Drug WarRant

Results of Executive Business Meeting – December 10, 2009

S. 714, National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 (Webb, Graham, Leahy, Hatch, Schumer, Durbin, Cardin, Whitehouse, Franken, Specter)
Held Over

I had missed this news earlier this week.

6 co-sponsors in the State House are introducing a bill that will legalize marijuana for adults over the age of 21. The bill will also utilize the existing mechanisms in place for regulating wine and hard liquor to establish a distribution system that makes our existing state run liquor stores the sole distributor. One thing that’s not clear yet is whether there will be any limit on people growing plants for themselves.

Interesting development. Probably not the plan I would have chosen, but this is the great thing about the states being able to try things. If the Feds can be pushed out of the way, we can learn things from each state and the models they choose.

To stay experimentation in things social and economic is a grave responsibility. Denial of the right to experiment may be fraught with serious consequences to the Nation. It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system 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. – Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, 1932

Lee Rosenberg at HorsesAss has a nice discussion about the case for regulation.

Congress to end syringe exchange ban!; Pelosi deems shift a top priority

Have we got good news for you! The House and Senate joint 2010 appropriations bill released late last night completely removes the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange in the U.S.

The bill also nixes the 1,000-foot rule that would have banned syringe exchange programs within 1,000 feet of schools, recreational centers, daycares, playgrounds and video arcades.

“This is a wonderful and amazing victory,” said the AIDS Institute’s Carl Schmid. Two weeks ago, Schmid met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff, who said removing the “1,000 foot rule” was a top priority for the Speaker.

The appropriations bill still has to pass the full Congress, but Schmid said with all the earmarks that Congressmembers have in the bill “it’s very slim” that the bill won’t pass.

In the conference committee Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) tried to keep the ban completely in place, but that amendment was voted down 15-9 in a party line vote.

Congress allows DC to implement 1998 medical marijuana law

(US Senate) Removing Special Restrictions on the District of Columbia: Eliminates a prohibition on the use of local tax funds for abortion, thereby putting the District in the same position as the 50 states. Also allows the District to implement a referendum on use of marijuana for medical purposes as has been done in other states, allows use of Federal funds for needle exchange programs except in locations considered inappropriate by District authorities, and discontinues a ban on the use of funds in the bill for domestic partnership registration and benefits.

Washington DC already has a medical marijuana law in place from 1998. This allows it to be implemented.

The other drug lobby celebrates

Funding for the White House “drug czar’s” ad budget has been slashed by more than a third of its size last year. Studies have repeatedly shown that these ads actually cause teens to use more — not fewer — drugs.

Prosecution: No More Crack Pipe Felonies for Houston

Beginning January 1, prosecutors in Harris County, Texas, will no longer file felony drug charges against people found with less than one one-hundreth of a gram of illegal drugs. Currently in Houston, people caught with trace amounts of drug or holding crack pipes with drug traces are routinely charged with felonies.

But under a new policy promulgated by Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos, police are instructed to instead issue Class C misdemeanor tickets to people caught in possession of crack pipes or trace amounts of drugs. That means arrestees will face only a $500 fine, not the up to two years in state jail mandated by the felony charge.

The cops are not happy. “It ties the hands of the officers who are making crack pipe cases against burglars and thieves,” said Gary Blankinship, president of the Houston Police Officers’ Union.

Can you get any more blatant that that? Apparently it’s too much work to actually, you know, investigate burglaries.

Are you feeling good about the world today? Maybe because it’s United Nations’ (UN) International Anti-Corruption Day

Seems to me, though, that it would instead be a better plan to have one day each year for corruption and the rest be anti-corruption.

On Monday, I wrote Washington Post Reporter Bamboozled by Drug Czar, about a Washington Post article by staff reporter Ashley III Halsey: Feds: Watch out for drivers high on drugs.

It was a truly bad piece by Halsey that blatantly misrepresented the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration report. And it was about an event where Transportation Safety Director Ray LaHood was talking about drunk driving, joined by the Drug Czar.

Readers have asked if I would pass on any response I got from Halsey, so here goes. It’s not very much, but it sure is instructive.
Continue reading →

I spent some delightful time in the Czech Republic a few years back, and noted then that cannabis policy was a bit more lax than some other places. Now the Czech government is apparently moving further.

The interim Czech government, led by chief statistician-turned-Prime Minister Jan Fischer, Monday took another step towards making casual marijuana smoking a worry-free affair. […]

As of Jan. 1 ordinary Czechs can grow up to five marijuana plants or have several marijuana cigarettes in their pockets without fear of criminal prosecution. Previously what constituted a small amount was not specified and the police and courts loosely interpreted the penal code case by case, often resulting in incarceration of home growers. […]

The plant still remains illegal, however, though from the new year possession of five or less plants is merely a misdemeanour, and fines for possession will be on par with penalties for parking violations.

Good for them. Nice step.

Haven’t we told them enough yet that the Drug Czar is Required by Law to Lie?

Apparently Washington Post staff reporter Ashley Halsey III didn’t get the message. For she he wrote this article titled Feds: Watch out for drivers high on drugs

As you idled at that busy intersection Saturday night, there’s a pretty good chance another driver waiting for the light to change was high on illegal drugs.

About 11 percent of motorists are high on the weekend, and the number creeps up past 16 percent once night falls on Friday and Saturday, according to federal drug czar Gil Kerlikowske and a national roadside survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

You know what would have been interesting? If Ashley Halsey III had actually picked up that roadside survey from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, she might have read:

The reader is cautioned that drug presence does not necessarily imply impairment. For many drug types, drug presence can be detected long after any impairment that might affect driving has passed. For example, traces of marijuana can be detected in blood samples several weeks after chronic users stop ingestion. Also, whereas the impairment effects for various concentration levels of alcohol is well understood, little evidence is available to link concentrations of other drug types to driver performance.

I wonder if they teach you such things in reporter school. You can ask her him (politely) here.

Update: I got a response from Ashley. Not sure what the response means yet — it fails to address the substance of the request for correction and instead focuses on my attributes. I’ve asked for further clarification.

I’ve also asked the NHTSA for reaction to the misrepresentation of their report, and a case file has been assigned to my request.

Commenter Kaptinemo has been saying for some time that states will wake up to drug policy reform through economic realities. Here’s another editorial that reflects that growing awareness.

Brockton, Massachusetts Enterprise:

If there’s a bright side to a financial emergency, it’s the opportunity it presents to stop spending money on things that aren’t working.

Consider substance abuse. Researchers and therapists understand that addiction is an illness, but because of its association with property crime, the political system’s primary response has been through police and prisons.

Massachusetts, like most states, escalated this battle in recent decades. Its prison population grew 368 percent from 1980 to 2008, according to the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Drug Policy Task Force, while the population of county jails jumped by 522 percent.

That comes at a price: Massachusetts last year spent $1.4 billion incarcerating people. That’s more than the Legislature spent on public higher education.

Are we getting our money’s worth? In a word, no.

Our friends at Transform have been using the Freedom of Information Act (the U.K. has one, too), trying to get the Home Office to release their confidential assessment of its anti-drugs strategy.

The Economist has a report on this effort Inconvenient truths: The most creative attempt yet to get around freedom-of-information laws?

The Home Office says that to have two reports about drugs out at the same time might confuse the public, and for this reason it is going to keep its report under wraps.

This is believed to be the first time that a public body has openly refused to release information in order to manage the news better.

You poor simple-minded peasants. Having access to various facts and information would probably confuse your addled brains. Just listen to what we tell you — we’re the best ones to look after your interests.

The Secret to Legal Marijuana? Women by Daniela Perdoma

Why women have signed onto marijuana reform — and why they could be the movement’s game-changers.

Good article.

Nicolas Cage new UNODC ambassador for justice

Mr. Costa said: “Nicolas Cage’s characters have exposed us to some of the darkest aspects of human nature. Now he is championing one of the most noble – the quest for justice. The Lord of War has become a messenger for peace, the Bad Lieutenant has turned into a good cop, and the inmate from Con Air has become a champion of prison reform. His star status and strong conviction on these issues will help us achieve security and justice for all.” […]

As UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for Global Justice, Nicolas Cage will use the performing arts as an engine for global justice and victim support. “I intend to shine the spotlight on the need for global justice, publicize all the good work that UNODC is doing and highlight how we can all make a difference,” said Mr. Cage upon accepting his appointment.

And what about when the injustice comes from the UNODC (as in the entire international drug war)? Will Nick Cage speak up then?

Obama gets the question again (and then some)

“I appreciate the boldness of your question,” Mr. Obama said to laughter after a young man asked him if he would consider legalizing drugs, prostitution, gambling or nonviolent crimes. “That will not be my job strategy.”

“First of all, part of what you’re supposed to do in college is question conventional wisdom,” the president continued. “You’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing.”

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