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Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson tested positive for marijuana following his victory over Andrew Golota on Oct. 20, but Michigan boxing regulators only punished him for refusing to submit to a urine test before the fight.

Tyson did give a urine sample after the fight, and it tested positive for marijuana, a member of the state Board in Control of Athletics, told the Detroit News. The Grand Rapids Press also reported the positive test.

Nevada Athletic Association executive director Marc Ratner said he was told by Michigan officials that Tyson tested positive for marijuana.

On Tuesday, state regulators suspended Tyson's Michigan boxing license for 90 days and fined him $5,000 for refusing to submit to a urine test before the fight at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Ratner said Nevada would honor the suspension, but Tyson is not expected to fight until April at the earliest anyway.

 

Driver killed in car loaded with marijuana

AJO - The driver of a vehicle loaded with marijuana died when the vehicle went out of control and crashed into a tree while being pursued by Border Patrol agents.

Rob Daniels, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, said a second man had fled the vehicle after the crash and vanished into the desert.

Daniels said this vehicle and another drove across the border Monday afternoon east of the Lukeville port of entry. As agents attempted to stop this vehicle, it made a U-turn and headed south.

About 10 miles to the south, other agents deployed spikes to deflate the tires. The driver, identified later as Angel Martinez Maciel, 33, of Guererro, Mexico, struck the tree in an attempt to avoid the spikes, Daniels said Tuesday.

A paramedic provided aid at the crash site, and the driver was taken to Ajo Hospital and then was flown to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix but died there a short time later, Daniels said.

Agents found 430 pounds of marijuana in the wrecked vehicle.

 

Deadline Passes for Adopting Marijuana Guidelines

A recall effort against Placer County District Attorney Brad Fenocchio is looming after a deadline set by former Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby to adopt so-called Oakland guidelines came and went.

Monday was the deadline set by Kubby, who spent four months on trial late last year on possession of marijuana-for-sales charges in Placer County. A jury eventually deadlocked 11-1 for acquittal, although Kubby was convicted of felony possession of a magic mushroom stem and peyote buttons. He'll be sentenced Feb. 2.

Kubby held a press conference Dec. 28 in Orange County to demand that Fenocchio set standards matching the City of Oakland guidelines for medical marijuana use under Proposition 215.

Fenocchio said Tuesday that the Oakland guidelines had not been adopted and his office will continue to consider each case as it comes in.

"We don't bend to these forms of threats," he said.

Because the case is still before the courts, Fenocchio declined to comment directly on the Kubby challenge. Prosecutors commonly face pressure from either the side of the accused or the victim, he said.

"We're going to continue looking at cases on an individual basis," Fenocchio said. "This office isn't going to be bought or bullied. It's that simple."

Kubby helped put Prop. 215 on the statewide ballot in 1996. He has a doctor's recommendation to grow and smoke pot to help fight the symptoms of a rare form of adrenal cancer. The Oakland guidelines allow patients to grow up to 48 mature plants indoors, have a total of 144 plants, and possess up to 6 pounds of patient-grown cannabis.

A total of 265 pot plants were seized in a January 1998 raid on Kubby's Olympic Valley home. He and his wife, Michele, were both charged with possession of marijuana for sale. Michele Kubby also had a doctor's medical marijuana recommendation. Hers was for irritable bowel syndrome.

Kubby said at the press conference that he planned to begin the recall effort in February – after his sentencing. Fund raising has already begun. The American Medical Marijuana Association, which Kubby heads, is asking supporters to start pledging money.

Kubby said his immediate goal is to raise $25,000 to train local residents and gather 20,000 signatures. A total of 15,550 signatures of registered voters are needed to qualify for a recall election in Placer County.

Also onboard is Jay Cavanaugh, a former commissioner of the California State Pharmacy Board. He will head the committee to recall Fenocchio.

Kubby said Fenocchio is abusing his power to prosecute when his office charges patients "attempting to lawfully assert their rights under the Compassionate Use Act." Fenocchio's office is wasting money on expensive show trials and opening up the county to more unnecessary expenditures from civil suits, Kubby said.

Fenocchio said he has tried to act responsibly by not adopting standards that could affect the outcome of other cases. Several counties have established standards that allow medical marijuana amounts far below the Oakland guidelines, he said.

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer issued a letter to counties in September that provided some of the standards around the state. In Nevada County, 10 plants are allowed – but no more than 2 pounds of processed pot can be in a patient's possession.

In Shasta County, six plants can be grown indoors and two outdoors. One-and-a-third pound of processed marijuana is acceptable. In Sierra County, six plants are allowed indoors and three outdoors. The quantity of processed pot would be "assessed by a physician." In Tehama County, the sheriff's department allowed 18 immature or six mature plants. Humboldt County allows 10 plants or 2 pounds of processed marijuana if the amount is consistent with the medical treatment.

Adding to the uncertainty is the lack of a state standard. An attorney general task force's recommendations to set up a registry never moved through the Assembly, Fenocchio said. Another difficulty is the federal position, he said.

"Regardless of the California law, the federal government considers it an illegal substance," he said. And I don't want to compromise effective law enforcement – it's not a simple issue and there's no simple solution."

 

Drug war to attack belief that cannabis can do no harm

The war on drugs is this year likely to focus on cannabis, amid growing evidence that thousands of young marijuana smokers believe the drug has no harmful effects.

Anecdotal evidence gathered by the Federal Government's top drugs advisory body, the Australian National Council on Drugs, showed that health workers and parents, particularly in regional areas, were disturbed by the drug's growing popularity among young people.

This has led to the council's decision to upgrade its fight against cannabis use, putting it alongside heroin as a key community health concern. It is now likely to advise the Government to fund more research so that it can better inform young people about the drug's effects.

The council's executive officer, Mr. Gino Vumbaca, said the information campaign, if accepted by Government, would not be a return to "Reefer Madness", a reference to the 1930s cult movie - used in the United States as an anti-cannabis message - in which men and women go insane after a few puffs of a marijuana cigarette.

A national drugs survey in 1998 found 39 per cent of Australians had, at least once in their life, tried marijuana (up from 31 per cent in 1995). The figures for young people, however, were much higher. More than 63 per cent of men and women aged between 20 and 29 had used cannabis at least once in their lives.

During a long consultation program last year, people in rural and regional areas told the 16-member council that alcohol was their main drug concern, followed by cannabis use among young people. They felt that, with the focus on heroin, Australia's cities had hijacked the drugs debate.

The council's 2001 priorities now include the legal drugs of alcohol and tobacco as well as illicit drugs such as heroin.

The "big four" strategies, said Mr. Vumbaca, were fighting alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and deaths from heroin overdoses.

As part of its 2001 agenda, the council wants alcohol manufacturers to contribute to a community fund, the same way the gambling industry contributes to services for addicted gamblers.

The idea would see a cut from the manufacturers' profits financing programs to fight alcoholism, homeless facilities and even domestic violence programs, said Mr. Vumbaca.

The council has also proposed a possible levy on alcohol to go towards such a fund, although it prefers that the industry, not the consumer, bears the cost.

It would also like the Government to overhaul alcohol taxes, putting the highest taxes on liquor that contains the highest percentage of alcohol. Under this plan, for example, the council believes drinkers would be encouraged to buy lowly-taxed light beer instead of full-strength beer.

The council is likely to outline its cannabis strategy in March.

 

Middle school pupils found with marijuana

In a Sapulpa Police Report, the students apparently were turned over to SPD Patrolman Pete Sellers.

Since the suspect are juveniles the Herald is unable to determine what action took place following their arrest, other than they eventually were released to the custody of their parents.

Assistant Superintendent of Sapulpa School District Curtis Pitts said that in normal circumstances, students caught in possession of marijuana are given a long-term suspension that could be as long as a year.

If the student and parents seek help for the student and the student passes a mandatory drug test, the suspension can be reduced to short-term which would amount to about 10 days, Pitts said.

In addition, students usually face juvenile charges in municipal court which can mean both fines and supervised work programs.

                                            

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                                                        01/18/01