Cannabis News Media Awareness Project
  Pot Considered 'Murder Weed' in 1937
Posted by CN Staff on November 05, 2005 at 07:12:12 PT
By James B. Meadow, Rocky Mountain News 
Source: Rocky Mountain News 

cannabis Denver, Colorado -- On Oct. 2, 1937, in the somewhat shady Lexington Apartments at 1200 California St. in Denver, Samuel R. Caldwell became the first person in the United States to be arrested on a marijuana charge. Caldwell, a 58-year-old unemployed laborer moonlighting as a dealer, was nailed by the FBI and Denver police for peddling two marijuana cigarettes to one Moses Baca, 26.

If you're wondering why it took the U.S. government so long to bust a pot dealer, it's because until the Marijuana Stamp Act was passed - on you guessed it, Oct. 2, 1937 - cannabis wasn't illegal.

Certainly, it had been vilified in newspapers with headlines such as "Murder Weed Found Up and Down Coast: Deadly Marijuana Plant Ready for Harvest That Means Enslavement of California Children."

Neither was it deemed as some benign recreational drug by the nation's law enforcement hierarchy.

Harry J. Anslinger, for example, commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, was a vociferous foe of cannabis. In his book, Assassin of Youth, he labeled marijuana "dangerous as a coiled rattlesnake," and anguished, "How many murders, suicides, robberies, criminal assaults, holdups, burglaries, and deeds of maniacal insanity it causes each year, especially among the young, can be only conjectured."

Indeed. Texas cops insisted that because it fueled a "lust for blood" and imbued its imbibers with "superhuman strength," pot was the catalyst for unspeakably violent crimes.

Anslinger and many others would have dismissed the possibility that, 68 years later, Denver's law-abiding citizens would vote to decriminalize the possession of an ounce-or-less of marijuana as nothing more than a pipe dream.

Much more real was the racism that anchored some of the original hysteria surrounding cannabis. At least that's a contention of John C. McWilliams, a professor of history at Penn State University specializing in 20th century social-political American history and drug policy, who has written a book on Anslinger.

"Marijuana was associated with black jazz musicians and Mexicans in border towns - clearly racist stuff," said McWilliams, who says Anslinger's files are chock full of letters linking marijuana and minorities.

In fact, he cites part of a 1936 correspondence from Floyd Baskett, editor of the Daily Courier in Alamosa.

"I wish I could show you what a small marijuana cigarette does to one of our degenerate, Spanish-speaking residents," Baskett wrote to Anslinger.

Certainly District Judge J. Foster Symes didn't need convincing about the nefarious effects of the "murder weed." In a dizzying swirl of law enforcement, Caldwell and Baca were busted on a Wednesday night, indicted on Thursday (they pleaded guilty) and sentenced on Friday.

"I consider marijuana the worst of all narcotics, far worse than the use of morphine or cocaine," thundered Symes from the bench. "Under its influence, men become beasts, just as was the case with Moses Baca . . .

"Marijuana destroys life itself. I have no sympathy with those who sell this weed. I will impose the heaviest penalties. The government is going to enforce this new law to the letter."

Then Symes backed up his tough talk by sentencing Caldwell to four years' hard labor at Kansas' mighty Leavenworth Prison.

And just to show Caldwell he was no softy, Symes tacked on the astronomical fine of $1,000.

However, Baca, beast though he may have become, got off relatively easy. Maybe Symes' wrath had been sated somewhat: he sentenced the married father of three to a mere 18 months in prison.

And if you're thinking there was any plea bargaining or reduced time for good behavior, both men served every single day of their sentence. Although history is unclear about what happened to Baca, Caldwell died a year after he was released from prison.

So great was the government's indignation over marijuana that it didn't seem to matter that, as McWilliams points out, "Marijuana is not even a narcotic."

And so, today, as proponents of Denver's Initiative 100 celebrate, it seems only fitting that they should perhaps pause, take a deep breath, and reflect upon the sad saga of Sam Caldwell.

Note: Offenders got more than token citations in Denver.

Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Author: James B. Meadow, Rocky Mountain News
Published: November 5, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Denver Publishing Co.
Contact: letters@rockymountainnews.com
Website: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/

Related Articles & Web Site:

Safer Choice
http://www.saferchoice.org/

Pot Vote Prompts Worldwide Attention
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21268.shtml

Denver Is First City To Legalize Pot
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21260.shtml

To Voters, Issue was Freedom of Choice
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21257.shtml


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Comment #44 posted by FoM on November 06, 2005 at 07:43:14 PT
potpal
Thank you very much. That was very nice.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #43 posted by potpal on November 06, 2005 at 05:10:31 PT
Hempy Birthday to you...and a...
Happy Birthday to you!

Listen to link...;-)

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #42 posted by potpal on November 06, 2005 at 05:10:29 PT
Hempy Birthday to you...and a...
Happy Birthday to you!

Listen to link...;-)

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #41 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 20:02:40 PT
Hope
First I'm glad you liked the picture.

They are still over there and they are following the same families that were in the first episode. Tonights episode was Thanksgiving 2004. They have started showing new episodes every Saturday at 10 but I don't know how many more will be shown. It's worth watching. It shows the war, the families, the political beliefs. It's very good.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #40 posted by Hope on November 05, 2005 at 19:44:04 PT
That series you mention, FoM
Off to War. That's the Arkansas National Guard bunch that was sent...isn't it? I saw the first one but haven't seen any since. I saw a clip of the one where the turkey farmer, I think it was, came back all busted up. I guess some more have been hurt or worse. I meant to keep up with it. Are they all back home now?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #39 posted by Hope on November 05, 2005 at 19:32:00 PT
FoM comment 31
Oh...she's so radiant. So beautiful. That is definitely one of those "megawatt smiles" you hear about. Thanks. A smile like that is kind of contagious...which is good.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #38 posted by ekim on November 05, 2005 at 19:20:51 PT
back to work
Date Event Time Speaker City State/Prov Country click on titles to sort - click again to reverse order November 2005 Nov 7 05 Criminal Justice Survey Course 07:00 PM Norm Stamper San Diego California USA No doubt that if one surveyed the college campuses in regards to America's war on drugs, one would fine that most students and faculty believe it is an absolute failure. When Speaker Norm Stamper speaks to the Criminal Justice Survey Course at San Diego State University about the failures of drug prohibition, belief will be changed into actual knowledge. Norm will discuss issues such as the racial bias of the current legal system, the failures of mandatory minimum sentencing and a host of other legal and societal drug prohibition issues. Nov 8 05 San Diego State University, Faculty Reception 05:30 PM Norm Stamper San Diego California USA LEAP Speaker and former Seattle, Washington Chief of Police, Norm Stamper, meets with faculty and administration of San Diego State University. Norm is on campus to talk to students and faculty about the failures associated with America's war on drugs. Nov 8 05 Graduate School Seminar 11:00 AM Norm Stamper San Diego California USA LEAP Speaker Norm Stamper will speak at the Graduate School Seminar of San Diego State University. Norm's experience as a former Chief of Police of Seattle and auhor of an extraordinary new book, "Breaking Rank", in which Norm states "tens of thousands of otherwise innocent Americans incarcerated, many for 20 years, some for life; families ripped apart; drug traffickers and blameless bystanders shot dead on city streets; narcotics officers assassinated here and abroad, with prosecutors, judges, and elected officials in Latin America gunned down for their courageous stands against the cartels; and all those dollars spent on federal, state, and local cops, courts, prosecutors, prisons, probation, parole, and pee-in-the-bottle programs. Even federal aid to bribe distant nations to stop feeding our habit." Add to this that the war on drugs costs the United States more than 69 billion dollars each year

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #37 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 19:16:09 PT
ekim
Thank you so much. I really think the world of everyone here.

