Drug WarRant

Federal Judge Rules Florida’s Drug Laws Unconstitutional

Hold on. Don’t get too excited. Drugs aren’t suddenly legal in Florida.

A federal judge in Orlando has declared Florida’s strict-liability controlled substances act unconstitutional on the ground that the law could convict an innocent person of drug distribution who unknowingly possessed, transported or delivered a controlled substance. The laws’ fatal flaw is the lack of a criminal intent requirement, which the legislature purposely removed from the statutes in 2002.

U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven found that Florida stands alone among the states in its express elimination of mens rea – the common-law “guilty mind” requirement – as an element of a drug offense.

This is important because it serves to put a little bit of a brake on out-of-control legislatures and prosecutors who are so eager to jail drug offenders that they ignore basic common-law protections.

The petitioner, Mackle Vincent Shelton, was convicted of delivery of a controlled substance and traffic charges. The jury was instructed that “to prove the crime of delivery of cocaine, the state must prove the following two elements beyond a reasonable doubt: that Mackle Vincent Shelton delivered a certain substance; and, that the substance was cocaine.” The state did not have to prove that he knew he was carrying or distributing cocaine or any controlled substance at all.

In granting Mr. Shelton’s petition for habeas corpus, the court found that Florida’s drug distribution law violates due process because it “regulates inherently innocent conduct.” Indeed, with no intent requirement, a Federal Express delivery person who unknowingly delivers a parcel containing a controlled substance, would be presumed a felon under Florida’s drug law.

This is a good decision.

So… it was eight years ago today that I dipped my toe in the waters of blogging with my first post at DrugWarRant.com.

I really wasn’t sure about this whole “blogging” thing at the time, but I wanted another way to express my concerns about the drug war beyond what the 200-words-every-30-day policy of the local newspaper allowed.

I thought that maybe I’d post something every week or so — not sure if anyone would actually read it.

8 years and 4,672 posts later…

I’ve learned a lot. And I’ve been fortunate enough to be able share some of that knowledge with millions of visitors.

This is, to my knowledge, the only full-time drug policy blog that has been around that whole time. But today, there are a lot more voices out there. And, my God, the army of informed citizens hitting every newspaper commenting section around the world today is staggering.

Yes, it’s been a tough road. The drug warriors have all the money, the propaganda machines, the criminal justice system, the political structures and the government. All we have is the truth.

But in the long haul (because that’s what we’re in it for), the truth is all we need. That, and the willingness to keep informing the people and motivating them to speak truth to power.

I’d like to hang up Drug WarRant. Eight years is a very long time. I’d like to put up a simple graphic with fireworks, confetti, and exploding champagne corks saying “The War is Over! We Can Go Home Now.”

But it’s not. We’ve made tremendous strides in these past eight years, but we can’t stop. So I’ll be back here tomorrow or Thursday with some new outrage, or a link to a piece of powerful and insightful writing that someone has ventured to speak. And I’ll be pissed off and hopeful.

I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the readers of this blog. It is the fact that you keep coming back and commenting (or silently lurking) that keeps me going. And when I see a reader who learned something or became motivated at DrugWarRant take that knowledge/motivation and use it elsewhere… wow! That makes it all worthwhile.

Thanks for a great and productive eight years. Next step: critical mass.

Wow!

Daily Caller

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) passed a resolution Tuesday calling for an end to the “War on Drugs” during their 102th NAACP Annual Convention in Los Angeles, CA.

“Today the NAACP has taken a major step towards equity, justice and effective law enforcement,” said NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Jealous. “These flawed drug policies that have been mostly enforced in African American communities must be stopped and replaced with evidenced-based practices that address the root causes of drug use and abuse in America.”

The resolution, titled “A Call to End the War on Drugs, Allocate Funding to Investigate Substance Abuse Treatment, Education, and Opportunities in Communities of Color for A Better Tomorrow” highlighted the fact that the United States spends $40 billion each year fighting the drug war and that African-Americans are 13 times more likely to end up in jail for drug-related crimes than their white counterparts. […]

The NAACP is now calling for drug treatment rather than jail time for offenders. […]

Once the NAACP board of directors ratifies the resolution in October, the NAACP and its chapters will mobilize to begin campaigning and fighting against the “War on Drugs.”

