| May 8, 2009 #599 |
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- * Breaking News (05/08/09)
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- * This Just In
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(1) Kerlikowske Sails Through the Senate
(2) Drug Tests For Chess Club? Judge Says No
(3) Epis Ordered Back To Slammer
(4) Column: Marijuana Prohibitionists Are Just Blowing Smoke
- * Weekly News in Review
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Drug Policy-
(5) Meth Labs Make A Comeback In Tennessee
(6) Editorial: Parental Choice Could Defuse Drug-Test Battle
(7) Hailey Forms Pot Committee
(8) OPED: Better Mexican Drug Policy Can Stem The Violence
Law Enforcement & Prisons-
(9) 2 Spring Lake Police Officers Arrested
(10) Prosecutor: New Search Rules Could Favor Criminals
(11) Cannabis-Catching Chopper in the Netherlands
(12) Men File Complaint After RCMP Use Dog To Storm Wrong House
Cannabis & Hemp-
(13) Governor Says He's Open To Debate On Legal Pot
(14) 65 Per Cent In B.C. Want Marijuana To Be Legalized
(15) Both Sides: Risks Far Outweigh Benefits From 'Medical' Marijuana
(16) Medical-Pot User Given Way To Eliminate Smell
International News-
(17) Tories' Tough Drug Proposals Draw Scorn
(18) Call Off The War On Drugs
(19) Pot Plan Gets Federal Ear
(20) Billions Lost Because of Prohibition, Says Emery
- * Hot Off The 'Net
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Mexican NGOs, Brigadier General, Unite In Letter Against Plan Mexico
What Do You Know, The Ex-Drug Czar Is Still Full Of S--T!
Mexico To Decriminalise Possession Of Drugs
Open Letter To The New "Drug Czar" / Norm Stamper
High Times Interview With Rick Doblin Of MAPS
Majority Support For Marijuana Legalization? / By Jacob Sullum
First Week Of Global Marijuana March
The Marijuana Policy Reform Revolution Will Be Televised
Drug Truth Network
Ethan Nadelmann On CNN: The Growing Debate To Legalize Marijuana
- * What You Can Do This Week
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Donate To DrugSense
CNN Wants To Hear From You!
Urge Moveon.Org To Support Ending Prohibition
- * Letter Of The Week
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Repeal Marijuana Prohibition / Lee Gilbert
- * Letter Writer Of The Month - April
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Darral Good
- * Feature Article
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Frank J. Melton - 1949-2009: The Drug War Word Made Flesh /
By Stephen Young
- * Quote of the Week
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Soren Kierkegaard
DrugSense needs your support to continue this newsletter and many
other important projects - see how you can help at
http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
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THIS JUST IN
(Top)
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(1) KERLIKOWSKE SAILS THROUGH THE SENATE
(Top) |
| Source: | Seattle Times (WA)
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| Copyright: | 2009 The Seattle Times Company
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After years of overseeing drug-enforcement policies in the Seattle
Police Department, former Chief Gil Kerlikowske now will take what
he learned to a national stage.
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On Thursday, Kerlikowske, as expected, was confirmed by the U.S.
Senate to become head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy,
a position commonly known as "drug czar."
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Kerlikowske, a 36-year law-enforcement veteran who has been
Seattle's top cop for nine years, has pledged to take a balanced
approach to the job using scientific study to shape policy. He also
said he will focus on reducing demand for illicit drugs in the
United States -- a sharp contrast from the Bush administration's
focus on intercepting drugs as they cross the border and punishing
drug crimes.
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Kerlikowske's official last day as police chief was last Friday.
Seattle Deputy Chief John Diaz has been named the city's interim
chief and said he will seek the job.
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The Senate approved Kerlikowske's nomination 91-1, with a nay from
Sen. Tom Coburn ( R-Okla. ).
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[snip]
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(2) DRUG TESTS FOR CHESS CLUB? JUDGE SAYS NO
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Thu, 07 May 2009
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| Source: | San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
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| Copyright: | 2009 Hearst Communications Inc.
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REDDING -- A Northern California high school district's drug testing
of students taking part in competitive, nonathletic activities -
such as the chess club, math team or school band - is an unjustified
invasion of privacy, a judge ruled Wednesday in the first case of
its kind in the state.
