(Michael Pinchera:)
Upon first seeing the ad for “COPSwatch” in the Entheogen Review, I signed up. I never recorded the last episode of COPS, just remembered it in my mind. This was a great experience! It was said that you discontinued this because of time restrictions and the like. Were these the only reasons the service was ended? Under what circumstances would you start it up again?

(Richard Glen Boire:)
Copswatch ran for a full season of COPS. We were forced to end the free service because it was extremely time intensive (a new Report had to be written every single week), and the time obligation came at the very worst time (the weekend and/or Monday morning). We're now exploring the possibility of getting a grant, which would allow us to devote Monday of each week to the project.

(MP:)
At one point as a “COPSwatch” subscriber, a note was sent out instead of the newest issue. The note said basically, “there is no COPSwatch review this week because we don't know where Richard Glen Boire is. If you know where he is, please contact us.” What was this all about? Where were you? As a conspiracy buff, I did have thoughts that perhaps some men in dark suits and glasses 'visited' you.

(RGB:)
It was weirder than that. Suffice it to say that *I'm* not even sure where I was.

(MP:)
Undoubtedly, you have heard about the recent legislation which has made the severed leaves of the plant Catha edulis Schedule I. How absurd is this?

(RGB:)
I'm not aware of any new state law to this effect. The feds scheduled cathinone and cathine in 1993. Cathinone was placed in Schedule I and cathine was placed in Schedule IV. Both substances are naturally produced by the plant Catha edulis, known as “khat.” In issue number 7 of TELR, I detailed the numerous errors the DEA made in scheduling both substances (especially cathinone) and how I thought, and still maintain, that flawed scheduling procedure could be raised as a defense in court by someone arrested for possessing either substance. An even stronger argument can be made with regard to Catha edulis. Mature C. edulis plants contain endogenous cathinone, but soon after harvesting, the cathinone naturally converts to cathine. The DEA knows this, and in a last minute notice published in the Federal Register (58 FR 4316), asserted that C. edulis is considered a Schedule I substance for the period that it has cathinone in it, but then transforms into a schedule IV substance, if the cathinone has degraded into cathine! This is hardly a model of a clear criminal law, and aside from the procedural errors, any attempt to say that C. edulis is itself a scheduled substance is susceptible to a good argument that the law is unconstitutionally vague, and selectively enforced (since it is still sold by some nurseries and the DEA has not prosecuted them).

(MP:)
Does the gov't have to prove that someone was intending on ingesting the leaves, or is the mere fact that the leaves aren't on the plant enough to prove guilt?

(RGB:)
The government's position is that C. edulis is a “mixture” that contains either cathinone or cathine. So, their position is that a person commits a crime (possession of either a Schedule I or Schedule IV substance) just by possessing a khat plant. No leaves need be removed.