cannabisnews.com: US & Netherlands Reach Accord on Cutting Drug Use US & Netherlands Reach Accord on Cutting Drug Use Posted by CN Staff on July 17, 2005 at 21:07:01 PT By Sam Coates, Washington Post Staff Writer Source: Washington Post Washington, D.C. -- On July 9, 1998, Barry R. McCaffrey, then the White House drug policy director, fired an opening salvo against the Dutch, declaring that drug-fighting policies in the Netherlands were "an unmitigated disaster."Eleven days later, after a maelstrom of criticism in the Netherlands, McCaffrey acknowledged he may have overstepped. On reflection, he said, the policy was a "mitigated disaster." But the flood gates had opened, and the Bush administration has been waging a public battle with Dutch authorities over their permissive approach to drugs, criticizing cannabis cafes that target foreigners and ecstasy factories supplying drugs to Americans.In 2000, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration called the Netherlands "perhaps the most important drug trafficking and transiting area in Europe," and last year McCaffrey's successor, John P. Walters, called the country's policies "fundamentally irrational."But last Thursday there was a limited rapprochement. Standing together at the National Press Club, Walters and Hans Hoogervorst, the Netherlands' health secretary, announced they had signed an agreement for reducing drug use. In an instant, seven years of acrimony was history amid handshakes, smiles and warm words."What an entertaining pairing," said Peter Reuter, a drug policy expert at the University of Maryland, who said he was surprised by the move. Although there has been closer cooperation since 2003 with a bilateral program known as "Agreed Steps," President Bush said in his most recent annual report to Congress that the Netherlands remained a "dominant source country" for "club drugs."The reason for the sudden love-in? The administration drug chief and his new best friend had bonded over a new high-potency form of marijuana, known as THC, because of its psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol."The conventional, or cartoon, view of our two countries is that the United States is irresponsibly harsh and the Dutch are irresponsibly permissive and we are anti-poles of how you handle drugs," Walters said Friday."But on a visit to Holland earlier this year, I was struck by how much commonality there was over the issue of marijuana THC and high-potency cannabis," he said. "Their research showed that 20 percent of homegrown marijuana was THC, and they were having significantly greater problems with this. Dutch government agencies have been saying this almost ought to be treated as a different drug."Having identified an area on which they could work together, Walters and Hoogervorst drew up a joint statement. The agreement paves the way for a summit this fall between U.S. and Dutch researchers, information sharing between drug addiction experts and the assignment of a Dutch researcher to the National Institute on Drug Abuse."Does this represent any major change? The answer is no. What's significant is that both sides want to make peace," Reuter said. He also said that despite the accord on high-potency cannabis, there has been little action on the issues that so worried two successive U.S. administrations, even from the right-of-center Dutch government."My understanding is that this government is more cautious than its predecessor but has made no major changes to the law," Reuter said. "It has slowed down the program to switch methadone to heroin and has been under pressure to curb the use of cannabis coffee shops by foreigners, but changes have been modest."Walters agreed. "The law hasn't changed dramatically, and we still have our differences. But I do think there's been both a change in circumstances and a change in officials," he said.Ivo H. Daalder, a senior analyst at the Brookings Institution, cautioned not to overstate the role of drugs in the relationship between the two countries."Drugs have been an irritant in the relationship, but hardly the issue that defines it," Daalder said. "President Bush is more interested in whether they have troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, which they had until March. There are several issues like drug policy -- euthanasia, abortion and gay marriage, for instance -- where the two sides disagree, but they quickly put them aside and get on with being good allies."Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: Sam Coates, Washington Post Staff WriterPublished: Monday, July 18, 2005; Page A13Copyright: 2005 Washington Post Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ CannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #25 posted by rchandar on July 22, 2005 at 11:16:38 PT: nothing so far, but... ...you've got to wonder, Holland "making peace" with the US's Drug Warriors. However, not much will come of this, because the Parliament in Holland is mostly against stricter drugs policies.--rchandar [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by jose melendez on July 21, 2005 at 09:25:41 PT the odd lie exposed in seconds False Claims: Pot smoke leads to schizophrenia, heroin usehttp://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16009588%255E2682,00.htmlRefutations: Smoking shown to ameliorate schizophrenia symptoms:http://www.no-smoking.org/nov03/11-26-03-4.html Cannabis prohibitive countries experience higher heroin harmshttp://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~maccoun/nation99.html C-News: We retort, you decry. [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by Hope on July 19, 2005 at 17:27:02 PT Even though it's NIDA and not ONDCP...it's still odd. [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by Hope on July 19, 2005 at 17:25:57 PT Sorry...my mistake. It's not ONDCP that the Dutch will be involved in. It's NIDA. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by Hope on July 19, 2005 at 17:21:40 PT Thank you, Jose. For this and all the other work you stay up on.This article is just so strange. THC? A new kind of cannabis? Are we going to make the way the the Dutch handle cannabis more irrational or are they going to help our government learn to be more rational? It would be amazing if it were the latter but that wouldn't be a reasonable expectation on the part of someone who knows how things have been going. A Nederlander joining ONDCP? That's strange from every direction you look at it. There's something happening and I hope it's not to the detriment of the freedoms the people of the Netherlands enjoy.Someone over at Narcosphere http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/7/18/15503/4935 made a comment pointing out some of the weird sounding statements in this article. [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by jose melendez on July 19, 2005 at 14:05:08 PT vaporize this here is the 'joint' agreement, Hope:from: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/press05/071405agrmnt.html Joint Agreement to Reduce Drug Use Washington, DC–July 14, 2005The United States and the Netherlands have been working together since 2003 to implement a comprehensive approach on Law Enforcement, Counternarcotics and Counterterrorism. This bilateral effort focuses on attacking major MDMA/Ecstasy production and trafficking organizations, enhancing law enforcement and judicial cooperation, improved targeting of drug couriers at Schiphol airport and Rotterdam seaport, and exchanging information on drug prevention, treatment and research.In the field of drug prevention, treatment, and research, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Dutch ZonMw have been working successfully together. In March this year, the U.S. (Director of National Drug Control Policy, John Walters) and the Netherlands (Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports, Hans Hoogervorst) agreed to continue this fruitful cooperation and to create a separate and more detailed agreement to exchange scientific and demand reduction information. Today, the U.S. and the Netherlands are announcing the following additional actions on drug demand reduction: * U.S.-Dutch Experts Meeting: The U.S. intends to host a meeting this Fall between U.S. and Dutch researchers/experts to develop further cooperation in the field of prevention and treatment. * E-information: The U.S. and the Netherlands intends to exchange information on protocols and procedures and work together on the further development of web-based information on prevention and treatment for professionals (EELDA: Evidence-Based Electronic Library on Drug Addiction). * Dutch Expert Assignment to NIDA: The Netherlands intends to assign a Dutch researcher to NIDA and/or a NIDA grantee to conduct collaborative research in the United States. * Advancement of Internet Interventions. The U.S. and the Netherlands should exchange information on short treatment interventions on the Internet. This collaboration may include the development of cannabis Internet interventions as well as further development of E-health applications (prevention and treatment/self-management), and collaborative e-health research projects (e.g. multi-site trial & implementation studies). * Exchange of Information on Prevention Programs and Research Coordination: The U.S. and the Netherlands should collaborate, cooperate, and exchange information and expertise regarding strategic frameworks for community prevention, and evidence-based policy coordination of data collection and dissemination. This may specifically include the information exchange on the health risks of high-THC cannabis.John P. Walters Director Office of National Drug Control Policy United States Hans Hoogervorst Secretarysee also: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/press05/071405.htmland for a rather more honest take: http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2005/7/18/15503/4935 [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by afterburner on July 18, 2005 at 23:54:41 PT Blowin' in the Wind Comment #5:Funny "quotes," Jose. The "check" is in the mail: more info tomorrow. Remember the Alamo and the Statue of *Liberty*!Comment #13: Welcome to Canada, Max. Enjoy the freedom. Good luck to the Kubbys and Rene Boje in their court appeals of the Immigration Board decisions. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by Hope on July 18, 2005 at 21:50:14 PT Can someone tell me what the "agreement" was? "...announced they had signed an agreement for reducing drug use." [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by Hope on July 18, 2005 at 14:17:28 PT "The Nanny State" HOW DARE THEY?&*%&# *%$#!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by Hope on July 18, 2005 at 14:15:00 PT Personally.... As an adult...it really irks me to hear that anyone, or any "government", thinks they are "permissive" or not...with me. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by FoM on July 18, 2005 at 11:16:21 PT Max Flowers It's good to see you. It sounds like you are having a nice vacation. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by jose melendez on July 18, 2005 at 11:06:28 PT rare form [satire type=weak]Rare form of marrydyuwanna hits streetsIn an impressively subtle stroke of sarcasm, Washington Post staff writer Sam Coates reported yesterday that ONDCP Drug Czar John Walters (also known as The Head Chief) and Netherlands' health secretary Hans Hoogervorst have joined forces to combat a potent new strain of marijuana.To quote Coates: "The administration drug chief and his new best friend had bonded over a new high-potency form of marijuana, known as THC, because of its psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol."Alerted to the clear and present danger to America's toddlers and others, the President of the United States was heard to say, "Hey! I thought _I_ was The Head Chief." POTUS then proceeded to drop all pretense at being interested in the civil newkiller technology transfer news of the day, otherwise known as "Project Red Herring #07182005", and immediately proceeded to ask the most reliable source of this rare new form of weed for a hit."Move over, Poppy, I'm gonna try some of this new THC in your hubbly bubbly." The senior Bush coughed, looked at GW with glazed eyes, smiled and handed over the extra hookah mouthpiece. "Kind of ironic, ain't it?", asked Bush 2 of Bush 1. "I mean, like we both are using mouthpieces, and have been using mouthpieces for, like ever."Asked if the President and Vice President were concerned about the new potent strain, and how it was possible that dronabinol is classified under Schedule 3 at virtually 100 percent synthetic THC, White House Mouthpiece Mark McClellan said,"That is under investigation, and while no one in the White House wants to get to the bottom of this more than the President, the Vice President is quite content to accept his multi-million dollar Halliburton and Dyncorp checks and belch stomach acid.""And no, to anticipate your next question, Vice President Cheney will not be admitting, conceding or testifying to the effect that his former work planning the war in Iraq at the White House positioned him to earn said Halliburton funds. He is, as you know, exempt from prosecution for participating an any violations of the False Claims Act (which provides severe penalties for anyone authorizing or receiving federal funds based on a fraudulent statement to the government).We are, of course prepared to use the new insta-pardon clause in Patriot Act version 4.20 to protect John Walters and even Andrea Barthwell, if we can get her to stop selling her free samples of Sativex for crack, which as we all know is just every bit as safe and efficacious as heroin, meth and marijuana but not quite as healthy as Marlboro cigarettes laced with DDT and glyphosphate."Now please, does anyone have any TUMS to go with Mr. Cheney's triple Jack and Pepsi?!"[/satire] [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Max Flowers on July 18, 2005 at 10:43:12 PT Hello from beautiful BC Just wanted to say hi to my CNews friends while on vacation in BC. I am mighty impressed by this country now that I am getting to know it a bit. The taste of freedom here is noticeable, and the contrast with the US' relative withholding of freedoms is obvious. People here (growers) are telling me about the very real ways they utilize the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and it is a big eye-opener as it seems to be everything the US Constitution is supposed to be but no longer is. And the people are wonderful. I'm getting a powerful urge to relocate...cheers MF [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by runderwo on July 18, 2005 at 09:45:15 PT cloud7 I was thinking the same thing. The shops don't need to target anyone; Dutch cannabis sells itself! [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by mayan on July 18, 2005 at 09:34:57 PT jose "Let's not let legalize weed because Dutch CIA assets are making a killing on X, and smoking is dangerous! Vaporizer? What's a vaporizer? Gosh, these cookies are GREAT!"