cannabisnews.com: U.S. Drug Czar Travels to Colombia to Boost Aid U.S. Drug Czar Travels to Colombia to Boost Aid Posted by FoM on August 09, 2000 at 21:32:22 PT By Will Weissert, Associated Press Source: Nando Times With President Clinton due to travel to Colombia later this month, U.S. drug policy czar Barry McCaffrey began a two-day visit to the South American nation on Wednesday to spur on a $1.3 billion anti-narcotics initiative. "We're going to see if we can get to the next level of implementation of plan Colombia," McCaffrey said in Mexico City Tuesday night before leaving for Colombia. Under the new aid package, the United States is training Colombian anti-narcotic army troops and providing them with combat helicopters to seize cocaine- and heroin-producing plantations from leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitary groups, which have a lucrative protection racket going. McCaffrey said putting the U.S. assistance into action would be "hard stuff, especially when there's 26,000 people organized into battalions with lots of machine guns." McCaffrey arrived in this colonial city along the Caribbean late Wednesday with U.S. Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering and Gen. Charles Wilhelm, head of U.S. forces in Latin America. The envoys, who did not speak to the media upon their arrival, will spend much of their two-day visit meeting with Colombian President Andres Pastrana and top Colombian anti-narcotics officials. The trip will also lay the groundwork for President Clinton's Aug. 30 trip to Colombia. It will be the first Colombian visit by a U.S. president since George Bush spent less than a day here in 1990. McCaffrey has been the chief proponent and spokesman for the new Colombian anti-narcotics plan Clinton signed into law last month. McCaffrey's fourth trip to Colombia this year comes less than a week after 83 U.S. Special Forces personnel began training Colombian soldiers at a base in southern Colombia's Amazonian jungle. The base is a two-hour drive from the main stronghold of the guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The plan bars U.S. troops from accompanying Colombian soldiers into combat and states that no more than 500 U.S. troops and 300 contractors can be in Colombia. In supporting the new plan, whose price tag is higher than the United States spent on the entire 1980s war on drugs, McCaffrey has said that production of cocaine and heroin here is up 140 percent over the last five years. Do you have some feedback for the Nando Times staff? http://www.nando.com/links/feedback.htmlCartagena, Colombia Published: August 9, 2000Copyright © 2000 Nando MediaRelated Articles:State Department Report Highlights Drug War Snafushttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6666.shtmlU.S. Helps Colombia Fight Drugshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6656.shtmlMcCaffrey Heads to Mexico, Colombia http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6639.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by greenfox on August 10, 2000 at 07:58:06 PT And the point...? "The initiatives underway in a number of States have sent a confusingmessage to our children concerning marijuana that could not come ata worse time."The kids! The kids! "...citing anecdotal examples..."anecdotal? Oh, do you refer to your very own IOM report? I question if it was ever even read... It's ok, though, at LEAST they didn't compare pot to... oh.. wait a second.. what have we here?"the main active ingredient in marijuana has precisely the sameimpact as heroin on a key brain site that influences addiction to manydrugs."Ah! That's much better. :) We can't be talking about POT without somehow linking it to crack, or heroin. (Heroin is my personal favorite. Barry needs to watch 'Trainspotting')." public trust that allAmericans rely upon to safeguard the quality of our world classmedical system." OK question for anyone that reads this: Do YOU trust our 'world class medical system'? I sure as fArk don't. Prescription drugs, by and by, kill more people each year then ALL the illegal drugs combined; (looks to a snivelling Barry) And yes, Barry, that includes HEROIN.Sly in green, fox in kind-greenfox [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by greenfox on August 10, 2000 at 07:49:48 PT And speaking of our czar.... The following was extracted from the ONDCP's website at:http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/policy/medmj.htmlAnywhoo, it reads:The initiatives underway in a number of States have sent a confusing message to our children concerning marijuana that could not come at a worse time. In recent years we have seen drug use by our young people increase at an alarming rate. Among 8th graders, the use of illicit drugs -- primarily marijuana -- has tripled. This increase in marijuana use has been fueled by a measurable decrease in the proportion of young people who perceive marijuana to be a dangerous substance. Advocates for legalized marijuana have mounted an intense and sophisticated public relations effort to persuade Americans to their point of view, citing anecdotal examples to support their thesis. As a result, many Americans are unclear about what the scientific research really says. For example, in the past month, researchers have shown that the main active ingredient in marijuana has precisely the same impact as heroin on a key brain site that influences addiction to many drugs. The same researchers also found that abrupt cessation of long-term marijuana use causes the same kind of cellular withdrawal reaction in lab rats as that produced by other major drugs of abuse. To clarify these issues surrounding marijuana research, we have commissioned a scientific review by the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine (IOM), a venerable scientific institution renowned for its integrity. The IOM assessment will produce a comprehensive summary of the scientific record on marijuana, which will serve as an objective foundation for public-policy discussion and future research. As an independent body of scientific and medical experts, the IOM is well suited to conduct this important study. Besides efforts to protect the medical-scientific process, a number of other actions are underway by federal agencies to continue enforcement of Federal law, preserve drug-free workplace and safety programs, and protect children from increased marijuana availability and use. The foremost objective of the Office of National Drug Control Policy is to create a National Drug Control Strategy based on science rather than ideology. We have worked closely with Director Harold Varmus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Director Alan Leshner of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and other distinguished scientists and medical researchers. The Federal government endorses the therapeutic use of any substance but only if it meets strict scientific standards that ensure safe and efficacious use. Research on the therapeutic use of marijuana should be treated with the same high standards for scientific research required of any other drug with a high potential for abuse. The existing FDA-NIH-DEA process ensures that decisions regarding Investigational New Drug applications are based on their scientific merits. Any departure from this established process is a breach of the public trust that all Americans rely upon to safeguard the quality of our world class medical system. Research experts in fields such as cancer treatment, infectious diseases, neurology, and ophthalmology recently participated in a 2-day NIH workshop which reviewed existing research about marijuana and assessed what is known about marijuana’s possible therapeutic potential. This workshop highlighted the challenges of establishing appropriate scientific criteria for undertaking clinical research on marijuana. Proceedings from this workshop will be released soon. With drug use by young people increasing, we must not send a mixed message to our youth about the dangers of marijuana. Our Nation’s goal must be to reduce, not promote, the use of illicit drugs. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by rainbow on August 10, 2000 at 06:59:54 PT Collateral One commentHow much collateral damage will be seen. Mines "lots of machine guns". Dead farm girls (it for the children".But general do not care they just like results which is a euphymism (sp) for dead people.Especially generals who would have his troops killed prisoners and retreating armies.It is all for the children.God I am depressed,CheersRainbow [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 09, 2000 at 22:45:54 PT Killing Poppies, Not Guerrillas Anti-Drug Czar Says U.S.Will Not Be Dragged Into Colombia’s Civil War By Jim LoneyMiami, Aug. 9 — U.S. anti-drug aid will help Colombian forces establish security, but American forces will steer clear of direct involvement in the fight against drug cartels and rebels, U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey said today.Click the link to read the complete article.http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/colombia000809.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: