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Quick Hits (page 3)

Mets' Trouble With the Grass

By: Newsday Staff writers

At least seven Mets have been suspected of using marijuana this season, part of an alleged pattern of drug use that reaches from the team's minor league system right up to the major league roster.

Manager Bobby Valentine acknowleged he worried about the drug problem on his team as early as spring training and said he spoke to general manager Steve Phillips about his concerns, although Phillips yesterday said he didn't recall such a conversation.

"I've seen signals, but nothing definitive," Valentine said yesterday.

A top team official, however, said the manager confronted rookie reliever Grant Roberts over his suspected drug use this season.

Valentine said he met with his team to discuss the "foolishness" of drug use when rookie pitcher Mark Corey was hospitalized with seizure-like symptoms June 26 after smoking marijuana with teammate Tony Tarasco mere blocks from Shea Stadium.

Tarasco, Corey and Roberts are three of at least seven major league Mets who have been suspected of using marijuana this season. Most of the players involved came up through the Mets' farm system. In addition to Corey, a number of those suspected are no longer with the team.

Phillips disputed there is a problem yesterday. "I don't think we have rampant drug use on our major league team," he said.

Interviews with a high-ranking team official, a former prospect and two people close to players in the organization in the aftermath of the Corey-Tarasco incident raised new allegations.

According to one friend of some Mets players, marijuana has allegedy been mailed into Shea Stadium inside a jar of peanut butter and at least one Met regularly smokes marijuana in the players' parking lot. The same source also said that a number of Mets players have been known to share a marijuana-filled limousine ride rather than taking the team bus from one city to another while on the road.

A former prospect and two friends of current Mets confirmed that the team's minor leaguers have been warned in advance of supposedly random drug tests and have learned how to avoid drug detection.

One of the friends said that Mets minor leaguers have been known to bury marijuana and drug paraphernalia near hotels on the road in order to access it on the next trip to town. A team official and a friend of the players said in addition to marijuana Ecstasy was another drug of choice among Mets minor leaguers.

Valentine recounted how he talked to his team after Newsday reported the Corey-Tarasco drug use in June.

"After the one incident we had, I addressed the team about this stuff specifically, about how foolish it was, how it was illegal and how embarrassing it could be for it to continue," Valentine said.

In order to evade the bomb-sniffing dogs that occasionally patrol Shea Stadium, a source who refused to be named said one player instructed an accomplice to pack the marijuana in partly-filled peanut-butter jars.

"They leave about a half inch to an inch of peanut butter on the outside wall and then they just throw the bag inside the peanut butter," said the source, who also has knowledge that two of the young Mets may have provided drugs to teammates and players on other teams during spring training.

Told of the drug allegations, catcher Mike Piazza said, "It's kind of disturbing if that's the case. I'm not against having fun. For me, it's having a few beers, if you're of age. You have to blow off steam somehow. But you'd think guys at this level would be completely focused on their careers."

First baseman Mo Vaughn said yesterday: "I personally was never into drugs. It's hard enough to play this game if your brain is normal. I don't know if it's a problem on this team. I hope to God it's not. If there's something going on, we need to correct it."

None of the Mets contacted made any connection between the team's miserable 2002 season and drug use. However, medical experts say marijuana use can impair coordination.

While major-league players are not subject to random drug testing, as stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement, minor leaguers do undergo drug tests, although the results are not released to the public. One source said star prospects are sometimes warned in advance about coming drug tests or let off the hook after failing tests.

Phillips said that while team officials know when tests will be administered for coordination purposes, he doubted whether any club official has tipped off players. The general manager estimated that no more than three to five Mets minor leaguers test positive for drugs each year. Two former Mets prospects who have been sent home after failing drug tests are outfielder Rob Stratton and pitcher Erik Hiljus, sources said. Bill Pulsipher also was caught smoking dope by club officials.

Phillips strongly disputed any preferential treatment within the minor league ranks, citing the rigorous testing administered throughout the season. He said minor league players are tested for drugs by an outside agency up to four times a season.

"In my opinion, we have to be among the best organizations in addressing and educating our players on this. And we have among the least number of positive tests in the game," Phillips said.

The former prospect said that certain minor league players are not only given a heads-up about pending drug tests, but have learned how to cheat detection, using concoctions that flush traces of drugs from their system or mask it with bleach, ammonia or herbal teas. Many of these quick fixes are available over the counter at fitness stores.

"I've seen guys get busted even though they knew they'd be tested," one former Mets prospect said. "Everyone's going to test the waters, even if they know there are sharks."