- John WaltersI about lost MY cookies on that one! That's freaking hilarious! [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by mayan on July 18, 2005 at 09:32:38 PT Got Journalism? How can any paper just print this cripe without question?The administration drug chief and his new best friend had bonded over a new high-potency form of marijuana, known as THC, because of its psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.That's mighty strange. This "THC" form of cannabis has yet to hit the streets around here. Plenty of meth and crack dirt cheap though. From the latest NORML bulletin... Cannabis No Stronger, British Medical Journal SaysJuly 14, 2005 - Lisbon, PortugalLisbon, Portugal: The average strength of European cannabis has not increased dramatically despite recent legal changes in several European nations liberalizing its use, according to an editorial in the July issue of the journal Addiction."[T]he evidence available suggest[s] that the potencies of resin and herbal cannabis that have been imported into Europe have shown little or no change, at least over the past ten years," authors determined.The editorial further noted that cannabis potency was not linked to increased drug treatment demands, and questioned the claim that stronger cannabis necessarily poses a greater health risk to users.Overall, European cannabis potency averaged between 2 percent and 8 percent THC, authors wrote. By contrast, the average potency of cannabis available in the US is between 4 and 5 percent THC.Since 2000, several European nations - including Belgium, Great Britain, and Portugal - have downgraded penalties for the possession and use of cannabis.For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the editorial, "Cannabis potency in Europe," appears in the July issue of Addiction.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6603Got journalism? [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by dongenero on July 18, 2005 at 09:26:12 PT Ha! beautiful Jose! That list of "quotes" is great Jose! It's hilarious yet sad in it's truth of representation. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by jose melendez on July 18, 2005 at 08:45:51 PT ONDCP deemed irresponsibly impermissive "The biggest lie to come out of the ONDCP is that new, potent strains of marijuana allegedly make pot a far more dangerous drug. This is pure nonsense. The only difference between weak and strong marijuana is that potent marijuana requires significantly less smoke inhalation to achieve the desired effect. It's actually less harmful." - Robert Sharpe http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1131/a09.html?397 [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by cloud7 on July 18, 2005 at 07:47:40 PT Also "the Dutch are irresponsibly permissive"While it is worlds better than what we've got here, let's remember that cannabis is still technically illegal there."criticizing cannabis cafes that target foreigners"The cannabis cafes don't have to try to "target foreigners" at all. Foreigners come to the Netherlands for a taste of freedom and will seek the cafes out no matter how discreet they make themselves. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by cloud7 on July 18, 2005 at 07:42:35 PT ... "The conventional, or cartoon, view of our two countries is that the United States is irresponsibly harsh...," Walters said.I don't find this view of the U.S. to be "cartoon" in the least, I would say it's responsibly accurate. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by jose melendez on July 18, 2005 at 06:16:16 PT I get it, Jim. "Let's not let legalize weed by keeping the same war going over meth. Now, let's go get drunk so I can forget about this stupid fatherland security stuff and get back to Arkansas and be corrupt without so much national attention!" - Asa Hutchinson"Let's not let legalize weed because it prevents one from becoming a successful doctor and lobbyist. I should know, because before I went on to become a successful doctor and lobbyist to promote a whole marijuana extract, I smoked pot EVERY DAY for 15 years." - Andrea Barthwell"Let's not let legalize weed because it might lead to heroin, and besides, we need jobs now that Alcohol Prohibition is over. Plus, who cares that advertising the dickens out of the stuff leads to increased youth use? It's about jobs for me and my corrupt industry, stupid." - Harry Anslinger"Let's not let legalize weed because jailing pot-heads does not lose any votes, and makes me look Republican." - Bill Clinton"Let's not let legalize weed because it might adversely affect the illicit marijuana trade." - Solicitor General Clement"Let's not let legalize weed because I like the fact that kids in the 90's used heroin at historically high rates, and today's kids are now huffing and popping the same pills my friends and neighbors sold them or looked the other way while they disappeared from the medicine cabinet. Besides, everyone knows the earth is flat and that Jesus died for our sins, and not because he was an Essene that used cannabis to heal people on the Sabbath in Cana. After all, it feels just as good as using cocaine to see others suffer. And all witches should be burned alive at the stake for public entertainment, except for that angry one in the mirror that keeps lying to the public!" - Joyce Nalepka"Let's not let legalize weed because Dutch CIA assets are making a killing on X, and smoking is