Drug WarRant

You’ve read my earlier reports of insane coroners in the UK. Here’s a judge to add to the mix…
Judge Issues Warning On Dangers Of Cannabis After Hapton Teen’s Case

A TEENAGER suffering cannabis-induced psychosis who attacked a pensioner on her drive has been spared jail – as a judge hit out at the dangers of the drug. […]
Sentencing, the judge said: “Those misguided people who seem to believe the use of cannabis is harmless would do well to read some of the reports before me, because this 19-year-old man, from a good family, has developed psychosis, thanks to the use of cannabis and also ecstasy.”

Thanks to the Bloomington-Normal Citizens for Peace and Justice for allowing me to come and talk about the drug war. We had a great discussion afterward. I really enjoy these opportunities!

I’m preparing for a talk I’ll be giving on the drug war to a Peace group tomorrow at 4 pm at the Unitarian Church, 1613 E. Emerson, Bloomington, Illinois. I’m sure anyone who was in the area and wanted to drop in would be welcome.
“bullet” Pope lauds drug war in Mexico.

He acknowledged the nation’s efforts to build a more “just and united ordering of society and to overcome the contrasts that continue to afflict the country.”
In particular, the Holy Father noted Mexico’s work to eliminate “violence, drug trafficking, and inequality and poverty, which are fertile ground for delinquency.”

Yeah, the 10,000 dead must be a real feather in your cap. And how is that eliminating violence and drug trafficking going, huh?
“bullet” Police vs. Police

In a hair-raising standoff that sent motorists scrambling for cover, municipal police pulled their guns on masked federal agents in one of Mexico‰s biggest cities Ö a stark display of the tensions caused by a crackdown on drug corruption among the country‰s lawmen.

“bullet” Attorney General Eric Holder speaks some truth. (Excerpts highlighted at kath.A.rine)

Getting smart on crime requires talking honestly about which policies have worked and which have not, without fear of being labeled as too hard or, more likely, as too soft on crime. Getting smart on crime means moving beyond useless labels and instead embracing science and data, and relying on them to shape policy.

“bullet” Court makes marijuana activist give up his 1st Amendment rights.
“bullet” Dean Becker in Huffington Post: Pissing on Drug Warrior Graves

Those who support drug prohibition are the best friends the drug lords could ever hope for.

“bullet” Ryan Grim on CNN

“bullet” DrugSense Weekly
“bullet” “drcnet”

Commentary by Ruben Navarrette Jr. at CNN.com

Calderon squeaked out a narrow victory against a third-party candidate in 2006.
The Harvard-educated lawyer and economist immediately and bravely took the fight to drug lords across the country, unleashing the military in a conflict that has so far killed more than 10,000 Mexicans with no end in sight.
And there are now serious issues — as spelled out this week in The Washington Post — involving allegations of torture, forced disappearances and other abuse by the Mexican military as it seeks to retaliate for the killing of soldiers and other terrorist acts committed by the drug cartels. […]
Still, Calderon’s war remains a noble battle for the soul of Mexico. […]
…it’s great news for the Mexican people, even if they don’t know it. [emphasis added]

Killing and torturing you for your own good.

Medical marijuana: ‘Safe medicine’ or crime magnet?
Milk: ‘Nutritious drink’ or delinquency enabler?
Apples: ‘Fruit’ or an element in the discovery of gravity?
Cars: ‘Transportation’ or economy destroyers?
Headline writers: ‘People who don’t know when to use internal quotes’ or people who don’t know the meaning of the word “or”?

I know I’m late getting to this, but I just watched “Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey” with my parents tonight. I had not seen it yet, and it’s a really excellent DVD. It’s also great to sit down and watch with your family and friends.
You can get your own copy at Law Enforcement Against Prohibition for only $19.95.

Still on the road with very limited internet access.
“bullet” A Patriot’s Guide to Legalization by Kevin Drum in Mother Jones. Not a bad overview. I think he significantly understates the costs of prohibition, but still good.

“bullet” Mike Gray’s book “Drug Crazy” is now available for free online at Libertary.com.

Drug Crazy: How We Got Into this Mess and How We Can Get Out

Read this eye-opening book free at Libertary.com

“bullet” My close friend coralsbey wrote a stranger about Glenn Beck’s support of marijuana legalization under certain conditions.
“bullet” It’s amazing how people are afraid to talk about marijuana. Some California TV Stations consider a discussion that the Governor has asked for to be too controversial.
“bullet” Copping to the Poppy Crop Flop – Jacob Sullum discusses the administration’s drug war policies in Afghanistan.

Interesting Study

Previously, DaugÚ and her colleagues had shown that rats deprived of their mothers at birth become hypersensitive to the rewarding effect of morphine and heroin (substances belonging to the opiate family), and rapidly become dependent. In addition, there is a correlation between such behavioral disturbances linked to dependence, and hypoactivity of the enkephalinergic system, the endogenous opioid system.
To these rats, placed under stress from birth, the researchers intermittently administered increasingly high doses of THC (5 or 10 mg/kg) during the period corresponding to their adolescence (between 35 and 48 days after birth). By measuring their consumption of morphine in adulthood, they observed that, unlike results previously obtained, the rats no longer developed typical morphine-dependent behavior. Moreover, biochemical and molecular biological data corroborate these findings. In the striatum, a region of the brain involved in drug dependence, the production of endogenous enkephalins was restored under THC, whereas it diminished in rats stressed from birth which had not received THC.

Obviously, this is not a definitive statement about humans, but it’s a very promising line of research.
Gee, I wonder… Will the mainstream media will jump all over this, like they do when studies with much flimsier support conclude some negative effect of cannabis?
Marijuana: the anti-gateway

My show opened very successfully this weekend, and now I’m off to visit the folks. My Dad is in Quincy, IL and my Mom is in Indianola, IA, and both turn 87 this week.
My internet access will be spotty this week, so blogging is likely to be light. Have at it in comments.
Here’s something to kick things off. I’m not really sure what to make of this: Police Crackdowns May Encourage Drug Use. It’s interesting, but I don’t quite understand where they’re headed with their conclusions.
Or if you’d rather have something to get upset with, try this fun piece: OPED: It’s Actually Very Easy To Argue Against Legalizing Marijuana. You should have no trouble dismantling it.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.