Right now we are watching a series on the Discovery-Times Channel called Off To War. Ever since the first episode in this series we have been interested in it. I recommend watching this series if you can.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #36 posted by ekim on November 05, 2005 at 19:11:24 PT
^^^^^-^^^^^-^^^%%%%%%%%%%%^^^^^-^^^^^-
happy b day to you FoM thanks for caring.

i have felt good about this space since the first time i typed cannabisnews into the machine. its alive-- wondrous place -- you have nurtured.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #35 posted by Jim Lunsford on November 05, 2005 at 18:53:34 PT
BGreen
One of the reasons I am interested in the supreme court case is that one could argue it is a choice between God and law. I hope to write a letter soon which draws the parrallel between this case and an incident some 2000 years ago, when we had a very similar case.

Rev Jim Lunsford

First Cannabist Church

Everyone is the pastor of their own religion

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #34 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 17:20:13 PT
BGreen
I don't know much about the religious defense since none of the churches I ever went to would use Cannabis as a Sacrament. Peyote has been used in certain religions for a long time and that might make a difference. I just don't know but it would be worth checking deeper into if you feel you should.

Thanks global_warming.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #33 posted by global_warming on November 05, 2005 at 16:40:50 PT
That is a very happy women
I do Hope

That she has found

Peace



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #32 posted by BGreen on November 05, 2005 at 16:38:33 PT
Native dancer says pot was for ceremony
Native dancer says pot was for ceremony

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- A native dancer, who was one of seven people charged with smuggling more than 182 pounds of marijuana across the U.S.-Canadian border, said the drug was to be used for religious purposes, U.S. border guards said.

Ranger Oppenheim, driver of one of the two motor homes stopped at the border into Sumas on Sunday, told authorities he knew the marijuana was in the motor home, said court papers filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Oppenheim said he was on his way to a peyote ceremony at the Lummi Indian Reservation. He told the border guard that the marijuana was to be used at a ceremony where peyote was being used for religious purposes, the complaint said.

------------------------------------------------------------

This portrays how stupid it is to allow religious use of one controlled substance (peyote) while denying the religious use of another (cannabis.)

It's a clear affront to our religious freedom if the courts get to determine the legitimacy of our religious sacraments.

There is no reason for this discrepancy, and maybe this case will be the catalyst to allow the legal, religious use of cannabis in the USA.

The Reverend Bud Green

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #31 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 16:00:24 PT
Off Topic: Hope Check This Out
I am working on my sister's page. She is a Videographer and does Weddings. I have many pretty bride pictures to use and I thought this one was very nice.

Guys just ignore. LOL!

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #30 posted by siege on November 05, 2005 at 15:44:57 PT
Should Canada loosen laws.
"Legalization means more money for the government, employment for the masses. . .and a bunch of much more agreeable neighbours"

http://www.macleans.ca/switchboard/article.jsp?content=20051107_114858_114858

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #29 posted by global_warming on November 05, 2005 at 15:27:55 PT
Can We Change
The laws against Cannabis?

Can WE end domestic violence?

Free Enterprise and global capitalism

Is having a soured tit

Indenture or slavery

Serves only the rich

There are so many poor

We all can agree

This world

Our World

Can invest

To build

A Future

That can embrace

Sustainable ideologies

Remember, when you take that first leak in the morning,

What hat you have on your head

Your biological beginnings

You may flush in some toilet

Start with

One blink

peace

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #28 posted by global_warming on November 05, 2005 at 14:32:09 PT
Maybe Someday
[Please refrain from using profanity in your message]

Is Heresy still prohibited?

Fuck

Nigga

Spick

Wap

Jew

German

Liberal

Russian

Had to get all this off my chest

Sorry

The Light of Cannabis

Brings Understanding

Understanding,

That brings all of us closer

That Eternal Light

Reveals all of our shadows

That Eternal Light

Lights our illness

That Light can Heal our disease

Get on board

One blink of your eye

Peace



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #27 posted by runruff on November 05, 2005 at 14:29:43 PT:

