A Yippie Veteran Is in Jail Far From the East Village
Colin Moynihan, New York Times

It has been more than 40 years since Dana Beal came to prominence as a theoretician for the Youth International Party, known as the Yippies, and embarked on a long career in the world of countercultural politics.

Since 1973, Mr. Beal and other Yippies have used a brick tenement on Bleecker Street, just west of the East Village, as a base for planning large-scale events, including demonstrations at national political conventions and worldwide marches calling for the legalization of medical marijuana, among other causes.

But Mr. Beal, 61, was far from the national stage last week when he found himself arrested on charges of money laundering in Mattoon, Ill., about 170 miles south of Chicago. He is being held in a county jail in nearby Charleston, awaiting an appearance before a judge on Thursday.

Ronald Tulin, a Charleston lawyer representing Mr. Beal, said that the police found his client with a large sum of cash, which was sniffed by police dogs.

“They’re saying the money smelled like marijuana,” Mr. Tulin said.

Remembering Dr. John P. Morgan

Dr. John P. Morgan, a drug policy reform leader and close friend to the U.S. Drug Policy Alliance, died suddenly last Friday of acute myeloid leukemia. Morgan was a professor of pharmacology at the City University of New York Medical School for 26 years until he retired in 2004, and published widely in medical journals on pharmacology, drug toxicity and other topics.

Go Ask Alice:

Mushroom Drug Is Studied Anew

Ron Winslow

In a study that could revive interest in researching the effects of
psychedelic drugs, scientists said a substance in certain mushrooms
induced powerful, mind-altering experiences among a group of
well-educated, middle-age men and women. [Psilocybe Cubensis]

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions researchers conducted the study
following carefully controlled, scientifically rigorous procedures.
They said that the episodes generally led to positive changes in
attitude and behavior among the 36 volunteer participants and that the
changes appeared to last at least two months. Participants cited
feelings of intense joy, "distance from ordinary reality," and feelings
of peace and harmony after taking the drug. Two-thirds described the
effects of the drug, called psilocybin, as among the five most
meaningful experiences of their lives.

Supreme Court Okays Hallucinogenic Tea

Gina Holland, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that a small congregation in New Mexico may use hallucinogenic tea as part of a four-hour ritual intended to connect with God.

Justices, in their first religious freedom decision under Chief Justice John Roberts, moved decisively to keep the government out of a church's religious practice. Federal drug agents should have been barred from confiscating the hoasca tea of the Brazil-based church, Roberts wrote in the decision.

The tea, which contains an illegal drug known as DMT, is considered sacred to members of O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal, which has a blend of Christian beliefs and South American traditions. Members believe they can understand God only by drinking the tea, which is consumed twice a month at four-hour ceremonies.

New Justice Samuel Alito did not take part in the case, which was argued last fall before Justice Sandra Day O'Connor before her retirement. Alito was on the bench for the first time on Tuesday

Punkerslut writes:

"Better Living Through Chemicals"
Punkerslut

An Introduction to the Drug Situation in America

"Marihuana is that drug — a violent narcotic — an unspeakable scourge — The Real Public Enemy Number One! Its first effect is sudden, violent, uncontrollable laughter; then come dangerous hallucinations — space expands — time slows down, almost stands still.... fixed ideas come next, conjuring up monstrous extravagances — followed by emotional disturbances, the total inability to direct thoughts, the loss of all power to resist physical emotions... leading finally to acts of shocking violence... ending often in incurable insanity. In picturing its soul-destroying effects no attempt was made to equivocate. The scenes and incidents, while fictionized for the purposes of this story, are based upon actual research into the results of Marihuana addiction. If their stark reality will make you think, will make you aware that something must be done to wipe out this ghastly menace, then the picture will not have failed in its purpose... Because the dread Marihuana may be reaching forth next for your son or daughter... or yours... OR YOURS!" — "Reefer Madness", 1939

