Drug WarRant

More on Prosecutorial Abuse

I’ve already ranted a bit on prosecutorial misconduct on this blog – one of my pet peeves. Via MAP, there is an interesting article at the Orange County Register: “The other destructive trial lawyers: Rogue prosecutors with a big bag of dirty tricks take huge toll around U.S.” (free registration required) by Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., and Robert J. Cihak, M.D.

We hear a lot about the excesses of private practice trial lawyers. But another group of trial lawyers has been left alone to go about their dirty work with few restrictions – and all at taxpayers’ expense. And their abuse isn’t just a taxpayer issue; it should also be seen as a justice issue, a privacy issue and a civil liberties issue.

We refer to government prosecutors who abuse their positions to further their careers and power while spending your money. They use high-publicity cases, such as those involving the hot “drug du jour” such as OxyContin, as career steppingstones on the backs of the defendants, instead of serving the public or justice.

A recent study by the Center for Public Integrity found that prosecutors stretched, bent or broke rules so badly that appeals court judges have dismissed criminal charges, reversed convictions or reduced sentences in more than 2,000 cases since 1970.

(note: The Center for Public Integrity study referenced is Harmful Error: Investigating America’s Local Prosecutors.)
The article also mentions that a new group is being formed called the Coalition Against Prosecutorial Abuse. I’ll report more on their activities as I get information.

More Fun with Numbers…
A new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (released yesterday) is being reported in the news today: New U.S. survey finds millions of new drug abusers (The Washington Times touts: “22 million Americans are addicts”),
This study involved extensive interviews with individuals who were paid $30 each for their time. The report showed that there are 22 million substance abusers in the United States.
Now the SAMHSA study also reported that “Over 94 percent of people with substance use disorders who did not receive treatment did not believe they needed treatment.”
Naturally, our drug czar immediately jumped in to promote his agenda:

“A denial gap of over 94 percent is intolerable,” said John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. “People need to understand the addictive nature of drugs and not presume that they are all right when everyone around them knows better.”

Now, first of all, over 2/3 of that 94% were categorized in the study for alcohol abuse. Second, some of the definitions that the government uses for substance abuse border are ridiculous. For example, someone having a problem with their marijuana use is classified as a substance abuser, even if that problem is the fact that the drug is illegal. (Here’s a great idea — we could reduce levels of substance abuse by legalizing marijuana!)
Naturally, the drug czar sees a “94% denial gap.” He wants to convince people that all use of certain arbitrarily determined drugs is harmful. However, a 94% denial gap tells me that there’s a problem with the data. Certainly, there are some people who need treatment for alcohol or other drugs who aren’t getting it. We need to focus on those. Not arbitrarily create inflated numbers through poor methodologies and junk science in government studies.

(See also Drug Czar on Continuing Campaign of Lies and Debunking the ONDCP’s Scott Burns.)

Propaganda and Terrorism: Brought to you by the DEA
The Drug Enforcement Agency has a museum (check out the bizarre opening flash sequence!) The entire concept is an outrageous glorification of DEA propaganda and abuse.

Their recent exhibit is the most disturbing: “Target America: Traffickers, Terrorists and You.”
Now there are a lot of people who have taken advantage of all those who died in 9/11, and used the tragedy for their own self-promotion, but none are as crass and insulting as the DEA.
The exhibit has been running for some time at the main DEA museum location and at their online version (this photo of the main exhibit has been unavailable at their site recently). The exhibit is now moving to The Science Place in Dallas, Texas, where it opens on Tuesday (the exhibit was going to open next Thursday — that’s right, on September 11 — but they decided to start it a couple of days early).
In one of the descriptions of the exhibit in Dallas, you realize just how far the DEA has gone in their exhibit:

“We worked closely with the New York Police Department and the Port Authority to go to Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills landfill for artifacts,” Mr. Fearns said. “That’s where the exhibit starts, with this reconstruction of elements from New York and the Pentagon and photos from Pennsylvania.”

