Drug WarRant

… 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.

On Friday, 26-year-old Tarika Wilson, single mother of six, was shot by police in her home and killed. Her one-year-old son was also shot as she held him and will survive. Two dogs were shot and one died. Tarika’s boyfriend was arrested on suspicion of possession of crack cocaine.

Chief Garlock confirmed that the search warrant was executed at the correct address. He said officers were aware that children were inside the home because there were toys in the yard outside and on the front porch. […]
Police Maj. Richard Shade, a former SWAT commander for the department, said it’s not unusual for children to be inside homes raided by police officers. […]
“This is a terrible situation that resulted from a very dangerous situation that occurs when a high-risk search warrant is executed,” Chief Garlock said.

Yet apparently, nobody connected with the Lima, Ohio police force had the mental capability to consider whether a different course of action might be in order.
The people know better.
Last night, a crowd of 300 people marched with family members to express their sorrow and outrage.

“Remember that baby who is in a hospital and that woman laying on a slab being dissected because the Lima police overstepped their bounds,” Brenda Johnson, executive director of the community center, told the crowd before the march began.
Ms. Johnson said it was reckless for police to raid a home with so many children inside.
“This time it was someone else’s child,” she said. “Next time it could be your child, your grandchild.” […]
People prayed, sang, and chanted “truth and justice” in front of the home last night.
Many people wept as Pastor C.M. Manley of New Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church led them in song.
People laid stuffed animals in front of the home and placed a banner with prayers for the family. It also contained slurs against white police officers. […]
“Not all the police are bad. Some of them have children,” Pastor Arnold Manley of Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church told the crowd. “But the majority of the ones in Lima are.”

Tarika Wilson was loved by family and community. They will not sit back and let this happen without demanding answers.

Lima Councilman Derry Glenn owns the house but did not live there. Mr. Glenn last night called for an independent investigation from the Ohio attorney general’s office.
“I am very upset about the way this happened,” he said. “I feel we need a thorough investigation. The first murder in 2008 came from a police officer.”

More Drug War Victims.

“bullet” Via Siobhan Reynolds of the Pain Relief Network: Pain group rallies to doctor’s defense

The New Mexico-based Pain Relief Network says it plans to file a civil lawsuit in Wichita federal court alleging the Controlled Substances Act as applied to doctors and patients is unconstitutional.

“bullet” “The Wire” is entering its fifth and final season on HBO, and it continues to get critical raves. There have been quite a number of articles about it recently, including this one by Gal Beckerman, and this one in Time, and on and on. Just Google “the wire” and you’ll get lots. Everytime “The Wire” gets mentioned, it’s another reminder to people that we have this troubled and troubling institution of drug prohibition. And that’s good.
I watched a number of episodes in the first season and thought it was excellent. But I don’t seek it out — not because I don’t like the show, but perhaps because I deal with the real drug war every day right here. So when it comes to entertainment, I prefer Stardust.
“bullet” This Chicago Sun-Times editorial delivered just the right kick of sarcasm in the title: Lawmakers Manage to Outlaw Licking an Obscure Plant

Those creatively efficient politicians down in the Illinois Legislature might be stumped on really important issues like funding the CTA or betting our future on casinos. But they are clear about saving us from ourselves — even if we don’t need it. Case in point: the salvia ban. […]
Legislators must have been on something to zero in on this obscure organic substance, sometimes called “magic mint” or “Sally D” by salvia afficionados. The last time we checked, Illinois was not besieged by a salvia epidemic. We don’t see the urgency in criminalizing a substance with no clear track record of causing people to act in a dangerous manner or hurt other people.
We don’t condone drug use. However, considering how overcrowded our prisons are with dangerous criminals, trolling around for more nonviolent drug offenders to punish is counterintuitive.

“bullet” “drcnet”

A fascinating post at Grits for Breakfast: Bush and Calderon on outs; ‘Merida Initiative’ may not pass Congressional muster
Given that internal forces in both countries are already very upset that the negotiation was done in secret, if Bush and Calderon are at odds, then Plan Mexico is on shaky ground indeed.
However, I can’t help thinking that the lure of fluid and corruptible taxpayer drug war dollars (both the spending and receiving) is so strong, that they’ll find a way to overcome their differences.