The concept of drugs and drug use has come a considerably far distance since the early days of "twenty years for possession and life for sale." The days of imprisonment for decades and decades for marijuana possession is a thing of the past, as much as the scarlet letter is considered a relic of a barbaric and cruel people. Most liberal cities, and even conservative cities that have libertarian judges, are now seeing that there is no solution in imprisoning a smoker of marijuana. Instead, many cities have seen a better policy in giving out tickets to those caught smoking marijuana. In most cities and states, these tickets are comparable to the traffic tickets that drivers sometimes incur. Policy has even been liberalized for those who use heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Instead of thinking that imprisonment will heal them, it is understood that many of these people suffer from an addiction that is beyond their control, and that they are seeking help for their problems. Finally, society is starting to accept the idea that drugs are something that people go to when they are in search of a good, and many people survive lifestyles that involve frequent drug use, but there are some people who become addicted junkies that always suffer for their substance. Every year, it seems that sentences and punishments for drug possession and drug use are becoming more lenient; they are becoming more ethical. I look forward to the day when I can go to my local grocery store and a buy the top-brand, high-quality, imported marijuana in bulk packaging, the way they sell one pound tobacco bags. I am looking forward to this day, but I know in my heart, that with people like these, it may very well take some time.

"Paramilitaries 'Disarm' In Colombia"

Reuters

BOGOTA, Colombia — More than 2,600
far-right Colombian paramilitaries have turned in
their guns, the biggest one-day demobilization since
the illegal groups started peace talks with the
government in 2003.

The disbanding of the Miners Block, a paramilitary
group in the northern province of Antioquia named
after nearby gold mines, brought to 16,500 the number
of militiamen who had turned in their arms so far,
government officials said Friday.

That left fewer than 4,000 in operation, according to
government figures.

The disbanding of the paramilitary groups, which were
formed in the 1980s by drug smugglers and cattle
ranchers trying to protect their property from Marxist
rebels, is key to President Alvaro Uribe's plan for
retaking Colombia from the control of various illegal
armed groups tied to the cocaine trade.

Matthew McDaniel writes:

Who Are the Cowards at US Immigration?

We'd like to know who the cowards are at the United States Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS). After getting deported by the US from Thailand, the family getting left behind, small children and their mother left to fend for themselves, we wonder who these faceless Nazis are?

Deported for Human Rights Activism. Deported because SOMETHING we were doing for the Akha hill tribe was SO important and upsetting the US SO bad that they had to tell the Thai government what to do.

The Ibogaine Alternative

Paul DeRienzo

Imagine a drug that could eliminate a scourge that impacts the lives of more than three million Americans and more than a million western Europeans — drug addiction — with one pill.

Ibogaine was isolated from the root-bark of a plant known as Tabernanthe iboga that grows in a forested area of West Africa in Cameroon and Gabon. In Africa the plant is central to a religion known as Bwiti, one of the most resilient indigenous belief system in Africa. An initiate into the religion must eat the iboga root to induce intense visions and to "meet their ancestors."

Czech Republic Will Decriminalize Growing of Cannabis for Personal Use

Bushka Bryndova, Legalizace

This week the lower chamber of the Czech Parliament approved a new text of the Penal Code decriminalizing growing of psychoactive cannabis and of magic mushrooms (very popular in the Czech Republic) for personal use. The new law still needs to be approved by the Senate and signed by the President. It is almost sure that the Senate will vote for it and that President Klaus would approve it too.

The new law makes a clear distinction between soft (cannabis and magic mushrooms) and hard drugs, and stipulates different penalties for their possession and for the growing of cannabis and mushrooms, which have been since a long time demanded by drug experts and activists. The penalties for hard drugs remain practically unchanged.

"Overgrowing the Government" Campaign

Marc Emery and the British Columbia Marijuana Party

The BCMP needs your help. The ongoing struggle against the extradition of the BC Three (Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams) is of critical importance to the future of cannabis policy reform in Canada. With your help, we can win the fight and Canada can become an example of tolerant, compassionate and fact-based cannabis policy. Please help us Overgrow the Government!