Drug WarRant

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Webre classified the mistake as “very rare” and said the agents likely used the wrong two-story house as a reference point.

It’s amazing how something so rare can happen so often.

Veterans of drug policy reform are used to the accusation that the only motive for advocating reform is some kind of irresponsible libertine desire to be a druggie. And yet, in reality, even those reformers who do desire the legal right to responsibly use their drug of choice also tend to have powerful altruistic motives for making it legal.
The more we study the issue — the more we learn — the more we realize that the corrupting power of prohibition poisons every aspect of society and our world.
As Mary so nicely said in comments recently:

Until I started reading this site a little over a yr ago, I never even thought of the prospect of ending prohibition for all drugs. Medical MJ got me here… [… ] I’ve learned so much from y’all that I can speak to anyone intelligently about the issue, from a perspective that the individual can appreciate. Whether they are concerned about crime, civil/human rights, illegal immigration and border chaos, spending/deficits, taxes, healthcare, foreign policy, jobs, or education, I can relate the issue to the drug war and tell them why ending prohibition would be beneficial to their cause. I do it whenever I get the chance.

Exactly. We see the failures of drug policy everywhere we look.
Via TalkLeft comes an important report: Gang Wars: The Failure of Enforcement Tactics and the Need for Effective Public Safety Strategies. In a nutshell:

Mass arrests, stiff prison sentences often served with other gang members and other strategies that focus on law enforcement rather than intervention actually strengthen gang ties and further marginalize angry young men, according to the Justice Policy Institute…

Now, for those of us who have been studying drug policy reform, this is no surprise. And the drug war implications are obvious.
Seeing the New York Times editorial on this today, Sam from Ithaca immediately catches what’s missing

Gets many things right, but fails to make the link to drug prohibition.

Both the editorial and the report are right. Enforcement is not the long-term solution that law-and-order advocates delusionally promote, whether it’s related to problemmatic drug use or gang activity. But both the report and the editorial miss the powerful potential strategy of drug policy reform to reducing gang violence. (Note: the report does spend some time discussing drug trafficking in gangs, saying that it’s not so much gang controlled, but rather that gang members tend to be heavily involved in black market drug trafficking individually and that influences overall gang action. Eliminating prohibition would be a major public safety strategy related to gangs that is overlooked in this otherwise good report.)
And this brings me in a slightly meandering way to a major proposal on poverty unveiled yesterday by Presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Now Barack Obama, in many ways, has been one of the most frustrating political figures to me. He should be a magnificent leader. Having grown up with the difficulties of race and having used marijuana and cocaine as a youth, Obama found a way to get past that and become a United States Senator. He, of all people, should understand how prohibition robs hope and yet he has a history of actually bragging about pushing for tougher sentences for drug violations, effectively denying others the same opportunity he had. He is, after all, a politician. And a politician who has admitted to using drugs tends to demand that others be punished for doing that same thing — it’s political cover. So while Kucinich and Gravel call for major reform, and Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton call for some reform, Obama is silent.
But on to his speech yesterday.

What‰s most overwhelming about urban poverty is that it‰s so difficult to escape š it‰s isolating and it‰s everywhere. If you are an African-American child unlucky enough to be born into one of these neighborhoods, you are most likely to start life hungry or malnourished. You are less likely to start with a father in your household, and if he is there, there‰s a fifty-fifty chance that he never finished high school and the same chance he doesn‰t have a job. Your school isn‰t likely to have the right books or the best teachers. You‰re more likely to encounter gang-activities than after-school activities. And if you can‰t find a job because the most successful businessman in your neighborhood is a drug dealer, you‰re more likely to join that gang yourself. Opportunity is scarce, role models are few, and there is little contact with the normalcy of life outside those streets.
What you learn when you spend your time in these neighborhoods trying to solve these problems is that there are no easy solutions and no perfect arguments.