dangerous! Vaporizer? What's a vaporizer? Gosh, these cookies are GREAT!" - John Walters"Did I make Searle big bucks by selling Saddam Hussein weapons of mass destruction? Of course. Does Searle and the pharmaceutical industry continue to make otherwise unlikely profits thanks to successive administration efforts to keep weed illegal? Certainly. Do I care that marijuana has neuroprotective, antimicrobial and anti-carcinogenic effects that might even ameliorate symptoms from harm caused by said weapons of mass destruction or poisonous chemical and pharmaceutical substances? Hardly. Let's not let legalize weed by keeping the same wars going. You know, for profit!" - Donald Rumsfeld"Let's not let legalize weed because then the Rastafarians might be proven right that Ethiopia will bring peace to the world, which might interfere with war profiteering. Got any TUMS? My stomach hurts and I keep having to swallow puke." - Dick Cheney"Let's not let legalize weed because then CAFTA would be known as the Cannabis American Free Trade Agreement. History? What history? Dammit Dick, stop belching, already." - G.W. 'Newkiller' Bush"Let's not let legalize weed because then my kid might get a hold of several pounds of the stuff and I'd have to pull strings to get the local prosecutor to back off, AGAIN. Plus, if the President can say Newkiller, I can say microherbicides." - Dan BurtonSource: "Doomed to repeat" [copyright 2005 by Jose Melendez, http://CCCCP.org] - Caution: Barely satire. It's mycoherbicides, stupid. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Jim Lunsford on July 18, 2005 at 04:32:21 PT He said Hash.... Is there nothing hash can't do? lol The only problem with the drug criminals (DEA and others) are that they don't understand how many people are now checking up on what all they say now. Before the internet, and the Supreme Court trial, they could just flip-flop all over the place. Now, their words are being listened to a bit more by more people. Let's not let legalize weed by keeping the same war going over meth. Expose ALL drug prohibitions as crimes against our citizens. Peace out, Reverend Jim [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by jose melendez on July 18, 2005 at 04:10:27 PT just desserts for deserting justice " . . . success in business is illusory unless it is grounded in ethical business practices and those need to be ... instilled in all of the workforce from the top to the bottom."- Judge Richard M. Berman, upon sentencing a second Office of National Drug Control Policy ad executive to 18 months imprisonment (and two years probation) PLUS a $126,000 fine. - - - In a tear-choked statement read before the court, (Former Ogilvy & Mather executive Shona Seifert) called the five years during which she was investigated and tried "an absolute nightmare," and said she was "truly sorry" for the pain she had caused her family and husband."But more, I regret that an advertising campaign that was designed to do so much good, became a source of so much pain for so many people," Seifert said.Seifert read her statement in a courtroom nearly empty of supporters, save her husband, because her defense team had asked them not to attend. "This is a matter for the court, Ms. Seifert and the government," said attorney Greg Craig.Seifert will surrender on or before Sept. 6 and likely serve her sentence at a minimum security facility in Danbury, Conn.Seifert declined comment upon leaving the courthouse, but in a statement sent by her attorneys said, "Today's sentencing hearing was the culmination of a prolonged and deeply painful experience. This is not the time to discuss the events of the past five years. I would like to thank my family and friends, and the Williams & Connolly team for their unfailing support. The last of human freedoms is the ability to choose one's attitude in the face of adversity. I hope I will have the strength to handle what lies ahead with courage and grace."Her co-defendant Thomas Early, Ogilvy's former financial director, was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment and two years probation yesterday [Adweek Online, July 13]. Early must also pay $11,000 in fines and fees. He will surrender on Sept. 21 and serve his sentence at a facility in Pennsylvania.Early and Seifert, a former executive group director at the agency, in February were found guilty of all 10 counts against them: one for conspiring to defraud the government and the rest for filing false claims.Each faced up to five years in prison.http://www.adweek.com/aw/national/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000979190 Concerned Citizens Coalition to Criminalize Prohibition [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by jose melendez on July 18, 2005 at 03:36:22 PT false claims again, Mr. Walters? What a crock. If high THC content is so horrific, why is Marinol at essentially 100 percent synthetic THC scheduled LOWER than raw generic cannabis?Even if it were true that today's marijuana is so much stronger that its use is therefore more harmful, we can all thank prohibition laws, since such restraints of trade necessarily lead to higher