Reports

Research Findings on Medicinal Properties of Marijuana, a summary of published scientific research on the medical use of marijuana, by Kevin Zeese, President of Common Sense for Drug Policy, 3619 Tallwood Terrace, Falls Church, VA 22041, (703) 354-5694 (voice), (703) 354-5695 (fax), [email protected], online at http://www.lindesmith.org/mmjcsdp.html.

Health Emergency 1997: The Spread of Drug-Related AIDS Among African-Americans and Latinos, with foreword by former Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders, detailing the continuing spread of drug-related AIDS and its disproportionate impact on African American and Latino injection drug users. The report is available for $7 from the Dogwood Center, P.O. Box 187, Princeton, NJ 08542, (609) 924-4797, or on the world-wide-web at http://www.lindesmith.org/he97/.

Americans Behind Bars: U.S. and International Use of Incarceration, 1995. This report examines the rate of incarceration in the United States and abroad, and finds that the U.S. has one of the highest rates of incarceration. A copy of the report is available for $8 from The Sentencing Project, 918 F St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20004, (202) 628-0871. It may be ordered by e-mail, including full name, address and telephone number sent to: [email protected], or via http://www.sproject.com on the web.

Still Crazy After All These Years: Marijuana Prohibition 1937-1997, marking the 60th anniversary of the Marijuana Tax Act. (See article, page 9.) Contact The NORML Foundation, 1001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1010, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 483-8751 (voice), (202) 483-0057 (fax), [email protected], http://www.norml.org.

Cannabis Policy Options: Alternative Systems Of Cannabis Control In New Zealand, from the Drug Policy Forum Trust in Wellington, New Zealand. Available for $10NZ from: Drug Policy Forum Trust, P.O. Box 12199, Wellington, NZ, or on the world-wide-web at http://www.nzdf.org.nz/dpf.htm.

Race and Drug Law Enforcement in the State of Georgia, an analysis finding racial bias in the enforcement of drug laws. Published: 7/96, 21 pp., $3.00 Copies of this report can be ordered through: Publications Department, Human Rights Watch, 485 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6104, (212) 972-8400 (voice), (212) 972-0905 (fax). For U.S. orders add $3.50 plus $.50 for each additional item. For Canadian orders add $4.50 plus $.75 for each additional item. In Europe contact Global Book Marketing, Representation & Marketing Services, 38 King Street, London WC2E 8JT UK, +44(0)171 240 6649.

Cruel and Usual: Disproportionate Sentences for New York Drug Offenders, the first-ever report on the human rights impact of drug sentences for low-level offenders anywhere in the United States. Human Rights Watch charges that the disproportionately long sentences in New York state contravene basic rights protected by international law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment and Punishment. The report is available for $6. For U.S. orders add $3.50 plus $.50 for each additional item. For Canadian orders add $4.50 plus $.75 for each additional item. Contact info included in previous paragraph. Summary and recommendations online at http://www.hrw.org/summaries/s.us973.html on the web.

Drug Policy in Connecticut and Strategy Options, report of the Connecticut Law Review Commission. A comprehensive set of drug policy reform and harm reduction reforms made to the Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly. Available from the Connecticut Law Review Commission, State Capitol, Room 509A, Hartford, CT 06106, (860) 240-0220 (voice), (860) 240-0322 (fax).

From Classrooms to Cell Blocks: A National Perspective. Report from the newly-formed Justice Policy Institute, finding that 1995 was the first year in which money spent on building prisons exceeded university construction funds, and that there was almost a dollar for dollar tradeoff that year in construction funds between the two industries. Co-authored by JPI Director Vincent Schiraldi and researcher Tara-Jen Ambrosio.

Kids, Drugs, and Drug Education, A Harm Reduction Approach, policy statement of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, by Marsha Rosenbaum, Ph.D., Director of The Lindesmith Center's San Francisco Office. Contact NCCD, 685 Market St., Suite 620, San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 896-5109, 896-5109 (fax).