Running with scissors.
Is the last thing anyone should have told me not to do. Since then I have been a free agent with an authority phobia. If I fall down it's my own fault. I will pick myself back up. But if I fall down because I stepped where someone else told me to step or if I step in something that smells real bad I would feel more stupid than ever. I should be able to step wherever I please and reap the rewards or the consequences.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #26 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 14:04:55 PT
global_warming
Maybe someday when we are on the Bus we can drink that perfect cup of coffee and talk awhile.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #25 posted by global_warming on November 05, 2005 at 13:58:53 PT
FOM
Sometimes, you amaze me,

Though I do not even know

The face of Niel Young

His music or his following

Be assured that I await

That time in this world

Were you and I might enjoy

A perfect cup of coffee



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #24 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 13:53:42 PT
global_warming
Thank you. I have never felt that someone who is strung out should be jailed. It's just not a good thing for the person who really just needs help.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #23 posted by global_warming on November 05, 2005 at 13:27:16 PT
re:21
"I don't believe that a drug addict should ever be jailed."

Amen sister, Amen

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #22 posted by Dankhank on November 05, 2005 at 12:56:08 PT
Zurich
My Lady and I spent a wondrous long weekend in Zurich in 1975.

Just sitting on a bench watching the fast, modern city on the move was exhiliarating.

Downtown parking garages are tunnels into the rock.

Some of the best butter in the world comes from around there.

Chateau Briand ... wow ...

Resins ....



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #21 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 12:33:57 PT
charmed quark
I don't believe that a drug addict should ever be jailed. I believe they need help. Jailing someone who is sick is basically a stupid way of dealing with this problem.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #20 posted by charmed quark on November 05, 2005 at 12:10:12 PT
Harm reduction and quality of life
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13086774.htm is an article about the world cities with the highest quality of life. The top two were Geneva and Zurich. It requires registring to read. If you want, you can use www.bugmenot.com to get a temporary account.

Amoung other things, they have very low crime rates. The article says

"One reason crime is so low, some observers suggest, is that Switzerland was an early adapter of so-called harm-reduction strategies for drug users. Heroin addicts can purchase a daily dose from the government and shoot up under official supervision, under a program that Swiss officials say dramatically reduced drug-related crime."

If the USA adapted such a program, all the money we spend arresting and jailing drug users could be spent on health care. We could probably pay for a pretty decent free health care system, considering something like 22% of prisoners are there for drugs.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #19 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 11:26:59 PT
I Agree Hope
That's why I believe we really need to make affordable health care for all Americans so no one needs to die from cancer just because they don't have the money for Chemo.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #18 posted by Hope on November 05, 2005 at 11:21:52 PT
A quote from Albert Schweizer:
"We must all die. But if I can save a [person] from days of torture that is what I feel is my great or even new privilege. Pain is a greater lord over mankind than even death itself."

"Those who bear the mark of pain are never really free, for they owe a debt to those who still suffer!"

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #17 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 10:54:58 PT
Siege
The article you posted reminded me of hearing a politican say on CNN that no one is entitled to privacy.

Who wants to be part of a system that knows way too much about you? That's the way it is going though.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #16 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 10:20:08 PT
Hope
I believe that the poor on welfare do have health care and those who work for a company have health care but people in the very large middle of the economic scale are the ones that don't. If someone decides that they want to go into business for themselves and are enjoying what they are doing they are the ones that can't get or afford coverage. The middle class is the loser. People will say why bother to try to follow a dream and will just live on welfare. We have lost the middle class somewhere along the way.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #15 posted by siege on November 05, 2005 at 10:09:57 PT
o t RFID
HOW MAJOR CORP'S. PARTNERING WITH GOV'T. PLAN TO TRACK YOUR EVERY MOVE

http://www.newswithviews.com/Mary/starrett63.htm

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #14 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 10:05:00 PT
Health Care and Insurance in General
Insurance companies are not to help people. When a medical disaster or a disaster like Katrina happens people find out real fast what side an insurance company is on. Insurance has so many loopholes and clauses a person can't really recover what they might lose. When I was young loan sharks were thought of as very bad. I look at it all today and credit cards are like loan sharks. Things are really wrong.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #13 posted by Hope on November 05, 2005 at 09:57:30 PT
"pay more taxes"
People likely pay enough taxes now to provide top quality medical care to the less fortunate. We just need to stop the huge amounts of tax resources funneled into wasteful and fascist projects.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #12 posted by Hope on November 05, 2005 at 09:54:10 PT
Once the WoD is ended...
my concience says that the next "wrong" that has to be corrected is that the poor or insuranceless get no or inferior health care.