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The Shasta Union High School District presented no evidence that
drug use was more likely or more dangerous for those students than
for others, said Judge Monica Marlow of Shasta County Superior
Court.
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She drew a distinction between students in the band or the chess
club and student athletes. The state Supreme Court upheld the NCAA's
urine testing of college athletes in postseason championship events
and bowl games in 1994, saying athletic competitors are accustomed
to being monitored and have little expectation of privacy.
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Although drug testing has become both expected and accepted in
sports, particularly at the college and professional level, Marlow
said, "it is not a reasonably expected part of the life of a member
of the choir or math club."
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[snip]
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(3) EPIS ORDERED BACK TO SLAMMER
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Thu, 07 May 2009
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| Source: | Chico News & Review, The (CA)
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| Copyright: | 2009 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
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Three-Judge Panel Nixes His Med-Pot Appeal
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It's been a roller-coaster ride through the judicial system for
Bryan Epis ( pictured in a file photo from 2007) ever since the
Chico man made history of sorts in June 1997 by becoming the first
person in California arrested for growing marijuana for use by
medical-marijuana patients. That ride plunged sharply downward
recently.
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A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has turned
down Epis' appeal of his original 10-year federal prison sentence,
of which he has already served two years, ordering him to finish his
term.
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[snip]
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(4) COLUMN: MARIJUANA PROHIBITIONISTS ARE JUST BLOWING SMOKE
(Top) |
| Source: | Record, The (Stockton, CA)
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| Copyright: | 2009 The Record
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| Author: | Michael Fitzgerald, Record Columnist
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The amazing thing about marijuana is its ability to addle the brains
of people who don't smoke it.
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Saying so may not be the most diplomatic way to begin the debate
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger just called for on legalizing marijuana.
But then I've lost faith in that debate.
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For years, my annual Red Ribbon Week rite was to point out - by
marshalling responsible studies, science and common sense - that the
war on marijuana has failed at a staggering cost.
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Marijuana prohibitionists don't care. There is something blocking
their ability to process opposing viewpoints. They are not in a
debate, though they'll go through the motions if you engage them.
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Then they'll summarily reject the best science in the universe,
which says unequivocally marijuana is safe, even medically
beneficial. Facts don't count, somehow.
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Neither does policy failure. If it did, I'd mention 85 percent of
high school seniors surveyed said marijuana is "easy to get."
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Waste of time, such data. Blowing billions remains important to
marijuana prohibitionists. They are as dissuaded by failure as they
are dismissive of fact.
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There must be a reason.
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In 2005, I found a Nixon-era study that illuminated some of it.
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"Many see the drug as fostering a counterculture, which conflicts
with basic moral precepts as well as with the operating functions of
our society," the report said.
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In other words, rational drug policy is an afterthought; pot is a
skirmish in the culture war. To defeat it is to defeat the
counterculture. Liberalism. Whatever.
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[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
(Top)
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Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENTS (5-8)
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Remember all those "get tough" meth laws passed by states and the
federal government a few years ago? How they were supposed to stem
the tide of meth? In Tennessee, those plans seem to be off track, as
the state is seeing meth production rise to levels not recorded
since before the new laws.
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A California newspaper suggests making some student drug tests a
matter of parental choice. In Hailey, Idaho, local officials say a
new committee will be formed to explore cannabis policy, but don't
expect anyone to listen. And another common sense oped about Mexico
will also likely be ignored.
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(5) METH LABS MAKE A COMEBACK IN TENNESSEE
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Sun, 03 May 2009
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| Source: | Tennessean, The (Nashville, TN)
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| Copyright: | 2009 The Tennessean
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New Ingredients And Methods Speed Production Of Drug
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Tennessee drug agents are witnessing an alarming comeback in the
production of methamphetamine.
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Police call it the poor man's drug, appealing because it is cheap to
make with household ingredients and turns a lucrative profit on the
streets. Also, the drug elicits an almost immediate, long-term high
that outlasts more expensive drugs. But it can destroy the human
body in a matter of months.
