Drug WarRant

Excellent video interview at The Guardian: ‘The House I Live In’ director Eugene Jarecki on the war on drugs: ‘Everybody is a Victim’

Among other things, he discusses the notion (that we’ve discussed here) that perhaps the drug war is a success, depending on what you are measuring.

There was another study done, this time in California, where drivers were asked to voluntarily participate and were tested for alcohol and other drugs (breathalyzer and saliva tests, primarily).

Naturally, this has led to another spate of hysterical reporting about the road filled with stoned drivers. The L.A. Times topped the list with its headline blaring: More Californians driving high than drunk on weekends, study says. Of course, the study says nothing of the kind.

And its not just the headline writer who blows it. Reporter Wesley Lowery writes “14% of drivers surveyed tested positive for driving under the influence of impairing drugs.” “Under the influence”? No, the study didn’t show that at all.

But ignorant reporters who haven’t done their homework can easily be taken by the way this study data is presented to them.

Check out the press release that went out to the media:

The survey results announced today by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) showed more drivers tested positive for drugs that may impair driving (14 percent) than did for alcohol (7.3 percent). Of the drugs, marijuana was most prevalent, at 7.4 percent, slightly more than alcohol.

“This federally funded survey is the first of its kind ever undertaken by a state,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety. “These results reinforce our belief that driving after consuming potentially impairing drugs is a serious and growing problem.”

The survey also noted that 7.3 percent of drivers tested positive for alcohol. Of those testing positive for alcohol, 23 percent also tested positive for at least one other drug. This combination can increase the effect of both substances. Illegal drugs were found in the systems of 4.6 percent of drivers, and 4.6 percent also tested positive for prescription or over-the-counter medications that may impair driving. More than one quarter (26.5 percent) of drivers testing positive for marijuana also tested positive for at least one other drug. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reported that, when looking at drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2010 in California, 30 percent tested positive for legal and/or illegal drugs, a percentage that has increased since 2006.

“Drugged driving poses a serious threat to public safety,” said Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy. “We commend the California Office of Traffic Safety for shedding light on this growing problem and for educating Californians about the prevalence of this danger. We look forward to working with California and other states to raise awareness about this important issue and continue to take action to make our roadways safer.”

The newspeak is really quite beautiful.

I really love the use of the phrase “drugs that may impair driving.” Wow. See what they’re doing there? They’re being technically accurate and saying that the drivers merely tested positive, not that they were impaired. But by calling the drugs “drugs that may impair driving” they get the word “impair” in there making readers (or ignorant reporters and headline writers) to make the connection for them.

Or check out this gem by Christopher Murphy: “This federally funded survey is the first of its kind ever undertaken by a state, … These results reinforce our belief that driving after consuming potentially impairing drugs is a serious and growing problem.” Again, I am humbled by the sheer audacity of the notion of stating that the first study of its kind could prove that this is a “growing” problem. And yet, he’s not the only one! Kerlikowske does the same thing later in the piece.

Someday I want to meet the evil geniuses who write text like this. Do they consider their intentionally deceptive writing some kind of big game? I”d really like to know.

….

Going back to the L.A. Times headline. While it was totally unsupported by the facts of the study, think about it for a moment. “More Californians driving high than drunk on weekends…”

If only.

(An increase in stoned drivers combined with an equal decrease in drunk drivers would likely result in safer roads.)

A note for those who have not followed this issue. Nobody is recommending that people drive impaired or in any way make the roads less safe. The point is that the intentional misuse of data does not ever make roads safer.

Ten years from now, will we all be camping outside the big box cannabis store to get the best Black Friday deals on Christmas bud?

Continued silence from the administration. I really don’t know what that means and would love to be on the inside to hear what discussions are going on.

I’m also torn on the issue of forcing their hand – part of me thinks that forcing them to respond would mean they’d have to respond negatively (mostly from the position of interfering with state plans to set up distribution methods). On the other hand, ducking the issue entirely means that it’ll be up to the U.S. Attorneys and DEA to “set” federal policy.

Barney Frank and Ron Paul have sent President Obama a letter asking him to back off (too bad we’re losing both of those freedom-loving folks). Others in Congress are now developing bills to get the feds to leave the states alone. Several state legislatures are now considering their own legalization bills. Numerous countries are having serious legalization discussions…

And several conservative pundits have proposed that conservatives take up the legalization banner, both in an effort to attract younger voters, and because legalization fits both the limited government and states’rights concepts of conservatism.

Interesting times.

Oops, sorry, my bad. That was from 2004.

The silence from the administration has been deafening. And other states and countries have been stepping into the void to make a case for legalization. The genie is definitely out of the bottle.

It’s interesting to watch the silence on Twitter. Rafael Lemaitre, the Communications Director or the ONDCP hasn’t tweeted since October 14, except to re-tweet some posts by others that had nothing to do with marijuana legalization. And the other ONDCP twitter account has joked about Director Kerlikowske secretly desiring to guest host NPR’s show “Wait, Wait,” and yet hasn’t commented on the Washington and Colorado votes. The ONDCP blog talked about drugged driving legislation in California, and a Veteran’s Day message, but nothing on the elections. Clearly, the ONDCP has been told in no uncertain terms to keep its collective mouth shut.

I actually found this rather humorous…

Link

The Dunedin Returned and Services’ Association (RSA) is upset after drugs paraphernalia was found marring a war memorial.

Last week, a Keep Dunedin Beautiful Adopt-A-Spot volunteer discovered some bongs at the Highcliff Rd war memorial on the Otago Peninsula.

Four bongs used to smoke marijuana were found while the volunteer was tidying the area.

Dunedin RSA president Jenepher Glover said it was really saddening to hear about the bongs.

“It’s a desecration,” she said.

“To think that someone would disrespect the people who fought by smoking drugs there is abhorrent.”

I’m sure that some of the veterans who regularly visit this blog would agree that there may be no finer tribute to the fallen than to bring some bongs to a war memorial on a high cliff overlook.

And the significance of leaving the bongs there? …. Well, how is leaving a wreath any better?

This sounds outstanding. Ricardo Cortes gave us “It’s Just a Plant: a children’s story about marijuana” and also illustrated the extraordinarily popular “Go the Fuck to Sleep.” His latest project is one that has taken years of research, development and artistry.

A Secret History of Coffee, Coca & Cola is an illustrated history of coffee, coca leaf, kola nut, Coca-Cola, caffe-ine, coca-ine, secret formulas, special flavors, special favors, and the future of prohibition. It’s a tale of cocaine factories in Peru and New Jersey; secret experiments at the University of Hawaii; and a peek at the files of U.S. Bureau of Narcotics commissioner Harry J. Anslinger (infamous for his “Reefer Madness” campaign against marijuana, lesser known as a collaborator of The Coca-Cola Company).

“This book is an incredible work of artistic journalism. Armed with color pencils and an eye for detail, Cortés has produced a beautiful and subversive history of how that bottle of Coke ended up in your fridge. Cortés weaves his people’s history with meticulously and gorgeously crafted drawings—many of them recreations of the primary documents he uses to tell his story. The end product is a damning, epic tale of hypocrisy: while the US government leads the charge to criminalize the 10 million people who chew coca, it has simultaneously conspired with a multinational beverage giant to ensure an endless supply of coca to fuel its profits.”

—Jeremy Scahill

Link

Vienna, 15 November – The President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), Raymond Yans, has voiced grave concern about the outcome of recent referenda in the United States of America that would allow the non-medical use of cannabis by adults in the states of Colorado and Washington, and in some cities in the states of Michigan and Vermont. Mr. Yans stated that “these developments are in violation of the international drug control treaties, and pose a great threat to public health and the well-being of society far beyond those states”.

No softening of anti-drug war

Singapore explains its new adjusted death penalty plans.

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s move to introduce changes to its mandatory death penalty for drug offences will boost its agencies’ ability to fight the growing scourge both at home and abroad, said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

With the changes, agencies like the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) will be better able to get more information from drug mules, he added.

The reason: These criminals will be spared the gallows only when their information leads to the arrest of drug traffickers or the destruction of a syndicate.

That’s right. They know that the ones they’re executing are only mules, and they’ll continue to execute them unless they know enough to get someone higher to take their place.

This is the drug war. It is our drug war translated to places where freedom and human rights mean even less than they do here. This is the drug war that extremists like Peter Hitchens are talking about when they say we haven’t really fought the drug war.

This is why we fight to end the drug war. Not cheaper pot. There’s a much higher purpose. It’s about liberty and humanity. And life.

As the usual gang of academics in drug policy have, over the years, continually pointed out the uncertainties of legalization given the lack of any actual examples of legalization, I have often publicly wondered at the lack of interest in pushing for a Justice Brandeis-style “laboratory” to give us that actual data.

Now that Washington and Colorado have stepped up to the plate and voted for legalization despite the paralyzing reams of uncertainty that surely must be haunting their every waking moment, it’s nice to see Mark Kleiman appreciating this new laboratory: States as laboratories for marijuana policy.

So the obvious way to learn something about marijuana legalization would be to try it out one state at a time: relying on what Justice Brandeis called “the laboratories of democracy.” If Colorado’s legalization went badly, that would be a much easier problem to correct than if the mistake had been made on a national basis. […]

So why shouldn’t the federal government cut Colorado and Washington some slack? As long as those states prevent marijuana grown under their laws from crossing state lines and thereby subverting marijuana prohibition in the rest of the states, the Justice Department could step back and let the consequences of the new policies play themselves out. They might succeed, or they might fail. In either case, the rest of us could learn from their experience.

I’m pleased to see Mark engaged in this new opportunity for data.