Perhaps those of us with insurance would be allowed to "adopt" three indigents or insuranceless people we know or that are in our families.

I'm so thankful for my insurance coverage...but I'm grieved greatly by the situations other find themselves in. Insurance companies are another bunch that really do not need to control the practice of medicine.

It's horrifying to think that all life saving or improving measures will not be taken for someone because they have no money or insurance.

If there is a judgement day, everyone having anything to do with denying anyone the health care they need, will have to answer for the death and suffering of those they denied help to, for whatever reason.

I would be glad to pay more taxes if it meant that no one would be denied the very best health care available no matter what their station or situation in life may be.

In the end, saving MONEY, and keeping MONEY, won't stand up as an excuse as to why a fellow human was denied any help that science, medicine, and the earth has to offer.

We need more and better equipped hospitals that can and will treat everyone that needs it. We need more doctors more concerned with healing and compassion than they are with having the biggest house and most expensive cars in the neighborhood. A doctor's job is one of the most important and the most difficult and unpleasant around. They work long hours and they have to study and study to know as much as they can. They should be well paid and treasured.

We need more and better equipped schools.

We don't need any more prisons, or more government agencies to intrude into our lives, or buildings to house them.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #11 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 09:20:11 PT
Dankhank
I agree with you too.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #10 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 09:17:50 PT
Hope
Both my husband and myself are uninsurable so I know that even thinking about going to a doctor is out of the question. My husband has the VA which is great but unless a man is a Veteran and becomes uninsurable you just die and that's that.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #9 posted by Dankhank on November 05, 2005 at 09:13:58 PT
Medicine
Agreed ...

However, Cops and Court out of Medicine, thanks ...



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #8 posted by Hope on November 05, 2005 at 09:11:01 PT
Ironic, isn't it?
We can now clearly see that Anslinger was, in fact, the true "degenerate". He lied and hurt people so that new government agencies and jobs for out of work revenue agents could be created. Increasing the size, scope, cronyism, and intrusiveness of government was his goal. He succeeded.

That article in comment 1: It's disheartening to know the government is obviously about protecting the wealthy and most powerful corporations, and not the people. "The last three agreements -- with Singapore, Australia and Morocco -- included language that barred importation of drugs even if the practice were legalized in the future."

I'm so glad that the DEA's "camel nose in the tent" of the FDA was bloodied to the tune of fifty million dollars. It should have been more. (I've got nothing against camels...that just the way the story goes.)

What kind of insanity led leaders to think a law enforcement agency should have the right to overrule doctors and the FDA in pain management? The FDA, like all government agencies, needs oversight...but by law enforcement organizations? I don't think so. Next they'll be wanting to "help" surgeons in the operating room, because DEA knows more about medicine than any doctor could ever hope to.

Could it be that the next time a person gets sick or hurt they should consult with a DEA agent or police officer rather than a doctor?

It's enough to make a person sick just thinking of the injustice, lack of common sense, and waste of resources.

I'd rather live in a world where some people "abused" prescription drugs, even if it was to their own detriment, than one where the people, all of them, are, in fact, "abused", to keep them from finding available relief.

There are so many dangerous, dangerous prescription drugs availabe. Things that are prescribed that can indeed easily kill patients who are taking them as prescribed. We need a good, honest, on the ball FDA. We do not need, of all things, law enforcement making decisions about what medicines are "safe" or not. Likely, no pharmaceutical is "safe" and yes, the FDA is certainly subject to corruption...but it's the corruption that law enforcement needs to look into, not whether they think a medicine should be prescribed or not.

Shut down the DEA, send them to other law enforcement, let them use their law enforcement skills to find murderers, and use the WoD money to provide healthcare to the poor and indigent.