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"If we stay on course with the seizures this year, we'll be at about
1,300 labs, which brings us back to 2004 figures," said Tommy
Farmer, director of the TBI's Methamphetamine Task Force. "It would
be the highest number since 2004."
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Tennessee ranked third in the nation in meth production in 2008. In
the Nashville area, Williamson County stands out for a spike in
cases.
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The resurgence began when tighter border security made it
increasingly difficult to import meth from Mexico, and when
producers here discovered they could make meth more quickly and
efficiently by using new ingredients and new methods.
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Experts say a first-time meth user can get hooked immediately,
sometimes with deadly consequences.
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[snip]
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(6) EDITORIAL: PARENTAL CHOICE COULD DEFUSE DRUG-TEST BATTLE
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Tue, 05 May 2009
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| Source: | Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
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| Copyright: | 2009 Record Searchlight
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In California, parents have the right to keep their children out of
sex education and "family life" classes that contradict their
values.
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Parents have the right to skip the normally required vaccinations
when their children start kindergarten.
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So why shouldn't parents have the choice to not subject their
children to the drug testing that the Shasta Union High School
District recently expanded?
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This school year, the district began randomly testing students who
participate in all competitive extracurricular activities - such as
choir, band and even Science Bowl - in addition to the
student-athletes who have long faced random drug screening.
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The district's admirable goal is to give students one more reason to
say no to drugs - but instead, several families have said no to drug
testing and sued the district with the help of the American Civil
Liberties Union. They had their first day in court Monday, as Judge
Monica Marlow considered a request for a temporary injunction
blocking the policy's enforcement.
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The issue isn't an abstract constitutional debate. One of the
students, a senior who will graduate later this spring, would
compete in a statewide flute competition Saturday but has refused a
drug test as her family fights the policy. Given the hard work
involved in reaching that level of musical contest, it's difficult
to avoid the impression that the district's policy, however
well-intentioned, is punishing the wrong kids.
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[snip]
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(7) HAILEY FORMS POT COMMITTEE
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Wed, 06 May 2009
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| Source: | Idaho Mountain Express (ID)
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| Copyright: | 2009 Express Publishing, Inc
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Group To Pursue Remnants Of Marijuana Initiatives
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The city of Hailey will soon have a seven-member committee to
oversee all things cannabis. Whether the committee succeeds in
reforming marijuana laws will depend on who is on the committee and
how motivated they are to push for change.
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Hailey voters approved three marijuana and industrial hemp
initiatives in 2007 and again in 2008. The initiatives were titled
the Hailey Medical Marijuana Act, the Hailey Lowest Police Priority
Act and the Hailey Industrial Hemp Act.
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The city delayed implementing the initiatives, and instead Mayor
Rick Davis, City Councilman Don Keirn and Hailey Police Chief Jeff
Gunter filed a lawsuit last May against the city seeking judicial
review of their legality. Blaine County 5th District Court Judge
Robert J. Elgee ruled in March that most of the initiatives'
provisions were either contrary to Idaho law, in conflict with "free
speech" guarantees of the U.S. Constitution or illegal because they
address administrative functions of local government.
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But remnants of those ordinances still exist, including a call to
form a community oversight committee.
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"The people voted for this and they are getting the committee as
required," City Attorney Ned Williamson said. "I'm not sure what
will come out of them. They were never designed to make laws or
implement policy."
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The committee will instead make recommendations to the City Council
in keeping with the remaining provisions in the three ordinances,
which only have portions of the original language approved by
voters. The most significant declares the city in support of the
legalization of industrial hemp.
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Seven committee members will be appointed--one by the mayor, one by
the police chief and four by the City Council. The seventh will be
appointed by the Liberty Lobby, which began the city's marijuana
initiative process in 2007.
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"What the committee achieves will depend on who sits on it and how
active they are," said Mayor Davis, who is required to hear any
recommendations formulated by the committee. "The council will
decide if they are worth pursuing or not."
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[snip]
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(8) OPED: BETTER MEXICAN DRUG POLICY CAN STEM THE VIOLENCE
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Tue, 05 May 2009
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| Source: | Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
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| Copyright: | 2009 The Union Leader Corp.