Update: Via Jacob Sullum

Rooks says the full text of the resolution will be available after the NAACP’s national board approves it in October. He says the resolution supports needle exchange programs, condemns mandatory minimum sentences, and criticizes Byrne law enforcement grants, a program supported by President Obama that has fueled the incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders and funded the regional anti-drug task forces behind racially tinged law enforcement scandals in places such as Tulia, Texas. But in general, Rooks says, the resolution “is not a policy document”; instead it outlines “principles and ideas” that should guide “our units” in adopting specific positions. Among those principles: “that those who are arrested for drug offenses not be sent to prison—that’s explicit.” Rooks says the resolution does not distinguish between users and suppliers in that respect, but neither does it call for legalization. “In terms of decriminalization or legalization,” he says, “we did not get into those discussions.”

I’m quite happy with an NAACP resolution that explicitly states that those arrested for drug offenses should not be sent to prison. That’s a huge step.

Director Gil Kerlikowske

Today, I was pleased to join my colleagues from throughout the Administration to announce the first U.S. strategy on transnational organized crime (TOC) in fifteen years. The Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime provides a comprehensive plan that will, in part, help us build on our progress to further reduce drug use in the United States and disrupt drug trafficking and its facilitation of other transnational threats.

Remember, this is the guy that declared an end to the War on Drugs, saying that we have to focus on treatment, yet who just hired a military general for Deputy Director of Supply Reduction.

And now the Office of National Drug Control Policy is getting heavily involved in major new expanded efforts to “Combat Transnational Organized Crime.” Really?

Not that he has a clue as to what’s going on there…

“You can read the full strategy (pdf) and a fact sheet on the strategy (pdf).”

Um, no. Those are links to the International Strategy for Cyberspace. Interesting, but has nothing to do with the ONDCP or transnational organized crime.

The actual strategy is available here, and it’s a doozy. A real ratcheting up of the international war on drugs and, following the UNODC lead, tying drug control to all international crime.

The vagueness of the language and the way drugs and crime and terrorism are conflated is quite frightening.

Along emerging trafficking routes, such as the transit route through West Africa to Europe, criminal networks are spreading corruption and undermining fledgling democratic institutions. Due to the enormous profits associated with drug trafficking, the illegal trade is also a way to finance other transnational criminal and terrorist activities.

To diminish these threats, we will continue ongoing efforts to identify and disrupt the leadership, production, intelligence gathering, transportation, and financial infrastructure of major TOC networks. By targeting the human, technology, travel, and communications aspects of these networks, we will be able to monitor and gather intelligence to identify the full scope of the TOC networks, their members, financial assets, and criminal activities. We will continue ongoing efforts to enhance collaboration among domestic law enforcement agencies and our foreign counterparts in order to strengthen our ability to coordinate investigations and share intelligence to combat drug trafficking and TOC. Continued use of economic sanctions under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) to pursue transnational drug organizations will enhance our ability to disrupt and dismantle TOC networks. The Kingpin Act also may be used to prosecute persons involved in illegal activities linked to drug trafficking, such as arms trafficking, bulk cash smuggling, or gang activity. Enhanced intelligence sharing and coordination among law enforcement and intelligence agencies, the military, and our diplomatic community will enable the interagency community to develop aggressive, multi-jurisdictional approaches to dismantle TOC networks involved in drug trafficking. […]

By disrupting and dismantling the world’s major TOC networks involved in drug trafficking, we will be able to reduce the availability of illicit drugs, inhibit terrorist funding, improve national and international security, and bring TOC networks to justice.

Yep. Just wrap the entire crime, terrorism and drug issues into one major international war, with no understanding of the underlying causes or economic factors.

There’s also a reference to the administration looking to increase its asset seizure efforts, both abroad and at home. Not good.

I never really followed Amy Winehouse, or knew that much about her, other than peripheral awareness of the tabloid stuff about her drug problems. However, I knew that her death would dredge up a lot of anti-drug fervor and some ignorant comments.

And it did. I saw friends on Facebook who essentially wondered why anyone should bother eulogizing a disgusting drug-user like her…

… until they read Russell Brand’s OpEd in the Guardian on Sunday.
Continue reading →

Via Grits for Breakfast: After all, how many Steven Rodriguez’s could there be?