The source blames the organization. "What ticks me off is that they know this is going on and they're not doing anything about it," said the close friend of a Mets player. "I've seen that firsthand, the lengths the team will go to protect the player."

When confronted before yesterday's game with a December of 1999 snapshot of Roberts, then a minor-leaguer, dragging on a bong, an apparatus used to smoke marijuana, Roberts was silent for a long time before saying, "I can tell you that wasn't recently."

Asked whether he still uses drugs, Roberts kept his head down and shook it "No" before walking back into the clubhouse.

The former Mets prospect said that many minor leaguers take advantage of promotion to the 40-man roster to more freely use drugs.

"A big goal is to make the 40-man," he said. "The players' association doesn't allow them to test if you're on the 40-man, so guys are more apt [to do drugs]. Guys lower down [in the minors] don't do it as much just because of the fear of getting caught. My first year out of school, I got caught. I never saw the result, but I confessed when they told me."

Phillips said that active enforcement is near-impossible once a player is put on the 40-man roster and no longer subject to random drug testing.

"Unless you have firsthand evidence, there's nothing you can do about it," Phillips said. "If we had definite evidence, we would act ... We want a drug-free environment for our players at the major-league and minor-league level. Unfortunately, the rules don't allow that right now."

The Corey incident, which took place on June 26, is an example of what can happen under the current system. Both Tarasco and Corey, who were called up from Triple-A Norfolk earlier this season, smoked marijuana during a short drive, and Corey suffered from seizure-like symptoms before collapsing in front of his hotel, the Ramada Plaza, located a quarter-mile from Shea.

While Corey said later that doctors described his sudden illness as nothing more than an "anxiety attack," a Newsday source who is a friend said he had to be revived by the hotel's security guard using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before an ambulance rushed him to New York Medical Center in Flushing.

Corey and Tarasco have been put into the Employee Assistance Program and will be subject to drug testing as first-time offenders. Corey was sent to the minors then recalled to the Mets and was traded July 31, along with Jay Payton, to the Rockies. Tarasco has remained with the team. People close to Corey said they had never seen him smoke marijuana before.

Tarasco, who reportedly admitted his marijuana usage to police, declined comment when reporters approached him the next day. After three days of medical tests, including one by a neurologist on July 1, Corey was medically cleared. The Mets said that doctors were unable to uncover a cause for Corey's seizure-like symptoms, but the friend believes Corey reacted badly to whatever the street-bought marijuana was laced with.

"I was kind of hoping it would be a wakeup call for everybody else," the source said. "Unfortunately, it's not. Not at all."

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Growin' Our Own (page 3)

Trip to the Amsterdam Coffee Shops, Red Light District, and more ...

By: Panama Red

It was going to be my 50th birthday and we wanted to party in Amsterdam. We bought 4 Delta Airline tickets to Amsterdam on 14 days notice. The off season price was only $442 each. My old friend Keith who is Founder and Director of an Organization in Washington, D.C., had briefed me on his trip to the Cannabis Cup. He recommended we check out the nearby city of Haarlem. Haarlem is only a 10 minute train ride from Amsterdam. Based on this experienced tip, I contacted Nol, the "Dutch Connection," to help with the recommendation of a hotel. Nol is a real gentleman and he suggested an inexpensive 5 star hotel in Haarlem. The hotel was only a few blocks from Nol's Willie Wortel Coffee Shop and the Global Hemp Museum. Then we contacted our London friend, Romi, and she offered to meet us in Amsterdam. We booked the 5 star hotel in Haarlem and flew to Amsterdam for my birthday party, some adventure and to audit as many of the coffee (smoke) shops as would could. We knew we couldn't see them all, but we tried to smoke our way through the 2 cities.

This was in February during the freezing cold of European winter. You can't see Dutch tulips in the winter but you can experience everything else. What would you expect from a trip planned at the last minute. Stopping at the JFK's New York Airport, we changed $100 into Dutch guilders, for cab money and tips. Our flight was seriously delayed. Finally an announcement was made that the jet was over booked. All passengers were offered alternate flights. There were no takers. Then came the real bidding. We were offered future tickets and alternate flights with overnight stays. All of this sounded great so we came forward to claim the benefits. Unfortunately we were too late. Some people had already negotiated a flight with overnight stay through Nice, France. I really wanted to see Nice again, and I thought we might have time for a side trip to Monte Carlo and the Casino, but we missed this chance. Over booking happens all the time and if you stay alert you can get the trip of your life just for accommodating the airline.

As a side story, one time on a United Airlines trip from San Francisco to Zurich, Switzerland we stopped in Washington, D. C. The delay in S.F. had caused us to miss our connecting flight to Switzerland. We didn't want any out of the way flights to Zurich so we demanded to know our DOT [Department of Transportation] rights. We were offered an upgrade to Connoisseur Class and ended up at the Marriott Hotel with free accommodations, dinner and breakfast. We were alternatively offered money. We accepted trip upgrade, which if we had paid for this our $600 tickets would have been $4,000 each. Enjoying our luck, and after our free dinner, we asked the concierge to hire us a limousine to tour Washington, D.C. Our limo arrived with a recently immigrated Russian driver in a tux. We asked a fellow airline passenger, the lady at the dinner table next to us, if she wanted to go for a limo ride around Washington, D. C. She and her young son were very excited and took us up on our offer. We drove from Dulles to the Capitol, and past the White House. Making friends with our Russian driver, he asked if he could call his fiancee and bring her on our tour. We thought that would be nice so we picked her up and then bought a few bottles of champagne at a 7-11. We toured Washington, D.C., in style, and our driver friend gave us extra time. I was very impressed with the lighted Iwo Jima statue of soldiers raising the American flag, and walking up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial, which is on the back of a penny. After totaling enjoying our tour, we gave our Russian friend an extra tip.

Amsterdam

The next day on the long birthday flight over the Atlantic Ocean to the Amsterdam coffee shops, we met a beautiful model from Mexico who was going on to Paris for a photo shoot, and another Mexican beauty who was married and returning to her husband in Norway. They were very friendly and we had a good time drinking and talking on the flight. This new company enjoyably made the time pass too quickly. I had endured my 50th birthday through many time zones, and this trip was fantastic.

Landing in Amsterdam, we took some photos with our new friends that sadly we'll never see again. We passed through customs and easily found the train to Amsterdam. Using our guilders from New York for ticket money, it was a brief ride to the Amsterdam train station. When we exited the Amsterdam station it was noon. There was a hotdog vendor's cart just outside the station's doors where we stocked up on some great chow. We looked down the main street over the first canal bridge and saw the trolleys, people bundled up in the freezing cold riding bikes, and hurrying around. The tall Dam Hotel with it's pink neon lights was just across the first canal to our right. We passed the hoards of people and stopped to listen to an Indian man playing his sitar on the bridge. We trekked on to the gift shops, immediately looking for postcards and Cuban cigars. There were shops with china blue and white cloth calendars, little Dutch windmills, and many postcards and cigars. It was difficult attempting to control the tourist urge and not buy all our souvenirs at the first shop. Then came a casino with slot machines in the entry and card tables further inside. Next was a tobacco shop where I purchased some Dutch Schmmelpenninck Duet's and a few Cuban cigars. Then came the Sex Museum, which we saved for a later tour with our friend Romi, who we were meeting later that night. We made it to Dam Square which was unfortunately blocked off by a cyclone fence.

Amsterdam's red light district

Then we headed back to the "Red Light District." We had entered many shops and decided to purchase some magic mushrooms and peyote. The 'shrooms were 4 freshly picked to a clear plastic package and cost us US $10. One for each of us. As instructed we chewed the 'shrooms slowly to allow them to dissolve in our mouths. We found a Cannabis museum [College] and paid the small fee for a tour. There were many pictures from the 1850s of American slaves harvesting hemp. There were live plants blowing in the wind created by huge fans. A huge bush in the front window was totally purple. I swear to you that you could brush the bud hairs on these old dinosaur era looking plants with a brush. The proprietor showed us a current High Times magazine and complained to us that his basement grow room had been used for another article, as if the room had belonged to this other person. He took us down for a comparison look. We bought some Shiva [Indian God] seeds and continued on with our impromptu tour. Back home we planted these seeds and discovered that we had one hermaphrodite plant. This is a plant that possesses both male and female organs and can reproduce seeds from itself. Also it can produce more hermaphrodite plants. As we walked along the canal with beat up parked bicycles we were approached by street vendors offering us hard drugs, which repulsed us. We are only into the soft drug cannabis and these dirty looking people were probably ripoffs. Finally we reached an ancient church which was unfortunately closed due to the predominance of sin in the Red Light District. We were told that this church was built about 600 years ago. In California we have nothing this old and I would have liked to see inside this artesian hand made, centuries old, church. This church was in the center of a circular brick road, and was surrounded by a perimeter of 14th century homes with prostitutes sitting behind modern plate glass doors, and sensuously displaying their goods. I finally had to ask an Asian beauty how much? She said, "thirty five," as I kept walking with my lady. My lady wanted to buy me a whore for my birthday gift, but I told her that she was enough woman for me. Behind these many glass doors are a variety of legal Dutch prostitutes. The women of the night (day or anytime) sit on stools waiting for somebody to open their door to ask them to provide some type of sexual pleasure. Surrounding this church we saw white, black, and Asian ladies in sexy lingerie waiting to fulfill any sexual fantasies that their customers desired. While it was tempting, it was only 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and we had other places to go and things to see. The narrow street area was torn up and we walked on fine sand in the chill of winter.

There were some nice pipe shops in the Red Light District where we did buy pipes to mail home. My favorite is still the gray plastic battery operated pipe which sprays the smoke out to you. We walked along the canals and looked into the reflections of the dark green canal water as we passed hundreds of prostitutes eagerly sitting in windows during our exploration process. In the daylight we passed the neon windmill sign of the Amsterdam Moulin Rouge, which is world famous for it's live sex shows. Finally we could wait no longer and we entered the Grasshopper Coffee Shop. We bought some Amsterdam Bud and Nepalese hash from the secure booth. Sitting at a small table we ordered some Heineken Beers and loaded up our new glass pipe with this combination. While we were sitting and smoking the magic mushrooms took predominance over our cannabis high. The fresh 'shrooms that had slowly dissolved in our saliva gave us a giddy laughing high, while the hash - weed combination gave us that slow uplifting feeling. What a buzz. After looking at the Grasshopper's gift shop and drinking our beer we left to go back out into the cold weather. We decided that it was time to find Haarlem and our 5 star Hotel. We walked and laughed for a block as we made it back to the train station. We bought our tickets and laughed our way on to Haarlem. These trains are available about every 20 to 30 minutes.

Arriving in Haarlem we went out the wrong side of the train station. No taxi would stop for us. Then we went back through the station and found the correct side where all the taxi's were waiting to take passengers to their destination. We jumped into a nice black Mercedes taxi and at our request we were driven past Nol's Willie Wortel Coffee Shop and the kilometer to our hotel. Laughingly we checked in to the hotel and ordered some more food. My lady told me she had a birthday surprise as she had fixed up our white tiled bathroom floor. It was my birthday, remember? I laid on the bed watching Dutch TV, and I heard water running. Finally she came out on tip toes in her shiny birthday suit displaying her huge breasts which each matched her head in size. She told me to come into the steamy bathroom with her. My cheeks were red and hurt from all the 'shroom laughter as I eagerly followed her. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. The tub was full and she had the all the towels fluffed up over the white tile floor and the set up was like a Turkish Bath or beach party. She ordered me into the tub. I got into the tub and using the chrome nozzle she gently sprayed me with hot water. She soaped up a wash cloth and washed my entire body. Then she ordered me onto the towels. She took a bottle of hemp oil she bought and massaged it into my skin. Then a glass pipe came out and she lit it up with the concoction of weed and hash we had purchased from the Grasshopper. I was totally relaxed from my massage and I was all smiles. Our other travelers were in the next room. Then she came to me with the perfect birthday gift that only she could give me. We had sex in this make shift Turkish Bath for over an hour. What an initiation to Haarlem and special birthday surprise!

Finally after laying in bed holding each other and cat napping, the phone rang. It was our London friend, Romi. She had come to Amsterdam to visit a friend and to show us around the town. We agreed to meet her in front of the Amsterdam train station. Taking a taxi to the Haarlem station, we traveled by rail in the darkness to Amsterdam. It was cold as hell waiting for Romi outside the Amsterdam station. Then suddenly out of the darkness she appeared. With hugs and kisses we retraced our earlier steps. With Romi we entered the Sex Museum, which had the history of sex from the dark ages to modern times. We saw 2,000 year old stone dildos, and modern vibrators. There was an 8 foot tall penis. What a trip, as the girls each gave it a big 2 arm hug. We went into a coffee shop and refreshed our high before entering the night life of the Red Light District. Romi is cool. Walking down the narrow torn up streets at night we saw Amsterdam in a different light.

Walking along the canal, the sex show "barkers," would offer us special deals to come inside. We decided to enter the Moulin Rouge and paid the cover charge. Upstairs it was crowded with a small stadium theater seating area and a 10' x 10' stage surrounded by a 'L' shaped bar. We were sitting at the bar when a pirate came on stage with his captive wench on a leash. It was obvious that he was going to take advantage of her. Suddenly she became very cooperative and blew him and screwed him right on the stage. When it was over, she put on the leash and took her captive off stage. Another act used patron participation. A black lady set up a picnic on stage and got a man from the bar. She peeled and then inserted a banana into herself. She asked the man if he wanted a bite. As he laid over her and cautiously took his small bite she thrust herself inserting the banana deep into his mouth. He got more than he expected and the crowd gave them both a big round of applause. The Rouge is entertaining and all skits are done in fun. There were more women onlookers than men when we went there. We traveled on to the Grasshopper where we stocked up on some more Amsterdam Bud and hash. The 40' long bar had T shirts and other gifts. We bought some Grasshopper label energy drinks and smoked in the comfort of the warm bar. When we exited the bar/coffee shop, it began snowing. This was a nice effect to end our evening with Romi, as we walked through the softly falling snowflakes back to the train station.

Nol's Willie Wortel Café

The next night we went to Willie Wortel's Coffee Shop in Haarlem. The supervisor called Nol and he decided to drive about 50 minutes to meet us. We had a photo shoot at the non-alcohol bar. He graciously received some non-hybrid Mexican seeds and showed us how to roll a cone. He was a great host and very entertaining. I hope you can meet Nol on your travels. The shop has a buy camera which is live on line. The buy counter has a digital scale and a large variety of grass and hash selections. Check out the live buy camera. Nol is a leader in political circles favoring the separation of the soft drug cannabis from the harder drugs. This program has been successful in the Netherlands.

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Pipeline (page 3)

Drugs and the Stupidity of Government

By: Daryllisauris

Just finished enjoying the article submitted by the ex-military medic. I also recently watched the movie "We Were Soldiers," which portrayed what appeared to be the initial injection of US military soldiers into the jungles of Viet Nam. This "injection" of recently graduated high school kids into an "unwinable" military action truly moved me, as did the article from the ex-military medic.

I personally find it astounding that throughout my informative years, during the Viet Nam war, and thereafter the United States government continually placed our barely graduated high school men in harm's way in political arenas in which we had no business being involved. In these arenas, brave young men who were sent to "defend our country" utilized the fruits of the earth, to get a little high to soften and perhaps ease the mental and physical pain and anguish they were suffering from this senseless war. Remember, the majority of these "soldiers" were little more than teenagers who had no more business being immersed in the Hell that was Viet Nam than the wine swilling, overweight, jackasses (i.e. politicians) who made the decision to send them there in the first place.

I once read that President Johnson was a majority owner in the company that manufactured Huey helicopters, which in this day and age might be considered a conflict of interest for a man who was personally responsible for escalating the Viet Nam war to its highest level. I believe that a man, (not to mention a President of the United States) who used war and the senseless deaths of thousands of American young men for his own personal gain should be treated as a traitor. Instead, our government would treat a President who simply got a blow job as a traitor! The fact that the few survivors of this meaningless military debacle were treated in the manner they were by these same politicians, as well as the U.S. citizens upon their return home embarrasses me as an American. These same soldiers who returned home were spat upon by people who had no clue as to what they had endured in the jungles of Viet Nam. They had no idea how or why these soldiers had to use drugs like heroin to simply survive the day, or to try and escape reality for brief periods of time. I personally wish to salute the soldier who wrote the article, as well as any other of the survivors (and non-survivors) who endured the Viet Nam war, and I want to apologize for the politicians and other idiots who failed to give you the hero's welcome you so richly deserved when you came home.

These men and women are the true unheralded heroes of this country, more so than the people who died in the New York disaster. Remember, these men willingly walked into battle and gave their lives in more ways than one. As a child of the 60's I have most certainly enjoyed my share of mind altering drugs, as have many other of my fellow "flower children." I certainly expected that by the time the people of our generation took charge of the political arena that runs this country the usages of "illegal drugs," would be much better understood, having lived through our times. Anyone reading this article knows that there is no harm that will ever come from the enjoyment of smoking a little pot. The worst thing one might do behind the wheel of a car after enjoying a little cannabis would be to drive too slowly. Yet, this government will treat one as a criminal for enjoying something that is grown from mother earth just as badly today as it did back when the immortal President Johnson ruled.

This government will expend millions, if not billions of dollars in the pursuit of people importing pot, while our country suffers from its worst ever monetary deficits. While I am not a financial genius, it certainly seems that by simply legalizing pot this federal deficit could, and probably would, disappear from the moneys generated by taxing this newly legalized commodity. Excuse my rant, however the stupidity of our government in all areas involving drugs from the 60's through today is unparalleled. I would also truly enjoy someone making a movie which portrayed exactly what Viet Nam was like, along the lines of "We Were Soldiers," but with all of the drugs.

Now that would be interesting.

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