That’s right. Children’s toys and twisted I-beams. Death and destruction to glorify the DEA.
If you’re in the Dallas area, consider joining one of the protests against this exhibit at The Science Place (Saturday, September 13 and Saturday, September 20, 11am to 3pm at Fair Park at The Science Place).

According to Craig Johnson, a student at UTD and leader of Students For a Sensible Drug Policy [University of Texas at Dallas chapter], the demonstrators are a group of concerned citizens who believe that “it is shocking for the DEA to exploit Americans’ grief and anger over the tragic events of 9/11.”
“I am appalled that The Science Place is lending its prestige and spending its funds on an exhibit by the Drug Enforcement Administration,” says Suzanne Wills of Dallas, a member of the Drug Policy Form of Texas, another of the groups represented. “In all its policies the DEA is the antithesis of science. The most glaring, inhumane, and disingenuous example is its refusal to allow researchers a supply of cannabis for medical trials approved by the Food and Drug Administration.”
Johnson added “while this crude exhibit remains in Dallas, it is our intention to counteract it with a campaign to show the public what little respect the DEA has for actual science, and the unintended but disastrous consequences of drug prohibition. Because of our government and the DEA huge profits go to the underworld, kids sell drugs to kids, diseases are spread by non-sterile syringes, and burglaries for money to buy drugs are epidemic.”

Note: A former DEA agent (Celerino Castillo) will be speaking out against the DEA at the September 20th protest.
OK, let’s look at the title of that exhibit again:

“Target America.” Yep, that’s exactly what the DEA has been doing for decades — destroying lives, filling prisons, eviscerating rights, stifling research, and spreading lies.
“Traffickers, Terrorists and You.” Mostly “You.” Remember that traffickers profit because of the war on drugs. And to the extend that terrorists benefit from drug profits it is also because of the profitability caused by the war on drugs. So that leaves… The DEA is targeting You.
And you’re paying for it.

• The Drug War Chronicle
• Drug Sense

This just in…

• Journal retracts Ecstacy study; wrong drug had been tested

Prohibition is an awful flop.
We like it.
It can’t stop what it’s meant to stop.
We like it.
It’s left a trail of graft and slime,
It don’t prohibit worth a dime,
It’s filled our land with vice and crime.
Nevertheless, we’re for it.

– Franklin P. Adams (1931)

---

Every friend of freedom . . .
must be as revolted as I am
by the prospect of turning the U.S. into an armed camp,
by the vision of jails filled with casual drug users
and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence.

– Milton Friedman

Catching up
A number of things came up recently that slipped through the cracks on this blog as I reported on other issues, and I thought I’d do some catching up with our Drug Czar…
Interesting reading: “John P. Walters Marijuana Rhetoric Could Prove Bush Re-election Liability” at BBS News.
A dangerous trend: Nine states have passed zero tolerance laws regarding drug use and driving. While I agree that driving while impaired is wrong and should be punished, these laws involve drug tests which do not test impairment, but rather whether there are residual traces of the drug in your system (like if you smoked a joint a couple of days ago). In some cases, a positive test could mean a 20-year sentence. Naturally John Walters is calling for nation-wide implementation of these laws. This story describes the issues involved.
“Bush team’s prohibition drug policy is a bust” Bruce Alexander Knight writes this excellent OpEd for the Oregonian, which includes:

Unfortunately the drug czar has not yet learned the central lesson that prohibition doesn’t work.

Drug Czar on Continuing Campaign of Lies
I noticed a blitz last week of press releases picked up by Yahoo News, targeting cities around the country with new statistics regarding drug abuse and emergency room visits. (Yahoo did identify them as press releases. However they were published without question.)

