Drug WarRant

I don’t write nearly as many Letters To the Editor as I should — I tend to get busy enough posting here, but now and then something spurs me to respond. This article by Judy Guenseth in the Galesburg Register-Mail did it. My letter in response: Legalizing pot adds control was published today.

Keep in mind that LTEs are a great way to get exposure for drug policy reform. If you need some suggestions, ideas, help in letter-writing strategy, good examples, etc. simply visit The Media Awareness Project. The equivalent advertising value of the letters published by MAP folks last year totaled over $2 million. Not bad for free.

The Marijuana Policy Posse has created a new video to address the age-old question my most popular page has been discussing for years: Why is Marijuana Illegal?

It’s telling that so many of us have discovered what a tremendous need there is out there for the answer to this question. In the past month, my Why is Marijuana Illegal page has had 123,192 pageviews, representing over 3/4 of all traffic to my site.

NORML’s Paul Armentano has a lengthy, detailed article at AlterNet: Making Pot Legal: We Can Do It — Here’s How. Definitely worth reading. What do you think of his roadmap/conclusions?
Update: Link working now. I got sloppy with my html.
P.S. I plan to do an extended response to this article at a later time, but I’m interested in getting your feedback first this time.

If you’re on Facebook, you can become a fan of Drug WarRant.

The recent spate of bad studies regarding marijuana (involving ridiculously small samples and horribly flawed methodology) with nicely scary conclusions (marijuana causes cancer, marijuana causes addiction, marijuana causes gum disease) have been, of course, accompanied by bad reporting.

None as funny as this one from a student newspaper.

Young people who are heavy smokers of cannabis, a substance found in marijuana, could be at a significant risk for gum disease, according to a study released Tuesday. [emphasis added]

Fortunately, Bruce Mirken has taken on the quackery in Latest Anti-Pot Quack Science: ‘Marijuana Makes Your Teeth Fall Out’

“bullet” Jesse Jackson will be in Lima, Ohio tomorrow to discuss the racial tensions regarding the drug raid shooting of Tarika Wilson and her son. Hopefully the visit won’t neglect the necessary discussion regarding the tactics of drug raids, which also exist outside of the racial dimension.
“bullet” The drug war has gotten so screwy that we sometimes become inured to the absurdities, but now and then an article just hits me and I think I’ve slipped through to another dimension.
This came from one of my former haunts – Keokuk, Iowa. See if you can spot the absurdities.

Chris-topher A. Matous, 23, 3000 S. Seventh St., was charged with conspiracy to manufacture less than five grams of methamphetamine, a Class C felony. If convicted, Matous could face up to 10 years in a state correctional facility.
The arrest stems from an investigation by the task force into allegations Matous was involved in the manufacture of methamphetamine in the Keokuk area.
He was arrested Thursday following a traffic stop for a driving offense by Keokuk police. Investigators later searched the vehicle and found items that indicated the manufacture of and/or use of methamphetamine.
Task force Commander Dave Hinton said Matous had a knife in his possession.

Here are some oddities that I see…

1. “conspiracy to manufacture less than five grams of methamphetamine” — what does that mean?
2. “items that indicated the manufacture of and/or use of methamphetamine” — what does that mean?
3. “face up to 10 years” – no drugs, no sale, no manufacture, plans to manufacture less than 5 grams (whatever that means) = 10 years?
4. “The arrest stems from an investigation” that culminated in a “traffic stop for a driving offense.” Huh?
5. “Task force Commander Dave Hinton said Matous had a knife in his possession.” And…?

I’m scratching my head here.
“bullet” The idiots at the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) have gotten their panties in a bunch regarding the medical marijuana vending machines, which is simply absurd, since there’s no practical difference between a dispensary employee vending medical marijuana to a licensed patient and a machine doing the exact same thing.
“bullet” Dave Frank with the Nevada Appeal discusses the medical marijuana situation in Nevada Federal government stands in the way of a state-run medical marijuana distribution

Tom Angell got a nice letter published in the Chicago Trib yesterday.

But it’s absolutely wrong of Chapman to say, as he does in the column, that endorsing this common-sense policy change “would be considered political suicide” for a presidential candidate like U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
To the contrary, a CNN/Time Magazine poll taken in 2002 shows that 72 percent of Americans support marijuana decriminalization.
Obama’s latest position opposing decriminalization will only win him favor with the mere 19 percent of Americans who, according to the poll, favor the continued arrest and jailing of otherwise law-abiding citizens who happen to use marijuana.
Supporting the criminalization of responsible adults is not only a senseless and cruel public policy, it is politically foolish.

