Drug WarRant

from Radley Balko at Hit and Run:

In Montreal , it looks as if a “Cory Maye north” situation is shaping up. Basile Parasiris was home with his family when a paramilitary police team broke into the house with a battering ram as part of a larger drug raid. With son on the phone with 911, Parasiris exchanged fire with the raiding cops, believing them to be thieves. He shot two, killing one. Police returned fire, wounding Parasiris’ wife. Police found no drugs in the home. Parasiris’ gun was legal and registered. He’s being charged with first-degree murder for the shooting of the dead officer, and attempted murder for the shooting of the wounded one.

Also read about the woman who got the scare of a lifetime going to the store to buy orange soda and lottery tickets.

From CGinformation.org — “the unofficial U.S. Coast Guard blog of information, news and commentary”:

Today HQ put out a press release congratulating the service for outdoing any previous 1st quarter in the interdiction of Cocaine with 97,635 pounds of the drug between Oct. 1, 2006, and Jan.1, 2007. This is good, but it also begs the question of why was there more Cocaine coming this way? Are we getting ready for yet anther ‹Drug WarŠá Well at least we‰ll have job security!

Drug traffickers treat Coast Guard interdiction much the same way that Wal-Mart expects a certain amount of shoplifting. It’s just budgeted in as a normal (and pretty cheap to them) cost of doing business.
From 1986 to 2006, the DEA seized 2,836,600 pounds of cocaine without having any impact on the availability or price.

Bizarre statement in a marijuana case, from U.S. Attorney Gretchen Shappert:

“He profited from his greed, at the expense of others. He deserves the life sentence.”

And Gretchen, he didn’t profit off me — if he had, I’d have at least gotten some pot out of the deal. Much better than that financial screwing we’re getting from you.

I finally got a chance to read the ASA lawsuit filing (large pdf file) in U.S. Circuit Court resulting from its years of following through with a Data Quality Act challenge against the Department of Health and Human Services.
They do a nice job recapping the years of delay and illegal non-responsiveness on the part of HHS, and conclude with:

VIII. RELIEF SOUGHT
WHEREFORE, ASA, on behalf of itself, its constituents, and others similarly situated, seeks the following relief:

1. A declaration that the HHS’ denial of ASA’s petition and administrative appeal is arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law under the APA;
2. A permanent injunction:
   1. enjoining defendants from continuing to disseminate statements that
      marijuana “has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States;” and
   2. requiring HHS to make appropriate corrections to all statements that it has
      disseminated that marijuana “has no currently accepted medical use in
      treatment in the United States;”
3. Costs and attorneys fees incurred in this action; and
4. Such other and further relief as may be just and proper.

We’ll see what happens.

Via TalkLeft comes this delightful quote from Bill Richardson:

“I’m urging very quick, strong action on predatory
lending. I want that cockfighting bill, I want medical marijuana, I want my tax cuts.”

When it comes to predatory lending and cockfighting, I’m not sure if he’s fer it or agin it, nor do I care. I just love the fact that a Governor is speaking out in favor of medical marijuana and that’s not the item that makes people go “Wha???”

Maia Szalavitz was apparently on as a guest.
I may have to wait for the transcripts.

Success in the committee. 6-4 vote in favor of medical marijuana. Congrats to everyone involved. I hear Julie did a great job.
One of the no votes was the Senator from my district, Bill Brady, who has consistently rebuffed all efforts to talk to him about medical marijuana. (Why am I stuck with such horrible representation?)

Illinois Medical Marijuana Bill receives its first hearing today. Unfortunately, I can’t be there — I’d love to hear Julie Falco again. What a wonderful person.
From what I’ve heard so far, I think there’s a really good chance that medical marijuana will make it out of committee. Then we’ll have to see what happens.
David Ostrow has an outstanding OpEd in yesterday’s Chicago Sun Times: Research, not rhetoric: Marijuana can save lives

Clearly, the White House and its drug czar, John Walters, should abandon their rigid, unscientific rejection of medical marijuana and start reshaping federal policy to match medical reality. And if they won’t act, Congress should. There are a number of actions Congress can take to put federal medical marijuana policy on a path toward sanity.
The first, and simplest, is to prohibit the Drug Enforcement Administration from spending money to raid and arrest medical marijuana patients and caregivers in the 11 states where the medical use of marijuana is legal under state law. This would remove the cloud of fear that now hangs over hundreds of thousands of desperately ill Americans and those who care for them.
But that should be just the beginning. Everything about federal medical marijuana policy should be reconsidered, based on science, common sense, and simple human decency.
There is no longer any doubt that marijuana can be a useful medicine for some very ill patients, a medicine that can literally help people stay alive. So even as we await federal action, Illinois — where the Senate Public Health Committee will hold a hearing on the medical marijuana bill Tuesday — should create a workable medical marijuana program, like those now in place in 11 states.
It is time to end our government’s war on the sick and dying.

That’s right.
In the March issue of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics said:

… screening for illicit drugs is a complicated process prone to errors and cheating, and has not been shown to curtail youngsters‰ drug use.
Drug testing also creates a counterproductive climate of ‹resentment, distrust and suspicionŠ between children and their parents or school administrators…

They went on to list a number of other potential problems and recommended:

…parents suspicious that a child is abusing drugs or alcohol consult the child‰s primary care doctor rather than rely on school-based drug screening or home kits to check their concerns.

These are things we’ve known for some time, but John Walters doesn’t care about you or your children. He doesn’t care about trust — why should he? His entire life is a lie. He just wants kids to pee for him. He want a “golden” parachute, so he can soak up the profits from some drug testing company in his retirement.
Take your stinking kidney juice money back, John. Give it back to the people, or to the states so they can provide after-school activities for youth. Let’s have some positive efforts that help children rather then turning them all into criminals.
“bullet” You can also vote in MSNBC’s unscientific web poll:
Current results:

Do you support drug testing for children? (* 9977 responses)

• Yes. It’s the best way to curb illegal drug use. 31%
• No. It’s inaccurate and creates an atmosphere of distrust. 63%
• Not sure 6.5%

Marsha Rosenbaum, of Safety 1st, will be a guest on Richard Miller’s National Public Radio show, “Mind, Body, Health,” on Tuesday, March 6, 9:00 a.m. PST to talk about teens and drugs. You can listen to the show live on the web or tune in at 88.1, 90.7, and 91.5 FM in the Mendocino County area.