Read it again as a drug policy reformer and note how prohibition permeates the situation — fathers, jobs, streets, gangs, opportunities, role models.
To us, it’s self-evident. We need to do something about the drug war. Obama, however, unveils a multi-part proposal involving early childhood progams, jobs programs, earned income tax credits, affordable housing funds and small business loans. Good stuff. But incomplete.
He notes that his proposals will not come cheap (his urban agenda comes in at about $6 billion per year) but says “we will find the money to do this because we can‰t afford not to.”
And still the obviousness of the potential solutions are screaming at us. Without even getting into the specifics of how good Obama’s individual recommendations are, just consider how ending prohibition would fit into this…
We keep fathers in homes with their children instead of in prison. We de-fund black-market drug trafficking, eliminating the criminal role model and much of the gang incentive. With violence reduced, businesses are more apt to move in, resulting in more legitimate jobs and less poverty. Staying in school becomes more valuable. Opportunities increase. Now, on top of that, imagine taking some portion of the $30-$60 billion spent each year on the drug war and channeling it into early childhood programs and small business loans and you’re looking at an urban agenda that has some real power.
A leader with vision would see this.
But for now, we the people have the vision — a crystal clear image that we must painstakingly attempt to describe to our political servants… pathetic creatures infected with hysterical blindness and deafness, stumbling about in their own darkness.

“bullet” Why Is Marijuana Still Illegal? by James W. Harris

Marijuana was legal in America right up to the mid-1930s, when a lurid, racist propaganda campaign of claptrap and lies conned Congress into outlawing it. The ban didn’t make sense then, and it makes even less sense today.

“bullet” Politicians showing off. Rogers Secures $23 Million to Fight Drugs Of course, that’s our money he secured.
“bullet” When a United States Senator doesn’t know that shooting drug suspects in the back is wrong, it’s no wonder our country’s in such a mess.
“bullet” Editorial in Ontario: We’re Not Dopes

Perhaps it is time to seriously consider decriminalizing a recreational drug that one-in-six Canadians from age 15 to 64 used in 2004.
If dope truly was for dopes, then this country wouldn’t be able to function with such high usage rates. But we’re doing just fine.

Via Dare Generation Diary and Raw Story…
Henry Waxman’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is getting feisty: Politicization of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy

At the request of Sara Taylor, the former White House Director of Political Affairs, John Walters, the nation‰s drug czar, and his deputies traveled to 20 events with vulnerable Republican members of Congress in the months prior to the 2006 elections. The trips were paid for by federal taxpayers and several were combined with the announcement of federal grants or actions that benefited the districts of the Republican members.

Oops.

We knew this, of course, yet it’s so delightful to see Congress actually doing something about it.

And check out this little email that they found… ONDCP’s White House liaison Douglas Simon sends a congratulatory email to all the ONDCP staff passing on the kudos given by Karl Rove for ONDCP’s work in coordinating all those campaign appearance trips. ONDCP Deputy Director Scott Burns responds, thanking him for “great work.”

From: Burns, Scott
Sent: Wednesday, November 22,2006 9:11 AM
To: Simon, Douglas A.
Subject: RE: November 7th Recap

Great work Doug…

From: Simon, Douglas A.
Sent: Tuesday, November 21,2006 5:34 PM
To: Bishop, Michael F.; Blake, Brian; Boyd, Cynthia M.; Buikema, Sally L; Burns, Scott; Cole, Jason R.; Horton, John C. (ONDCP); Janik HeatherJ.; Justce,Cary G.i Katsurinis, Stephen A.; Nelson, Keith B.; Lang, Jonathan D.; Madras, Bertha; Mclaughlân, Evan C.; Murray, David W.; O’Gara, James F,; Overdyke, Laura-Ashley; Raden, Erin E.; Rand, Justin W.; Reid, Margaret A.; Riley, Thomas A.; Simon, Douglas A.; Skoczylas, Paul E.; Solberg, Mary A.; Walters, John P.; Schatz, Stephen E.

Subject: November 7th Recap

Folks,

I just wanted to give you all a summary of a post November 7th update I received the other night. Presidential personnel pulled together a meeting of all of the Administration’s White House Liaison’s and the WH Political Affairs office. Karl Rove opened the meeting with a thank you for all of the work that went into the surrogate appearances by Cabinet members and for the 72 Hour deployment. He specifically thanked, for going above and beyond the call of duty, the Dept. of Commerce, Transportation, Agriculture, AND the WH Drug Policy Office.

This recognition is not something we hear everyday and we should feel confident that our hard work is noticed. All of this is due to our efforts preparing the Director and the Deputies for their trips and events. Director Walters and the Deputies covered thousands of miles to attend numerous official events all across the country. The Director and the Deputies deserve the most recognition because they actually had to give up time with their families for the god awful places we sent them. I attached the flnal list of all of the official events that the Director and Deputies attended.

