Drug WarRant

Take a moment and read this beautiful story over at The Conservative Voice by Joel Turtel about jury nullification. Quite inspiring.

This is a work of art. Dick Morris and Eileen McGann have the slimiest piece of work I’ve seen in some time in today’s New York Post: A Drug War Dilemma.
The piece is actually about the Colombia free trade agreement (which Morris and McGann support), but the authors have chosen to frame it as being about the drug war and placed it in the New York Post to apply specific pressure on New York’s Charlie Rangel who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Now the free trade agreement is controversial. There are those who say that it’s nothing more than a gift to large multi-national corporations who will be given advantages over local industries and hurt the people of Colombia. There are those who say the only reason Colombia is agreeing to it is to get drug war aid. There are those who say it will mean the loss of jobs here. And others say it will provide strong economic development to a poor country. I don’t know all the details of the plan, so I can’t say for sure what will happen (although I have my guesses given the brilliance of our foreign aid policies).
However, who would have guessed that opposing the free trade agreement means that black people will destroy their lives with drugs? That appears to be the argument Dick Morris and Eileen McGann are making.
First, they talk about how the war on drugs is working:

With the help of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Colombia has been making sensational progress in the war on drugs.

That’s some dream world…
They also talk about the connection between having profitable alternative products and giving the farmers something else to grow besides coca. Now that’s a reasonable point, but it’s much more complicated than they’re willing to discuss (as long as the drug trade is more profitable and controlled by criminals, the option to grow Dole™ fruits and flowers won’t change the lives of the people very much), and it won’t change the availability of drugs here in the United States.
But Morris and McGann aren’t interested in discussing the finer points of free trade. No, they see an opening they can exploit — hit Charlie Rangel with the drugs on the streets bit. See if you can see the pattern:

REP. Charlie Rangel (D-Harlem) faces a crucial choice: As chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, will he do what’s needed to keep drugs off the streets? He’s a key man in ratifying the free-trade agreement between the United States and Colombia – and that accord will have real consequences on 125th Street and across America. […]
The administration’s position leaves Rangel with a clear choice: Do the bidding of the AFL-CIO – or pass the treaty as-is and reduce the flow of drugs to his district. […]
While the Bush administration is committed to fighting drugs, too, its concern is a bit more theoretical than that of the congressman from Harlem. […]
The free-trade agreement with Colombia is of vital importance to all those who take the war on drugs seriously – most of all, one would think, Charlie Rangel. [emphasis added]

It really is impressive. The extremely subtle racism. The misdirection. The political calculations. Amazing.

“bullet” Why are we so terrified of a psychotherapist who admits to having used hallucinogens that we won’t allow him to enter the country to visit his family?
“bullet” Clergy in Illinois Join Push to OK Medical Pot

“It comes down to, what do we think God is up to?” said Pastor Bob Hillenbrand of First Presbyterian Church of Rockford. He said his own belief was in “a God of compassion, and therefore also of healing.”
Pastor Robert C. Morwell of Union United Methodist Church in Quincy said he had never used marijuana nor had any desire to. “But I think it’s a little silly to say we can prescribe morphine … and other drugs that are more addictive,” but not marijuana, he said.
Cullerton dismissed concerns that legalizing medical marijuana would pave the way for recreational marijuana use. He said it was already relatively easy for recreational users to obtain pot illegally, without having to get a doctor involved.

“bullet” Glenn Greenwald muses about the restrictions on prescription drugs

Adults have the right to do all sorts of things that other people, including experts in a particular field, think are stupid and self-destructive, even when the person’s livelihood or even life are at stake. That is, more or less, a defining attribute of being an adult.
What is the difference between the attorney-client and doctor-patient relationship, where the former is purely advisory but the latter becomes parental? And other than consumption of medicine which can actually affect the public health (such as excessive consumption of antibiotics), why should an adult be deemed a criminal for using a particular medicine all because a doctor (for whatever reasons, including self-interest) will not give permission?

Fascinating.
“bullet” Loretta Nall gets her marijuana charge dismissed.

