• McWilliams jailed for Medical Marijuana Conspiracy

Best-selling author Peter McWilliams (Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do; How to Survive the Loss of a Love) was arrested and jailed by the federal government on July 23 on charges that he financed a large marijuana cultivation operation in a Los Angeles mansion in 1997. The AIDS and cancer patient who uses marijuana to relieve his nausea is being held on a $250,000 bond.

In July 1997, McWilliams' friend and medical marijuana patient, Todd McCormick, was arrested after DEA agents found 4,000 marijuana plants growing in his rented Bel-Air mansion. The federal indictment alleges that McWilliams financed the operation, but he claims the money paid to McCormick was to write a book, How to Grow Medical Marijuana. In December, the DEA and IRS raided McWilliams' home and seized the computer that contained his new book on medical marijuana.

McWilliams has complained of not receiving all of his AIDS medication, which could be potentially life-threatening. The medication he has received has made him nauseated because he does not have access to marijuana; he repeatedly vomited during a July 31 emergency hearing to determine whether he should be released. U.S. MagistrateJudge Andrew Wistrich refused to reduce his $250,000 bail, but assured McWilliams that appropriate AIDS and cancer medication would be provided while McWilliams was incarcerated.

To donate to the defense fund, send a check to: Peter McWilliams Legal Defense Fund, c/o Steve C. Markoff, 100 Wilshire Blvd., 3rd Floor, Santa Monica, CA 90401.

•    McCaffrey Accuses Reform Movement of Devious Fraud

The director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, General Barry McCaffrey, took the offensive against the drug policy reform movement before the Senate Judiciary Committee by charging the movement with "perpetuat[ing a fraud on the American people." In his written statement of June 17, McCaffrey indirectly blamed increased youth drug use on the "current haze of misinformation" being published by drug policy reformers, and asserted: "There is a carefully camouflaged, exorbitantly funded, well-heeled, elitist group whose ultimate goal is to legalize drug use in the United States. ... Through a slick misinformation propaganda campaign, these individuals perpetuate a fraud on the American people — a fraud so devious that even some of the nation's most respected newspapers and sophisticated media are capable of echoing their falsehoods." McCaffrey added that harm reduction is a "hijacked concept that has become a euphemism for drug legalization."

McCaffrey's comments prompted Sen. Joseph Biden Jr. (D-Del.) to propose hearings to "expose" drug legalization. McCaffrey agreed that a public debate needed to take place, saying: "It's a legitimate subject of debate in our society if you do it openly."

The Drug Policy Foundation has written to Biden expressing its support for "balanced hearings" and requesting a role in inviting experts to testify.

McCaffrey's testimony is available from the ONDCP (202/395-6700, www. whitehousedrugpolicy.gov).

•    Reports Examine Link Between Drug Trade and Corruption

Two new reports, one from the FBI and the other from the General Accounting Office (GAO), found that drug-related corruption among law enforcement has increased since the early 1990s.

The FBI report, "Misconduct to Corruption," found that the number of federal, state, and local officials in federal prisons has increased fivefold in four years, from 107 in 1994 to 548 in 1998.

In the 37 cities that responded to the researchers' survey, 187 felony and 265 misdemeanor arrests were recorded, according to the June 13 Los Angeles Times. Eighty-five officers were charged with illicit drug use, 118 with theft, 148 with domestic violence, and nine with driving under the influence of alcohol.

Several instances of officers robbing drug dealers were reported, including the case of Rene de la Cova, a former Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor. De la Cova, one of the officers who took custody of Manuel Noriega in 1989, pleaded guilty five years later to stealing $750,000 in laundered drug money. He was sentenced to two years in prison.

Hoover Institution research fellow and DPF board member Joseph McNamara told the Los Angeles Times: "Every week we read of another police scandal related to the drug war — corruption, brutality, and even armed robbery by cops in uniform."

The GAO's May 1998 report, "Information on Drug-Related Police Corruption," was requested by Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.). The report found that information on the extent of drug-related corruption was limited because it mostly occurs at the local level, but FBI statistics were available on federal corruption cases. The number of drug-related cases that were opened increased from 61 in 1993 to 92 in 1997, and the number of officers convicted as a result of an FBI-led corruption investigation increased from 59 to 79 in the same years. Between 1993 and 1997, over 50 percent of convicted officers were involved in drug-related corruption.

The GAO also found that drug-related corruption was more likely to involve serious criminal activity, such as conducting unconstitutional searches and seizures, stealing and selling drugs, and stealing money from drug dealers. The GAO report noted that drug-related corruption typically involved groups of officers, as opposed to other forms of corruption that only involved individual officers.

•    Forfeiture Ruled Excessive by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court, for the first time in its history, ruled that a forfeiture action was an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment.

The case involved gas station owner Hosep Bajakajian, who tried to take $357,144 in currency out of the United States without filing the required paperwork. Federal law requires all persons carrying $10,000 or more in cash out of the country to report it. Persons who are convicted of violating the reporting requirement are required to forfeit "any property ... involved in such offense"; in this case, the entire $357,144.

But Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority, ruled that, because the forfeiture was imposed as a result 6f a conviction for a crime, it constituted a punishment and a fine. The case did not involve civil asset forfeiture because action was directed against the owner, not "guilty property." Thomas concluded that "full forfeiture of respondent's currency would be grossly disproportional to the gravity of his offense."

United States v. Bajakajian (96-1487) was decided on June 22 by a 5-4 margin.

