NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE REFORM OF MARIJUANA LAWS
1001 CONNECTICUT AVENUE NW
SUITE 1010
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036
TEL 202-483-5500 * FAX 202-483-0057
E-MAIL natlnorml@aol.com
Internet http://www.norml.org/
... a weekly service for the media on news items related to Marijuana Prohibition.
October 12, 1995
Alaska Court Rules Roadside Marijuana Search To Be Illegal
September 27, 1995,
Anchorage, AK: In a ruling that could cast doubt upon the legality of many
roadside searches, Alaska District Court Judge William Fuld has dismissed charges against
a man who was arrested after a state trooper reportedly smelled marijuana and then
demanded that the defendant "hand it over." In the court's view, the
officer's phrase: "hand it over" was not a choice, but a demand to search the
defendant's vehicle. Therefore, the court ruled that the roadside search was
improper because no valid consent was ever given by the defendant.
"The trooper was in uniform and the
defendant testified that he felt he had to respond to the officer's command,"
summarized Fuld in his court opinion. "The demand to 'hand it over' admitted to
by the trooper was an illegal search of the defendant. While the trooper smelled
marijuana, he had no right to search the passenger. ...
... The state argues that there was a valid
consent to a search. I don't think so. No choice was offered [to the
defendant.]"
For more information on this decision,
please contact Don Hart of the National Lawyers Guild @ (907) 376-2232 or Len Karpinski of
Anchorage NORML @ (907) 248-HEMP.
California Activists File Medical Marijuana Initiative For 1996 State Ballot
September 29, 1995,
Sacramento, CA: A coalition of AIDS activists, cancer survivors, seniors,
nurses, and medical experts have filed a medical marijuana initiative with the California
Attorney General's Office. The initiative was filed in response to Governor Pete
Wilson's expected veto of bill AB 1529. (This legislation would provide for the
controlled compassionate use of marijuana for those individuals diagnosed by a physician
to be suffering from the diseases of AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and multiple
sclerosis.) Wilson previously vetoed similar bills in both 1993 and 1994.
The initiative maintains that those patients who possess a valid doctor's recommendation
should be allowed to use marijuana as a therapeutic without fear or risk of criminal
prosecution. The initiative also allows citizens to cultivate their own marijuana
for personal use and encourages state and federal government to establish a program that
will provide for a safe and affordable method of distribution. This coalition has
150 days to collect 600,000 signatures.
Marijuana activist and head of Californians for
Compassionate Use, Dennis Peron, will be directing the initiative drive. "If
Governor Wilson had not vetoed, two years in a row, two separate medical marijuana
bills--one that would have allowed doctors to prescribe, and one to allow patients not be
prosecuted for personal use of marijuana--this would not be necessary," he stated.
For more information on the California
medical marijuana initiative, please contact Dennis Peron of Californians for
Compassionate Use @ (415) 621-3986.
10th Circuit Appeals Court Rules Warrantless Use Of Heat Sensing
Equipment
To Be Unconstitutional
October 4, 1995, Denver, CO: The following is an excerpt from a Reuters news brief:
It is unconstitutional for police and drug enforcement agents to scan homes with heat-sensing equipment to detect criminal activity without a warrant, the federal appeals court in Denver ruled Wednesday.
The decision came in a case which law enforcement officers in Wyoming obtained a search warrant, and later a conviction, after using a thermal imager to gather evidence that marijuana was being grown in a home.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from a six state region [Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma], ruled 3-0 that police must obtain a search warrant before using such equipment.
"We reject the government's contention that its technical wizardry should free it from the restraints mandated by the Fourth Amendment," the court said. It noted that the government denies thermal imagers intrude upon privacy.
The court said four federal appeals courts in other circuits have ruled the opposite way, that warrants are not needed before police use thermal imagers.
For more information about the use of thermal imaging, please contact Allen St. Pierre @ NORML.
New York Times Editorial Lashes Out At The Drug War
October 7, 1995, New York,
NY: Citing statistics from a recently released Sentencing Project report, The New York
Times denounced the "War on Drugs" in a Saturday editorial.
Noting that current data indicates that one in
three black men between the ages of 20 and 29 are involved somewhere in the criminal
justice system (either prison, pre-trial detention, on probation or on parole), the Op-ed
argues that the "War on Drugs" is rounding up a "disproportionate"
number of black Americans. In support of this notion, the editorial noted that
"during the early 1990's, at a time when African-Americans accounted for only 13
percent of monthly drug users, African-Americans were involved in 35 percent of the
arrests for drug possession, 55 percent of the convictions and 74 percent of the prison
sentences.
Although the editorial never spoke out in favor
of legalization, it did assert that America "need[s] to rethink both drug and
punishment policies." These latest figures, the Times concluded, "should
set off alarm bells from the White House to city halls--and help reverse the notion that
we can incarcerate our way out of fundamental social problems.
For more information or to receive a copy
of the Sentencing Project's latest report, please contact Mark Mauer of the Sentencing
Project @ (202) 628-0871.
County Sheriff, Undercover Agents Threaten Sandusky County NORML
With Indictments
September 30, 1995,
Fremont, OH: A September 22 weekend rally put on by the Sandusky County Chapter of
NORML has stirred up more than just controversy following an announcement by Sheriff David
Gangwer that he had undercover agents infiltrate the event.
"I am disappointed with the actions of
this sheriff," said Sandusky County NORML Chapter President, Tomas Salazar.
"This is a direct attack on NORML and we are being targeted for our beliefs.
This is a violation of our Constitutional right to assemble."
Gangwer claims that the information and
evidence gathered by his agents will eventually be turned over to the Sandusky County
Prosecutor and state officials. The evidence could warrant the need for a special
grand jury to seek criminal indictments against NORML, he added. Gangwer would not
discuss what charges were being considered.
"At the very least we hope the information
we gathered will prevent this from ever happening in this county or in this state
again," he said.
Don't bet on it, claims Salazar, who is already
preparing to organize another Harvest Festival next year. "I can't see anything
that they can charge NORML with," he contends. "NORML has always acted
responsibly in all of their events ... and I expect there will be no indictments.
This is harassment." Salazar added that organizers required all attendees to
sign a release affirming that they would not engage in any illegal activities during the
course of the festival. The release also required attendees to indicate that they
were not an undercover law enforcement official.
"We have a right to socialize and that's
what we did," Salazar concluded. "We never expected the big brouhaha that was
made out of it."
For more information, please contact Tomas
Salazar of Sandusky County NORML @ (419) 334-9310.
-END-
MORE THAN 10 MILLION MARIJUANA ARRESTS SINCE 1965 ... ANOTHER EVERY 90 SECONDS!