It’s a good letter that is both right… and wrong.
It was the right letter to write. The right letter for people to read. It was right in its underlying facts. But probably wrong in its conclusion.
If Presidential politics had any kind of logic or reason to it, then the fact that the majority of people support decriminalization would lead to the conclusion that supporting decriminalization is a good political choice. But it never works that cleanly.
if Obama came out in support of decriminalization the population would, in general, factually support it. But would that be the population that he needs to win over to get the magic numbers? And how would the opposition deal with it?
I could write the ad myself…

Scene: dark shots of inner city streets with black drug dealers conducting transactions, junkies shooting up and slumped in doorways, etc.
Voice: America faces a continuing epidemic of drugs in our streets, endangering our communities and families. Every day, thousands of young people are snared by these dangerous drugs and many will die.
Barack Obama wants to make illicit drugs even more available to our children and tie the hands of law enforcement efforts to make our cities safe.
Scene: Sunny suburban community park with kids and dogs playing, mothers with strollers, etc.
Voice: John McCain cares about families and children and vows to keep dangerous drugs out of our communities…

You get the idea…
The best thing about drug policy emerging in Presidential politics is not that a potentially successful Presidential candidate is actually going to embrace reform in speech or action. No, the best thing is that it gets the rest of the country talking.
I have no delusions that we’ll get a President to lead. But having Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich talking about drug policy, and Obama’s drug past coming up, and candidates addressing sentencing disparity has been great in terms of getting these issues in the public spotlight.
Ultimately, when it comes to electing a President, it’ll have little to do with facts or good policy. I was struck with Atrios’ recent post (depressingly cynical, yet true)

As the season progresses and I read my 4 millionth “I CAN’T POSSIBLE VOTE FOR AND/OR SUPPORT CANDIDATE X” post/diary it’s useful to remind us all that presidential politics is not a contest to woo your little narcissistic self, it’s a contest to get 50%+1 of the electoral college votes.
And most people do little to “support” any of the candidates. Many do, of course, give money and time. But most don’t. It takes away from all that time spent bitching about the world online.
That being said, you are free to stay home and not vote. You are free to withhold what time and money you may have otherwise been willing to give for a different candidate. But nobody gives a shit. It’s not about you.

I recently attended a Democratic gathering in Illinois, and was amazed to see how, while being careful not to say it publicly, they were 100% supporters of Obama. I was puzzled for a moment, and then someone explained it to me. If Obama is the nominee, then the Democratic turnout will be much higher in Illinois (Obama’s state), which means that local Democratic candidates are more likely to be elected. It wasn’t just about what Obama stood for, it was about political opportunity.
I guess what I’m saying is… Fight for good candidates. Try to inform them about drug policy. Try to make them talk about drug policy. But don’t look for rationality or logic in their positions. Don’t expect leadership.
Leadership comes from the people.

So I may be about the last person in America to deal with this, but I’ve come down with a nasty sore throat and cold, so I decided to go to the Osco and get something for it.
I made sure I went during the hours that the pharmacy is open, ’cause of course I know about all the new rules — and sure enough, there were signs in the cold medicine aisles about some products not being available out on the shelves.
So I asked the girl behind the counter if there was something she could… recommend, and she said I’d have to talk to the head pharmacist. I waited a few minutes until he returned and told him that I had a serious sore throat progressing into a chest cold and wanted some recommendation.
He led me out to the regular aisles and pointed out some products. “These Chloraseptic lozenges are quite good for sore throat. Also, be sure to get plenty of rest, and drink lots of fluids. You should also gargle in salt water — that can help. These zinc lozenges can also be quite effective.”
“Ah,” I said, nodding. “Yes, those are good suggestions. But I was hoping for something to help me with all the symptoms and get some rest. Something like… NyQuil.”
He pointed to his right. “Here’s some NyQuil right here.”
“Yes, but isn’t that the… ah… I mean, isn’t there something better… you know, with… that ingredient.”
He hestitated. “Yes, we have a bottle of the old stuff behind the counter. I’ll get you some.”
While his assistant took my drivers license and address and signature (he told me he didn’t need the urine sample or fingerprints), I had a nice chat with the pharmacist. He knew my dad many years ago and we talked about ailments and building houses. A very nice guy, doing his job in a strange world.
So now I have some of this dangerous old-style NyQuil in my bedroom, and since they have my address, I’m waiting for the smash of my door, and the conspiracy to think about doing something with pseudoephedrine charge.
But I don’t care. And I realized something. NyQuil isn’t really medicine, at least not by the way that the ONDCP seems to consider medicine. It doesn’t cure anything. It’s called the Nightime Sniffling Sneezing Coughing Aching Stuffyhead Fever So You Can Rest Medicine but the key thing is that it just relieves symptoms so you can rest (which is a good thing). In other words, it makes you feel better.
That’s right, I have a drug in my home that I scored from a pharmacist that I use simply because it makes me feel good.
I must be a criminal.
But I got a good night’s sleep last night.