It's not right that a poor person cannot get the same healthcare as a wealthy person. It's a true "right to life" issue.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #7 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 09:01:52 PT
Dankhank
I'm glad you are happy about the DEA article. I don't use any drugs or even go to a Doctor anymore so I guess it doesn't interest me. I plan on going naturally! LOL!

All kidding aside I really am anti-drugs and pharmaceuticals because I don't see them as helpful to the people I know. I have seen serious addiction to legal drugs more then I care to even think about. The doctor I went to for years was liberal with narcotics and most of his patients were strung out and then he moved far away and left his patients climbing the walls.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #6 posted by Dankhank on November 05, 2005 at 08:36:30 PT
Siege
I like YOUR title, better ...

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #5 posted by Dankhank on November 05, 2005 at 08:34:45 PT
DEA
FoM

I think I am almost as happy for the story on the DEA as I am about Denver.

Doctors must take back the practice of medicine from cops and politicians.



[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #4 posted by siege on November 05, 2005 at 08:25:01 PT
sorry
http://www.avantnews.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=165 http: //www.avantnews.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=165&page=1

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #3 posted by siege on November 05, 2005 at 08:23:26 PT
o t Bush Finds Iraq Exit Strategy in Crawford Dung
House, his Crawford estate dungarees were nonetheless available to him due to the fact that the president's entire wardrobe, which includes flight suits, fireman's helmets, a latex "compassionate face" and other familiar costumes, routinely travels with him on vacation and back again along with his staff, selected reporters and a coterie of top lobbyists. Forensic experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation are now examining the document in the hope that the faded text of the exit strategy may be reconstructed from fibers of the paper, which appears to be a receipt for an adult film entitled "Back Door Draft" from a video rental establishment.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #2 posted by Dankhank on November 05, 2005 at 07:54:01 PT
sad saga of Sam Caldwell ...
and Moses Baca, married father of three.

The first family blasted apart by evil prohibitionists.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 05, 2005 at 07:27:39 PT
Off Topic: DEA
Why does the DEA have a say on Cannabis issues?

***

Drug Enforcement Agency Stripped of Role on New Painkillers

***

By Marc Kaufman, Washington Post Staff Writer

Saturday, November 5, 2005; Page A13

A House-Senate conference committee yesterday dropped a controversial provision that gave the Drug Enforcement Administration authority to review, and potentially block, the sale of all new prescription narcotics.

The legislation, promoted by Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) and attached to a multi-department appropriations bill, passed last year with little notice. But this year the Food and Drug Administration, many drug makers and doctors who treat pain patients objected to renewing it, and the provision was stripped from the bill.

Opponents said the provision was an unwarranted intrusion by a law enforcement agency into the FDA's drug-review system. Pain specialists also said the DEA reviews could jeopardize development of new drugs needed by patients with chronic pain.

Wolf's spokesman, Dan Scandling, said that Congress had missed an opportunity to better control the sale of powerful new narcotic painkillers.

"The goal behind it was to prevent another OxyContin," he said, referring to the popular painkiller that has been subject to abuse. "Now that oversight isn't going to be there."

John Scofield, spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee, said the provision was dropped at the request of the Senate, which did not include it in its version of the appropriations bill.

The dispute over the measure, and the almost $50 million in additional DEA funding attached to it, reflect a wider debate over the DEA's proper role in monitoring the use of prescription painkillers.

The agency has arrested scores of doctors, pharmacists and other health-care workers accused of negligence or willful diversion in dispensing prescription narcotics that were later abused. Pain doctors complained that, as a result, many physicians have stopped prescribing needed painkillers.

The same conference committee also approved language proposed by Rep. Anne M. Northup (R-Ky.) that would bar the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative from including provisions in future trade agreements that would make it almost impossible to import prescription drugs from foreign countries. The last three agreements -- with Singapore, Australia and Morocco -- included language that barred importation of drugs even if the practice were legalized in the future.

Copyright: 2005 The Washington Post Company

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/04/AR2005110401876.html

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