Drug WarRant

Because you can count on it: the mainstream media won’t analyze it at all

There has been a jungle of growing chatter within the pro-cannabis community over the issue of Proposition 19, resulting in a rift between growers and advocates.

What could possibly be the issue? – one might ask. The November initiative will give Californians a choice: to either vote for legalization of cannabis, with a tax and regulation plan that assures to ease the state’s budget crisis; or to keep the therapeutic herb outlawed, to continue turning anyone who uses the weed other than a papered medicinal marijuana patient into an outlaw.

But to be droll, the devil is in the details.

From heated Internet debates to kitchen-side coffee/bong klatches, longtime pot-based partnerships have teetered on the verge of dissolution over what each side believes will be the ultimate result of this proposition, should it pass. Many cannabis farmers and brokers (otherwise known as “pushers” to the morally corrupt, “providers” to those of us who know better) believe 19 is overburdened with regulations, that it squeezes out the smaller cultivators with exorbitant fees, licenses and taxes, and that a possible excise tax on every ounce will strain the wallets of their clients. Indeed, the Prop. 19-wary envision Big Tobacco and Wal-Mart overtaking the market, to the point where a refer could become as harmful and hideously unfair as a genetically tinkered ear of Monsanto corn.

They make excellent points, though professional economists may warn that capitalism does not naturally work that way, for one thing. Competition, if allowed to flourish relatively unfettered, produces high quality goods at lowered prices, regardless of the political obstacles. Secondly, there is a sea-change of thinking in this nation right now regarding what we ingest and where it all comes from. Smaller, sustainable, chemical-free local farming, with farmers’ markets and rooftop gardens, are the wave of the future.

But let’s assume for the sake of argument that the smaller guys do lose out, that big industry co-opts the cannabis market and that it gets so bad Big Pharma even undermines the medicinal marijuana movement. What is the alternative at this point?

To vote no? That would mean the small guys would STILL be outlaws. That our prisons would STILL burst at the seams with more criminals persecuted for consensual “crimes” over a bogus “moral” issue. That the DEA would be smug with what they perceive to be a green light to generate STILL more corruption and jack-booted terror. That no money goes to saving the STILL bankrupt state. That more people, unable to obtain medical marijuana cards over technicalities, will STILL writhe in pain. That no one STILL has the right to “get high” – God forbid! That fewer folks, let’s face it, will be in a good mood.

That Prohibition STILL marches on.

And, for me, here’s the kicker: If you know of fellow cannabis supporters who vote no on Proposition 19 because it is not perfect, you can safely tell them they have encouraged mental de-evolution in the human species. It would be a massive slide backwards taking years to overcome, and here’s why.

If Proposition 19 is defeated, how do you think the glamour pusses in the talking head video media will report it? Or for that matter, the spineless weenies in the coagulated print media… and of this I know what I speak, being an expatriate of that field. The mainstream media does not ask the question “Why?” anymore, and has not for some time now. They will give dummy-downed sound bytes, proclaiming, “Well, the voters said NO with a capital N today, to legalizing pot! Tee-hee!” — or – “Californians drew a line in the sand today – saying medical marijuana… maybe… but NO WAY to wasties with the munchies who just wanna get high!” – or how about — “The children were saved today when voters decided they don’t want drug pushers peddling at the grammar schools….” Yes, it’s absurd, incorrect, even putrid, but there you have it.

They won’t go into the fact that the pro-cannabis community split the vote because some of them thought it was crafted unfairly for some growers or users. The media won’t analyze it so intellectually – because their editors wouldn’t allow such intricate, confusing thought! The mainstream media can’t wrap their heads around this, so how can they expect what they see as the “dense public” to understand it? Ergo, the public will be spoon-fed – and will swallow – the simplistic, retarded “wrap-ups” of this issue, effectively killing any chances of bringing legalization back to the table for years.

Remember, medicinal marijuana – voted in by the public in 1996 – wasn’t perfect either. In fact, it had to be amended some eight years later to allow dispensaries to operate. (Oh, I know. If only local city councils realized that dispensaries are legal, that patients are really in pain, that medicinal marijuana is legal to smoke, to sell.)

Let’s unite ourselves, once and for all, on our collective goal. We have come so far, and it would be a travesty if some of our own – disgruntled over just half a pot of gold instead of a whole pot of gold – were to lose the entire prize for all of us. If there is a glaring problem that presents itself after the victory, believe me, it can and will be fixed. If we can get this so long overdue proposal on the ballot, we can certainly rally ourselves and the system to work out the kinks soon after.

….

Kate Woods is a freelance writer and a staff writer for Union Local 13

The NYPD Just Won’t Stop On Frisking

The New York Police Department’s stop and frisk tactics had increased 21 percent over the past year, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights. The findings are from a departmental quarterly report that was released to Congress on Tuesday, and also show that a stunning 88 percent of those stopped were black and Latino.

And this isn’t just happening in New York, or just with frisking…

I was talking to a black woman at a professional work-related function and she just matter-of-factly talked about the circuitous route her husband takes to drive home from his night job. Turns out the direct route took him through a part of town where he was stopped by the police so often for no reason, that it was worth taking a longer route to get home sooner. She made it sound like it was a routine thing, no big deal (and that really angered me).

Police in St. Louis discovered a marijuana lab in a house. Yes, a “marijuana growth lab,” was in the basement.

Todd and Angela Priest have been charged with child endangerment.

The Priests knowingly allowed the children to enter the house from Feb. 1 through 12, according to court documents.

How dare they let their four kids, aged 2 through 14, enter the house! They should have made them sleep in the alley. After all, there was a drug lab in the basement and they were in the same house with things like water and light and plant food.

The Oppenheimer Report in the Miami Herald: Has the time come to legalize drugs?

I haven’t really mentioned Vicente Fox’s recent call for legalization. Andres Oppenheimer discusses it.

While the three centrist former presidents’ proposal amounted to not prosecuting people for consuming marijuana, Fox’s proposal calls for legalization of all major drugs — the whole enchilada.

In an extended interview, Fox told me that he is making his proposal because drug-related violence in Mexico has reached intolerable levels, and because the experience of other countries such as the Netherlands has shown that allowing drug sales has not significantly driven up drug consumption.

“Prohibitionist policies have hardly worked anywhere,” Fox told me. “Prohibition of alcohol in the United States [in the 1920’s] never worked, and it only helped trigger violence and crime.”

Since possession of small amounts of marijuana has already been decriminalized in Mexico, what’s needed now are bolder steps, such as legalizing drug production and using the taxes it generates to fund anti-drug education programs, he said.

“What I’m proposing is that, instead of allowing this business to continue being run by criminals, by cartels, that it be run by law-abiding business people who are registered with the Finance Ministry, pay taxes and create jobs,” Fox said.

That’s about as clear as you can get.

And the antics of our drug warriors just keep looking more pathetic every day…

In a separate interview, White House drug czar R. Gil Kerlikowske told me that drug legalization is a “non-starter” in the Obama administration.

Kerlikowske disputed the idea that alcohol prohibition drove up crime in the United States in the 1920s, arguing that there were no reliable crime statistics at the time.

A very interesting article by Paul Elam (thanks to Radley): When Your Kid Smokes Pot

O.K., so you found some weed in your teen-agers room.

Depending on the kind of parent you are, your reaction to that can range from mild amusement to thermonuclear. But assuming you are not going to smoke the stuff yourself, you are confronted with making some decisions on what to do about it. Perhaps you think it is time to call a counselor, or maybe even the thought of a treatment center for young people with drug problems crosses your mind.

As someone who worked in the chemical dependency treatment field for two decades, and who wrote and directed several treatment programs, let me make a suggestion about that.

Don’t.

Don’t even think about it.

To clarify, let me tell you some things you won’t hear from the staff at treatment programs, or anyone else interested in making a buck off your child’s “problem.”

First, there‘s this funny thing about teenage drug addicts. There aren’t any. Or at least they are so far and few between that I can count the ones I have seen on two fingers.

So why are so many teens in treatment?

Well, money, of course. There’s gold in the ignorance of them thar parents.

It’s a good and important read and fits in with other information that’s emerging about treatment… when even NIDA’s director notes that it can be harmful:

“Just putting kids in group therapy actually promotes greater drug use,” says Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Drug Treatment is, in many ways, the unexamined scam of the moment. Sure, there is drug treatment that works and that is very important, and yet… and yet… why have I gotten spammed from so many drug treatment centers? And why am I contacted every week by someone “representing” a treatment center that is willing to pay me to put a text link somewhere on my site — even on an old page (I always turn them down).

Oh, yeah, there’s a ton of gold out there.

The sad part is that everyone is being told (partly by the government) that drug problems require treatment. And so parents, at great expense, are forcing their kids (who may have only experimented with pot) into treatment where they lose trust with their family and gain contact with hard core drug users and end up increasing their access to drugs. And then those treatment statistics are used to claim that marijuana is dangerous.

I think it would be interesting if a group of people got together and decided to picket their local drug store chain (Walgreens, Duane Reed, CVS, etc.). Sort of a NIMBY movement to make fun of the fears some people have of medical marijuana moving into a neighborhood.

There’s all sorts of creative picket signs that could be made…

– This store sells drugs that can cause anemia, high blood pressure, nausea, suicidal thoughts, and death. Think of the children!

