Drug WarRant

In the Vail Daily, Robert F. Hickey hits one out of the park.

First, from a professional perspective, let me say that in treating thousands of people who have become victims of their use of alcohol and other drugs since 1970, I have never treated a marijuana addict. I have never been called to an emergency room to treat an out-of-control or violent marijuana user. I have never completed a court-ordered evaluation for a defendant who was accused of domestic violence as a result of marijuana use. I have never heard of five or six law enforcement officers being needed to tackle, control or otherwise subdue a crazed marijuana user.

Marijuana is not a narcotic! That is a law enforcement characterization, not a medical, biological or chemical classification.

Contrary to quotes in Mr. Sims’ letter by Kevin Sabet, special adviser, Office of National Drug Control Policy, marijuana is not a dangerous drug which causes documented health and social problems.

Where is the documentation? The only documentation of social problems are those which arise from the prohibition of marijuana and the 750,000 subsequent arrests for possession of small amounts of the plant each year.

The social problems come as a result of the billions of dollars spent each year by law enforcement agencies across the country.

The social problems come from the inequities of law enforcement against minorities in the country. African-Americans are five to 10 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, yet on a per capita basis, whites use marijuana in greater numbers than all minorities. As Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP said recently, “ … being caught up in the criminal justice system does more harm to young people than marijuana itself.”

And by what authority does Sabet dictate that marijuana “should not be subject to voter approval for its use”?

There’s more. Great job, Mr. Hickey.

Via Just Say Now:

Peter Tosh’s family released the following statement:

Today, as Peter Tosh did back in 1976 with the release of “Legalize It,” the Peter Tosh Estate proudly speaks out for marijuana legalization. They do this in the name of Peter Tosh, his music, and their strong belief in the power of “Yes” on California’s Proposition 19. Join them in the fight for legalization by supporting the Just Say Now campaign.

Here’s the full version of Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It” on iTunes, in case you’d like to add it to your iPod.

Someone shoot me.

Whoopi at least knows something about the subject. Barbara Walters got some things right and some wrong, and Elizabeth Hasselbeck? Dumb as a post. I don’t know who watches these shows, but I felt like I lost 10 IQ points just in the 3 minutes that I watched this video.

Sorry about the Hulu link for those out of the country.

A very powerful OpEd in the Los Angeles Times today by Dan Rush with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5: The California Chamber’s reefer madness: The group says Proposition 19 would prevent employers from punishing workers who show up high. That’s a lie.

This guy doesn’t pull any punches. He comes right out and says it:

Critics of Proposition 19,- which would legalize the private possession of limited quantities of marijuana by adults and allow local governments to regulate its commercial production and retail distribution, will do and say just about anything. Case in point: Radio ads sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce allege that passage of the measure will threaten workplace safety, a campaign The Times reported on in an Oct. 27 article.

The claim is a bald-faced lie.

Boom!

It’s a great OpEd, very well written, and very well timed.

Nicholas D. Kristof in the New York Times: End the War on Pot

Our nearly century-long experiment in banning marijuana has failed as abysmally as Prohibition did, and California may now be pioneering a saner approach. Sure, there are risks if California legalizes pot. But our present drug policy has three catastrophic consequences.

First, it squanders billions of dollars that might be better used for education. […]

The second big problem with the drug war is that it has exacerbated poverty and devastated the family structure of African-Americans. Partly that’s because drug laws are enforced inequitably. Black and Latino men are much more likely than whites to be stopped and searched and, when drugs are found, prosecuted. […]

The third problem with our drug policy is that it creates crime and empowers gangs. “The only groups that benefit from continuing to keep marijuana illegal are the violent gangs and cartels that control its distribution and reap immense profits from it through the black market,” a group of current and former police officers, judges and prosecutors wrote last month in an open letter to voters in California. […]

One advantage of our federal system is that when we have a failed policy, we can grope for improvements by experimenting at the state level. I hope California will lead the way on Tuesday by legalizing marijuana.

Financial Times Editorial (free registration required): High time to legalise marijuana

Just say no, the slogan says. But on November 2, California has the chance to say yes, at least to marijuana. Proposition 19 would legalise the production, sale and use of cannabis, abolishing an ineffective and socially damaging prohibition on a substance with fewer health risks than alcohol and tobacco. The Golden State should vote to legalise dope. […]

However California votes, marijuana will remain illegal in the US. Nor will Proposition 19 weed out all the social problems caused by narcotics use. But it will make a start at removing a failed policy that exacerbates these ills – an approach which could, if successful, perhaps in time be applied to other drugs. It is time to say yes.

This is an open thread.

LA Times blogger Dennis Romero has demonstrated a bit of a racist sense of humor in the past…

Surprise surprise. Latinos are getting behind the California ballot initiative to legalize pot. You mean the same folks who gave the world Cheech (not Chong), Acapulco gold and the very word marijuana? Orale!

Seems he loves to play with the Latino stereotype…

On Tuesday, he reported some excellent news (with his own special dig at the end)…

The National Latino Officers Association was scheduled to give pot legalization its thumbs up Wednesday morning at the William C. Velasquez Institute in L.A.’s Lincoln Park community.

At the same time, the Yes on 19 folks will release a study showing that Latinos have been disproportionately arrested under current marijuana laws.

