Drug WarRant

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.

“bullet” Bizarre column of the week comes from Kyle Klavetter, Staff Writer of The University of Tulsa Collegian. Pot Lacks Purpose

But must the first steps on the road to recovering freedoms from the fount of Constitutional federalism make legalizing marijuana a salient point? […]
America is a purposed nation. America serves God. The practical consequence arising from this belief is that means are not justified by ends. Rights do not exist in a vacuum. Progress measures success only after the method by which it is attained is subjected to the scrutiny of an independent moral code. […]
America prides itself on how many “right to’s” it can accumulate — right to self-expression, right to privacy, right to abortion, right to inhale mind-altering substances. The more “right to’s” there are, the better America supposedly is.
The problem lies in that these type of “rights” do not build up a foundation for the country. These “rights” aren’t meant to further a Godly end. Often these rights are beyond the judgments of good and evil. They are deemed “good” because they foster Man’s own ability to live as he pleases. Their ultimate purpose is the service of Man.
This is a dangerous credo, one that in its fullest meaning resounded ahead of Communist Russia as it marched to perdition in the past century.
Of course legalizing pot wouldn’t make America communist, but it would be one step toward a world where rights are justified not by their adherence to morality but because they further Man’s own ends. This political epistemology is antithetical to the American vision. […]
The legalization of pot would, at best, be self-gratification. This right would not serve the interests of God. The legalization of pot would tempt this country to stray from its moral heritage.

The whole piece is so ridiculous, it’s hardly worth commenting on, but feel free to have fun with it.
“bullet” Scott Morgan has Part II of Why Do Police Really Oppose Marijuana Legalization?
“bullet” A school in Illinois is learning that drug testing may not be the easy solution to all their problems…

“I had to have part of my leg shaved,” said senior Rob Smith. […]
Lauren Banaszak, a senior, thinks once the program’s random testing phase begins, some might take their chances with the roulette wheel. […]
Or find a different way to get high. […]
“I asked them if ( this kind of test ) would just make kids more resourceful about what substance they could get away with using,” Nall said. “The general consensus was yes, it would.” […]
After all, suggests Majkowski, “We can’t be taking urine samples every day to find out if they’ve been drinking.” […]
The $75,000 budgeted for the 2007-08 school year is “a lot of money,” Nall said. “I wonder if this is an easy way out. Could we have invested that in a worthwhile ( substance abuse ) education program instead?”

“bullet” “drcnet”
Update: Some very fine responses to Klavetter in comments.

Powerful video from the PBS Republican Presidential Debates.

Via

Viriginia Senator Jim Webb has been concerned about the prison issue, but he doesn’t serve on the Judiciary Committee. However, he is on the Joint Economic Committee, so…
On Thursday, October 4,

Joint Economic Committee to Examine Economic Costs of Surge in U.S. Prison Population and Possible Solutions
Hearing on Costs of Mass Incarceration Called by VA Sen. Webb in Light of 500 Percent Increase in Prison Populations in Last 30 Years

Basic hearing details (and potential link for watching the hearing).
If you have appropriate letters or statements to submit:

Joint Economic Committee
G01 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-0372

Thanks to Eric Sterling.

Whenever I report on some propaganda that’s so outrageously stupid that no sentient being could possibly credit it, there’s one sure place that it’ll turn up next…
…the Drug Czar’s “blog”:

Marijuana: Harmless?

“CRIMINAL gangs are trafficking hundreds of children into Britain and forcing them to work in cannabis factories,

Could it be that the ONDCP staff is reading Drug WarRant?

“bullet” TChris at TalkLeft on a much needed victory for the Fourth Amendment: Patriot Act Provision Declared Unconstitutional
“bullet” And more Fourth Amendment good news….

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a Michigan law that requires pedestrians under 21 to submit to a breath test without a search warrant.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which had sued on behalf of four college students, said the law is the only one of its kind in the country. U.S. District Judge David Lawson in Detroit ruled that it was unconstitutional to force non-drivers to submit to preliminary breath tests without a warrant.

“bullet” Scott Morgan has another exceptional post: Why Do Police Really Oppose Marijuana Legalization?

Why is it drug warriors in Britain seem to lose all capability of reason when it comes to cannabis?
Here’s the latest in sensationalist reporting on cannabis (also reported here)

Child-trafficking gangs force kids to work in cannabis factories
CRIMINAL gangs are trafficking hundreds of children into Britain and forcing them to work in cannabis factories, with at least one child per week being found by police, a report said today.
Campaign group End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) said there had been a five-fold increase in the practice in the last year alone.

Now, from what little I can find about ECPAT and their “reports” from their website, this is likely a total nonsensical interpretation of an unscientifically propagandized report.
But it sure sounds scary, doesn’t it?
No. it just sounds stupid. The notion of gangs smuggling in children to farm cannabis is just too absurd. Why would they do this? What would they have these kids do?

“There is evidence that particular south-east Asian villages are targeted for specific trades, with Vietnam now known to specialise in boys for cannabis factories,” he said.

I repeat. What would they have these kids do? What is this specialized training that boys in certain south-east Asian villages are so noted for? Watering?
I’m guessing that some Vietnamese gang who is smuggling children for sexual purposes is also growing pot and that the operations are kept at the same location. (Of course, legalization would end the value of cannabis to them.) But that’s all it takes for an unscrupulous organization and an empty-headed (or perhaps agenda-driven), sensationalistic press to whip up a frenzy.
But it gets worse. Check out the fuzzy thinking here.

Police believe the problem has emerged after organised crime gangs, many of them Vietnamese, moved to dominate the British cannabis market after the narcotic was downgraded from a Class B to Class C drug in 2004.
Declassification increased the potential rewards of growing and selling cannabis but decreased the risk of punishment. One police officer was quoted as saying cannabis was the “cash machine of organised crime”.

Yes, cannabis is the cash machine. But actually I can’t imagine how decreasing the risk would have any connection to the use of children. And, in fact, declassification would make it harder to dominate the market as more players would get involved with less risk.
Here’s the topper:

“If you remove the risk, people exploit it. If you put the risk back into enforcement, they will adapt and go into another type of business,” [Simon Byrne, an assistant chief constable of Merseyside Police in north-west England and the Association of Chief Police Officers’ spokesman on cannabis] was quoted as saying.

???
Let’s see if I can follow his thinking. If you increase the penalties for marijuana, then the Vietnamese child-sex slave kidnapping gang that also grows marijuana, will be deterred from growing marijuana and forced to do something else.

Some time ago, I wrote about a compelling bit of criminal justice reporting by Scott Christianson related to crime clearance rates — the percentages of violent crimes and property crimes that are solved through arrest or other means.
Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast applies Christianson’s analysis to current dismal clearance rates and the recent news related to the increase in marijuana arrests, and comes to some powerful conclusions (that are certainly of no surprise to us) — that the popularity of the drug war is harming police effectiveness.

“bullet” Canada Backs Call to Step Up Fight Against Afghan Drugs — Some sane voices in this article. Unfortunately, not the ones making the decisions.
“bullet” Obama is So Bad on Drug Policy, He Got Endorsed By Prison Guards – Scott Morgan
“bullet” The Federal War on Medical Marijuana Becomes a War on Children

But that wasn’t the worst of it. County child protective services came along on the raid and took Naulls’ three daughters, aged 1 to 5, and charged him and his wife with child endangerment. They weren’t even accused of breaking any state laws.