– People buy drugs here and then drive on our streets. Nobody is safe.

– Stop Dealing Drugs!

– We Want a Drug-Free Community. Walgreens Must Go!

– They let airline pilots buy drugs here!

– Walgreens sells Candy and Drugs. They’re after the children!

What other slogans could we put on picket signs outside a drug store?

Webinar on legalizing marijuana:

Join us Thursday for a webinar on the societal consequences and costs of Prop. 19.

San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate.com meets with Pleasant Hill Police Chief Pete Dunbar and former San Jose Police Chief Joe McNamara to explore how society might look if voters approve Prop. 19 and legalize marijuana use for adults.

Title: Societal Consequences of Prop. 19

Date: Noon to 12:45 p.m. PDT, Thursday, Aug. 12.

Confirmation: After registering, you will receive an e-mail containing information about joining the webinar.

Space is limited: Reserve your webinar seat now at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/455759873

System requirements
–PC-based attendees: Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000
–Mac-based attendees: Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) or newer

Various recent discussions have made me want to chat about Prop 19 some more. I’m no expert on Prop 19, and nobody is an expert on exactly what will happen after Prop 19’s passage, but there are some things that are known.

1. Prop 19 is not being marketed merely as a tax income money-maker for the State of California.

I really don’t understand the odd individuals who apparently are getting outraged over what they call dishonest marketing of Proposition 19 as a massive tax income generator. Sure, there have been estimates (official ones by the State’s Board of Equalization) of what tax income could be brought in from Prop 19, based on a whole lot of variables. It would be stupid not to promote those estimates (particularly when the other side is trying to claim increased health costs without any data to support it at all). Often when Congress passes a bill, they have the CBO score it for its costs or revenue, and use those figures to push or oppose the bill (despite the uncertainty of those costs or revenues ever coming true).

Now, if Prop 19 supporters came out and said that marijuana is a horrible and dangerous thing, but at least we’ll make $1.4 billion in taxes off it (when the actual amount of tax revenue was uncertain), then that would be dishonest.

But that’s not the story here.

All you have to do is look at the official ballot statements to see that Prop 19 is being marketed as a whole lot of things, and the tax revenue is merely one of many benefits (and certainly not the most important one).

Read the whole thing again.

PROPOSITION 19: COMMON SENSE CONTROL OF MARIJUANA

Today, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are spent enforcing the failed prohibition of marijuana (also known as “cannabis”).

Currently marijuana is easier for kids to get than alcohol, because dealers don’t require ID.

Prohibition has created a violent criminal market run by international drug cartels.

Police waste millions of taxpayer dollars targeting non-violent marijuana consumers, while thousands of violent crimes go unsolved.

And there is $14 billion in marijuana sales every year in California, but our debt-ridden state gets nothing from it.

Marijuana prohibition has failed.

WE NEED A COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO CONTROL AND TAX MARIJUANA LIKE ALCOHOL.

Proposition 19 was carefully written to get marijuana under control.

Under Proposition 19, only adults 21 and over can possess up to one ounce of marijuana, to be consumed at home or licensed establishments. Medical marijuana patients’ rights are preserved.

If we can control and tax alcohol, we can control and tax marijuana.

PUT STRICT SAFETY CONTROLS ON MARIJUANA

Proposition 19 maintains strict criminal penalties for driving under the influence, increases penalties for providing marijuana to minors, and bans smoking it in public, on school grounds, and around minors.

Proposition 19 keeps workplaces safe by preserving the right of employers to maintain a drug-free workplace.

PUT POLICE PRIORITIES WHERE THEY BELONG

According to the FBI, in 2008 over 61,000 Californians were arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession, while 60,000 violent crimes went unsolved. By ending arrests of non-violent marijuana consumers, police will save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars a year, and be able to focus on the real threat: violent crime.

Police, Sheriffs, and Judges support Proposition 19.

HELP FIGHT THE DRUG CARTELS

Marijuana prohibition has created vicious drug cartels across our border. In 2008 alone, cartels murdered 6,290 civilians in Mexico — more than all U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

60 percent of drug cartel revenue comes from the illegal U.S. marijuana market.

By controlling marijuana, Proposition 19 will help cut off funding to the cartels.

GENERATE BILLIONS IN REVENUE TO FUND WHAT MATTERS

California faces historic deficits, which, if state government doesn’t balance the budget, could lead to higher taxes and fees for the public, and more cuts to vital services. Meanwhile, there is $14 billion in marijuana transactions every year in California, but we see none of the revenue that would come from taxing it.

Proposition 19 enables state and local governments to tax marijuana, so we can preserve vital services.

The State’s tax collector, the Board of Equalization, says taxing marijuana would generate $1.4 billion in annual revenue, which could fund jobs, healthcare, public safety, parks, roads, transportation, and more.