“bullet” More of the same in Thailand

New Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej insisted Friday that he is not a puppet of deposed leader Thaksin Shinawatra, despite having boasted during campaigning that he was Thaksin’s proxy. […]
Samak also said the new government will reintroduce Thaksin’s controversial approach to combatting drug trafficking, defending the “drug war” conducted by Thaksin’s government that led to the death of about 2,500 people in 2003-2004. […]
Interior Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said Thursday that the ministry would launch a tough anti-drug campaign, particularly in border areas, that will yield results within 90 days.

“bullet” Interesting OpEds: Women Behind Bars” by Silja J.A. Talvi, and 1 more step for Bush by Tony Newman
“bullet” Via Rogier van Bakel comes this poor guy who’s been sentenced to 16 months in prison:

The investigation started when a Benton County tax clerk noticed that the $600 in cash that Michaelis used to pay his taxes smelled like marijuana.

“bullet” Cartoon: If Muslim Countries were as Radical as the DEA
“bullet” Via Radley Balko — Street corner sign defends man accused of killing Ches. Police Detective

…this is the first time we have ever seen a public show of support for the person accused of killing a police officer. With their signatures, residents are voicing their belief the accused killer, Ryan Frederick, was in the right when he fired that gun as police officers were trying to come through his front door to serve a drug search warrant.

“bullet” Educating Harper Dr. Susan Boyd is sending a letter a week to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in an attempt to educate him about the drug war.
“bullet” In foreign affairs, the drug war is so often a cover for another agenda. It’s hard to be more obvious than Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell’s comments to the Senate Intelligence Committee (also pushed by the Drug Czar.

“Chavez’s lack of counter-drug cooperation undermines efforts by other countries, particularly Colombia, by giving traffickers access to alternative routes and transit points,” McConnell said, according to a transcript of his statement

This appears to be part of a coordinated effort to use the drug war to attack Chavez, as was evidenced in this appropriately timed substance-free (pun intended) propaganda piece by John Carlin in the Observer, which is debunked here and here.
“bullet” Unintentionally humorous article: Drug cartels so powerful, governments at risk, U.S. told

Lobbying for nearly $550 million in aid for Mexico and Central America, a senior U.S. official warned Congress on Thursday that billions of dollars in drug cartel profits have made the gangs powerful enough to challenge their governments.

Oh, the irony.
“bullet” Via Transform, it’s nice to see The Economist (pdf) has picked up on the dirty little business of how the British government has been trying to set drug policy while keeping some of its facts secret.
“bullet” “drcnet”

Our Attorney General pulls out the FEAR card again.

In a statement prepared for his scheduled appearance before the House Judiciary Committee today, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said that unless Congress acts, “1,600 convicted crack dealers, many of them violent gang members, will be eligible for immediate release into communities nationwide” under a decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
“Retroactive application of these new lower guidelines will pose significant public safety risks . . .” Mukasey said in the statement. “Many of these offenders are among the most serious and violent offenders in the federal system and their early release . . . would produce tragic, but predictable results.”

Malakkar Vohryzek does a good job of putting Mukasey in his place. Vohryzek does it by using things like facts.

First off, no one is addressing the truth that I’ve experienced first hand, being a former federal prisoner: most of the “gang member” crack dealers are profiled as gang members. Just as I was listed as a “Drug Kingpin” due to the weight of the paper involved in my case (not the actual LSD amount), most young black men convicted of crack offenses are called “gang members” based on little more than speculation.
They certainly aren’t convicted of being gang members. A tattoo of a girlfriend’s name becomes a gang affiliation mark. A scar from a bullet wound. Clothing worn when arrested. There are endless facts that can be taken out of context, and used to assert a gang membership, even when this is patently false. I did five years with a man out of Compton. He had no gang affiliation whatsoever. Yet he was listed as a blood, because the snitch in his case was affiliated with the Bloods, and if he was supplying a gang member affiliate, clearly it was because he was in the gang himself.

And yes, this epidemic of violent crack dealers? Let me look at my area — Bloomington-Normal, Illinois — a booming twin cities with two universities, major industry, several police departments, and over 200 police officers. Based on population averages, we should be prepared to expect an onslaught of… almost one crack dealer. That is, assuming that a Judge approves the release even after Justice Department efforts to prevent it. And this crack dealer will already have served significantly more time than an equivalent powder cocaine dealer.
It would be nice to have an Attorney General who would come out and say:

“This is an overdue correction to a bad law, and I’m instructing the Justice Department to work with the Judiciary to expedite the identification and release of eligible non-violent offenders to be reunited with their families. As an additional benefit, this initial release could save us up to $40 million per year in prison costs.”

Well, I can dream, can’t I?