges, 2003 is proving to be a difficult financial time for them. Whether you are a frequent visitor to Erowid or simply someone who wants to see this type of information remain freely available via the web...they need your support.

Erowid is trying to reach 800 contributing members by the end of 2003. Today they have about 750 supporters. It takes less than $1 a week to do your part to keep this important resource available. Perhaps you could find it in your heart to make an early holiday present to the team of wonderful volunteers who keep Erowid alive by making a small donation. .... Thank you in advance! [Just click on the link above to go to the Erowid donation page.]

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 9:26 AM

 

Drug Policy Alliance: Breaking News - Harsh Drug Bill to Be Introduced
(November 19, 2003)
Act NOW to protect medical marijuana patients, preserve the right of judges to show compassion for deserving defendants, and save taxpayer money

Now, just before Congress goes out of session, one of the country's harshest drug war extremists, Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN), is about to introduce some of the scariest legislation we've seen this year.

Rep. Souder's bill increases penalties for many drug offenses and takes away the right of judges to show mercy when it's appropriate. The bill also enacts new draconian penalties that could sentence compassionate Americans that grow and provide medical marijuana to decades in federal prison.

Although it's titled the 'Drug Sentencing Reform Act,' this dangerous bill is all sentencing and no reform. It will destroy the lives of thousands more non-violent Americans.

We know that Rep. Souder wants to introduce his bill within the next couple of weeks and is asking for co-sponsorship from other Representatives. Make sure your Representative doesn't support this bill. Call NOW and tell your Representative not to co-sponsor Rep. Souder's Drug Sentencing Reform Act because it contains no reform and ties the hands of judges.

Actions to Take:

1) CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE NOW! To reach your representative by phone, call the US Capitol Switchboard at 1-800-839-5276 or call your representative's office directly by looking up the phone number at: http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=38291&l=9389.

Tell your Representative: "I'm a constituent and I'm calling to urge Rep. [Name] not to co-sponsor Rep. Souder's Drug Sentencing Reform Act, which he is about to introduce. The Drug Sentencing Reform Act contains no reform and ties the hands of judges. It will punish nonviolent Americans and compassionate citizens that provide patients with medical marijuana. I would like Rep. [Name] to tell me where s/he stands on this bill. S/he can send a letter to me at [Address] or an e-mail to [Address]. Thank you for your time."

2) Tell us what your Representative says. Email us at ActionFeedback@drugpolicy.org.

3) Forward this alert to your friends, family, and co-workers.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 10:16 AM

 

The Good Drug Guide : new mood-brighteners and antidepressants
The above link is to an excellent, but quite lengthy, report by HEDWEB titled The Responsible Parent's Guide to Healthy Mood-Boosters for All the Family. While not a pro-drug paper, it takes the middle road and does not demonize mind altering substances in the way that the anti-drug warriors do. One section of this paper has links to some interesting scientific studies of cannabis (the substance the drug warriors call marijuana) that reveal that this plant does not have addictive properties. Here is what it says about this substance:
= = = = =
By contrast to today's opioids, marijuana isn't usually addictive in the traditional sense of the term. It can still be habit-forming. Marijuana has euphoriant, psychedelic and sedative properties. Experiments with stoned rats suggest the drug reduces the amount of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) in the amygdala. Excess secretion of CRF is associated with abnormalities in the HPLA axis and depression. The rebound surge of CRF on ceasing cannabis-use is associated with increased vulnerability to stress and a withdrawal-reaction, arguably one good reason not to stop in the first instance. A dysfunctional response to stress, linked to a chronically overactive HPLA axis, causes anxiety disorders and depression; CRH-type 1 receptor antagonists like antalarmin are being investigated as potential anxiolytics and antidepressants. The deeper roots of our malaise lie buried in the evolutionary past.

The primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is THC, tetrahydrocannabinol. Smoking or eating marijuana and its complex cocktail of compounds may rarely trigger episodes of depersonalisation, derealisation and psychosis. Sometimes it can induce paranoia, particularly in advocates of The War Against Drugs. More commonly, marijuana just leaves the user pleasantly and harmlessly stoned. It's fun. Sleepiness, pain relief and euphoria are typical responses. Indeed the first brain-derived substance found to bind to our cannabis receptors was christened "anandamide", a derivative of the Sanskrit word for internal contentment. Getting high may thus serve as an innocent recreational pastime in an uncaring world.

Yet marijuana is not a wonderdrug. Cognitive function in the user is often impaired, albeit moderately and reversibly. Marijuana interferes with memory-formation by disrupting long-term potentiation in the hippocampus. One of the functions of endogenous cannabinoids in the brain is to promote selective short-term amnesia. Forgetting is not, as one might have supposed, a purely passive process. Either way, choosing deliberately to ingest an amnestic agent for long periods is scarcely an ideal life-strategy. It's especially flawed given the centrality of memory to human self-identity. Some artists and professional bohemians, it is true, apparently do find smoking grass an adjunct to creative thought. For persons of a more philistine temperament, on the other hand, it's hard to see such a drug as a major tool for life-affirmation or the development of the human species. This does not, one ought scarcely need to add, suggest marijuana users should be persecuted and criminalised.
= = = = =

The full article has many links to a wide range of topics that mentioned in the text. We have only provided a few of those links in the above paragraphs.

Interestingly, the weight of scientific opinion seems to say that the best thing to take if you are suffering from mild depression caused by withdrawl from marijuana is to continue taking it. :-)

As Terence McKenna was fond of saying: Keep the Old Faith and stay high.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 11:57 AM