Karl also launched into a feisty discussion about the plans for the final two years of this administration. ln no uncertain terms, he said he is not going to let the last quarter of this presidency be dictated to by the Capitol Hill.
There are a number of things this admçnistration and more specifically ONDCP have to accomplish before the time is up. lt is time to regroup and move forward.

ln the next 2-3 weeks I am going to set up one on one meetings will all political appointees to get a sense your plans for the next two years. lt will just be informational for planning purposes.

Thanks again,

Doug Simon

The Drug Czar has always (arguably illegally) campaigned against various drug policy initiatives and legislation around the country. But this particular bit of sloppiness in recording what everybody knows was happening may get more Congressional scrutiny as it relates to provable specific violations of the Hatch Act.
Update: DARE Generation Diary has an action item calling for the Drug Czar’s resignation.

This article in today’s Miami Herald about corruption in Puerto Rico really points out the huge problem with prohibition (even though the specific link is essentially missed by reporter Frances Robles).

As Puerto Rico battles one of the highest crime rates in the United States and burgeoning drug trafficking blamed for about 700 murders a year, authorities are confronting another harsh reality: corruption.
About 100 police officers are currently under investigation, and 75 others have been convicted in federal court in the past five years, law enforcement officials said. The Puerto Rican attorney general’s office has 17 open cases against members of the police department.
As a hub for cocaine and heroin arriving from Colombia on the way to mainland U.S. streets, Puerto Rico is so steeped in drug corruption that even a top prosecutor was accused of accepting a Mercedes Benz from a known dealer. The U.S. government estimates that 20 percent of the cocaine from Colombia passes through the Caribbean.
”We have had officers using police cars to escort drug dealers, and we have arrested officers selling weapons to undercover agents,” Toledo said.

Just check out all the named operations conducted… against the police…

In 2001, 32 officers were arrested in the biggest police corruption case in the island’s history, dubbed ”Operation Lost Honor.” Officers were accused of using their patrol cars to protect cocaine shipments.
In 2004, 16 officers, including two women, were charged with conspiring to sell drugs in ”Operation Dark Justice.” In yet another police corruption case, ”Blue Shame,” prosecutors publicly complained that they suspected judges involved in the case were corrupt.

This is not new. It should not be surprising. All we have to do is read history.
These statements at hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate in 1926 are instructive:

The corrupt prohibition agent or policeman is just as much a part of the bootleg industry as the bootlegger himself. Last year it took two Pullman cars to transfer to Atlanta the convicted policemen and prohibition agents corralled in a single round-up in Ohio. In May, 1925, a special grand jury in Morris County, N. J., was reported in the press as returning at one time 28 indictments against county officers and others for violations of the Volstead Act. About the same time, the Rev. Marna S. Poulson, superintendent of the New Jersey Anti -Saloon League, was reported in the New York Times as saying, in an address at a prohibition rally at Atlantic City, “I don’t know of anyone who can make a dollar go further than policemen and dry agents. By frugality, after a year in the service, they acquire automobiles and diamonds.”

— Senator William Cabel Bruce

“Federal judges have told me, and their names I can supply if required, that the whole atmosphere of the Federal Building was one of pollution, that the air of corruption had even descended into the civil parts of the court, and reports were made to the senior United States judge of attempts to bribe jurymen even in the toilets of the building.”

— U.S. Attorney Emory R. Buckner

One of the most imposing promises made by the friends of prohibition before the eighteenth amendment was that by abolishing drink crime would be decreased to a minimum. That promise has not been fulfilled. Crime has increased in such amazing proportion that it has become the dominant consideration of most of the State and municipal governments of the Nation. A national crime commission of distinguished men from every section of the country, has been formed, and a bill is now pending in the New York Legislature which has to do with the appointment of a joint committee, to be joined by citizens to determine the came and possible remedies to reduce the tremendous wave of crime that is sweeping not only the country but New York as well.

I need not quote statistics to this committee, I am sure, to demonstrate that this is the most lawless country on the face of the earth. I go a step further. I assert that prohibition is one of the largest contributing factors to that disgraceful condition, by reason of the conceded, failure or inability of Federal and State authorities to enforce the law; it has created a disrespect for law which, starting with prohibition, has gone all along the line.

— Judge Alfred J. Talley

This is so clearly an inescapable by-product of prohibition, but the causal link is ignored by so much of our society.
I often hear people dismiss my suggestions that eliminating prohibition’s black market profits will reduce crime with the bizarre rejoinder that all those criminals will still find something to do. They often have the same view of police corruption — if those dirty cops weren’t on the take from drug dealers, they’d be doing it some other way (that part always referring to some non-specific other profitable corrupt enterprise).
This manicheistic world-view — that there are only two types of people and they’re unalterably divided into criminals and non-criminals — may be comforting to some, but it bears little resemblance to reality.
Sure, there are certain cops who would be corrupt no matter what. But there’s a lot more who are merely weak, and who are seduced into it through circumstances and opportunity.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition’s Peter Christ puts it into perspective…

Now you came into this thing a bright eyed, shiny young recruit… You’re a police officer four or five years — you see the wasted energy you spend on this drug war. And now you’re standing in a motel room where a drug arrest has just been made. Laying on the bed is a hundred and some thousand dollars which hasn’t been counted yet in cash… In your back pocket is a thirty-eight hundred dollar bill from the plumber that you didn’t know how you were going to pay… And, it doesn’t make any difference anyway. And you take your first taste. And then you’re gone.

Corruption is not excused because it comes from prohibition. But that doesn’t change the reality that the level of corruption we see is a direct result of prohibition. And knowing that, but not changing our course, makes us responsible as well.

“bullet” The Hinchey amendment could be coming to a vote this week, so contact your representative (some options for doing so are in the alert at the top of the page).
“bullet” David Murray is not only desperate, he’s really reaching in his lies to support his arguments. In his testimony before Congress last week, he said:

Founding proponents of medical marijuana in the United States have
reversed their key positions of support for medical marijuana. […]
Steve Kubby, another Co-founder of medical marijuana in California stated in a
letter to supporters on April 14th, 2006 that ‹Marinol is an acceptable, if not ideal,
substitute for whole cannabis in treating my otherwise fatal disease.Š

Kubby was surprised to learn of his supposed change in view, to say the least.
“bullet” Learn how they work. This piece on workplace drug and alcohol abuse is a prime example of the prohibitionist tactics that get swallowed wholesale by the media. Note the mis-use of statistics. In particular, you’ll see that problem drinking is defined but problem drug use is not (merely using illicit drugs is considered abuse). Also note that there is absolutely no attempt to connect either with actually being impaired on the job. This is an outright attempt to sell drug testing. Period.
“bullet” DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen says that the letters to landlords “should not be viewed as a threat.” In addition to my letter of response, I may need to send her a dictionary.
“bullet” Paul Armentano talks about a forthcoming study that demonstrates what we’ve known for some time — that whole marijuana is demonstrably better than Marinol at treating HIV/AIDS-related weight and appetite lose.
“bullet” Pain Doctor William Hurwitz received a much lighter sentence (less than 5 years) than the first time around (25 years). Given what he’s already served, he could be out in a couple of years.
“bullet” Judge rules Canada’s pot possession laws unconstitutional. This kind of thing used to happen fairly often in Canada. It’s fun to see it happening again.

Via Cannabis Culture Magazine [Thanks, Jay], it appears that the DEA has threatened asset forfeiture against the building owners where medical marijuana dispensaries are housed in Los Angeles! This is an extremely chilling step, and a tactic designed to get the landlords, in fear of losing all their property, to act as agents of the DEA and evict the dispensaries.
Here’s the letter they’re sending:

(Sent by Certified Mail July 6, 2007) DEA, LA Field Division, 255 E. Temple St, 17th Fl, LA 90012 (213) 621-6700
The DEA has determined you own, or have under your management or control, a building located at [ADDRESS]. The DEA has determined there is a marijuana dispensary, [NAME], operating on the property.
This is a violation of federal law. Federal law 21 U.S.C. Sec. 56 (a)
states:
“It shall be unlawful to knowingly and intentionally rent, lease or make available for use, with or without compensation, a building, room, or enclosure for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing, storing, distributing, or using a controlled substance.”
Federal law takes precedence over State law. It is not a defense to this crime or to the seizure of the property that the facility
operating on the property is providing “medical marijuana” under California law including the provisions of California Prop. 215. Violation of this law is a felony crime, and carries with it a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
In addition, federal law allows for the seizure of assets, including real property, which have been used in conjunction with the distribution of controlled substances. Specifically, 21 U.S.C. 881 (a) (7) states:
“The following shall be subject to forfeiture to the United States and no property right shall exist in them: All real property, including any right, title and interest (including any leasehold interest) in the whole of any lot or tract of land which is used in any manner or part, or to facilitate the commission of, a violation of this sub-chapter.”
This letter shall serve as notice that, after a thorough investigation, the DEA has determined there is a marijuana dispensary operating on the above described property. By this notice, you have been made aware of the purposes for which the property is being used.
You are further advised that violations of federal laws relating to marijuana may result in criminal prosecution, imprisonment, fines and forfeiture of assets.
For further information, please contact Acting Group Supervisor
Deanne Reuter at (213) 621-6789.
Sincerely, Timothy J. Landrum, Special Agent in Charge.

This is unacceptable. It is a violation of American principles, and should be an outrage to every property owner in this country.
Here is my letter.

(Sent by Certified Blog July 14, 2007)

To: Karen P. Tandy, Administrator
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
2401 Jefferson Davis Highway
Alexandria, Virginia 22301

The PEOPLE have determined you administer, or have under your management or control, certain buildings and/or facilities located at the following addresses:

2401 Jefferson Davis Highway, Alexandria, VA
400 2nd Avenue West, Seattle, WA
450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA
255 East Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
4560 Viewridge Avenue, San Diego, CA
Westmount Place, 3010 North 2nd Street, Phoenix, AZ
115 Inverness Drive East, Englewood, CO
317 South 16th Street, St. Louis, MO
John C. Kluczynski Fed. Bldg., 230 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL
10160 Technology Boulevard, East, Dallas, TX
1433 West Loop South, Houston, TX
3838 N. Causeway Blvd., Three Lakeway Center, Metairie, LA
75 Spring St. S.W., Atlanta, GA
431 Howard Street, Detroit, MI
Phoenix Building, 8400 NW 53rd Street, Miami
800 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC
Wm. J. Green Fed. Bldg., 600 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
99 10th Avenue, New York NY 10011
JFK Federal Bldg., 15 Sudbury Street, Boston, MA
Metro Office Park, TLD Bldg., 17 Calle 2, Guaynabo, PR

The PEOPLE have also determined that you administer 227 domestic offices and 86 foreign offices.

The PEOPLE have determined that there is a coordinated campaign being conducted from those locations, using public funds, to deprive individuals of their rights and their lives.

This is a violation of the United States Constitution, the founding principles of our country, and of natural law.

The United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution state (in part):

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Ö That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, Ö That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Amendment IV: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

This letter shall serve as notice that, after a thorough investigation, the PEOPLE have determined that there are violations of these core American principles (among others) being promoted, coordinated and undertaken at the above described properties.

This letter further serves as notice that those properties belong to the PEOPLE, and have been assigned temporarily to your management based upon their use for Constitutionally lawful activity in service of the people. If all activity in violation of the rights of the people does not immediately cease, such property shall be seized and returned to its rightful owners — the PEOPLE.

It is not a defense to this action or to the seizure of the property that the activities conducted are generally compliant with federal law. The Constitution takes precedence over federal law, particularly when such federal law has been created in violation of Constitutional principles and by way of false information promoted by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

This letter also serves as notice that all funds appropriated for the use of the Drug Enforcement Administration and related activities, whether encumbered or unencumbered, shall be immediately seized and placed in escrow for the use of the PEOPLE. As Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, you may appeal the decision by placing a non-refundable bond equal to 20% of the seized assets and providing proof that none of the funds have been or will be used for activities contrary to the will and benefit of the PEOPLE.

You are further advised that the activities of you and your staff related to the encouragement of black market criminal enterprises, the deaths of American citizens, and the theft of personal property may result in criminal prosecution and imprisonment.

For further information, please read the Constitution of the United States.

Sincerely,
The PEOPLE
United States of America

P.S. Happy Bastille Day.

I just watched “In Pot We Trust” on Showtime. Powerful documentary, written, directed and produced by Star Price. Be prepared to be pissed off at the government again if you watch it. There are the charlatans like Joseph Califano, and the true drug war believers like the marijuana eradication officer, but you’ll also see some real people — people like Irv Rosenfeld, and several other fascinating medical marijuana patients.

Doesn’t he realize how much this approach backfired in the Superbowl ad?

Drug czar gives warning
Federal official calls marijuana growers dangerous terrorists
[…]
John P. Walters, President Bush’s drug czar, said the people who plant and tend the gardens are terrorists who wouldn’t hesitate to help other terrorists get into the country with the aim of causing mass casualties. Walters made the comments at a Thursday press conference that provided an update on the “Operation Alesia” marijuana-eradication effort.
“Don’t buy drugs. They fund violence and terror,” he said.

And, of course, the drug czar’s office calls this a good story on their “blog” (to them, the more outrageous the lies that they can get a reporter to print, the better a story it is).
Mass casualties? Is he drunk? Or just drunk with power?