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LAST MONTH, Mexico's Congress convened a special forum to consider
marijuana policy reform as a remedy for that country's current
crisis of violence. The forum bucked a century of staunch
prohibitionist history in Mexico, a history that has contributed to
the continued criminalization of marijuana use throughout North
America.
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From early on, marijuana was portrayed in Mexico as a frightening
substance that produced madness in its users. In 1897, Revista
Medica, one of Mexico's leading scientific journals, reported that
marijuana produced "pleasant visions and hallucinations," an
"expansion of the spirit that leads to exaltation" but also an
"impulsive delirium" with often fatal consequences: "It is true that
in other regions the delirium that is produced by marijuana is a
turbulent one, but in our country it reaches the point of furor,
terrible and blind impulse, and leads to murder."
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Although use of the drug was not widespread at the time, the plant
was increasingly seen as a national menace and, in 1920, was banned.
Gradually, the idea that marijuana was dangerous seeped into the
U.S., fostering American notions of "reefer madness" and eventually
helping to inspire marijuana prohibition here as well ( in 1937).
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Since then, Mexico has continued to be tough on marijuana, even in
the face of softening U.S. attitudes toward the drug. The last time
widespread sentiment for marijuana policy reform emerged in the
U.S., it was Mexico that leveled some of the harshest criticism
against the trend. "We don't accept that marijuana is less important
than heroin," Mexican Attorney General Pedro Ojeda Paullada declared
in 1974.
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A few years later, a scandal over use of the herbicide paraquat on
Mexican marijuana fields produced a similar response from Ojeda's
successor, Oscar Flores Sanchez. Paraquat spraying, which often
failed to completely destroy the targeted crops, led to the sale of
poison-soaked pot to unknowing consumers in both countries.
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Public outcry in the U.S. inspired congressional action that
threatened to eliminate funding for the program if the paraquat
spraying continued. Behind closed doors, Flores went ballistic,
warning that if the U.S. refused to back Mexico's war on marijuana,
Mexico might go soft on heroin, the major U.S. priority of that era.
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Mexico is now being forced to re-evaluate these policies.
Ironically, decades of being "tough" on drugs has produced a new
link between marijuana and violence, but of a different kind.
Indeed, the nation's "drug-related" violence today might more
accurately be termed "drug-policy-related" violence.
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[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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Drug war corruption seems to be scattered around the U.S., infecting
various police departments to certain degrees. But there's an
epidemic in one North Carolina town that just lost its last two
officers to corruption charges.
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Elsewhere, a prosecutor laments a new Supreme Court ruling; the
Dutch develop a Cannachopper; and police make a mistaken drug raid
in Canada, but unlike their American counterparts, the Canadian
police actually expressed regret.
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(9) 2 SPRING LAKE POLICE OFFICERS ARRESTED
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Tue, 05 May 2009
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| Source: | Fayetteville Observer (NC)
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| Copyright: | 2009 Fayetteville Observer
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| Author: | Drew Brooks and Corey G. Johnson
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SPRING LAKE -- The Spring Lake Police Department was stripped of its
remaining police powers Monday, and two of its officers were
arrested. Sgt. Alfonzo Devone Whittington Jr. and Sgt. Darryl Eugene
Coulter Sr. were arrested after being indicted by a special
Cumberland County grand jury. About midafternoon, Sheriff Moose
Butler and District Attorney Ed Grannis met with Police Chief A.C.
Brown and Town Manager Larry Faison to discuss the action being
taken against the Police Department. They delivered an order from
Chief District Court Judge Beth Keever saying that all criminal work
within the town, including misdemeanors, would be handled by the
Sheriff's Office.
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Grannis also said he plans to dismiss all pending misdemeanor cases
filed by Spring Lake officers and will evaluate pending felony
cases. The action, which Grannis later called unprecedented, has in
effect stripped Spring Lake police of any remaining powers.
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The Sheriff's Office set up a mobile command unit at the Spring Lake
Family Resource Center on Odell Road. Butler said roughly four
deputies on rotating shifts will work out of that location.
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Starting today, all emergency calls in the town will be forwarded to
the Sheriff's Office. Residents who need assistance should call
323-1500. Butler could not say how long his officers would handle
Spring Lake's investigations.
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[snip]
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(10) PROSECUTOR: NEW SEARCH RULES COULD FAVOR CRIMINALS
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Fri, 01 May 2009
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| Source: | Port Orchard Independent (WA)
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| Copyright: | 2009 Port Orchard Independent
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The Kitsap County Prosecutor's office has expressed concern about a
Supreme Court decision that narrows the definition of vehicular
searches, saying that it will change how policemen do their jobs
while forcing the dismissal of several criminal cases.
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"There is no upside to this," said Kitsap County Deputy Prosecutor
Chris Casad of the decision. "Unless you are a criminal, and
trafficking in stolen property or drugs."
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A Port Orchard criminal attorney disagrees, and feels the ruling is
not so significant.
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"This is neither bad nor good," Eric Fong said. "It is a further
evolution of the interpretation of the Constitution, and the
definition of individual rights.
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This is just a shift in the landscape."
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[snip]
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(11) CANNABIS-CATCHING CHOPPER IN THE NETHERLANDS
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Thu, 30 Apr 2009
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| Source: | Der Spiegel (Germany)
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| Copyright: | 2009 Der Spiegel
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Dutch police unveiled the brand new "Cannachopper" on Tuesday, the
latest addition to their crime-fighting arsenal. The unmanned
mini-helicopter is fitted with diagnostic and surveillance
instruments allowing it to detect cannabis plants from the air.
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The Organized Crime Task Force developed the chopper, which can stay
in the air for hours at a time. The Dutch police are hoping to make
great strides in their bid to uncover illegal cannabis plants.
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The cultivation of the plant is a big business in the Netherlands,
with profits estimated to have reached over 2 billion in 2008 alone.
Only around 10 percent of the crops are sold legally in the
country's many coffee shops, according to the Dutch police. The vast
majority of it is smuggled abroad.
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[snip]
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Continues : http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n486/a02.html
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(12) MEN FILE COMPLAINT AFTER RCMP USE DOG TO STORM WRONG HOUSE
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Tue, 05 May 2009
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| Source: | Globe and Mail (Canada)
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| Copyright: | 2009 The Globe and Mail Company
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VANCOUVER -- Emad Hovaizavi felt "pure terror" when the police dog
clamped its mighty jaws on his leg. He felt the animal's teeth
crunch through bone before it dragged him out of his apartment. Out
in the corridor, police kicked him in the head and ribs as he lay
face down on the floor. Men in black masks and bulletproof vests
pointed their guns at Mr. Hovaizavi.
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He tried to tell the officers they had the wrong people. He and two
men were just drinking tea at his place after work, he told them.
Police swore at him and told him to shut up.
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"I was in pure terror," Mr. Hovaizavi said in an affidavit released
yesterday by his lawyer, Craig Costantino. Mr. Hovaizavi and the two
other men have complained to the RCMP Commission for Public
Complaints about the police raid at Mr. Hovaizavi's Surrey, B.C.,
apartment on Nov. 7, 2008.
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They want to know why police burst into Mr. Hovaizavi's unit and
sent a vicious dog inside to drag two of the men out.
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"I didn't know what was happening; I just felt the crunch of my bone
as the dog bit into my right shin just above my ankle and began to
drag me out of my apartment," Mr. Hovaizavi said in the written
statement. "I screamed. I did not understand what was happening."
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Mr. Costantino described the police raid as "shocking, negligent and
incredibly reckless."
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The RCMP yesterday called the incident "regrettable" and said a
police team went to the wrong door that night. Surrey Mounties,
backed by members of the Emergency Response Team, arrived at the
building with search warrants for other units, but went to Mr.
Hovaizavi's apartment by mistake.
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[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger caused a stir last week by calling for a
public debate on cannabis legalization. As Rep. Barney Frank
explained to Lou Dobbs, when a politician calls for debate, it
generally means they are for it, but afraid it isn't popular enough
yet. http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/2009/05/08.html#a3459
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On the heels of a Zogby poll showing that about 52 per cent of
American voters are in favor of "the government's effort to legalize
marijuana," a poll in Canada found that about 65 per cent of British
Columbians prefer legalization to harsher penalties to quell
prohibition-related violence.
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The police appear to have abandoned the Nuremberg defense, "we only
enforce the law," in favor of actively and dishonestly lobbying
against medicinal cannabis regulation in Minnesota.
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Marc "The Prince of Pot" Emery came to the rescue of a diabetic woman
facing eviction for smoking medicinal cannabis in her apartment by
providing her with a Volcano Vaporizer.
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(13) GOVERNOR SAYS HE'S OPEN TO DEBATE ON LEGAL POT
(Top) |
| Source: | San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
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| Copyright: | 2009 Hearst Communications Inc. |
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| Author: | Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
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Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the time is
right to debate legalizing marijuana for recreational use in
California.
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The governor's comments were made as support grows nationwide for
relaxing pot laws and only days after a poll found that for the first
time a majority of California voters back legal marijuana. Also, a San
Francisco legislator has proposed regulating and taxing marijuana to
bring the state as much as $1.3 billion a year in extra revenue.
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Schwarzenegger was cautious when answering a reporter's question
Tuesday about whether the state should regulate and tax the substance,
saying it is not time to go that far.
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But, he said: "I think it's time for debate. I think all of those
ideas of creating extra revenues - I'm always for an open debate on
it."
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The governor said California should look to the experiences of other
nations around the world in relaxing laws on marijuana.
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Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, has introduced a bill to
regulate marijuana like alcohol, with people over 21 years old allowed
to grow, buy, sell and possess cannabis - all of which are barred by
federal law.
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[snip]
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Ammiano said he was pleased the governor is "open-minded" on the issue
and added that he was sure the two could "hash it out."
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[snip]
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Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which
advocates legalization, said the governor's comments about marijuana
are part of a "tectonic shift" in attitudes toward the issue.
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"I think, frankly, the public is going to drag the politicians into
doing what is right," he said.
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(14) 65 PER CENT IN B.C. WANT MARIJUANA TO BE LEGALIZED
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Sat, 02 May 2009
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| Source: | Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
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| Copyright: | 2009 The Vancouver Sun
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Poll Shows Support For Reducing Violence By Changing Laws
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The majority of British Columbians think the legalization of marijuana
would reduce violence related to the drug trade, an Angus Reid
Strategies poll suggests.
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Sixty-five per cent of the respondents would legalize marijuana in
order to minimize violence, while 35 per cent think harsher penalties
for marijuana trafficking are the answer.
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"The illegal marijuana industry is linked to much of the gang violence
on B.C.'s streets," said the poll, which asked respondents to choose
between either the legalization of pot or increased penalties as a way
to decrease violence. Police have linked at least 17 of this year's 34
homicides in the Lower Mainland to gangs or drugs.
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The poll also found 77 per cent of Green party and 74 per cent of NDP
voters support legalizing pot.
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The B.C. Green party's platform includes the legalization and
regulation of marijuana, while decriminalization or legalization are
absent from both NDP and Liberal platforms. The Liberals have
committed to increasing the number of police officers and prosecutors
working on gang crime.
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"The poll shows that people are way ahead of politicians on this
issue," said Neil Boyd, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University.
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[snip]
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The poll of 822 people, conducted from April 24 to 26, has a margin of
error of 3.4 percentage points, 19 times in 20.
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(15) BOTH SIDES: RISKS FAR OUTWEIGH BENEFITS FROM 'MEDICAL' MARIJUANA
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Mon, 04 May 2009
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| Source: | Post-Bulletin (Rochester, MN)
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| Copyright: | 2009 Post-Bulletin Company, LLC
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| Note: | Dennis J. Flaherty is the executive director and chief lobbyist
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of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.
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This year at the Legislature we're at it again, engaged in what has
become the annual debate about "medical" marijuana.
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The stage has long been set. On one side you have a group of people
wanting to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, and on the other
you have every legitimate group in our state representing law
enforcement. Very soon our elected representatives will have to choose
a side. They will decide on what type of Minnesota they want.
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You have a very loosely written piece of legislation that, if passed,
would clearly hamper law enforcement's ability to enforce marijuana
laws. Laws on both the state and federal level prohibit the possession
and sale of marijuana. If legalized for any purpose, it will put us in
conflict with the feds.
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In addition, it creates penalty provisions for unlawful cultivation,
distribution and possession of the drug that are much less severe than
existing statutes.
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The proposal gives the Commissioner of Health the sole responsibility
to regulate this new bureaucracy and excludes the Commissioner of
Public Safety with any oversight role. The very agency best suited to
help regulate this new industry will be sidelined.
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The proposal does not limit the use of marijuana to treating patients
confronting a terminal illness, but instead would allow many to access
it including for the treatment of pain. Don't believe that it is
designed only for those that are in the final stages of their life
finding some relief from a "joint." That is not what the bill says.
|
The facts are that marijuana is a drug that is associated with violent
crimes such as robberies and assaults. Many have and will resort to
almost anything to get their hands on it. Families and caregivers of
the sick could easily become victims of yet another illness called
crime.
|
[snip]
|
|
|
(16) MEDICAL-POT USER GIVEN WAY TO ELIMINATE SMELL
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Thu, 07 May 2009
|
|---|
| Source: | Province, The (CN BC)
|
|---|
| Copyright: | 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc. |
|---|
|
Wheelchair-bound double-amputee Marilyn Holsten is clearing the air in
her pot-puffing fight with her landlord.
|
Holsten, who faces eviction at the end of the month because she smokes
marijuana inside her East Vancouver suite, was yesterday given a
vapourizer by pot activist Marc Emery and his wife, Jodie. Emery and
his wife dropped the $750 German-made Volcano Vaporizer off at
Holsten's suite on East 8th Avenue and she wasted no time in putting
it to use.
|
Besides the donated vapourizer, Holsten was also given a baggie of
Blueberry Island Sweet Skunk, a marijuana variant prized by pot
puffers.
|
After a quick instructional session on using the high-end machine,
Holsten took a few tokes and sang praise of the machine that allows
her to get stoned while eliminating smoke.
|
"Wow is this ever nice, it doesn't burn your throat," said Holsten,
49, who uses marijuana to help with the unbearable pain she gets in
the stumps of her legs. Holsten is a diabetic and has lived for more
than eight years in a building run by the nonprofit Anavets Seniors
Citizens Housing Society.
|
After pot smoke was detected coming from her suite, she was given an
eviction notice in April 2008. In order to stay, she was forced to
sign a document promising to light up outdoors only. Then last month
Holsten was given a final eviction notice after management said the
smell of pot was noticed in public areas of the building.
|
[snip]
|
|
|
International News
|
|
We give a special focus this week to C-15, a proposed harsh new
Canadian mandatory-minimum law, which actually targets cannabis
users.
|
The Canadian Conservative Party got a snoot full this week on
proposed new mandatory-minimum-for-pot laws which are ostensibly are
aimed at gangs and gun crimes, but instead will lock up small-time
marijuana users in great numbers. The NDP and Bloc Quebecois parties
oppose the Draconian new mandatory minimum laws. "[C-15] is a
wonderful gift to organized crime," noted University of Ottawa law
professor Eugene Oscapella.
|
In the Telegraph-Journal newspaper from New Brunswick, Canada, Max
Wolfe pulls out the 50-year-old LeDain Commission report and wonders
why it was buried. The 1972 Canadian government report found there
"was no evidence that the moderate use of moderate amounts of
marijuana harmed anyone's health, was addictive, led to crime or to
the use of more potent drugs." So why not legalize in Canada? One
oft-expressed fear: the U.S. "would probably send in the Marines if
we tried to legalize drugs."
|
While witness after witness testified that mandatory minimums would
do nothing but pack Canada's prisons with petty cannabis users,
Conservatives trotted out a hired choir of paid police and regular
RCMP consultants like Dr. Daryl Plecas to bolster the case for C-15
as a "tough" new "tool" to allow hamstrung police to go after only
the most dangerous organized criminals (grandpa and grandma with a
single pot plant in the basement).
|
Finally this week, from British Columbia, Canada, candidate Chris
Emery is interviewed in the Salmon Arm Observer. Keeping cannabis
illegal is "the lifeblood of gangs and the violence that brings on.
