Drug WarRant

… one of them, anyway.
The Onion

WASHINGTON, DCÖThe National Anti- Quartering Association, America’s foremost Third Amendment rights group, held its annual gala in Washington Monday to honor 191 consecutive years of advocating the protection of private homes and property against the unlawful boarding of military personnel.

Funny. And sad.

I’ve been tagged through Blawg Review’s La Meme Chose: Simply the Best. Thanks to Jeralyn at TalkLeft and Austin Defense Lawyer for the compliment.
So let me continue the meme with a list of 10 blogs that I read on a regular basis (in addition to those two) for inspiration or information about drug policy reform and the related fight against authoritarianism.

• Radley Balko’s The Agitator
• Scott Morgan at Stop the Drug War
• Reason’s Hit and Run
• Transform Drug Policy Foundation Blog
• Alex Coolman’s Drug Law Blog
• Scott Henson’s Grits for Breakfast
• To the People
• Unqualified Offerings
• Glenn Greenwald’s Unclaimed Territory
• ScotusBlog

Be sure to check out all of these wonderful blogs. Of course, as always, this is an incomplete list off the top of my head at the moment — there are many others whose wonderful blogging inspires and informs me.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom went ballistic on the drug war

“If you want to get serious, if you want to reduce crime by 70% in this country overnight, end this war on drugs,” he told reporters at City Hall on Thursday. “You want to get serious, seriously serious about crime and violence end this war on drugs.”
[…]
“It’s laughable that anyone could look at themselves with a straight face and say ‘oh,we’re really succeeding.’ I mean it’s comedy. And as I say, shame on my party, the democratic party, because they don’t have the courage of their private thoughts, because we don’t want to appear weak on this topic,” Newsom said.

Sheriff Mike Hennessey agreed.

“No, the war on drugs is not working. The war on drugs is not working because we are relying on law enforcement instead of on treatment,” Hennessey said.

Watch the video.

A vague haze of delirium
Seeps in his mind
Soaring and flying images blind.
I’ll be your leader;
I’ll be your guide.
On the amazing journey, together we’ll ride.

My show opens tomorrow night. I’m exhausted, but having a blast. Here’s a couple of quick items for you.
“bullet” As usual, Maia Szalavitz is outstanding: The Federalization of Medicine
The pain issue shows why medical policy should be left to the states. in Reason.
“bullet” Those wacky scientists! Harvard Scientists Build a Device to Smoke Weed During Brain Scan
“bullet” Obama feeling the pressure? Could it be that being behind on drug policy reform was actually hurting him a little? That’s interesting.
To be honest, I don’t expect the next President to be much help to us, regardless of who it is (with the exception of Paul). They’re all going to have their Karl Rove who will tell them to avoid reform like the plague. Change is going to have to come from the will of the people forcing it.
But I can’t remember any Presidential election when drug policy reform was talked about even a fraction as much by the candidates. It’s a healthy thing and gets the subject in the public eye. But it also may mean that the people are starting to “get” reform and the candidates are being forced to follow (at least in talk); additionally, the topic may be starting to lose its “taboo” status.
And just idle curiosity… I wonder if Obama got a chance to see the YouTube video of Ron Paul getting a huge ovation from a mostly black audience by calling for an end to the drug war.
“bullet” Good news. At the United Nations every-10-years drug conference in Vienna in March, 2008, we’ll have a tireless advocate for reform representing us — one who speaks four languages and can saddle a horse. Let’s see if UNODC’s Costa can top that!

Senator Webb’s hearing: Mass Incarceration in the United States: At What Cost? is going on now.

October 2, 1937: Samuel R. Caldwell becomes the first person in the United States to be arrested on a [federal] marijuana charge.
Link

On this date 70 years ago, unemployed Colorado laborer Samuel R. Caldwell, was arrested for selling two marijuana cigarettes to Moses Baca. For his crime, he was sentenced to four years of hard labor at Leavenworth Penitentiary, plus a $1,000 fine

The government is really trying to push this Drug War Success story

SAN DIEGO Ö Mexico‰s crackdown on drug traffickers has helped cut supplies of cocaine in 37 U.S. cities and led to higher prices, the White House drug czar said Monday.
The disclosure came as the Bush administration prepares to present Congress with an aid package costing hundreds of millions of dollars to assist Mexico in fighting drugs, John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, told The Associated Press.