The wrong Steven Rodriguez was arrested in front of his wife and four year old son for drug trafficking based on a warrant approved by a local Justice of the Peace. He was taken to jail and required to post bail (including $5,000 non-refundable to the bail bondsman) then lost his job after his name and his picture was disseminated to the media. It was three weeks before authorities figured out they’d picked up the wrong guy.

[Rodriguez’s attorney George Filley III] said in a telephone conversation with DeWitt County Sheriff Jode Zavesky, the sheriff acknowledged that the investigation and arrest was an error and expressed regrets over the matter.

“The whole problem is Steven’s drivers license was used to identify him, and that photo released to the news media,” Filley said. “How in the world did that happen?”

Filley, who had 30 years experience in law enforcement and is also a former Victoria County district attorney, said part of the problem is that evidence is not reviewed thoroughly before a warrant is issued.

“In some of the outlying counties, the district and county attorneys do not review the complaints or applications for warrants before the warrant is issued,” Filley said. “In this case, this is a direct filing. An officer swears out a complaint before a magistrate and based on what the officer swears to, the magistrate issues a warrant. That’s frightening. That could be any one of us.

“It’s never been reviewed by the prosecutor. Never been reviewed for sufficiency of evidence. That’s how you can get into mistakes. In this particular case, it resulted in a terrible miscarriage on justice.”

Alameda sheriffs threaten to kill paraplegic man’s dog in marijuana raid

An Alameda County medical marijuana patient is reeling after sheriffs raided his garden and threatened to kill his pet dog today.

Jason Rivera, a paraplegic who suffers severe chronic pain, was detained by sheriffs presenting a warrant at his recording studio. The warrant was based on the tip of an anonymous informant, said Rivera, recounting the statements of deputies on the scene.

As sheriffs executed the warrant at the studio, one asked Rivera about searching his home. Rivera says the deputy threatened to kill his dog if he didn’t cooperate. “We can do this the easy way and you can take us to your house to look around,” Rivera recounts the deputy saying, “or we can detain you for six hours while we get a warrant and go to your house and shoot your dog.”

Dying patient wrongly assumed to be junkie

A very ill man, wrongly assumed to be a “junkie” craving strong drugs, died in agony hours after being discharged from a NSW hospital, a coroner has found. […]

“If, as now seems clear, Mr Sutherland’s bowel was ruptured or on the point of rupturing when he was brought in … his pain must have been very severe indeed,” he said.

Dr Bonney refused pain relief except for a couple of tablets of panadol, which the coroner said was nowhere near adequate to relieve his suffering. […]

The coroner said at one stage Dr Bonney reportedly told a nurse: “What is he still doing here? Get him out of my department”.

Freedom from Pain

For much of the Western world, physical pain ends with a simple pill. Yet more than half the world’s countries have little to no access to morphine, the gold standard for treating medical pain.

Freedom from Pain shines a light on this under-reported story. “For a victim of police torture, they will usually sign a confession and the torture stops,” says Diederik Lohman of Human Rights Watch in the film. “For someone who has cancer pain, that torturous experience continues for weeks, and sometimes months on end.”

Unlike so many global health problems, pain treatment is not about money or a lack of drugs, since morphine costs pennies per dose and is easily made. The treatment of pain is complicated by many factors, including drug laws, bureaucratic rigidity and commercial disincentives.

I’ve just spent most of the past week as one of the judges of the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival in Palatine, Illinois. Awards were announced this afternoon and will probably be posted online soon. It was quite an amazing festival with incredible films in a wide variety of categories. It makes me feel good about the future of independent film.

