Drug WarRant

The federal law making possession of small amounts of marijuana illegal does not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada’s top court says.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-3 Tuesday that jailing someone with small amounts is constitutional.
This means that marijuana policy reform is going to be up to the government, which has batted around various plans for decriminalization for some time (over the vocal objections of the United States Minister of Drug Policy Disinformation John Walters).
It all boils down to debates over what amount consists of decriminalized small possession (5-10-15 grams) and how much they’re going to jack up the penalties for dealers and growers to “balance” the decriminalization – a far cry from the Senate’s original call for legalization.
Update: From a dissent in the ruling by J. Deschamps (text of decisions available here).

The inclusion of cannabis in the schedule to the Narcotic Control Act infringes the accused’s right to liberty without regard for the principles of fundamental justice. For the state to be able to justify limiting an individual’s liberty, the legislation upon which it bases its actions must not be arbitrary. In this case, the legislation is arbitrary. First, it seems doubtful that it is appropriate to classify marihuana consumption as conduct giving rise to a legitimate use of the criminal law in light of the Charter, since, apart from the risks related to the operation of vehicles and the impact on public health care and social assistance systems, the moderate use of marihuana is on the whole harmless. Second, in view of the availability of more tailored methods, the choice of the criminal law for controlling conduct that causes little harm to moderate users or to control high-risk groups for whom the effectiveness of deterrence or correction is highly dubious is out of keeping with Canadian society’s standards of justice. Third, the harm caused by prohibiting marihuana is fundamentally disproportionate to the problems that the state seeks to suppress. This harm far outweighs the benefits that the prohibition can bring.

Where’s the Compassion by Doug Bandow at National Review Online.

But the drug laws are the real dangerous threats to public health and safety. The only way to protect the public is to guarantee the right of the sick to use marijuana and to stop jailing pot smokers who just want to get high.

The entire article is worth reading. A great overview of the current situation in the war, and the abject failure of the federal government.

The most common Google search referral that I get is the phrase ‘Why is marijuana illegal?’ Not a day goes by without that search term at least once, usually many more times than that.

Read Why is Marijuana Illegal?.

Via TalkLeft
Oh, and their companion, an Al Gore III, was also arrested.
Just three of the more than one million people arrested this year for simple possession charges.

Via Atrios, this CBS news report Feds Allege Youth Camps Abuse

Among the abuses uncovered: suicidal girls were stripped naked and placed in solitary confinement in a dark cell with only a drain for a toilet, boys were forced to run with mattresses strapped to their backs, girls who threw up while running in the heat were forced to eat their vomit, and youths were tied to poles or hog-tied….

According to a June letter from the Justice Department to Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, investigators found the camps also lacked proper sanitation and educational services, and violated the youths’ First Amendment rights by “forcing them to engage in religious activities.”

The letter said youth were sometimes forced to get up in the middle of the night and walk around their dormitory with their hands on their head. Counselors were reported to have slapped and choked youths, and used pepper spray on them when they refused to exercise, or when they were tied up.

Further details and reports on these youth gulags, which were apparently not only tolerated by the state for many years, but actually encouraged as a form of “rehabilitation,” are available here and here.
Note that many of these youngsters are there for low level drug possession charges.
If you’re a parent, I ask you: Would you rather your child deal with the risks and temptations of drugs under your guidance and rules, or would you have them sent to a place like this?

Senator Proposes Taxing Illegal Drugs. This isn’t particularly new – 23 states have similar stupid laws.

Each gram of marijuana would be subject to a $3.50 tax.æ Other controlled substances would be taxed $200 for each gram or portion of a gram.æ For drugs not sold by weight, such as Ecstasy, every 50 doses would be taxed $2,000.

Note: for those of you who haven’t converted to metric yet, for marijuana that’s about $100 tax per ounce.
Keep in mind that this is not an easing of penalties — it is adding an additional penalty on top of criminalizing drugs. The idea is, once you’re arrested for possession of drugs, not only do you get the jail time and fines for the charge, but they also go after you for tax evasion because you probably haven’t bought the stamps (they don’t really expect you to).

A similar bill was passed in Kansas in 1987.æ Last year it collected $883,846 in revenue from people arrested in possession of drugs without stamps and $370 in stamp sales.

Most drug tax stamps are purchased by collectors, not drug dealers (the Texas one is quite entertaining).
These taxes are really a kind of dishonesty on the part of legislatures. If you want a tougher penalty for something illegal, then make that part of the legal penalty — don’t go around looking for some other hook.
Many of these taxes have run into legal trouble. Some of them have been termed unconstitutional due to the prohibition against self-incrimination. Others, if providing a serious enough penalty, have been determined to constitute double jeopardy (some Texas drug dealers in 1996 were getting off of their drug charges in court by putting a deposit down on their tax liability).
For now, those in St. Joseph, Missouri may want to spread the word that Republican Senator Charlie Shields wants to raise taxes. That could make it interesting.
Earlier this year, TalkLeft reported on a similar tax in Iowa. Protesters of the tax came up with the memorable line:

No taxation without legalization.

Portland, OR: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oregon
recently filed a complaint with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
over the agency’s effort to shut down the second annual Oregon Medical
Cannabis Awards Banquet, sponsored by Oregon NORML. Though the Banquet went
on as scheduled at the Doubletree Hotel, DEA officials approached the
venue’s management prior to the event and warned them that they could be
federally fined and prosecuted under the “RAVE Act” if it took place.

Under the provisions of the “RAVE Act,” formally known as the Illicit
Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003, federal law enforcement may prosecute
business owners if they make their property available for “the purpose of
manufacturing, distributing, or using any controlled substance.”

ACLU of Oregon spokesperson David Fidanque said that the DEA is misusing
the Act to try to silence opponents of the government’s drug policies. “The
only two instances the DEA has used this law have been against NORML, where
NORML was publicizing medical marijuana laws and their opposition to federal
law and federal policies,” he said. “We think it’s clear that the DEA did
this for political reasons because of their political opposition to NORML’s
politics.”

Findanque also noted that uniformed Portland police officers were posted
outside the banquet room doors, and that their presence may have violated
Oregon laws and city policies prohibiting police from spying on the
political activities of individuals and organizations.

This was a bad law that never should have been passed (Senator Joe Biden for all of you in Delaware), and despite the DEA’s assurance that it would not be mis-used, is bound to be used to harrass drug policy reformers. And Karen Tandy, the head of the DEA, has made it clear that she won’t specify the criteria the DEA uses.

Via NORML:

Washington, DC: The US Food and Drug Administration has granted
permission for investigators funded by California’s Center for Medicinal
Cannabis Research (CMCR) to conduct the first ever human trial comparing
inhaled marijuana to vaporized cannabis. The clinical trial, which will be
conducted by Dr. Donald Abrams of the University of California at San
Francisco, will commence in early 2004, according to a news release issued
by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

The pending study will compare subjective effects, cannabinoid blood
levels, and carbon monoxide levels in inhaled breath in volunteers following
both smoking and vaporizing marijuana.

MAPS President Rick Doblin said that the use of vaporizer technology in clinical research “will demonstrate that we can address all reasonable concerns about the safety of marijuana as medicine.”

According to a previous laboratory analysis study completed earlier this
year by California NORML and MAPS, toxins in marijuana smoke produced by
combustion are eliminated by the use of a vaporization device. In that
study, marijuana vapors produced by the Volcano vaporizer were found to
consist overwhelmingly of THC, and contained only minute amounts (less than
5 percent) of a suspected carcinogen, according to a gas chromatography mass
spectrometer (GCMS) analysis of the vapor. By contrast, combusted smoke
contained over 100 other chemicals, including several polynuclear aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), carcinogenic toxins that are common in tobacco smoke.

In general, the respiratory hazards of marijuana smoke are due to toxic
byproducts of combustion, not the active ingredients of the plant, known as
cannabinoids. Vaporizers heat marijuana at a temperature sufficient to
vaporize cannabinoids (about 200Á C), but short of the point of combustion,
which is approximately 250Á C.

This is important, because the Drug Czar keeps using the “medicine isn’t smoked” argument to negate all medical benefits of marijuana (it’s all they have left). Eventually, the sheer magnitude of scientific evidence for medical marijuana has got to topple the administration’s war on the sick.

Yesterday’s Larry King show, included this exchange with Bill Maher and a caller:

KING: Oakville, Ontario, hello.
CHAMNEY: Hi, Mr. Maher, I’m absolutely thrilled to be speaking with you.
MAHER: Well, I’m thrilled to be talking to you, too.
CHAMNEY: My question for you is, do you plan on staying behind the marijuana
mission?
I don’t know if you’ve realized…
MAHER: I do.
CHAMNEY: But you’ve saved peoples’ lives up here in Canada and the United
States. It was because of you discussing it on TV and a Web site called The
Marijuana Mission that made my family understand what marijuana does for people.
And it actually stopped my grandma’s seizures. So, I’m no longer considered an
epileptic just because I smoke it every day. And I appreciate you so much. And
we talk about you up here all the time. You should run for Congress, sir.
MAHER: Thank you.
CHAMNEY: You remind me so much of my lawyer Alan Young, and he is the greatest
one up here speaking about marijuana and you keep on talking down there, buddy.
MAHER: You keep puffing as the president said, let’s roll. It’s a good
opportunity for me to bring up Tommy Chong. Tommy of “Cheech and Chong,” you
know he’s in jail right now. He was…
KING: I didn’t know.
MAHER: On the anniversary of 9/11, that’s how brazen this Justice Department is.
On the anniversary of 9/11, they arrested Tommy Chong for selling bongs over the
Internet, Larry. We cannot allow that to happen. Do you feel safer? Do you feel
safer now?
This is what I would like to say to the Bush administration about that. You
can’t have it both ways. Either 9/11 was such a transforming event and is such a
dire threat that we need the Patriotic Act, the Patriotic Act II which could
curtail a lot of civil liberties that we need to go to Iraq or you can bust
Tommy Chung. You can’t it have both ways. You can’t have the Patriotic Act and
curtail the civil liberties because 9/11 was that bad and also have the time to
go after Tommy Chung for selling bongs on the Internet. Can’t have it both ways.
KING: You favor the legalization?
MAHER: Of course. Another no-brainer. There’s a religion out there, too, having
to do with drug laws. It’s also nonsense.
KING: You’d legalize all drugs?
MAHER: I would. Yes. But obviously other drugs, it is a different situation,
because other drugs can be very dangerous…

From the Tahoe Daily Tribune: Czar: Drug test students

Youths are more dependent on marijuana than cigarettes or alcohol, provoking the White House drug czar to call for drug testing at middle and high schools.

John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, made the statement during a keynote speech at a conference attended by members of the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting at Embassy Suites on Tuesday night.

Lies, lies, dangerous lies. Once again, Walters shows that he is willing to risk the health and safety of America’s youth in order to further his own personal agenda against marijuana.
Both tobacco and alcohol are a much greater dependency risk than marijuana (both in likelihood and severity of dependency). But Walters continually uses the fact that high numbers of marijuana users (not abusers) are in treatment (through criminal justice referral), which is not an indication of dependence, to actually downplay the dangers of alcohol and cigarettes.
So did anyone call him on it?

Walters was unavailable for comment afterward. He was whisked away by Secret Service to catch a flight back to Washington, D.C.

The crowd was full of military officials, undercover agents with goatees and long hair and clean-cut law enforcement officers.

Ah, yes. Lie to a sympathetic audience and run away.