Drug WarRant

Yesterday, an Ohio man was sentenced to 11 years in prison for selling a bag of baking soda to undercover officers.

Police said Chandler negotiated a deal with the officer in July that he would deliver 4.5 ounces of crack for $8,000. Chandler produced a small bag and was arrested. Later, tests showed it was baking soda.

A jury convicted him last week of cocaine trafficking, which Ohio law defines as selling or offering to sell the drug. It makes no difference that Chandler was peddling a fake, Stark County assistant prosecutor Joe Vance said.

The amount was found to be more than 100 grams, qualifying Chandler as a major drug offender. That brings a mandatory 10-year sentence, and a judge may add up to 10 more years.

The House approved a five-year extension of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy late yesterday by voice vote. (see Monday’s alert). There’s still the Senate.
The re-authorization was brought forward at the last minute by Drug War Cheerleader Mark Souder under suspension of the rules, which provided for limited debate and no amendments. It gives the Drug Czar more taxpayer money for his ineffective ad campaign, and allows him to reward local areas that follow his approach with extra funding.
It could be worse. Some of the most offensive items were eliminated in committee because drug policy reform groups raised the alarm — including provisions that would have allowed the Drug Czar to use taxpayer money to campaign against candidates and referendums he didn’t like.
Update: Even at the last moment, pressure from drug policy reformers was able to make a difference. According to Drug Policy Alliance:

House Democrats helped us win a victory by pressuring Republicans to overturn a ban on using High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) funding for drug prevention – rather than law enforcement. The Drug Policy Alliance has pushed for this change because it is the first step to shifting millions of dollars from away from arresting non-violent drug offenders and into prevention.

Sunday’s Baltimore Sun details one of our Drug Czar’s latest tricks. He’s already attacked medical marijuana patients, pushed for practically unlimited budgetary authority to demonize his opponents, attacked Canada, and now he’s going after the Dutch.

[Walters] was critical of the Dutch for failing to give police greater authority to move against drug gangs.æ The Dutch have been reluctant to enact laws that could be seen as infringing on civil liberties.

…there simply have not been adequate steps taken by the government of the Netherlands to control this,” Walters said.

“There is a limited ability to use wiretap and informant information that makes it harder when you have a criminal conspiracy to enforce laws,” he said.

Yep. Walters wants the Netherlands to give their police more powers and forget about the civil liberties of their citizens. Sound familiar?
What really ticks Walters off is that the Dutch have had better success with a combination of harm reduction, separating drugs, and easing restrictions on marijuana, than we have had with prohibition and interdiction.
Drug War Facts has some strong figures that show that United States, with its “superior” police powers is higher than the Netherlands in marijuana use, heroin use, incarceration rate, per capita spending on law enforcement, and homicide rate. Somehow, I don’t see how the Dutch are going to be thrilled to have Walters tell them what to do.
And an article earliier this year showed:

The latest United Nations study on global drug trends shows the Netherlands wouldn’t even crack the top 50 in marijuana consumption…
“Marijuana is just no big deal here,” said Henk Lokhorst, who lives just outside Amsterdam.æ “It’s lost that taboo feel.æ Most of my friends don’t smoke.æ It’s just not a part of their lives and not something you think about.”

Again, this shows how interconnected the war on drugs is with the war on civil liberties. Over the past decades, our rights have been weakened in the name of the drug war. This has opened the door to provisions in the Patriot Act and the proposed Victory Act (which intends to expand drug crimes by defining them as terrorism. At the same time, we learn that the Patriot Act (designed to combat terrorism) has been used for a potporri of domestic law enforcement purposes.

Justice Department officials said such criticism has not deterred them.æ Said Mark Corallo, a department spokesman: ”I think any reasonable person would agree that we have an obligation to do everything we can to protect the lives and liberties of Americans from attack, whether it’s from terrorists or garden-variety criminals.”

And where do we turn for protection from the government?
[See this startling analysis from TalkLeft for more on the interconnectedness of terror legislation.]

Officers Practice For War On Drugs – this bizarre article in the Nevada Appeal…

Officers took their places hidden in shrubs, behind trees and in unmarked cars surrounding the dark home.

Within a few minutes, officers broke down the door and had three suspects suspected of drug trafficking in custody.æ One officer was shot and a suspect may have been killed.

But if the raiders were going to make a mistake, Thursday was the day to do it.

“Something always goes wrong, but let it go wrong here,” said Paul Pabon, academy commander of the training division at the Nevada Department of Public Safety.

All around the country, drug task forces are using military tactics against our own citizens, often to prevent someone from flushing some pot. And just like in this training exercise, people get killed (only for real).
Now if they’d only run training sessions for the innocent people killed when a raid like this happens at the wrong address.

From Drug Policy Alliance: Please read this post and be prepared to call your Congressman tomorrow (Tuesday).

In a last minute effort to keep money and power flowing through the Drug Czar’s office, House leadership are playing political games to push a bill that would re-authorize funding for failed ‘drug war’ programs. Just scheduled for tomorrow (September 30th), the vote is clearly designed to keep opponents from voicing alarm. They’re also trying to bring the bill up under a process known as “suspension of the rules” which limits debate to less than an hour and prohibits Representatives from offering amendments to improve the bill.

The drug war bill (HR 2086), known as the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act, provides five more years of funding for the Drug Czar’s office and its campaign to arrest drugs users. Already, the Drug Policy Alliance has worked with a number of groups to remove as many of the extreme provisions from the bill as we could. But the bill still authorizes the White House to spend over a billion dollars on anti-drug television ads – the same ads ridiculed by the public and shown to be ineffective by the government’s own studies. It also contains no protections to ensure that the drug czar cannot use taxpayer money to campaign against state medical marijuana ballot measures he personally doesn’t like.

If only 146 (out of 435) Representatives vote against the bill the House will be forced to bring the bill up under a more democratic process that will allow amendments to improve it.

Call before 6pm (EST) on Tuesday. Tell the receptionist, “I’m calling to urge my Representative to vote against HR 2086 when it comes up under suspension of the rules. Among other things, HR 2086 allows the drug czar to spend taxpayer money to influence local and state elections. By voting no, the Representative can ensure that the bill will be brought up under a process that allows amendments to improve it.”
Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard for free at 1-800-839-5276. (They can also tell you who your Representative is if you’re not sure. You can also find out who your Representative is at the Drug Policy Action Center.

A cowboy hero rides into the sunset
Howard Woolridge and his one-eyed horse Misty are nearing the end of a 3,100 mile journey across the United States to promote drug policy reform. The trek started in Savannah, Georgia and will end on the coast in Newport, Oregon.
This former police officer rides with a homemade T-shirt that reads:

“Cops Say Legalize Pot. Ask Me Why.”

Woolridge was a detective for 15 years and is now retired. He is a founding member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
A nice article in today’s Salem, Oregon Statesman Journal presented some of Howard’s views:

“Law enforcement is a mosquito on the rear end of an elephant,” Wooldridge said. “We make zero difference whether you or your community are going to have drugs or not.”
He goes so far as to say that marijuana should be right there on store shelves with Jack Daniels, Budweiser and cigarettes.

Howard has gotten his drug reform message across in a casual way by striking up conversations with people he meets on his journey (and those who ask about his T-shirt):

The subject of legalizing drugs knocked Wendy Slonecker, who has two teen-age children at home, right out of her comfort zone this week. Although she didn’t agree with everything Wooldridge said, she had to admit that some of his arguments made sense.

She has a feeling that the man she just met is going to make a difference and wouldn’t be surprised to see him someday lobbying in Washington, D.C., upon the saddle of Misty.

“We aren’t winning the war against drugs,” Slonecker said. “Something has to happen.”

This is why I call Howard a hero. It takes this kind of individual contact to eventually turn around our failed drug war. Howard is reaching people, one at a time, and making a lasting impression. It may not seem like Wendy Slonecker was completely convinced, but that’s because there are decades of ingrained propaganda and misconceptions to fight off.
I challenge you… If you read this blog and feel that something needs to change, make a difference. I know you don’t have time to ride across the country (although it sounds delightful to me). But, pick a person — a friend or relative or co-worker — and talk to them about the drug war. Just have a nice friendly discussion, and express your views. If they come up with questions you can’t answer, email me, and I’ll try to help. Don’t expect an overnight change, but plant the seed. Let me know how it works — I’d love to post some more success stories here.
With 80 miles to go in his journey, Howard Woolridge left Salem, Oregon this morning and will be heading up Route 20 through Albany, Corvallis and Philomath on his way to Newport. If you’re in the area, I’m sure he and Misty would love to see you. Or visit his little site: America on Horseback.

Another Victim of the Drug War — Severe Pain Care

“Something is terribly wrong with the way some criminal justice authorities have begun to enforce the law against physicians and pharmacists who prescribe and dispense high dose opioids to treat chronic pain. The necessary balance in pain policy… has tipped drastically in the direction of ruthless drug control and away from compassionate collaboration. This is a recent development. The past five years has generated an unprecedented list of health care providers charged with murder for allegedly providing inappropriately large quantities of opioids to pain patients.”

— Dr. David Brushwood, Mayday Scholar with the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics, September 4, 2003

That’s the beginning of a disturbing article in this week’s Drug War Chronicle.

Dr. Deborah Bordeaux used to be a pain management specialist. Now she’s a convicted felon facing a 100-year prison sentence as a drug dealer. Bordeaux was arrested when the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and South Carolina law enforcement raided the Myrtle Beach clinic where she once prescribed opioids to severely ill patients… And there are more, a growing number of physicians indicted and sometimes convicted of being drug traffickers but who say they were only doing what was best for patients.

In some cases, doctors are even being charged with murder when terminally ill patients receiving pain medication die. The result is that more and more doctors are afraid to prescribe appropriate dosages of pain medication, and patients suffer.
The Pain Relief Network (PRN) is a new organization which has formed to fight for patients’ right to pain care. Their site notes:

The DEA reports that 410 doctors were prosecuted in 2002, representing an 800% increase in physician prosecutions over the last three years. American citizens, as a result, by the thousands are being forced into suicide by untreated pain.

The PRN has taken the unusual step of asking the FDA to quit cooperating with the Justice Department in classifying drugs under the Controlled Substances Act.

PRN’s [Executive Director Siobhan] Reynolds told the FDA committee the process was fraught with mischief since the Justice Department, through its prosecutions of physicians, had proven it was not interested in the scientific or medical evidence.

As a followup, the Drug War Chronicle notes a breaking story:

Retired McLean, Virginia, pain specialist Dr. William Hurwitz was arrested Wednesday morning and sits in jail pending a Monday bail hearing after being indicted on federal charges related to his use of high doses of opioid pain relievers in the course of his medical practice. A 49-count indictment charges the nationally known specialist with drug trafficking resulting in death and serious injury, engaging in a criminal enterprise, conspiracy and health care fraud. The most serious charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The drug warriors have continually shown that they have no respect for those who are seriously ill, through their harrassment of terminally ill medical marijuana patients, through their attempts to prevent doctors from discussing medical options, through their suppression of medical research and through intimidating doctors into underprescribing for pain.

My 2nd Illinois Senate Candidate elimination…
Estella Johnson-Hunt (D)
OK, sometimes it’s just too easy. Sure, I admire the fact that Ms. Johnson-Hunt wrote “Hail To Thee, Chicago.” I am, uh, intrigued by her plans to require the state song at all official and school functions, to “introduce legislation requiring removal of fashion labels from the necks of garments,” to modify the 5th amendment to allow double jeopardy, and to “help develop and enforce stronger moral/dress code standards for performers’ attire and language on regular television programs and for on-duty employees in public places (no transparent/tight fitting clothing, exposed cleavage, or mini lengths).”
She is also a fan of mandatory drug and alcohol testing for a variety of people, and “Increased law enforcement efforts… that will result in capture and punishment of producers and suppliers of illegal drugs.”
If we can just arrest enough people, we’ll get rid of that pesky drug problem… So I guess we can eliminate Estella from consideration for a Drug WarRant endorsement.
æ

Is It Live, Or Is It Happy Furry Puppy Story Time?
Welcome, and thanks for the link to “Drug War Rant: Give me a hit off that gravity bong or give me death!”

Guest rant
Look, it’s this simple. Drugs are evil. And yet there are people in this country calling for legalization of marijuana. Why send a message to children that intoxication is a birthright? Do you think it’s right for children to be hooked on heroin?
It’s just anti-American. You’re hurting your country. It’s simple logic.
Drug are a crime against humanity. And they support terrorism. Some of these individuals are of Russian and Georgian descent and have Middle Eastern ties.
Why are so many Americans blind to the truth? Possibly because they’re too high to see it. If nobody sold drugs, there would be no drug problem. And that’s no spin. Now some people point to the fact that the Netherlands has a lower rate of marijuana use than the United States. Well, that’s because Holland has a smaller population! We need to send the Marines to the Mexican border and stop this once and for all. If you do the crime, you’d better be prepared to do the time.
And to the guy who writes this Drug WarRant blog… you’re a pinhead. Shut up!

[Note: this blog is participating in “Talk like Bill O’Reilly Day.”]