According to the study, titled, “Arresting Latinos for Marijuana in California,” “In the City of Los Angeles, where one in ten Californians live, police arrested Latinos for marijuana possession at twice the rate of whites.”

It also states that from 1990 to 2009, “the marijuana possession arrest rate of Latino teenagers in California more than tripled.”

What’s the point? To scare the all-important Latino vote into approving Prop. 19, which would allow the 21-and-older set to possess up to one ounce of cannabis.

Note the picture and caption he came up with for that story:

Really?

Katrina vanden Heuval has an excellent OpEd in the Washington Post: Just say yes to common sense on pot policy

Because the reasons to support Prop 19 are so diverse, promising alliances are being formed that might be sustained beyond this election. Libertarians and progressives, civil rights advocates, law enforcement groups, unions and young activists all see the value of ending prohibition. (As editor of the Nation, it’s not often that I find the magazine in a bipartisan alliance with Reason magazine. And the National Review was on board for legalization when William F. Buckley Jr. served as editor a decade ago.)

So Prop 19 is good policy and good politics. States across the country struggling with these same issues are watching with interest, as are Democratic strategists who see the potential for similar ballot initiatives to drive people to the polls in 2012.

It’s interesting that we can have such intelligent OpEd and editorial writing nationally regarding Prop 19, and yet, as Matt Welch has been reporting in detail, practically every single daily newspaper in California has editorialized against Prop 19, usually with a whole lot of stupid. Why is that?

One of the major problems in the world is the fact that so many have the “war mentality” — the notion that war is actually an effective tool and that the only way to utilize it is to continue until you have “victory.”

The fact is that war isn’t an effective tool; it’s a destructive device that only works for the wielder in one of two situations: as a destructive device for organized aggression, or as a destructive device to counter organized aggression.

Wars particularly do not work when trying to deal with a market or an ideology. And that’s when the notion of continuing to “victory” is especially idiotic and damaging. In those kind of wars, there is no flag to capture, no dictator to kill in his bunker… no end to the war possible. When you have a war with no end because there’s no one on the other side who can surrender or be killed thus ending the war, then continuing on to “victory” merely means the endless use of a destructive device with no possible value received.

Calderon has the war mentality. He really has it bad.

‘No alternative’ to Mexico’s drug war – says Calderon

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said he will continue his war on the country’s drug cartels until the country is safe, despite the tens of thousands of deaths it has already cost. […]

The recent massacres in the north “reinforce our determination to fight and defeat those criminals” he told me. “These are crazy and the government must act with the full force of the state against them. I will not rest until Mexico is safe”. […]

“It is painful,” the president concedes, “but there is no alternative”.

Marching on to victory.

Via press release…

(San Jose, CA) — A coalition of campus organizations at San Jose State University are hosting a public debate tonight on Proposition 19 – the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 – between former San Jose police chief Joseph McNamara and Ron Allen of the International Faith Based Coalition.

WHO: Joseph McNamara, former San Jose police chief & fellow at the Hoover Institute vs. Ron Allen of the International Faith Based Coalition

WHAT: Public debate on Proposition 19

WHERE: San Jose State University, Uhmunum Room of the Student Union

WHEN: Tonight, Tuesday, October 26, 6:00 pm PDT

“I’ve worked in law enforcement for 35 years, including 15 years as the police chief in San Jose. Over my career, I have seen firsthand how misguided our marijuana policies are for our state and our country,” says former San Jose police chief Joe McNamara. “California cannot afford to continue the same failed policies of the past. We need to pass Proposition 19 to tax and control marijuana like we do alcohol. Controlling and taxing marijuana will generate over a billion dollars in new revenue every year, in contrast to the current $14 billion criminally-controlled market for marijuana, the largest cash crop in California. This money will go to local communities, allow police to focus on violent crimes, and put drug cartels out of business.”

Proposition 19 has the support of law enforcement officials, judges, law professors, doctors, mothers, economists, politicians, the SIEU and other major labor groups, the California NAACP, and the California Council of Churches.

Tonight’s event will be hosted by Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and co-sponsored by a broad coalition of organizations, including the Silicon Valley chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the SJSU College Republicans, SJSU Democratic Caucus, The Economics Club, The Sociology Club, Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honors Society, and Students for Quality Education.

The event is open to the general public. Admission is free and refreshments will be provided.

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – Gunmen stormed two neighboring homes and massacred 13 young people at a birthday party in the latest large-scale attack in this violent border city, even as a new government strategy seeks to restore order with social programs and massive police deployments.

Attackers in two vehicles pulled up to the houses in a lower-middle-class Ciudad Juarez neighborhood late Friday and opened fire on about four dozen partygoers gathered for a 15-year-old boy’s birthday party.

The dead identified so far were 13 to 32 years old, including six women and girls, Chihuahua state Attorney General Carlos Salas said. He said 20 people were wounded, including a 9-year-old boy. Most of the victims were high school students, a survivor said.

So we have the opportunity now to start the process of defunding the violent Mexican drug trafficking organizations by eliminating prohibition. But if Prop 19 isn’t exactly what you want, no problem, we’ll wait 2 years, 4 years, 8 years to get started on it.

I’m sure the families of these kids won’t mind.