•    Congress Threatens District of Columbia Syringe Exchange
The June 26 Washington Blade reported that Rep. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) tried to block the D.C. government from using its money to fund a two-year-old syringe exchange program (SEP). According to Capitol Hill sources, Coburn asked Rep. Charles Taylor (R-N.C.), chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, to include a clause in the city's 1999 budget bill prohibiting the city from funding SEPs.

The Whitman-Walker Clinic is currently operating an SEP in the District with a $221,000 grant from the D.C. government. The program was initially started as a result of a grant from the Drug Policy Foundation.

At the June 24 meeting of the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, U.S. Rep. Connie Morella CR-Md.) and D.C. council members Carol Schwartz (R) and David Catania (R) argued that Coburn's proposal should be rejected. Catania said, "As a Republican, I believe in the concept of local government, and, as a Republican, I am opposed to intrusive federal involvement into matters that are undeniably local...."

 •    Money-Laundering Sting
Angers Mexico
On May 18, U.S. officials announced the completion of "Operation Casablanta," which they hailed as the most successful anti-money laundering operation in history. The three-year undercover operation involved more than 200 undercover agents and led to the arrest of 167 people, including 26 Mexican and two Venezuelan bankers. It also resulted in the indictments of three Mexican banks and the seizure of $35 million, with the possibility of eventually seizing $157 million. Nearly 100 U.S. bank accounts were used to launder funds, but no evidence has surfaced to implicate U.S. banking officials.

Although U.S. officials were ecstatic about Casablanca, the sting operation infuriated many top Mexican officials, who accused U.S. law enforcement of violating Mexico's sovereignty. The accusations stem from the fact that undercover U.S. agents conducted parts of the investigation in Mexico, where sting operations are illegal.

In a June 3 meeting in Caracas, Venezuela, Mexico's Foreign Secretary Rosario Green informed U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that Mexico intends to prosecute U.S. agents and informers on charges of entrapment, engaging in money laundering, and usurping the authority of Mexican law enforcement. In reaction, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a concurrent resolution, H. Con.Res. 288, on June 22 to express its opposition to extraditing U.S. law enforcement officials.

•    John Stossel Examines "Sex, Drugs, and Consenting Adults"

On May 26, ABC News reporter John Stossel devoted an hour of prime-time television to the issue of consensual crimes. "Sex, Drugs, and Consenting Adults" questioned the wisdom of laws that are designed to protect people from themselves and whether such laws are legitimate in a free society.

The program featured Peter McWilliams, author of Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society (www. consenting.org), who uses medical marijuana to control the nausea created by his AIDS and cancer treatments.

Stossel also featured Will Foster, who received 93 years in an Oklahoma court for growing medicinal marijuana (see DPL 34, p. 26, and DPL 35, p. 26). Stossel emphasized Foster's right to use drugs as opposed to his medical need for marijuana.

Stossel received a barrage of positive feedback from the program, and he recommended DPF's website as the first resource that interested persons should consult for more information.

•    DARE Will Continue to Receive Federal Funding Despite Proven Ineffectiveness

On July 1, the new Department of Education "Principles of Effectiveness" for drug prevention programs went into effect, which will require Safe and Drug-Free School Program grants "to support research-based drug and violence prevention programs for youth," according to the June 1 Federal Register.

Although the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program has consistently failed to show long-term reductions in drug abuse among adolescents, the program will still be eligible for funding, according to Bill Modzeleski, director of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program at the Department of Education.

According to Modzeleski, DARE continues to qualify because the "Principles of Effectiveness" only require programs to demonstrate a "promise of effectiveness." However, the Federal Register states that the "promise of effectiveness" clause was included so new or locally-based programs that were untested could still qualify for federal funding, criteria which do not apply to DARE.

DPF's H. Alexander Robinson said, "Science should dictate our nation's drug policies and how we spend our limited prevention resources. If the scientific community says, 'DARE doesn't work,' then its federal subsidy should have ended on July 1."

•    California Senators Hold Marijuana Summit

On May 26, two dozen Democratic members of the California State Senate met with police officers, state officials, and concerned citizens in an attempt to develop a workable medical marijuana distribution plan, as provided for by Propo sition 215. The federal government, which has attacked California's medical marijuana law on a variety of fronts, refused to participate in the summit.

State Senator John Vasconcellos (Santa Clara) called for the meeting, along with Senate President Pro Tem. John Burton and 21 other senators and assembly members. They sent a strongly worded letter to President Clinton, which said, in part, "Mr. President, we can't ignore this issue. It won't go away, so long as human beings believe they have the right to attend to their own illness, as their doctor recommends, rather than as government dictates."

Dave Fratello, spokesperson for Americans for Medical Rights (310 /394- 2952), noted that one of the interesting findings was "the use of a loophole in federal law which allows state or local officials to handle otherwise illegal substances in conjunction with the enforcement of a state or local ordinance. This was written to allow the police to handle drugs for sting operations, but it's written very broadly. There was some agreement that this provision might well cover local health officials who were handing out marijuana."

•    California Medical Association Calls for Rescheduling of Marijuana

Citing "the lack of scientific justification for Schedule I classification of marijuana," the California Medical Association voted on May 26 to call for moving of marijuana to Schedule II. Schedule I is the classification for those drugs banned from medical use because of no recognized medical utility and a high probability of abuse. Schedule II drugs have a proven medical utility and a high probability of abuse. If placed in Schedule II, marijuana would join cocaine, morphine, amphetamine, and synthetic THC.
Thanks to DRCNet's "Week Online" (2021 293-8340, www.drcnet.org).