LET’S REFORM CALIFORNIA’S MARIJUANA LAWS

Outlawing marijuana hasn’t stopped 100 million Americans from trying it. But we can control it, make it harder for kids to get, weaken the cartels, focus police resources on violent crime, and generate billions in revenue and savings.

We need a common sense approach to control marijuana.

YES on 19.

www.taxcannabis.org

JOSEPH D. MCNAMARA
San Jose Police Chief (Ret.)

JAMES P. GRAY
Orange County Superior Court Judge (Ret.)

STEPHEN DOWNING
Deputy Chief, LAPD (Ret.)

After reading that, can anyone honestly say “Well, I was going to vote for Prop 19, but now that I hear that it might not bring in the full $1.4 billion in tax revenue, what’s the point?”

2. Proposition 19 does not have a built-in $50 per ounce tax.

A lot of people seem to have that mistaken idea. That idea comes from a completely different bill that was proposed that has nothing to do with Prop 19. Prop 19 merely gives local government the power to set a tax and/or license fee. Each local community can decide. It could be $5 per ounce. It could be $50. It could be 0. Any community that sets it too high will likely be undercut by neighboring towns.

It’s actually an ingenious solution. By giving the power to the local communities, various options can be tried and we can learn from them. Yes, finally we can have that laboratory (flawed though it may be with the feds anxious to fight their own citizens) that we’ve been needing in drug policy for ages.

“It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system,” Justice Louis D. Brandeis wrote in 1932, “that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.”

Prop 19 is one of those fabulous opportunities to actually test legalization in a limited way. Any true researcher should be drooling at the opportunity to see such a reasonably safe laboratory finally answer a ton of questions.

And this delineates the line between the researcher/scientist and the charlatan who is too invested in prohibition to even allow it to be seriously challenged.

3. If you are pro-marijuana but are anti-Prop 19, what are your reasons?

1. You are a profiteer. Like any major corporate CEO who says “screw the consumer” in order to increase the bottom line, you oppose the regulations that are part of legalization and that will make your job as a drug dealer harder or more competitive.
2. You are a moron. You believe in some perfect world where marijuana is free for everyone. Cannabis is a gift from God, you say, and to involve taxes and government regulation soils it (as you smoke the moldy crap grown by Mexican cartels). Have you read the papers? Watched cable news? Read any web page on the internet that doesn’t have a cannabis leaf prominently on the top of it? Do you really see this world as one where a hippy nirvana is on the horizon ready to arrive any day now if we just hold off and defeat Prop 19? You are a moron.
3. You tell me.

4. There are a few things Prop 19 will not do.

• Prop 19 will not require anyone to consume cannabis who doesn’t want to
• Prop 19 will not make your brain surgeon, bus driver, or airline pilot suddenly decide to do their job high.
• Prop 19 will not suddenly turn the highway into a demolition derby.
• Passage of Prop 19 will not make the opponents of Prop 19 any smarter.

I upgraded both WordPress and the Atahualpa Theme. Let me know if you see anything that isn’t working right after the upgrade. Thanks.

You may have heard this story already, but White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs recently attacked the President’s critics on the left.

The White House is simmering with anger at criticism from liberals who say President Obama is more concerned with deal-making than ideological purity.

During an interview with The Hill in his West Wing office, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs blasted liberal naysayers, whom he said would never regard anything the president did as good enough.

“I hear these people saying he’s like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested,” Gibbs said. “I mean, it’s crazy.”

Gibbs later walked back his remarks partway, but the outburst is telling.

First, attacking criticism from the left is just stupid on his part. It’s certainly not going to stop it. And none of the critics on the left are saying that Obama is like George Bush. They’re saying that many of his policies are like George Bush’s, as Glenn Greenwald has exhaustively detailed, and that he has reneged many of his campaign promises, particularly in the areas of civil liberties and government secrecy/accountability.

But Gibbs is also tone-deaf in a second way. By using the phrase “Those people ought to be drug tested,” he is showing a lack of respect for the huge portion of this country that is calling for a serious dialogue on drug policy.

It’s reminiscent of Obama’s glib Townhall response last year

“There was one question that voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation,” he said. “And I don’t know what this says about the online audience, but … this was a popular question. We want to make sure it’s answered. The answer is no, I don’t think that’s a good strategy to grow our economy. All right.”

Add to that the drug czar’s “legalization is not in our vocabulary” nonsense, and you have a White House that is not only unwilling to engage in the important questions about drug policy, but is also uninterested in showing anything but cluelessness.

True and necessary change is not going to come from the top. It’s going to come from the people rising up for something better for the kids, and it’s going to come from California challenging the U.S. Government.