Fixing a Failing System: How the Criminal Justice System Can Work with Communities to Reduce Substance Abuse. Report calling on public officials to "stop pushing non-violent substance abusers through a revolving door of ineffective punishment." Panel sponsored by the Boston-based prevention network Join Together, chaired by former Minneapolis mayor Donald Fraser; calls for equity in sentencing for criminal conduct , community/safety based policing strategies, an end to media sensationalism and stereotyping of drug criminals as young, violent and black, and vastly expanded substance abuse treatment through the criminal justice system. Copies available from Join Together at (617) 437-1500.

Three briefs relating to the CIA/Crack Cocaine controversy and the war on drugs, titled The Intelligence Apparatus, U.S. Drug Policy Control, and The CIA, Contras, and Crack, $5 for all three, from the Interhemispheric Resource Center, P.O. Box 4506, Albuquerque, NM 87196.

Women and the Criminal Justice System, the fourth volume of Concrete Garden, published by the Buffalo Group on Justice in Democracy. Filled with facts on the number of women inmates who are mentally ill, the number convicted of drug charges, the number who are mothers, and more. Includes a collection of essays and poems that show the damage done by prison, and dealing with issues such as AIDS, lack of hope, sexual harassment and loneliness. To order, send $10 payable to UBF, Inc., to BGJD, 1010 Clemens Hall, SUNY/Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260. The next two volumes will deal with Violence and Nonviolence and Drug Policy Alternatives. For more information, write to Concrete Garden, Dept. of American Studies, 1010 Clemens Hall, SUNY/Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260.

The 1997 National Drug Control Strategy can be ordered for free from the ONDCP Drugs & Crime Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20849-6000, (800) 666-3322 (voice), (410) 792-4358 (fax), and is on the world-wide-web at http://www.ncjrs.org under "What's New".

America's Tattered Tapestry: Can We Reclaim Our Civility Through Connectedness? A special report from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, reprinted from the Foundation's 1995 Annual Report. Discussions with prominent individuals on some of the great moral issues of our time. Available without charge from the Foundation's Publications Hot Line, (800) 645-1766 in the U.S. and Canada, (810) 766-1766 elsewhere, or e-mail to [email protected].

Training

Activists in the Washington, DC area can benefit from the Social Action and Leadership School for Activists (SALSA) at the Institute for Policy Studies. IPS offers an extensive series of affordable (typically $25), high quality one-evening classes on a range of practical topics, including fundraising, media strategies, public speaking, radio and TV appearances, Internet, lobbying, non-profit management and more. For information, contact SALSA/IPS, 1601 Connecticut Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20009, (202) 234-9382 x229, fax to (202) 387-7915, or visit http://www.hotsalsa.org on the web.

Books

Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts, hot off the press from The Lindesmith Center. John Morgan, M.D., and Lynn Zimmer, Ph.D., examine and debunk many of the most common myths and misconceptions about marijuana. Available for $12.95 paperback from BookWorld, (800) 444-2524. (see article)

Crack in America, Demon Drugs and Social Justice, from the University of California Press, edited by sociologists Craig Reinarman and Harry G. Levine. A compilation of 17 essays by renowned experts including 6 by the editors. University of California Press, ISBN #0-52020242-2.

Marijuana: Not Guilty as Charged, by David R. Ford. A good overview of the issues surrounding marijuana prohibition, with the author's own personal perspective as a former cancer patient. Published by Good Press, P.O. Box 1771, Sonoma, CA 95476, [email protected]. Available for $24.95 hardcover from access Publishers Group, (800) 507-2665.

Ecstasy: Dance, Trance & Transformation, by Nicholas Saunders with Rick Doblin. A comprehensive view of Ecstasy in the United States - laws, music, and users - and the global scene. All royalties are being donated to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) for MDMA research. Contact MAPS, (704) 358-9830.

Ethics and Epidemiology, by Steven S. Coughlin and Tom L. Beauchamp. An in-depth account of the moral problems that often confront epidemiologists, including both theoretical and practical issues. Topics covered include informed consent, privacy and confidentiality protection, balancing of risks and benefits, ethical issues in the study of vulnerable populations, the institutional review board system, and professional education. Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-19-510242-8.

Other

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