Drug WarRant

When the recent story came out that nine previous heads of the Drug Enforcement Agency had sent a letter to the Attorney General suggesting that the federal government should sue California if Prop 19 passes, there was one really big thing missing… Sue based on what?

Various media reported about the letter (which you can now read here), but none of them indicated what the legal grounds of the suit would be and whether there was any, you know, validity to those grounds.

Anybody can suggest suing somebody. For example, the person in front of you at the grocery store buys the last bratwurst, and without brats your cookout is ruined. I could suggest that you sue them. I could even get eight friends together and write a letter suggesting that you sue them signed by all nine of us. And you still wouldn’t have any legal justification to sue.

Of course, as you can well guess, there’s really nothing there.

Just Say Now has brought out the big guns to put this nonsense away.

Bruce Fein, member of the Just Say Now advisory committee who served in the Justice Department as Associate Deputy Attorney General under President Reagan, responds:

Nothing in the Constitution requires a state to prohibit as a matter of state law and prosecution what the federal government has chosen to prohibit as a matter of federal law and prosecution. Proposition 19 leaves the power of the federal government to enforce federal prohibitions on marijuana trafficking or use unimpaired. It would be flagrantly unconstitutional for Congress to attempt to force states to enact laws prohibiting under state law conduct that Congress has prohibited under federal law! DEA needs remedial education on the Constitution.

Eric Sterling adds his analysis as well

…they are wrong on the key question regarding the merits of the lawsuit they desire the Attorney General to file. Proposition 19 withdraws California enforcement of its marijuana law which is its Constitutional prerogative. The Supreme Court ruled in the Printz case that Congress cannot “commandeer” state officials to enforcement federal laws. This is different from the Arizona immigration situation in which Arizona sought to authorize state conduct based on federal immigration status, and to create offenses based on federal immigration status. Immigration is explicitly a Federal power in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution. Marijuana prohibition is not in the Constitution. Federal power over marijuana is based on the commerce clause. Our law is filled with areas in which there is both federal and state regulation of various aspects of commerce. The Controlled Substances Act, unlike the Federal Communications Act, does not exclude states from regulation.

On its face, Prop. 19 is a completely different concept. Historically, Prop. 19 is akin to the act of the New York legislature repealing its alcohol prohibition law in 1923 which was perfectly lawful and Constitutional.

So the answer is, no, the DEA heads have nothing there.

But Eric also hits on another interesting point.

… this letter is the clearest indication that the drug prohibition establishment recognizes the political attractiveness and unique importance of Prop. 19. I cannot recall any previous collaboration of former DEA Administrators of this kind. If our national marijuana prohibition policy were not so clearly failing and not so close to being replaced with real controls, they would never have mobilized in this way to defend it. If Prop. 19 were not proposing a system of control that is so logical and straight forward that it is widely politically attractive, they would not be mobilizing this kind of collaboration.

I’ve noticed this, too.

There is real fear out there on the part of the prohibitionists. They see Prop 19 as the thread that could start to unravel the entire prohibition regime. If Prop 19 passes and the world doesn’t end/sky doesn’t fall/streets don’t erupt with violence/population doesn’t suddenly become mindless zombies, then why will the public support their prohibition gravy train?

A good day today for Prop 19. The money bomb is getting close to $50,000, and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition has been around the state making important points.

Ventura County Star:

Joseph McNamara, who headed the San Jose Police Department for 15 years, called the ballot measure a potential “game-changer” that would allow police agencies to devote more resources to fighting other crimes and undercut criminal syndicates that are largely funded by illegal marijuana sales.

“Opponents say we should do more of the same of what has not worked for more than a century,” McNamara said in phone call with reporters. “I think we should return some common sense to law enforcement by protecting people from crimes they are concerned about. People are not terrified by pot smokers.”

Also in the Ventura Star:

[retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James] Gray called the campaign for Proposition 19, “Probably the most important election of my lifetime.”

Los Angeles Times:

Gray was joined by former San Jose Police Chief Joseph McNamara in arguing that much of the money flowing to violent drug cartels comes from the illegal sale of marijuana.

Citing White House statistics, McNamara said 60% of cartel money stems from marijuana. Those who argue that a black market would remain aren’t paying attention to history, McNamara said.

After the prohibition on alcohol was repealed, bootleggers disappeared, said McNamara, now a research fellow in drug policy at Stanford University.

And what about those other law enforcement groups?

Active law enforcement groups, including the California Police Chiefs Assn., are opposed to the measure, saying it would increase usage and promote crime. Gray, the retired judge, said he believes that many in law enforcement support legalization but are afraid to say so because of political pressure on the job.

“They have a political job, so they can’t tell the truth,” Gray said. “People are free to speak out honestly only after they are retired.”

Mercury News

Supporters said keeping pot illegal props up drug cartels and overburdens the state’s court system. Stephen Downing, former deputy chief for the Los Angeles Police Department, said the nation’s drug policy has failed, likening it to cutting off the leg of a spider to cripple it.

“The drug organizations are more like starfish,” Downing said during a press conference at a West Hollywood park where children were playing with their parents behind him. “You cut a leg off, it regenerates. We are dealing with a sea of starfish. The only way you kill a starfish is to remove its nutrient. And that nutrient is money.”

Phil Smith at Drug War Chronicle has more on today’s press conferences: Cops Say Yes to California Marijuana Legalization Measure [FEATURE]

The Prop 19 campaign is looking to make a statement (and raise some money) with a money bomb today, Monday, September 13.

Norm Stamper has asked us all to help out with $5 (or more, if you wish). Seemed like a good idea, so I did.

You can, too.

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This is an open thread.

Trophy Club, Texas

Kyle Robertson, 16, was suspended from school because his eyes were red and watery.

On the basis of this fact alone, they decided he had been smoking pot.

No other reasons for bloodshot eyes were considered, like the fact that Kyle’s father had been stabbed to death two days earlier, and he had been crying. He could have stayed home, but wanted to be at school with his friends.

Administrators, after talking with his mother and learning the situation, still required her to take him to get a drug test within two hours and show a copy of negative test results, before they’d let him back in school.

Never forget how the prohibitionists will willingly and eagerly exploit tragedy and death in order to market their profitable drug war and protect their gravy train.

Never forget how the DEA built a museum exhibit glorifying themselves, centered around the debris of the World Trade Center.

Never forget…

Never forget that the government decided to blame pot smokers for terrorism, carefully ignoring the fact that prohibition is the cause of black market profits.

Never forget…

Never forget that the DEA exploited those who tragically lost their lives to drugs by organizing a “Vigil for Lost Promise” on DEA grounds, closed off to media and protests.

This, despite the fact that the DEA and the drug war have actually made the harms of drugs worse. And also despite the fact that the DEA cuts young lives short, through activities like shooting 14-year-old Ashley Villareal to death.

Never forget…

Make no mistake. 9/11 was a tragedy that we should not forget for itself. However, we must also remember always that there are those who exploit tragedy to feed their own power and agenda. We must be vigilant or we’ll fall into their trap and trade away our freedom and sovereignty. The moment we give in to fear and let our government “protect us” by increasing their own power, we lose.

Ex-DEA Administrators Call on Obama to Sue if CA Voters Legalize Pot

As California voters gear up for a November 2 vote on Proposition 19, a ballot measure that would legalize the growth, possession and distribution of marijuana, nine former administrators of the Drug Enforcement Administration have issued a preemptive call to the White House: If Prop 19 passes, they say, President Obama should sue.

The Ex-DEA heads are showing that they are not only ridiculous, motivated by the self-interest of the DEA, but that they also don’t have a clue about the law. The courts have already ruled that the state is not required to enforce federal criminal law. Since Prop 19 doesn’t overturn federal cannabis laws, the federal government has nothing to sue about.

Unfortunately, the AP and CBS don’t include a link to the letter or the text of it. Anyone have it?

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Most anti-climactic sentence ever. Marijuana seed dealer who spent fortune on pot reform gets 5 years

Imposing Emery’s sentence Friday, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez honored a plea agreement struck earlier this year by Emery to avoid a potential 10-year prison term.

Marc Emery and his supporters took this opportunity to show how politically motivated the case was, and the attorneys too, the opportunity to try to claim that it was just about Marc being a bad guy, but everybody expected the plea deal that had been negotiated over years to stand, and so there were no surprises.

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So now who watches the prisoners who are arrested for not watching the prisoners?

Eighty-five prisoners escaped from a jail near the U.S. border on Friday, authorities and media said, the latest prison break underscoring the challenges Mexico faces as it battles powerful drug cartels. […]

The prisoners, mainly cartel members, climbed over a prison fence in the border city of Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas, in the early hours of Friday morning, local radio and newspapers reported, saying 85 men escaped. […]

Police arrested more than 40 prison guards and staff who were on duty when the men escaped, and two prison guards are missing, local radio and newspaper El Norte said.

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Understatement of the year

One can support the legalization of marijuana while condemning drug violence without contradiction.

Fact is, the only contradiction comes from the prohibitionists who condemn drug violence when it is their activity which spawns and fuels it.

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Advice of the year: NORML Lawyers’ Advice to Marijuana Suspects: STFU

A panel of marijuana criminal defense attorneys on the opening day of NORML’s 39th Annual National Conference in Portland Thursday were unanimous and emphatic on one thing people with pot should do when confronted by police: exercise their right to remain silent.

“Don’t talk to those people,” warned Oakland defense attorney and NORML board member Bill Panzer. “Their job is to throw your ass in jail. They are not there to help you.”

“Don’t talk to the cops,” agreed Seattle defense attorney Jeffrey Steinborn. “No matter what you say to a cop, they will write down what they want to hear. They can’t misinterpret stone cold silence.”

“Shut the fuck up,” punctuated Seattle defense attorney Douglas Hiatt, noting that people were understandably under stress when having encounters with law enforcement. People are prone to try to talk their way out of trouble, he said. “This is not the time you’re going to be doing quality thinking.”

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Pop Quiz: How Much Do You Really Know About Drugs and the Drug War?

I scored 100%.

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Video: Marijuana Heals Cancer …Cannabinoid Receptors In The Human Body

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Press conferences coming this Monday should be good.

A group of police officers, judges, and prosecutors who support Proposition 19, the California ballot measure to control and tax cannabis (marijuana), will hold simultaneous press conferences Monday, September 13 in front of Oakland City Hall and in West Hollywood Park near Los Angeles at 10 AM PDT to release a letter of endorsement signed by dozens of law enforcers across the state.

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As Radley says “Wow, is this ever a terrible idea.” North Carolina Sheriffs Want To Know Who Is Taking Painkillers

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this is an open thread

A two week investigation in Canada resulted in a 60-year-old woman in handcuffs as police discovered… tomato and dahlia plants.

It’s just so hard identifying those pot leaves.

At least they discovered their mistake before hauling away 300-400 horsemint plants.

Or, it could have been hibiscus plants with white flowers.

It’s really pretty funny (in a sad way).

Obama Retracts Clinton’s Comparison of Mexican Violence to Colombia

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – President Obama took the unusual step Thursday of retracting a statement made a day earlier by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about Mexico’s drug war.

Clinton said Mexico’s drug war was like Colombia’s war against insurgents 20 years earlier, which was funded by money from drug cartels. […]

Clinton’s comment drew sharp rebuttals from Mexican politicians, who described their effort against drug cartels as more of a police action than a war against military insurgents.

Prohibition is the elephant.

Former NM gov is little known but has big ideas

Obviously, I’ve paid more attention to him because I’m involved in drug policy and his views are favorable to drug policy reform, but I find it odd that he’s known for being unknown. Is it because of the echo chamber of the cable news networks?

There’s something really wrong in public discourse when, from a political perspective, Sarah Palin is well known but Gary Johnson is little known.

And I agree. Johnson is a “legitimate long-shot candidate.”

Sheriff Lee Baca, co-chair of the Prop 19 opposition has certainly been outspoken.

The Los Angeles County sheriff has escalated his war of words against California medical marijuana dispensaries, saying as many as 97 percent operate as criminal enterprises.

Some of the pot shops get marijuana from Mexican drug cartels, and most dole out pot to people with no medical need for it, Sheriff Lee Baca said.

“Millions of dollars are being made for profit, and it’s all illegal,” the sheriff said this week.

Baca presented no evidence to support his claim. His comments coincided with a recent announcement that he would lead efforts against a November ballot measure to legalize marijuana for personal use in California. […]

…two workers at different dispensaries have been killed during robberies in recent weeks.