demand for cannabis products that are smaller and easier to conceal.Of coures, hashish has generally double the concentration of active ingredient as the strongest pot, and has been known for thousands of years. On June 16th of this year, newspapers across the country published a George Will column in which Office of National Drug Control Policy director John Walters admits marijuana is non-toxic and compares the fight against terrorists to finding a needle in a haystack, yet insists federal resources should still be targeted against American cannabis consumers.But a war on otherwise law abiding citizens over pot is akin to burning that haystack, while ignoring the needle.Also: - Many decades before today's war on 83 million of our own citizens, pharmaceutical manufacturers Parke-Davis and Eli Lilly were cultivating "home-grown cannabis" and selling the "flowering tops" of the plant for use in the treatment of illnesses such as anorexia, chronic pain, spasticity, and nausea. - During Prohibition, newspapers printed complaints of children coming to school drunk. - Restraint of trade and war waged against Americans are illegal; the former increases prices of inferior alternatives, and the latter is treason.- None of the supposed harms attributed to marijuana are sufficient reason for arrest, incarceration or asset forfeiture for possession of any of the far more harmful albeit approved intoxicants or medications sold. - Marijuana was already accepted as a comparatively safe and effective palliative long before the Controlled Substances Act. Even the Office of National Drug Control Policy's chief today concedes the herb is nontoxic. Drug war IS crime, and anyone working for or with Mr. John Walters had better start considering that U.S. law provides for severe penalties for those who authorize or receive federal funds based on false claims.- - -WARNING: It is a criminal offense to threaten any person who seeks to report federal crimes. I STRONGLY URGE all federal employees reading this to exercise your rights under the Civil Service Reform Act (5 U.S.C. § 2303) and the Whistleblower Protection Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 2302(b)(8)& (b)(9)), and immediately investigate and disclose the breaches of felony U.S. laws mentioned not only to the courts but also and especially to the public.- Title 18 U.S.C. û 1513. Retaliating against a witness, victim, or an informant.- Title 18 U.S.C. û 1512. Tampering with a witness/informant.- Title 18 U.S.C. ß 4 (misprision of felony).- TITLE 15 > CHAPTER 1 > § 15- § 15. Suits by persons injured- The Federal Trade Commission is charged under the statutory mandate of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45. with preventing unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce. The Commission claims that it "seeks to identify restrictions that impede competition or increase costs without offering countervailing benefits to consumers." - The False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq., provides for liability for triple damages and a penalty from $5,500 to $11,000 per claim for anyone who knowingly submits or causes the submission of a false or fraudulent claim to the United States. The statute, first passed in 1863, includes an ancient legal device called a 'qui tam' provision (from a Latin phrase meaning 'he who brings a case on behalf of our lord the King, as well as for himself'). This provision allows a private person, known as a 'relator,' to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the United States, where the private person has information that the named defendant has knowingly submitted or caused the submission of false or fraudulent claims to the United States. The relator need not have been personally harmed by the defendant's conduct.http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/pae/Documents/fcaprocess2.pdf - - -We do seek and will require the sharpening of said issues at trial and invite or otherwise engage the reasoning, intellectual honesty, genuine and good behavior of any Uncompromised Judge or Judges in any Court without prejudice or conflict of interest, deference to anyone Corrupted by Sellers or Distributors of or the Use of far more harmful foods, supplements, medications or intoxicants and with equitable jurisdiction over such matters and Rights long and Historically deemed most Basic and Inviolable by our Constitutional and common Laws.Jose Melendez Concerned Citizens Coalition to Criminalize Prohibition http://CCCCP 888 247-8183 DeLand, FLGOT CORRUPTION?Authorizing Contracts based on False Claims:from: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/budgetsum04/"In total, funding recommended for FY 2005 is an estimated $12.6 BILLION, an increase of $566.3 million (+4.7 percent) over the FY 2004 enacted amount of $12.1 BILLION (emphasis added - jm) [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on July 17, 2005 at 23:06:14 PT Do they read their own paper? The new high potency form of pot -- this was debunked as government propaganda in the Washington Post three years ago. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment