Smoke Signals

He Sues, You Lose

Notorious prohibitionist and mad scientist Gabriel Nahas is one franc richer after a Paris court decided that pro-pot writer and journalist Michka had libeled him in French magazine Maintenant. Nahas, who stubbed out joints in a petri dish so Reagan could say that marijuana causes chromosome damage, renounced most of his research in 1983, but it is still quoted endlessly by politicians and prohibitionists alike.

Nahas has been busy in France for the past few years, whispering his prohibitionist delusions into the ears of the French Government, explaining how much healthier it is to chain people up in the bastille rather than risk them getting near the highly toxic flowers of the cannabis plant. He"s also been working for the forces of oppression on the international scene, acting as a consultant to the UN Narcotics Commission. This is a guy who clearly needs a hobby and a lot of love.

Michka is the author of three books on cannabis, including Hemp, the Renaissance of Cannabis which has just been published. Her co-defendants in the trial were Dr Bertrand Lebeau, founding member of "Doctors of the World" and director of the Paris methadone distribution program, and Michel Sitbon, editor of Maintenant.

Nahas makes a habit of suing his detractors, and he claimed that two articles published in the October 1993 edition of Maintenant were libelous. The articles were called "Professor Nahas" Crusade. . . or the Art of Disinformation" and "Why French Leaders Listen Only to Gabriel Nahas."

Both Michka and Michel Sitbon were found guilty of libeling Nahas, because they accused him of scientific fraud and manipulating his results. Dr Bertrand Lebeau was acquitted however, because the court decided that he had written in "good faith" when he wrote that Nahas" arguments were discredited in international scientific circles.

Several big shot witnesses testified on behalf of Michka during the trial, including two former French Ministers of Health. The judges" decision appeared to be a symbolic one however, as although Michka was found guilty she only had to pay a token fine, which indicates that the court did not feel that Nahas' reputation was damaged in any serious way.