Drug WarRant

8-gold-medal-winning Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.
For some strange reason, he apologized for it (probably because of endorsements)
Radley Balko has the letter Phelps should write, but won’t. It’s a great letter – go read it. It ends…

Go ahead and tear me down if you like. But let‰s see you rationalize in your next lame ONDCP commercial how the greatest motherfucking swimmer the world has ever seen . . . is also a proud pot smoker.

The Drug Czar’s office has done a fair amount of advertising in the most expensive venue there is – the Superbowl. Hey, why not? It’s not real money – it’s just the taxpayers’ dime.
They started in 2002, just months after 9/11 — looking to capitalize on that sweet deal: fear and terror.
They ran two ads that year: the first, was a listing of prices of items a terrorist might use (specifically including box cutters to make sure the audience would get the connection) with the tag: “If you buy drugs, it might come from you.”

The second, run the same year, was even more offensive, conflating the “harmless fun” of smoking pot with killing judges.

Of course, as we all know, it is prohibition and the drug war that makes drugs profitable to criminals and is more likely to channel funds to terrorists. But it sure is fun for our government to demonize its own citizens.
The ads were met with almost universal derision. Pot smokers suggested a “Buy American” campaign. Arianna Huffington and others developed spoof ads using the still silly, but much more realistic, notion that using gas funds terrorism…

… the ad cuts to different people in their SUVs: “I gassed 40,000 Kurds,” “I helped hijack an airplane,” “I helped blow up a nightclub,” and then in unison: “We did it all by driving to work in our SUVs.”

I think that the extreme nature of the ads (and certainly the ONDCP was going for shock value, particularly in the Superbowl) ultimately negated any effect that they could have. Nobody believed them, except for the hardline drug warriors who were pretty pleased with themselves. (The DEA got on the bandwagon in 2003 with their first exhibit of Target America: Traffickers, Terrorists and You)
The ONDCP tried to get a little more mileage with it in 2003 with this haunted subway trip, but they specifically avoided use of the word “terrorists,” instead talking about the terrible things that drug money does. It was essentially the same concept as the one above, but substituting cartels for terrorists.

It was clear that they had no confidence in that message working (they had been slammed for their ads for a full year at this point), so they partnered it with an ad going in a completely new direction of absurdity: smoking marijuana makes you pregnant!

Right.
More ONDCP Superbowl ads available at Spike TV

Deadly Force by April Witt in tomorrow’s Washington Post.
This is the story of Cheye Calvo, his wife Trinity, Trinity’s mother Georgia, and “the boys” – two black Labs named Payton and Chase. And a drug war gone insane.
It’s the best telling of this story to date. Take the time to read it all the way through, but be warned — it’ll break your heart.
Thank you Washington Post and April Witt! Now millions of people will know the truth.
I’ve now added Payton and Chase to the Drug War Victims page.

CNN

George Obama, the half brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, has been arrested by Kenyan police on a charge of possession of marijuana, police said Saturday. […]
CNN Correspondent David McKenzie talked with George Obama at the jail where he is being held. Speaking from behind bars, Obama denied the allegations.
“They took me from my home,” he said, “I don’t know why they are charging me.”

In a sane world, he wouldn’t be arrested. In a sane world, the arrest of a barely known half-brother in a different country on something as minor as this wouldn’t have any effect on drug policy here.
But this isn’t a sane world. So I have no idea if this will be a non-story, or if it will be the media’s new drug policy story.
It’s already been breathlessly picked up by hundreds of media outlets, and yet when real, substantive drug policy stories come along, we sadly get excited when two of our long-time supporters in the press pick it up.
Certainly, there is a history of Presidential relatives getting in trouble. George W. Bush had Noelle, Bill Clinton had Roger, Ronald Reagan had Patti, Jimmy Carter had Billy. There’s no reason to hold the Presidents in any way responsible for the actions of their relatives.
But here’s the thing that worries me.
Right now, there’s probably a political advisor whispering in Barack’s ear: “Hey, I know it’s no big deal, but with George’s arrest, and you admitting to marijuana use when you were younger, the last thing you can afford to do politically right now is to get in a public fight with Michele at the DEA over medical marijuana. It’ll look like you’re doing it because you’re pro-pot. So just stay out of it until a better time.”
Again, I’m just guessing here. How do you think this will play out?