• CHICAGO Emergency Rooms Saw Highest Rates of Drug-Related Visits Last Year
• WASHINGTON DC Area Sees Resurgence in PCP Mentions in ERs
• SAN FRANCISCO Tops Survey of 21 Cities in Mentions Of Methamphetamine/Amphetamine in ERs in 2002
• Visits to Emergency Rooms in SAN DIEGO Area Due to Drug Abuse Decreased in 2002
• Cocaine Mentions in MIAMI Area Emergency Rooms Among Highest of 21 Metro Areas Surveyed
• Cocaine Among Drugs Most Seen in ATLANTA Emergency Rooms Last Year
• Mentions of Amphetamines/Methamphetamine in Emergency Rooms in PHOENIX Increased in 2002
• Mentions in ERs of Narcotic Pain Medications in ST. LOUIS Area Rose in 2002
• PHILADELPHIA Sees Increase in Narcotic Pain Medications in ERs
• Heroin Mentions Increase in Emergency Rooms in NEWARK in 2002
• Narcotic Painkillers Among Most Frequent Drugs Seen in NEW ORLEANS ERs
• SEATTLE Area ERs See Decline in Amphetamines/Methamphetamine Mentions
• Cocaine Mentions in ERs Down But Pain Relievers Up in NEW YORK CITY Area in 2002
• LOS ANGELES Area Emergency Rooms Had Significant Increases in Amphetamine/Methamphetamine Mentions in 2002
• Heroin Little Seen at MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL ERs, Study of 21 Cities Finds
• Visits to Emergency Rooms in BALTIMORE Area Related to Drug Abuse Increased in 2002
• ER Mentions of Marijuana and Narcotic Painkillers Significant In DETROIT in 2002
• Abuse of Anti-Anxiety and Narcotic Pain Medications Seen in BOSTON Emergency Rooms Last Year
• DENVER Shows Jump in Rate of Heroin-Related ER Visits, Study Shows

In every one of these articles you’ll find the following:

“This report proves that marijuana is more harmful than many people think,” said White House Director of National Drug Control Policy John Walters. “The rising levels of marijuana potency that we’ve seen over the last several years correspond with dramatic increases in people seeking emergency medical care for marijuana-related incidents

Now the source of this startling information is DAWN: Drug Abuse Warning Network, which states that a main purpose for providing statistics is to assist the DEA and the ONDCP in their efforts, and also admits (pdf) that there have been serious questions raised about the methodology used.

The complexities and limitations of the system, coupled with lack of detailed historical documentation, lead to inevitable misinterpretation of DAWN data…There was little public documentation of DAWN’s data quality, and a few published studies raised concerns that measurement error in DAWN was substantial and systemic…Because DAWN monitors episodes, not individuals, data are misinterpreted if analysts view them as prevalence measures…DAWN data were often assumed to represent heavy or chronic drug users, although the validity of that assumption has never been assessed.

So what does DAWN do? They pick hospitals in major cities and have someone there check the charts for mentions of drug abuse connected with emergency room visits (including toxicology tests and patient interviews). For their purposes, the term “Drug Abuse” includes any use of an illegal drug for recreational purposes. Up to 4 drugs can be “mentioned” per patient visit. And it doesn’t matter if the drug mentioned actually had any connection to the reason for the visit. According to DAWN:

For example, if records for a given patient “mentioned” marijuana, this does not mean that marijuana was the only drug involved in the ED [Emergency Department] visit or that the marijuana caused the ED visit.

Now the final DAWN report showed that there were 47 marijuana “mentions” per 100,000 population. This doesn’t even mean 47 people per 100,000. It could be the same guy 47 times. And 3/4 of those cases involved more than one drug.
So let’s review Walters’ statement again:

“This report proves that marijuana is more harmful than many people think,” said White House Director of National Drug Control Policy John Walters. “The rising levels of marijuana potency that we’ve seen over the last several years correspond with dramatic increases in people seeking emergency medical care for marijuana-related incidents.

What a load of crap.

A Wake-up Call for Local Communities
Walter in Denver has the the details on a $1 billion lawsuit against Bethlehem, PA on behalf of John Hirko, Jr., a 21-year-old man who was shot 11 times in the back by police in a drug raid that also burned down his house.

Yes, that’s $1 billion with a B.
John Hirko is one of the unfortunates profiled on my Drug War Victims page, and finally a wrongful death suit is coming forward. However the suit turns out, it may serve as an important wake-up call that there are consequences to the unconscionable way we fight this failed war.
Time and time again, the families of drug war victims watch while the police are cleared with the words “justifiable shooting.” And really, in many cases that’s right. It’s often not the fault of the police that they’ve been put into this military-style confrontation that so often results in collateral damage.
Unfortunately, it may take actions like this to make communities wake up and realize that drug task forces are a liability. In this case, a huge taxpayer liability. The family of Donald P. Scott received a settlement of $5 million from county and feds in a fatal botched raid in Malibu, where the authorities were hoping to seize his property. Denver paid off $400,000 for killing Ismael Mena.
Meanwhile, the lawyers for the Tulia defendants are filing a civil rights lawsuit against a variety of county entities, and Swisher County (realizing that they’re in enough trouble) has refused to help the prosecutor in that case in the defense of misconduct charges.
The taxpayers are already dumping tons of money down the drain in the war on drugs, but the government has been largely successful in hoodwinking the public as to their contribution. Now that local budgets may be decimated by lawsuits, people may start to wake up. In fact, every local council that cooperates with a federal drugs task force should be made aware of this.
If your city or county is involved, or considering involvement with, a military-style drugs task force, stop by their next council meeting and ask how they plan to come up with a billion dollars if they’re sued. Ask them if they’ve come up with an acceptable number of innocent casualties to go along with their decision to use no-knock raids for pot. And then let me know how they react.

Netherlands leads the way again…

RandomActOfKindness covers the latest episode of sanity in the Netherlands. It seems that the Netherlands is allowing marijuana to be sold in pharmacies and covered by insurance.
Interestingly, “The Dutch Health Ministryæsays itæhas already fielded calls for progress reports from officials in Germany, Britain, Belgium and Luxembourg.” (via Deutsche Welle)
How long will it take for our Drug Czar to issue a statement showing how the Netherlands is immoral?

Privacy, your home, and legal pot in Alaska
One of the interesting things that happened while I was gone this weekend is the fact that the Alaska Court of Appeals ruled on Friday in favor of the legal use of marijuana in certain circumstances.

“With regard to possession of marijuana by adults in their home for personal use, (the law) must be interpreted to prohibit only the possession of 4 ounces or more of marijuana,” wrote Court of Appeals Judge David Stewart in the conclusion of the unanimous decision.

The ruling made the national news as one of those odd tidbits that they like to insert, but the media has missed some of the larger ramifications of the ruling.
The background: Article 1, section 22 of the Alaska Constitution reads:

“The right of the people to privacy is recognized and shall not be infringed…”

Read that again. “The right of the people to privacy is recognized and shall not be infringed.” Sounds like Alaskans were pretty smart when they put together their constitution.
In 1975, in the case of Ravin vs. the State of Alaska, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that personal in-home use of marijuana was a protected right of privacy. Later, the legislature set a limit of 4 ounces for personal use.
Then, in 1990, a voter initiative criminalized marijuana possession of any amount. The current case of David Noy finally challenges that statute by claiming that the statute violates constitutional rights. The Court of Appeals agreed, and now it’s up to the Alaska Supreme Court to hear an appeal. It seems unlikely that the Supreme Court will overturn itself, when it made such a compelling argument in Ravin.
The Ravin case is particularly interesting. It’s worth reading the full original decision, authored by the late Justice Rabinowitz.
Rabinowitz not only drew upon the specific right of privacy in the Alaska constitution, but also brought up a huge list of cases involving the United States Supreme Court establishing a right of privacy, and a particular expectation of privacy in one’s own home. Rabinowitz concluded that privacy in the home is a fundamental right and requires a greater level of proof for the government to assert an interest.

the authority of the state to exert control over the individual extends only to activities of the individual which affect others or the public at large as it relates to matters of public health or safety, or to provide for the general welfare. We believe this tenet to be basic to a free society. The state cannot impose its own notions of morality, propriety, or fashion on individuals when the public has no legitimate interest in the affairs of those individuals. The right of the individual to do as he pleases is not absolute, of course: it can be made to yield when it begins to infringe on the rights and welfare of others.

Further, the authority of the state to control the activities of its citizens is not limited to activities which have a present and immediate impact on the public health or welfare. It is conceivable, for example, that a drug could so seriously develop in its user a withdrawal or amotivational syndrome, that widespread use of the drug could significantly debilitate the fabric of our society. Faced with a substantial possibility of such a result, the state could take measures to combat the possibility. The state is under no obligation to allow otherwise “private” activity which will result in numbers of people becoming public charges or otherwise burdening the public welfare. But we do not find that such a situation exists today regarding marijuana. It appears that effects of marijuana on the individual are not serious enough to justify widespread concern, at least as compared with the far more dangerous effects of alcohol, barbiturates and amphetamines….

Thus we conclude that no adequate justification for the state’s intrusion into the citizen’s right to privacy by its prohibition of possession of marijuana by an adult for personal consumption in the home has been shown. The privacy of the individual’s home cannot be breached absent a persuasive showing of a close and substantial relationship of the intrusion to a legitimate governmental interest. Here, mere scientific doubts will not suffice. The state must demonstrate a need based on proof that the public health or welfare will in fact suffer if the controls are not applied.

Now attention is again being paid to this 1975 Alaska decision, and it is likely that the Alaska Supreme Court will affirm it. This is of particular interest as the United States Supreme Court has shown a significant current interest in privacy, particularly privacy in the home. This could pave the way to a future U.S. decision regarding federal marijuana laws.

Labor Day Reading…
I will be leaving for far northern Wisconsin this weekend, away from WiFi and cell phone reception, to visit my sister at her new log home, so I won’t be posting. However, I leave you with reading assignments.
Check out Jacob Sullum’s article in Reason: Altered Minds: Former drug warriors turn against prohibition, which includes some revelations from former drug warrior Forest Tennant:

Tennant says the September 11 attacks had a big impact on his thinking about drug policy. He recognized that the connection between drugs and terrorism, cited by the government to justify the war on drugs, was actually a consequence of prohibition, which makes the drug trade a highly lucrative business and delivers it into the hands of criminals. “We’ve got to take the profit out of it,” he says.

Tennant is also troubled by the impact that U.S. drug policy has on countries such as Colombia, where it empowers thugs and guerillas, sows violence, undermines law and order, and wreaks havoc on the economy. And he believes the war on drugs has fostered systemic corruption in the United States. “We need to try something different,” he says.

While you’re at it, check out Jacob Sullum’s book “Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use.” Jacob is a senior editor at Reason, and his book is an excellent analysis of the drug war and the distortions of the government drug warriors. He even has the nerve to counter propaganda by introducing the reader to people who have used drugs and haven’t destroyed their lives, but rather are successful contributing members of society — the same people the government wants to put behind bars at taxpayer expense. Get it and read it. It may just expand your mind.
As always, don’t miss the weekly issue of Drug Sense Weekly. This week’s issue (just out today), gives an excellent review of the most important articles this week (and gives this blog the Quote of the Week!) Check it out.
Last week, I sent you to check out Stop the Drug War’s new issue of Drug War Chronicle. I was slightly premature, as the issue was delayed for reasons that are sadly clear when you read the first item in the newsletter, which is now complete online.
It’s a powerful issue, as it also includes Executive Director David Borden’s full letter (to Washington DC, Chief Judge Rufus King), in which David proclaims his intent to commit an act of civil disobedience related to the war on drugs. While I, and others, may disagree with his decision, there’s no doubt that the letter has a powerful and important message. Read it.
For something on the much lighter side… I know that many of my new friends have discovered this site in recent weeks, and you may not have waded through past posts and articles. If you haven’t read it yet, check out my piece on the government’s war on burgers in 2043. Just for fun.

Meth / Speed / Crystal / Glass / Crank /Tweak / Yaba / Ice

Peoria Pundit notes that two bills were signed by the Governor of Illinois this week to combat methamphetamine production (As Bill says “Yeah, well, that ought to solve the problem.”) These actually join other bills which were passed earlier this summer.
All over the country, legislators are clawing over each other in the race to pass enhanced penalties for every conceivable factor related to the “methamphetamine epidemic.” As always, they display either moronic ignorance or willful avoidance of the truth (or both) that criminal prohibition of a high demand commodity has never solved a problem. In the willful avoidance category, there is the case last month of the U.S. Attorney in Hawaii who lied about the prevalance of the ice problem to try to convince lawmakers to amend the state constitution to expand wiretapping and search/seizure provisions. And don’t forget the prosecutor that decided to charge a meth lab suspect with two counts of manufacturing a nuclear or chemical weapon!
Methamphetamine is a relative of amphetamine (speed) which, on the street, is in the form of a powder, pills, or larger crystals, and is administered through snorting, smoking, oral ingestion, or injection. It effects can include increased energy and alertness, decreased need for sleep, euphoria, excessive talking, weight loss, nausea, paranoia, hallucinations, itching, depression, and a wide variety of other factors. Long term use can be very damaging to organs, and cause severe psychological problems or death. Methamphetamine causes significant tolerance as well as psychological dependency.

The effects of meth are presented in a wildly surreal manner in the recent offbeat comedy “Spun” (Jason Schwartzmann, Mickey Rourke, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari). The movie won’t give you a realistic view of meth use, yet in a bizarre way it gives a more accurate visceral feeling than any description could.
Meth is prescribed for both children and adults for ADD under the brand name Desoxyn, and has chemical relationships to both Ritalin and Adderall.
The U.S. Government dispensed methamphetamine to our soldiers in World War II and Korea and even today, U.S. fighter pilots in Afghanistan were given amphetamines (a milder chemical relation) to stay awake on bombing runs.
Illegal meth labs are a direct result of the war on drugs. Increased controls on pharmaceutical grade amphetamines created a market for the homemade variety. This resulted in a tendency to go for the stronger high of meth (just as beer was replaced with high-proof whiskey during alcohol prohibition). Illegal meth production has grown in part due to the fact that it can be inexpensively made (through a dangerous process involving a number of toxic substances which can be found normally on farms and in drug stores). As enforcement and interdiction of other illegal drugs stiffened, the cheapness of meth increased its popularity, despite the dangers in production and use.
As opposed to pharmaceutical products, homemade labs produce drugs of uncertain and often dangerous quality, and leave toxic chemicals as a byproduct. This is reminiscent of another kind of illegal lab in another era of prohibition:

Adding lye to the mash accelerated fermentation but caused the consumer’s lips to swell painfully. Another shortcut consisted of routing the mixture through an automobile radiator and adding battery acid to the brew. This mixture could be cooked off in one day instead of the usual three or more. But lead absorbed from old radiators or improperly soldered connections could cause lead poisoning, partial paralysis or jake leg, permanent brain damage, or death. In addition to these harmful results, improperly manufactured moonshine might contain additives that tasted bad, even if they were not permanently disabling. Moonshiners and law officers have reported discovering dead raccoons, snakes, frogs, possums, and hogs floating in vats of untended moonshine.

In that previous prohibition, stories abound of entire towns burned to the ground by illegal alcohol stills. And today, explosions of instable meth labs destroy homes and apartments.
Another prohibition, another set of problems caused by our drug policies.