Of course, the two paragraphs above demonstrate that they’re not even trying to hide the tactic — tout drug war success to bolster passing a massive drug war funding bill for Mexico.
Interestingly, much of the media is no longer simply willing to accept what John Walters says as the truth. Check out this UPI article: White House claims success in drug war. The entire short article involves quotes from critics as to why the White House’s claims are likely meaningless.
This Washington Post story gives more space to the details of the White House claims, yet still is quite skeptical.
Unfortunately, what nobody is doing is asking the question: “What happens if they’re right?” What if there really is a massive long-term reduction in cocaine availability in the states? Will all the problem users just simply no longer use drugs? Or will violence increase as the price increases and gangs fight over turf? Will cocaine drug users simply switch to something else? And what would that be?
Of course, the government isn’t really interested in the answer to that question. And it’s likely that they don’t even believe their own stories about success in the drug war.

Just had tech weekend for “The Who’s Tommy” and first dress is tonight, so talk amongst yourselves…
“bullet” An interesting media contradiction noted by Steve R at Transform:

Drug is a problem, Michael admits
Pop singer George Michael has admitted his marijuana use can be “a problem” and said he is “constantly trying” to smoke less of the drug [BBC, UK]
Drugs aren’t a problem, says George Michael
The singer talks about his heavy use of marijuana, but says he is lucky enough to have the income to support the habit: ‘Do I wish I could use it less? Sure, but is it a problem in my life? No,’ [Observer, UK]

“bullet” I’m not sure what to think of this one… Maybe people in Darwin really like to enjoy themselves? Most Arrested In Darwin Stoned

THREE out of four people arrested and detained by police in Darwin are under the influence of illicit drugs, research shows.
Australian Institute of Criminology data reveals 73 per cent of Darwin detainees tested positive to cannabis in July and August, steadily increasing from 46 per cent in January last year.

73% Wow.

DUMA statistics also showed 83 per cent of female offenders and 82 per cent of male offenders had reported heavy alcohol use at some time in the 30 days before their offence.

At least Sgt. Mitchell has some perspective:

“It’s that really high level of drinking and offending that’s the problem,” said Sgt Mitchell.
“People when they get drunk do dumb things. They get into cars and drive. We know they shot someone because they looked at their girlfriend.
“Cannabis users, by and large, are fairly mellow.”

“bullet” Matt over at scaryshit rants about political officials, corruption, the Hatch Act, and the official attempts to stop the Nevada marijuana initiative.
“bullet” Interesting (though flawed) column by Robert Buddan at the Jamaica Gleaner essentially slamming the U.S.’ approach to the drug war. The interesting part is his notion about illicit drug trade as a world economy feature. Where he’s wrong is the notion that, once realizing that fact, the world could “win” the drug war.
“bullet” I’ve been getting quite a bit of reaction to the post about the Kyle Klavetter column. Nice to hear from some other University of Tulsa students that Kyle is not representative of that school’s caliber of study. Also, here’s the counterpoint that was printed in the same paper: Legal Post, a plus. It’ll be interesting to see if there are follow-up letters published.

Editorial in today’s New York Times (New Jersey Edition)

New Jersey is missing out on an excellent ( if necessarily incomplete ) remedy for its fiscal crisis. Sadly, the only reason is that the state’s elected officials have been too scared to touch it.
The remedy is to change the state’s misguided drug laws. They were designed years ago to reduce illegal drug use by forcing judges to imprison just about every nonviolent offender who came before them. Not only have the laws not solved the drug problem, they have been counterproductive and terribly unfair. Thousands of young drug users have been put in prison, reducing their chances for treatment at an age when it could turn their lives around. […]
The more sensible course would be to stop imprisoning these low-level offenders, divert some of the savings for treatment, and use the millions of dollars left over to reduce the fiscal deficit. It is time that Trenton learned this lesson.