Lots of good stories this time.
Drug War Chronicle, Issue #529 -- 3/28/08
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, http://stopthedrugwar.org/user/psmith
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529
A Publication of Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)
David Borden, Executive Director,
http://stopthedrugwar.org/user/borden
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Three New Book Premiums for Our Members:
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/three_new_book_offers_for_our_members
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http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/drcnet_intern****ps_to_stop_the_drug_war
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Table of Contents:
1. EDITORIAL: EVIDENCE DISPARITIES IN THE DRUG WAR
Drug warriors tend to apply high standards of evidence to things
like medical marijuana or drug treatment, while giving policies
of arrest and incarceration a pass. When all of the evidence is
looked at evenly, the drug war will be seen as indefensible
beyond any reasonable doubt.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/evidence_disparities_in_the_drug_war
2. NO EVIDENCE NEEDED? WAR ON SALVIA DIVINORUM HEATING UP --
YOUTUBE VIDEOS PLAY ROLE
Using YouTube videos of young people under the influence of
salvia divinorum as exhibit number one, legislators across the
country are stepping up efforts to ban the intense, fast-acting
hallucinogen.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/war_on_salvia_divinorum_heating_up
3. THEY WON'T GIVE UP -- ALASKA SUPREME COURT HEARS ORAL
ARGUMENT IN STATE'S BID TO OVERTURN LEGAL MARIJUANA AT HOME
For more than 30 years, Alaska's courts have held that the state
constitution's privacy provisions protect citizens who want to
smoke and possess small amounts of marijuana in their homes.
Last week, the Alaska Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the
state's latest effort to undo the status quo.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/alaska_supreme_court_marijuana_oral_arguments
4. APPEAL: THREE EXCITING NEW BOOK OFFERS FOR OUR DONATING
SUP****TERS
We are pleased to offer the works "Over the Influence: The Harm
Reduction Guide for Managing Drugs and Alcohol," "Women Behind
Bars: The Crisis of Women in the US Prison System," and
"Cannabis: Yields and Dosage," as our latest member****p premium
gifts.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/three_new_book_offers_for_our_members
5. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
Our corrupt cops are all southern-fried this week. An Atlanta
narc cops a plea in fallout from the Kathryn Johnston case, a
Mississippi cop heads for prison, a pair of Florida jail guards
will be looking out from the other side of the bars, and a
Florida sheriff has some problems in his department.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/police_drug_corruption
6. MARIJUANA: BARNEY FRANK TO INTRODUCE FEDERAL
DECRIMINALIZATION BILL
Saying marijuana policy should not be a federal issue, Rep.
Barney Frank (D-MA) said last week he plans to introduce a
federal decriminalization bill.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/barney_frank_to_introduce_marijuana_decriminalization_bill
7. SEARCH AND SEIZURE: US SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE WARRANTLESS
SEARCH CASE
The US Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether police need a
search warrant to enter a residence after an informant has gone
in and made a drug buy. Some federal courts have held that by
allowing the informant in, the resident has consented to a
police search.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/supreme_court_takes_warrantless_search_informant_case
8. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: CALIFORNIA DR. MOLLY FRY SENTENCED TO FIVE
YEARS
Dr. Molly Fry and her companion, attorney Dale Schafer, were
sentenced last week to five years in federal prison as marijuana
traffickers for providing marijuana to patients in compliance
with California's Compassionate Use Act. At least -- and
unusually -- the judge let them out on bail pending appeal.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/molly_fry_sentenced_five_years_medical_marijuana
9. POLITICS: NEW YORK GOVERNOR ADMITS PAST COCAINE, MARIJUANA
USE, FEW ARE BOTHERED
New York Gov. David Paterson admitted to using cocaine and
marijuana in the 1970s, and for the most part, the silence has
been reassuring. A few ardent prohibitionists complained,
though.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/new_york_governor_paterson_admits_marijuana_and_cocaine_use
10. DRUG TREATMENT: IDAHO SENATE OVERRIDES GOVERNOR'S FUNDING
INCREASE VETO, BATTLE CONTINUES
Idaho legislators want to increase funding for drug treatment
and prevention, but the governor vetoed their funding
line-items. Now, the state Senate has overridden one veto, and
it's time for the House to step up to the plate.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/idaho_senate_veto_override_drug_treatment_funding
11. EUROPE: DUTCH SMOKING BAN WILL NOT APPLY TO MARIJUANA,
HEALTH MINISTER SAYS
A smoking ban in bars, restaurants, and yes, coffee shops, goes
into effect in Holland on July 1. But the law only targets
tobacco, so marijuana-smoking can continue in the coffeeshops,
at least as long as it's not those tobacco-laced Euro-style
joints.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/dutch_smoking_ban_does_not_cover_marijuana
12. LATIN AMERICA: BLOODY EASTER WEEKEND IN MEXICO'S DRUG WARS
Mexico's drug prohibition-related violence took no respite over
the Easter holiday. At least 59 people were killed across the
country, including cops, soldiers, drug dealers, used car
salesman, an informant, and a US citizen.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/bloody_easter_in_mexican_drug_war
13. EUROPE: CZECHS CALL FOR LEGAL MEDICAL MARIJUANA
As the Czech parliament moves to decriminalize small-time
marijuana possession and up to three plants, medical marijuana
activists are calling for the legalization of the weed for
medical purposes.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/czechs_call_for_legal_medical_marijuana
14. THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of
years past.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/drug_war_history
15. WEEKLY: BLOGGING @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
THE SPEAKEASY
Scott Morgan authors: "Netherlands Rated More Stable and
Prosperous Than U.S.," "Poisoning the Drug Policy Debate in 8
Simple Steps," "1/3 of People Admitted to Marijuana Treatment
Hadn't Been Smoking Marijuana!," "A False and Embarrassing Press
Release from the Deputy Drug Czar," "Simple Farmers Bearing
Brunt of Afghan Drug War."
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/blogging_at_the_speakeasy
16. FEEDBACK: DO YOU READ DRUG WAR CHRONICLE?
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evaluate our work and make the case for Drug War Chronicle to
funders. We need donations too.
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17. STUDENTS: INTERN AT DRCNET AND HELP STOP THE DRUG WAR!
Apply for an intern****p at DRCNet for this fall (or spring), and
you could spend the semester fighting the good fight!
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18. WEBMASTERS: HELP THE MOVEMENT BY RUNNING DRCNET SYNDICATION
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19. RESOURCE: DRCNET WEB SITE OFFERS WIDE ARRAY OF RSS FEEDS FOR
YOUR READER
A new way for you to receive DRCNet articles -- Drug War
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http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/drug_policy_RSS_feeds_now_available
20. RESOURCE: REFORMER'S CALENDAR ACCESSIBLE THROUGH DRCNET WEB
SITE
Visit our new web site each day to see a running countdown to
the events coming up the soonest, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/drug_reform_calendar
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================
1. Editorial: Evidence Disparities in the Drug War
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/529/evidence_disparities_in_the_drug_war
A legislative battle currently underway in Idaho illustrates an
"evidence disparity" at work in US drug policy. The state's
legislature, conservative but starting to favor different
approaches to substance abuse, recently approved $16.8 million
of funding for treatment programs, but Gov. Butch Otter vetoed
it. Not that Otter opposes such programs in principle -- he says
Idaho should have them -- but he wants to "ensure that taxpayer
dollars are used carefully, responsibly and to the best possible
advantage" in that context, according to re****ting by the Boise
paper New West
(http://www.newwest.net/city/article/idaho_senate_overrides_govs_veto_of_drug_treatment_funding/C108/L108/).
I don't know enough about the details of Idaho's drug treatment
programs to say whether they're well-designed or not. Odds are
they are needed. But I wish such care would be put into the
criminal justice side of drug policy. Is arresting, prosecuting
and incarcerating drug law violators in large number a "careful"
or advantageous use of tax monies? (Hint: Look at the
availability of drugs and their prices, which have plummeted
over these last most serious decades of the drug war. That means
the answer is "NO.") Otter could at least claim consistency if
he were also calling for an end to the drug war's imprisonment
program, or even just scaling it back. But if he's doing so I've
not heard that.
In this week, as in most other weeks I remember, the actions of
governments all over exhibit this evidence disparity:
* In Mexico, dramatic evidence in the form of nationwide,
gruesome violence shows that prohibition is dangerous and that
enforcing it is futile. But Mexico continues to fight the drug
war and suffer that cost.
* In California, the feds have garnered five year sentences
against a couple who provided marijuana to patients, despite
evidence that marijuana is helpful to patients.
* Alaska politicians are trying hard to overturn the state's
constitutional protection of private marijuana possession,
despite a lack of evidence demonstrating that marijuana is any
threat.
* In states around the country, moves are afoot to ban the
hallucinogenic plant salvia divinorum, despite a lack of
evidence for danger or widespread use. One legislator wants to
"help" salvia users by giving them five-year prison terms!
Where's the evidence sup****ting THAT?
I sup****t having policies that are based on evidence. But let's
put all of the evidence, and all of the policies, on an equal
footing. The drug warriors who are putting people in prison
should bear the burden of proof for their policies, a burden
under which their philosophy will undoubtedly collapse. Because
it is the truth that is disparate -- the case for legalization
is overwhelming -- and if measured evenly, that truth will
indict the drug war beyond any and all reasonable doubts.
Prohibition is indefensible, and the drug war is a failure and
travesty. So let's _really_ talk about the evidence, and do it
right. The day on which happens will be ours.
================
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco
"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cocoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.
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