Keith Humphreys manages to define two mostly fictional opposing straw camps in a rather bizarre, though creative way and then give us the low-down on what legalization will look like:

This will be tough for baby boomers to hear, but the current generation of Americans doesn’t know Woodstock from chicken stock and understands the Viet Nam War about as much as they do military action in the Crimea. If the U.S. legalized marijuana today, those now fading cultural meanings would not rule the day, capitalism would. Cannabis would seen as a product to be marketed and sold just as is tobacco. People in the marijuana industry would wear suits, work in offices, donate to the Club for Growth and work with the tobacco industry to lobby against clean air restrictions. The plant would be grown on big corporate farms, perhaps supported with unneeded federal subsidies and occasionally marred by scandals regarding exploitation of undocumented immigrant farm workers. The liberal grandchildren of legalization advocates will grumble about the soulless marijuana corporations and the conservative grandchildren of anti-legalization activists will play golf at the country club with marijuana inc. executives, toast George Soros at the 19th hole afterwards and discuss how they can get the damn liberals in Congress to stop blocking capital gains tax cuts.

Wow. That’s certainly a passionate future view.

I think that the reality would be much more along the lines of Eli’s comment on that post (and others):

Big Pot? Really? If anything it would seem more like microbreweries – and many of those potential customers simply existing outside of the market because of the relative ease of growing your own, and the fact that such smaller quanties will ever be required by the average user. I think there might be a scenario in which regulation and health care might create a sort of small pharma marijuana industry. But even there, it would be less Pfizer and more fish-oil-type supplement.

I agree that alcohol is much more likely the model of cannabis legalization than cigarettes, with both the budweiser version as well as the fine wines and single-malt scotches. If you’re looking at tobacco as the model, it would be more likely the cigar/pipe model than the cigarette model.

Marijuana is consumed much more like alcohol or fine tobaccos than like cigarettes. People will want different strains for different moods (just as I like The Balvenie when I’m at home relaxing, but prefer Lagavulin 16 when I’m out with friends).

Oh, and most legalization advocates are not against people making money from the sale of marijuana. We just want it to be legal money, not criminal profits.

Speaking of cannabis and tobacco, the UCIA News Blog reports on Tokepure – a campaign whose time has come

A campaign to get cannabis users to stop smoking tobacco is the biggest and simplest harm reduction campaign the government could and should be running. This is an issue that affects millions of mostly young people. In all honesty, tobacco use is by far and away the biggest danger to health cannabis users face, strange then that the government has never done anything to address the issue. The cannabis law reform campaign CLEAR in association with UKCIA is about to put that right.

I have always been a bit baffled by the tendency for people in the UK to smoke their cannabis mixed with tobacco. It’s never made much sense to me, and it certainly doesn’t make sense from a health perspective.

Of course, governments are never willing to suggest to people how to do a criminalized activity more safely — they’d much rather prop up their failed wars than save their own citizens’ lives.

Best of luck to the Tokepure movement.

“Can’t sugarcoat this,” said Judge Robert Richter. “To take somebody and threaten their life in that fashion. . . Smoking marijuana doesn’t make you do that. Somebody in college studying criminal justice should know.”

This was from an article about a former college student who mugged Kal Penn at gunpoint and tried to explain his actions due to struggling with drug use.

I never have any sympathy for people who try to excuse their violent crimes because of their drug use. No, it is the individual who is responsible, not the drug.

Even though the Twinkie Defense is really a myth, the very concept quite appropriately mocks the notion that a substance can be held responsible for violent crimes.

Drug Czar Kerlikowske has rather famously pronounced on numerous times that he ended the war on drugs (basically by disavowing the term). This is part of his effort to pretend that the current administration is more focused on treatment and prevention than the proven failures of supply-side drug control policy.

Yet the budget has shown that this is all misdirection. Sure, there have been a few extra dollars thrown into treatment, and the drug czar makes an effort to travel around the country visiting treatment centers, but the truth is that we’re still fully funding and supporting the enormous drug war that the U.S. has been fighting for ages.

Now the drug czar has announced the appointment of Marilyn Quagliotti as Deputy Director of Supply Reduction. Check out the qualifications that he brags about for someone joining an agency that is supposedly no longer fighting a war…

…previously served 32 years in the United States Army, rising to the rank of Major General. She was the first woman to attain the rank of General Officer in the Signal Corps and first woman to command a battalion in a combat division. As an Army officer, she served multiple tours throughout the continental United States, South Korea, Germany and Panama. In Panama, she was the Brigade Commander, in command of a unit supporting interdiction efforts to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. Deputy Director Quagliotti holds a M.S degree from the National War College in National Security Strategy…

Nope. No wars here.