“bullet” Lee has completed his series on the Drug War at HA Seattle. Here’s the recap:

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: South America
• Part 3: Mexico
• Part 4: Afghanistan
• Part 5: Chicago (comments get pretty nasty)
• Part 6: Civil Liberties

“bullet” Maia Szalavitz notes that progressive politicians are actually pushing Obama to make some good decisions regarding drug policy (at least in some areas)

with Bush holdovers trying to push the UN to drop support for needle exchange and other harm reduction programs in its document to set drug policy for the next ten years, I am beginning to lose hope.
Amazingly, however, progressives in Congress (!) are speaking out about the possible UN fiasco — sending a letter to our new UN Ambassador Susan Rice to protest the actions of these officials. Reps. Henry Waxman, Jose Serrano and Barbara Lee write:

Unfortunately, we understand that the U.S. delegation in Vienna has been actively blocking the efforts of some of our closest allies — including the European Union — to incorporate into the declaration reference to harm reduction measures such as needle exchange. We find it hard to understand how the U.S. delegation could object to language which would not obligate any country to adopt particular policies with which it disagrees.

“bullet” Jacob Sullum notes the absurdity of the paraphernalia laws with his helpful article You Can Put Your Weed in There — What to do after the last head shop closes. Got any ideas to add?
“bullet” The Last DEA Agent Leaves the United States Bolivia. Oh, well, I can dream. If Bolivia can do it, why can’t we? Meanwhile, the DEA sends me an email telling me that in honor of their 35th year, they have published “The Drug Enforcement Administration, A Tradition of Excellence 1973-2008.” The title is inspiring me to write an autobiography titled “Pete Guither, Millionaire Movie Star.”
“bullet” Grits for Breakfast: If Barack Obama wants bipartisanship, he should remove Byrne grants from the stimulus package
“bullet” Hey, Man. Where Have You Guys Been? – the New York Times does a little feature on Cheech and Chong.
“bullet” Bruce Schneier explains why the Supreme Court’s weakening of the exclusionary rule in Herring v. U.S.

Increasingly, data accuracy is vital to our personal safety and security. And if errors made by police databases aren’t held to the same legal standard as errors made by policemen, then more and more innocent Americans will find themselves the victims of incorrect data.

“bullet” State Budget Deficit May Aid Marijuana Reform Effort. Note to the basement stoners who agreed to be videotaped in the accompanying video: you’re not really helping.
“bullet” Glenn Greenwald notes that we have a two-tiered justice system

Our political class has embraced mandatory minimum sentencing schemes as a way to eliminate mercy and sentencing flexibility for ordinary people who break the law (as opposed to Bush officials who do). […]
But what makes it so much worse, so much more corrupted, is the fact that this “ignore-the-past-and-forget-retribution” rationale is invoked by our media elites only for a tiny, special class of people — our political leaders — while the exact opposite rationale (“ignore their lame excuses, lock them up and throw away the key”) is applied to everyone else.

“bullet” Editorial: Drugs Are Bad, But They’re Good Enough

Maybe we’re at a place where we can talk about the issue without shrillness or hyperbole, because everyone can admit something definitely isn’t right. […]
There’s no easy or good answer, to this or most things in life. Alcohol probably has an overall degenerative effect on our society. But, prohibition’s effect was worse, and we have rightly chosen the lesser evil, regulated and taxed it. Doing so hasn’t made the country a utopia or solved all problems in the criminal justice system, but a modern Al Capone can’t build an empire with alcohol, either.

“bullet” DrugSense Weekly
“bullet” “drcnet”

On Sunday, I noted this Reuter’s article quoting UNODC’s Costa

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had found evidence that “interbank loans were funded by money that originated from drug trade and other illegal activities,” Costa was quoted as saying. There were “signs that some banks were rescued in that way.”

Now enter the AP reporting on the exact same issue.

The global financial crisis is making it easier for organized crime groups to launder profits from narcotics, human trafficking and other illegal activities, the U.N.’s anti-corruption chief said Thursday

The AP story says nothing about saving banks, merely that bank managers probably “were aware that what they were doing was wrong.”

Here’s a break-down-the-door raid in Georgia. When 25 agents with guns drawn suddenly show up in your living room, that requires more than just an apology.
Fortunately Jainet Rios and her family weren’t killed.
Watch the video — Rios has some strong things to say, and she even invokes the Kathryn Johnston shooting in Atlanta. People are starting to get better informed about the dangers of the tactics of the drug war, and they’re not happy. Rios definitely wants more than an apology – she wants a change in policy.

I think we need some edumacating in the Oak Park, Illinois area regarding drugs and the drug war.
Check out Teens discuss legalization of drugs.
This is the one that made my head explode:

Many teens think the drug war will only increase if drugs are legalized.
“It will probably become like the wild west,” said Oscar, 17. “In my neighborhood, we don’t even jump anymore when we hear a gun shot. If the dealers and the junkies get into something, then we all will have to hide.”

Wow.

[Nicole:] “I’ve seen people get shot and beaten up badly over a drug deal gone badly,” she said “If drugs become legal, then the people will really lose their minds.” […]
“If drugs become legal,” Malia said, “then we would probably see people lying out in the streets blowed!”

Sigh.

A blast from the past — can’t remember where I saw it recently. Enjoy.
Undercover Cop Never Knew Selling Drugs Was Such Hard Work

Rick Bastone, 31, an officer with Philadelphia’s 23rd Precinct, has gained newfound respect for America’s hard-working drug dealers ever since going undercover to sell narcotics.
“I had no idea how tough this was,” said Bastone, standing on a dilapidated corner in 20-degree weather while awaiting a cocaine drop-off Monday. “I guess I imagined it being like in the movies: drinking champagne, hot-tubbing with honeys, and cruising in customized Escalades while watching the cash roll in. But here I am, freezing my ass off. I’ve got to say, these drug-dealing scumbags really earn their pay.”

Pat Rogers (who has a new blog) writes me to say that the temporary appointment of Ed Jurith as Acting Director of the ONDCP should be more concerning than Scott Morgan and I have indicated. He notes that Jurith has a history of being a drug warrior, and…

…many in the drug policy reform community like to think that the raid on a medical marijuana facility in California just after the inauguration was a last vestige of the Bush administration, but Jurith had already been appointed acting director of the ONDCP on the 20th of January so there is every reason to believe that the raid was actually sanctioned by the Obama administration.

Pat may be right — I certainly have no inside ear to know who’s been talking about what or making which decisions. I’m just speculating.
But my take doesn’t change. Is Ed Jurith a drug warrior? Of course — he’s been with the ONDCP forever. Is he a Drug Czar? No way.
A drug czar (in the sense that Walters has been a drug czar and McCaffrey was before him) is not so much a developer of policy (as a member of the White House Office, the Director of the ONDCP serves at the pleasure of the President). The Drug Czar is, instead, a public figurehead — a propaganda promoter, a policy apologist, a cunning liar whose job it is to convince the public that the government interest is theirs.
Take a look at the last time Jurith was Acting Drug Czar — the extended period of time between McCaffrey and Walters. He was invisible. Hardly any public appearances except a couple of small-time required appearances before Congress. He was put there as an administrator to keep the office functioning while decisions were made about the office. In fact, prior to Walters’ appointment, while Jurith was Acting Drug Czar, Bush was getting significant grief from Republican Congressmen (if I recall, Souder was one of them) about the fact that Bush had not yet appointed a drug czar!
I really expect Jurith to do the same job again. Be as invisible as possible.
Regarding the South Tahoe raid: it seems much less likely to me that Jurith somehow managed to get the ear of the President the day after inauguration, get an OK for the raid, bypass the not-yet-confirmed Attorney General to go to the DEA and have them do a raid the next day….
It seems infinitely more likely that Bush’s DEA head Michele Leonhart had a raid already planned for South Tahoe, saw that there was a temporary void in the AG’s office (due to the last minute hold put on Holder’s nomination) and no directions were coming from above to prevent her from continuing as she always had in going after medical marijuana dispensaries.

On January 9, 1998, when U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi announced in a press conference that the government would take action against California medical marijuana clubs (arguably the start of the DEA’s current war against the sick), Leonhart was standing at his side.

It’s true that Obama has had nothing to say on the subject. As Pat notes:

Obama has not repudiated Mr. Jurith. Nor has the president used the raid as an opportunity to get up on a soap box in opposition to future raids.

In his first week, while attempting to pass a stimulus package, the President is going to publicly admonish his staff in order to support potheads (how it would be reported). Right. If he did anything right now, it would be a hand slap in a back room.
There was already a public explosion over Congress’ inclusion of condoms in the stimulus package. Public action directly taken by the President about medical marijuana would be a public relations nightmare.
Anyway that’s my take. Who knows?
Sure would be nice to be a fly on the wall, though.