Sorry I’ve been out of touch the past few days. It’s a very busy time at the university, with only a couple of weeks left for the year. And each year in April, the students have a four-square marathon to raise money for scholarships. Four-square? Yes, the game you played in 5th grade, although our rules are a lot more interesting. This year, the students set a new record of 62 straight hours of keeping at least one four-square court active. We also had a student set a new individual record of 36 hours and 20 minutes non-stop. I did some playing, but also cooked a whole lot of sandwiches and really didn’t sleep from Wednesday to Saturday. (For those who are interested, here are some pictures of the event, which always seems to include a lot more than just four-square.)
Of course, everyone was talking about 420 on Friday, and it made me realize just how much the Drug Czar has already lost the battle to demonize marijuana (PushingBack was even more pathetic than usual, dredging up that embarrassing FDA statement a year ago (which is even more absurd than I remembered)).
I listened to radio stations where DJs spent several minutes talking about the origins of 420 and what it means, without a lick of disapproval and a fairly heavy wink. These are the same stations that run the Coast Guard ads about how you can join the service and catch all those drug smuggling scum, but the stations are playing oldies and they know that they’re not going to win any points with their listeners by demonizing pot. Everywhere I went, people were wishing each other a happy holiday. Of course, there were exceptions (like this bizarre article in the Illinois State Journal Register: Hitler’s Birthday, a Date of Terror.
But ultimately, 420 was a date of celebration — celebrating the ultimate failure of demonization.

My posting is a little light right now due to a variety of events (and very little sleep) — and I know there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on, so talk amongst yourselves.
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Radley Balko has an absolute must-read post over at Hit and Run

The more appropriate response to “more users” argument is “so what?” A slight rise in the number of recreational drug users is only a problem if you believe that there’s something inherently immoral and destructive about smoking a joint or snorting a line of coke–any worse, say, than downing a shot of whiskey or a taking drag off a tobacco pipe. The subset of people who refrain from drug use today out of respect for the law, but who might experiment with drugs should they one day be legal, probably isn’t one we need to worry about becoming addicted in mass numbers, or committing crimes to support their habit (which probably wouldn’t happen anyway if drugs were legal–how many alcoholics mug, burgle, or kill for gin money?). Unless you buy the “gateway” theory of marijuana, or the “instant addiction” theory about cocaine, both of which have zero scientific validity, I’m just not sure having slightly more overall users will have much of a negative impact on society at large.
The question, then, is what’s the problem?
Many drug warriors get downright offended when you ask them that […] The problem for them is very simply that there will be more drug users. It’s rather simple: Drug use = bad. More drug use = worse. Less drug use = success. For nearly forty years, these really been the only criteria for measuring the effectiveness of drug policy.

Boy that really hits home from my interactions with drug warriors. Some, in fact, go beyond offended to being completely unable to comprehend basic logical arguments (see Charlie Brown below.)
Radley also talks about how Walters and Tandy, et al, brag about the “success” of alcohol prohibition and then zooms in on their “successes” in current reductions in drug use.

[…] Note that all of this triumphalism is based on one set of criteria, and one set only: The number of teens reporting the use of drugs over a given time frame.
But this past February, the CDC reported that deaths from drug overdoses rose nearly 70 percent over the last five years. Half the overdose deaths were attributable to cocaine, heroin, and prescription drugs. The number of overdose deaths caused by marijuana–the drug most targeted by the ONDCP–remained at zero. And among the biggest increases (113%) were those aged 15-42, those same teenagers the ONDCP was celebrating in its prior press release.
To look at those two figures and conclude that the drug war is moving in the right direction seems to me to indicate a near-religious devotion to preventing recreational drug use, at any cost. Prohibition advocates are again measuring success not on how well the drug war is preventing real, tangible harm, but simply on how effectively they’re preventing people from getting high.
And of course overdoses are only one aspect of the harm done by the drug war. […]

Radley’s really nailed it. Read the whole thing.

After what’s happened Orange County recently, I need to plug a wonderful company that makes organic soaps from ingredients including hemp oil — Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. Go buy something from them.
Here’s what happened: Don Bolles, drummer for “The Germs” was arrested for

…felony drug possession after police alleged an 8oz bottle of peppermint Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap tested positive for the illicit drug GHB (Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate). […]
Mr. Bolles, drummer of the legendary punk band The Germs, was arrested following a police traffic stop and spent three and half days in various jails in Orange County before being released early Easter morning. During a consented search of Mr. Bolles vintage 1968 A-108 van, Newport Beach police found a bottle of peppermint Dr. Bronner’s soap which is made with organic coconut, olive, hemp, peppermint and jojoba oils. Felony drug possession could mean 20 years in prison if convicted.

See also Punk rocker caught in soap opera.
Well, the first point to be made is that Bolles needs to watch Busted and not consent to a search. The second is, what is wrong with the police in this country? Why were they testing soap? And yes, the field drug test came up positive for GHB.
Fortunately, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps was all over this, and now it gets really interesting…

The Bronner family, makers of the popular organic Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, has learned that the confirmation drug-testing at the Orange County crime lab of soap taken from Don Bolles does not contain GHB (Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate).

Jailed for no reason based on a faulty test. Was it a glitch?
Says Bronner:

“Our customers need to know now this whole soap opera is a mistake by police who tormented an innocent 50 year old man with jail. We purchased the same NarcoPouch¬ 928 GHB field test made by ODV, Inc. that was used by the police, and ran tests on our soaps. We confirmed that the test is useless when used on soap since every test came back positive. We also tested other common brands of soap including Johnson & Johnson’s popular Neutrogena brand, as well as Colgate-Palmolive’s popular Tom’s of Maine brand, which gave the same false-positive tests as well. What kind of justice system allows police to use field drug tests that deprive citizens of their God-given liberty, that test positive for something as common as soap? What kind of policies and regulations are in place on police drug-testing practices and products, such that a US citizen can be tossed in the slammer over Easter weekend for possession of soap? Police departments nationwide should immediately stop using the ODV, Inc. field test for GHB as it is not accurate when used on soaps and who knows what other common household products.”

Way to go, Dr. Bronner!

“bullet” The Illinois State University chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy will have their Spring Hempfest this Thursday (April 19) from noon to 10 pm out on the quad.
“bullet” If you’re near Portland, Oregon, you should check out a drug policy reform presentation by the excellent Norm Stamper tomorrow (April 18) at 8 pm (Reed College, Gray Campus Center rooms C&D)
“bullet” A very interesting article in USA Today: Employers grapple with medical marijuana use includes coverage of Irv Rosenfeld, one of the remaining patients still supplied medical marijuana by the federal government.
“bullet” Canadian government is marking up their medical marijuana 1500%
“bullet” Tanya at Blame the Drug War brings us this editorial, which paints a picture of police incompetence, finger-pointing, and wasted resources.

Reformer: Two plus two equals four.
Prohibitionist: No, you’re wrong. Apples are green.

Check out this article

The federal government should legalize and regulate drugs for recreational and medical use because they are too dangerous to leave in the hands of criminals, a former Michigan lawman says.
Howard J. Wooldridge, a self-described education specialist in Washington, D.C., with the Boston-based Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, said a $1 trillion war against drugs since the 1970s has failed to stop the flow of narcotics into the nation and that many drugs often sell for less, are stronger and are more readily available than ever.
“These drugs are dangerous, some of them are deadly, and that’s why we ( need ) the government to control and regulate them” through legalization, Wooldridge said. “The drug dealers are regulating these drugs.”

An intelligent and logical proposal, deserving an intelligent response. Wait for it…

“I could show you a whole jail full of people who have got mixed up with drugs and it hasn’t helped them in any way,” said Sheriff Charles L. Brown.

What happened to Sheriff Brown’s brain cells?

Thanks to Peter Parker in comments, we find this hilarious blog post from Avi Green in Israel: Kirsten Dunst puts a cloud over Spider-Man 3.
Apparently this guy found out about how Kirsten admitted to using marijuana.

There is no true way you can use grass without blowing your creativity to kingdom come. I can’t even begin to describe just how devastated I feel that Dunst has not only blackened her image, but put a whole cloud over the upcoming movie.

Um. Avi, have you heard of jazz?
And of course, Kirsten wasn’t talking about showing up to the set stoned. She was talking about smoking pot in her own time. The notion of “blowing your creativity to kingdom come” is absurd.

(While I’m on the subject, let me add that a few years ago, I once visited a comics forum where there was this racist 19-20 year-old hanging around, allegedly from Perth, Australia, who admitted to smoking weed too, and supported legalizing venomous drugs as well. He was one of these Mark Millar addicts to boot, and seemed to quite enjoy stereotypical artwork in comic books. I wonder what kind of terrible parents raised that filthy little bigot? With any luck, he’ll be in jail or in a rehab center now, getting taught some more positive lessons for a change.)

OK, that paragraph is just the ravings of a madman who needs to get a life.

Now, having found this news, I find myself conflicted – do I see the movie or don’t I? Maybe I will, but it’ll be pretty difficult enjoying a movie when you know that the co-star is mindlessly bragging to the British tabloids about how “great” marijuana and cannabis are. But there are others who will doubtless be less forgiving, and this news could very easily lead to the movie backfiring in sales.

Right.