Drug WarRant

Syllogism:

1. Drugs are bad.
2. The best way to deal with bad things is by prohibiting them.
3. Tougher criminal sanctions are more effective than weaker sanctions.

Therefore:

• The best and most effective way to deal with drugs is through tougher criminal sanctions.

Demolish.

“bullet” About 200 people met with City Council members to demand answers in the death of Tarika Wilson.

“The man who shot her, he’s not a suspect? What if that was me?” shouted Quintel Wilson, the victim’s brother. “Where would I be? Locked up. No bond. Victim is the word here.”

The city and the state must do an extraordinary job of investigating the entire situation, or this could be a powderkeg.

“If we do not get this right, there is going to be a difficult day ahead,” said the Rev. B. LaMont Monford Sr. of the Philippian Missionary Baptist Church.

Update: The officer has been identified — a 30 year veteran who was involved in a police killing in 2000.

“bullet” So LEAP

… but I repeat myself…
You may have heard that Richard Brunstom, chief constable of North Wales Police, had made a statement about the relative safety of ecstasy last week. This caused a bit of a stir.
And now the Daily Mail has come back to put him in his place with this damning report:

Road Crash Coroner Slams Chief Constable’s Claim That ‘Ecstasy is Not Dangerous’
A coroner has rebutted claims that ecstasy is not dangerous at the inquest of a disqualified driver who was high on the drug when he killed himself and a friend in a road crash.

Well, not as good as, say, real statistics or anything. It’s just a single case, and it’s not, in fact, about the dangers of ecstasy use, but rather the danger of driving while impaired by ecstasy, which, I guess, is at least something. Right?
Right?

Dean Chevalier, 20, was more than twice over the legal alcohol limit when he lost control of his friend’s car, killing himself and 23-year-old Matthew Prothero.
Both were high on ecstasy and had drunk tequila and lager before the accident on a minor road, near Grantham, Lincs, on May 20 last year.

Oh, yeah, that definitely shows the dangers of ecstasy.
For my next trick, I will prove that eating celery makes you obese, by eating a lot of celery and pizzas.

Howard Wooldridge has a partial answer with this interesting list:

‹Osama Bin Laden, President George Bush, The Ochoa Brothers, John Walters (USA‰s Drug Czar), Congressman Mark Souder, Mexican Drug Cartels, DEA, FARC, National Association of Narcotics Officers, Canadian Cannabis Growers Association, Pharmaceutical Industry, Al Qaeda, Private Prison Association, Meth Makers of Mexico Association, MS-13 drug gang, California Narcotic Officers‰ Association, Crips & Bloods, Deputy Chief Thomas Gorman of California, Pablo Escobars‰ Amigos, Congressman Duncan Hunter, Columbian Coca Growers Association, Senator John McCain, et al, Fundamentalist Christian Association, the Washington Post and the New York Times.Š

“bullet” On Sunday night, Democratic Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel told a group of high school students that alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana.
“Well, duh!” you say. Of course that’s true.
Well the Chicago Tribune’s Mike Pearson makes it clear why his column is called “The Swamp” and why it’s so hard for public figures to tell the truth about drugs.

Mike Gravel to teens: Say ‘yes’ to drugs
NASHUA, N.H.ÖFormer Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska hasn’t been heard from for quite some time in his quixotic quest for the Democratic presidential nomination and perhaps there’s a reason why.
In the days when he was invited to debates, detractors likened the 77-year-old former senator to the cranky uncle who lives in the attic.
No longer invited to debates, Gravel on Sunday night appeared at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter to speak to its high school students and showed no sign his campaign had gone up in smoke. Indeed, in a contest of booze versus pot, Gravel said light ’em up.

Fortunately, Pearson’s readers are smarter.
“bullet” You may have heard that Ron Paul’s campaign got a hit today due to the resurfacing of an old ghostwritten newsletter of his that contained racist and homophobic material. Keep in mind that these have been around for years and have been discussed before. Paul has taken moral responsibility for their existence in his newsletter, even though it appears he didn’t write them. And his public expressions have consistently been anything but racist or homophobic. Still, these things have political power.
I believe that Brian Doherty expresses it best:

It is certainly worth remembering on this tense day for those who have admired Paul as a politician and as a voice in this campaign that, as his clear to anyone paying close attention to either his presidential campaign message (or his message through most of his congressional career) or to the concerns of the bulk of his current fans, that racial or anti-gay animus has zero to do with Ron Paul’s campaign or its appeal. Any attempt to tar the “Ron Paul Revolution” with these old newsletters is wrongheaded and unfair. It is also worth remembering that every single other candidate is a fervent believer in policies that cause far more harm to far more innocent black people (the drug war) than old ghostwritten words that insult Martin Luther King, or insult rioters in racial terms, ever could. [emphasis added]

(This relates to my recent post at Daily Kos.)

Just go and read it: What My Cancer Taught Me About Marijuana by Diana Wagman

The Toledo Blade is continuing to do excellent work on covering the death of Tarika Wilson, who was shot twice by SWAT officers (see yesterday’s post).
Community leaders are calling for calm, but not demanding answers, and are indicating that they will not rest until proper investigations occur. And there’s a very strong racial factor in the case.

Lima police long have targeted African-Americans, such as holding youths face down on the ground and pointing guns at them and then claiming they had the wrong group, alleged Councilman Tommy Pitts, chairman of council‰s safety services committee.
‹This comes as no surprise to me,Š he said about the shooting.

The investigation has been turned over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, where some tough questions will have to be answered.

Ms. Jennings said her daughter was shot upstairs while with the children, and she wants to know what in that bedroom threatened the police officer who shot Ms. Wilson and Sincere.

Here’s another little telling bit:

Questions about the raid continued to swirl around Lima, with Councilman Glenn protesting the way police treated him as both a city official and landlord.
As owner of the house Ms. Wilson rented without incident for a year, Mr. Glenn said he should have been notified that police suspected drug activity there and maybe he could‰ve helped.
Mayor David Berger said landlords are not notified about such investigations.

Well, I think Glenn has a very important point — the only one I’ve seen so far in this case that has raised the question specifically about finding alternative means rather than using SWAT teams on drug cases. Why aren’t other options considered? Why does it always have to be about the big bust?
That’s the question that really needs to be addressed. (Aside from the obvious one, to us, about eliminating the drug war that causes all this violence and death.)
Update: More from the Lima News.
Also, (via Radley), here is Lima, Ohio’s SWAT website. Watch out!

Colby Cosh has an good OpEd on the Marc Emery extradition trial that will begin on January 21 in Canada.

…where ideas of justice are expressed in such a different manner as they are on a point like this — where the people of two countries so plainly disagree about what is right — co-operation is tantamount to a surrender of values.

The article also references Karen Selick’s open letter to Canada’s Minister of Justice.
Lee apparently plans on covering the Marc Emery story in detail.

Jim Leitzel once again promotes the idea that higher taxes on alcohol will save lives. I’m skeptical.
However, I’d be willing to believe it would work if it was paired with the simultaneous legalization of marijuana, at low cost and heavily promoted as an alternative to alcohol. Now that could save some lives.
But merely raising alcohol taxes will disproportionately affect the very poor, who will find something… anything… And there are some substitutions that might not be as safe as quality-regulated drinking alcohol.