“It is no surprise that people are going to get killed … drugs and violence go together,” Baca said.

He is, however, no match for the good folks at the Just Say Now campaign.

Jane Hamsher came out with a scathing exposé of Baca today: “No on 19″ Says “Yes” to Scientology

She starts by shooting down his unsupported claims:

Los Angeles Police Chief Charles Beck has disputed Baca’s claim. “Banks are more likely to get robbed than medical marijuana dispensaries,” he told the Daily News in January.

Beck’s department looked into the assertion made by Baca and others that dispensaries attract criminal activity to neighborhoods. The LAPD subsequently issued a report saying that just wasn’t the case. “I have tried to verify that because that, of course, is the mantra,” said Beck. “It doesn’t really bear out.”

And then she goes on to expose Sheriff Baca’s connections to Scientology and the entire Narconon treatment industry.

Check out Sheriff Baca’s own statement to the Scientology Church (video at the link):

You have been consistently reliable in helping me to achieve my goal for a safer Los Angeles County. In particular, your drug education means everything to the safety of our schools and neighborhoods. That is why we trained a corps of our own deputies in the use of your unbeatable program. This joint venture to educate youth at risk is one of the most important initiatives I could undertake as Sheriff of Los Angeles County.

Narconon has been demonstrated to have no scientific credibility, yet it continues to rake in the dough from criminal justice referrals, a cozy arrangement that now shows Sheriff Baca in bed with them.

Hamsher concludes:

By choosing Lee Baca as co-chair of “No on 19″ and offering him a platform to advance the theories of L. Ron Hubbard on their behalf, the campaign has associated itself with claims of dubious legitimacy that serve the interests of a revenue-generating enterprise. Any medical treatment organization that demands the criminalization of is patients in order to guarantee participation in their program should be instantly suspect, as should those like No on 19 Co-Chair Lee Baca who proselytize on their behalf.

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But wait — That was just the first salvo today.

Norm Stamper:

Sheriff Baca says ‘there are predators armed and seeking easy dollars in sales of marijuana.’ He’s right. There is altogether too much marijuana-related violence in California. It’s been going on for years and, unless the marijuana prohibition is lifted — and replaced with a taxed, regulated, and controlled system — it will continue unabated. It’s that simple. The sheriff needs to ask himself, Would the three recent murders in West Hollywood have happened if marijuana were legal, its commerce controlled like alcohol? He knows the answer to that question, and so does Senator Feinstein. Marijuana prohibition is the cause of violence, not the cure.

And Doug Bandow, former Special Assistant to President Reagan:

Since banks, jewelry stores, and wealthy homeowners attract thieves and robbers, presumably Sheriff Baca will next campaign for financial, jewelry, and wealth prohibition. After all, there wouldn’t be any bank robberies if there were no banks.

In fact, as has long been evident, it is drug prohibition that generates untold violent and destructive crime. The sheriff is entitled to his opinion as co-chair of the anti-marijuana legalization campaign, but he shouldn’t distort his official duties to promote his political pursuits. The only way to end drug-related violence is to stop arresting users and turning production and sales over to criminals.”

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No, that’s not all.

Eric Sterling: No on 19 Co-Chair Lee Baca “Intoxicated by the Money and Hysteria Against Marijuana”

In the early 1980s, heroin and other opiate addicts were robbing pharmacies around the country because of they were a source for pure narcotics of certain dosage. U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde introduced legislation to make robbery of pharmacies a federal crime. I was the attorney who handled that legislation for the House Judiciary Committee, and we developed a bill that passed, P.L. 98-305 (May 31, 1984), 18 U.S.C. 2118.

No one blamed the pharmacies or their customers! No one said, “Pharmacies are a magnet for crime!” Robbers look for opportunities where there is money or valuable property — banks, jewelry stores, fast food restaurants, liquor stores, etc. Criminologists and intelligent observers of crime don’t blame the victims.

Unfortunately because medical marijuana dispensaries are not fully legal — due to federal law — they have trouble contracting with private security services or getting business insurance as other businesses do routinely.

If Sheriff Baca weren’t intoxicated by the money and hysteria against marijuana, he would not be making this kind of rookie mistaken analysis.

Good job by Jane Hamsher and the board of Just Say Now to expose the true nature of the Prop 19 opposition.