Drug WarRant

They’re also certifiably crazy.

So with states passing medical marijuana laws, it makes sense to have good controls over those who sell marijuana to make sure things are on the up and up.

Of course, that’s nearly impossible with the feds breathing down the states’ backs and interfering with any system of checks and balances that a state might want to implement.

But let’s say an individual dispensary want to try to do the right thing. So they pay federal taxes on their marijuana sales just like any other business.

Oakland –  A leading Oakland marijuana dispensary was hit with a $2.5 million tax bill this week, which may force its closure, dispensary staff said Tuesday.

Harborside Health Center owes the Internal Revenue Service back taxes for 2007 and 2008, based on a federal law prohibiting marijuana dispensaries – unlike other businesses – from deducting payroll, insurance, rent, workers’ compensation and other operating costs from its revenues.

So, what message does that send to dispensaries that want to do the right thing and pay income taxes, but aren’t completely loony?

Item 2. Dispensaries have tried to be good players by keeping business accounts in banks, where the money can be tracked, and, if there was any wrong-doing, an investigation could occur.

Denver — On Friday, the last bank in Colorado to openly work with the medical-marijuana industry — Colorado Springs State Bank — officially closed down the accounts of dispensaries and others in the state’s legal marijuana business over concerns about working with companies that are, by definition, breaking federal law. […]

That’s where the really big safe comes in.

The owner of the Colorado Springs dispensary [interviewed by the Post] — who didn’t want his name or the name of his business used for fear of attracting thieves — said he will have to stick money in there instead of depositing it into a bank account. He’s also planning to take a class this weekend to get a concealed-weapons permit, for protection outside the store.

Our federal government likes black markets so much that it goes out of its way to create them.

Prohibition’s real lessons for drug policy

America’s notoriously “failed social experiment” to rid the country of alcohol — took center stage this week as PBS broadcast Ken Burns’ highly acclaimed series on the subject. And already, it has been seized on by drug legalization advocates, who say it proves that drug prohibition should be abandoned.

But a closer look at what resulted from alcohol prohibition and its relevance to today’s anti-drug effort reveals a far more nuanced picture than the legalization lobby might like to admit.

It’s the standard pro-prohibition claptrap that downplays the enormous harms of prohibition while tossing out silver linings, and tries to claim that drug prohibition is significantly different from alcohol prohibition so it can work.

I got a laugh out of one of the commenters who appears eager to both support Sabet and stop us from reacting…

substancescholar at 4:27 AM October 5, 2011
This article is well informed and grounded in the facts. Once again Kevin Sabet presents a balanced and thought-out argument. Of course, the legalizers won’t like it, and they will organize another smear campaign against it.

On the other hand, I got a real kick out of the tweet from Transform drugs this morning about Sabet’s article:

Prohibition’s real lessons for drug policy, LAtimes: anti-reform piece so bad it makes the case for legalisation dlvr.it/pQ1Nf

Remember we were having a contest to see where Sabet would end up after leaving the Drug Czar’s office? Well, according to this article, he “currently is a consultant and a fellow at the Center for Substance Abuse Solutions at the University of Pennsylvania.”

I don’t think anyone guessed that, but we shouldn’t be too quick to settle the contest. I’m betting that he’s still in flux. The Center for Substance Abuse Solutions doesn’t really exist at the University of Pennsylvania in any of their directories or search engines except as a project in the bio of A. Thomas McLellan (former Deputy Director of the ONDCP), and Sabet is not yet listed in the U. of Penn faculty/staff directory. It’s possible that Tom McLellan lent him a title to use for publishing OpEds.

Finally, someone in the government is willing to speak up and state this glaring truth, potentially risking the displeasure of his boss…

If you think about the enormous changes that have been made in terms of people’s use of tobacco, for example, that wasn’t because they were arrested.

Exactly.

Boy, I sure wish President Obama heard that.

In his book “Eternal Battle Against Evil,” Paul R. Chabot calls for readers to join him in a never-ending jihad. I use that word because there’s no word in English that as effectively connotes the religious struggle (or holy war) described. And while within the Muslim world there are nuances of meaning to that term, there’s no doubt that Chabot’s struggle focuses on the militant form of jihad.

I am a Christian who believes that both God and Satan exists. I believe man is comprised of both good and evil. For humanity to survive, the good must promise eternal hostility against evil, for we have no other choice. The fight is often scary, bloody, and unknown. As I learned going through a law enforcement academy, one must never, ever, ever give up! If you give up, it’s the end! The bad guys win! (p. xxi)

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Rapid City, South Dakota

Red Ribbon Week in Rapid City starts Monday. It kicked off in the afternoon at Dinosaur Hill.

Students and other officials pledged to be drug free.

Also, they tied a large red ribbon around the dinosaur’s neck.

I guess the message is, “Hey, you may be extinct, but at least you’re drug free!”

They have other activities as well, including the strange-sounding “look up and be drug free flyover.”

The letter was from U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen who wrote about marijuana policy and suggesting that marijuana should be removed from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act.

Kerlikowske responded with the usual nonsense. Rep. Cohen could probably use the help of some of you in comments, where some of the constituents seem to be ridiuling the Congressman for caring about this issue.

I always find it bizarre when people (with a straight face, no less) try to explain that marijuana should be kept illegal because it’s only about getting high, and alcohol is different because people drink that for the taste of it.

I wonder what those people make of the ubiquitous Corona Extra commercials…
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I didn’t get a chance to watch the first installment today (it continues over the next two days, I believe). Any reactions?

It really is sad when those with a public platform are so irrationally opposed to discussions of legalization, that they go out of their way to attempt to downplay the importance of drug revenue to Mexican trafficking organizations and the impact of legalization (see Daksya’s comment there for an important correction to Humphreys) or, on the other hand, to suggest that drug testing those on parole or probation would reduce revenue to the drug traffickers by as much as 40%.

That’s the title of this article in The Vancouver Sun.

OTTAWA — A diplomatic cable shows U.S. officials opposed the Insite supervised injection site in Vancouver and wanted the federal and municipal governments to shut it down. […]

The memo is generally favourable of the federal Conservative government’s efforts to clamp down on the production and distribution of illicit drugs, including a national awareness campaign targeting youth and parents.

“However, local and provincial authorities have embarked on a number of so-called ‘harm-reduction’ programs,” reads the cable, “including a drug injection site and distribution of drug paraphernalia to chronic users.”

The document notes the federal government “continues to deliver a sharp message” to cities and provinces about the programs, but called for stronger action.

“Canada, or, as appropriate, municipalities such as Vancouver and Ottawa, should implement the (International Narcotics Control Board’s) recommendations to eliminate drug injection sites and drug paraphernalia distribution programs,” the cable reads, “because they violate international drug control treaties.”

No real surprise, there.

Fortunately, Canada’s Supreme Court has protected the Insite clinic from attempts by the Harper administration to shut it down.

Canada’s top judges, in a sharp rebuke of one of Harper’s key law-and-order planks, said the government’s attempt to shut down North America’s only nurse-supervised injection site for drug addicts violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The U.S. cable is available here. It also notes that “DEA conducted a five-day seminar in Montreal on asset forfeiture and money laundering for 40 members from various law enforcement agencies…” Gotta export that drug war in every way possible, you know.