They ended alcohol prohibition and with it went bathtub gin, Al
Capone and the Purple Gang... [T]he vast majority of Canadians want
to see it legalized. So does the Canadian senate. So does a Royal
Commission that we're not listening to."
|
|
(17) TORIES' TOUGH DRUG PROPOSALS DRAW SCORN
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Mon, 04 May 2009
|
|---|
| Source: | Calgary Herald (CN AB)
|
|---|
| Copyright: | 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc.
|
|---|
| Author: | Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service
|
|---|
|
Under Canada's proposed new drug laws, an 18-year-old who shares a
joint with a 17-year-old friend could end up in jail.
|
Small-time addicts, who are convicted of pushing drugs near schools,
parks, malls or any other prospective youth hangouts, would be
automatically imprisoned for two years.
|
And growers caught selling even one plant to a friend would also be
incarcerated.
|
The Harper government's bill to impose Canada's first mandatory
minimum prison sentences for drug crimes -- removing discretion for
judges to sentence as they see fit--has come under intense scrutiny
in public hearings that began last week.
|
[snip]
|
The all-party committee will likely get an earful again today when
it hears from another half-dozen opponents, including Ottawa drug
policy analyst Eugene Oscapella.
|
"It's a wonderful gift to organized crime," said Oscapella, a lawyer
who teaches at the University of Ottawa.
|
"We're going to drive some of the smaller players out of the
business and they'll be replaced by people who do not respond to
law-enforcement initiatives," he said.
|
The Conservative government proposes to automatically jail dealers
and growers at a time when several American states, most recently
New York, have retreated from mandatory minimum sentences, saying
they are a glaring symbol of the failed U. S. war on drugs.
|
[snip]
|
|
|
(18) CALL OFF THE WAR ON DRUGS
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Sat, 02 May 2009
|
|---|
| Source: | Telegraph-Journal (Saint John, CN NK)
|
|---|
| Copyright: | 2009 Brunswick News Inc.
|
|---|
|
Does anyone remember Gerald LeDain?
|
He created more stir in this country in his time than most would ever
do. He was a Supreme Court of Canada justice and the author of what
became known popularly as the LeDain Commission Report on the non-
medical use of drugs in Canada, In simple terms, it stated there was
no evidence that the moderate use of moderate amounts of marijuana
harmed anyone's health, was addictive, led to crime or to the use of
more potent drugs. On the other hand, apart from the obvious and
significant financial cost, the prohibition of the use of marijuana
entailed extraordinary means of enforcement that has the potential of
leading to corruption and brutality.
|
It suggested that enforcement costs might be better spent elsewhere.
It urged the feds to repeal possession laws and let people grow
their own supply for personal use. And guess what came of the
report.... Nothing. I am sure no one is surprised.
|
[snip]
|
The arguments against prohibition are old and oft repeated, but we
keep forgetting - or at least the prohibition people do. Do we try
to regulate mountaineering, scuba diving and rock-climbing... to say
nothing of rugby or hockey? They are more dangerous than many
illegal drugs. We discourage smoking and obesity, but we don't make
them illegal.
|
[snip]
|
We have a particular problem here in Canada. The States would
probably send in the Marines if we tried to legalize drugs. But even
they are coming to the realization that the whole idea of a war on
drugs simply isn't working and probably never has.
|
There is a comparatively progressive incumbent in the White House.
It's an opening and we should take it. It's time for a re-think.
|
|
|
(19) POT PLAN GETS FEDERAL EAR
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Fri, 01 May 2009
|
|---|
| Source: | Surrey Leader (CN BC)
|
|---|
| Copyright: | 2009 Surrey Leader
|
|---|
|
Give cities and police the tools and legislation they need to hammer
down the growing marijuana trade, Mayor Dianne Watts was expected to
tell a powerful federal justice committee Thursday night.
|
A team of five were to appear before the Standing Committee on
Justice and Human Rights in Vancouver in order to address this
region's problem with pot grow operations.
|
Watts was joined by City of Langley Mayor Peter Fassbender, Surrey
Fire Chief Len Garis, RCMP Supt. Janice Armstrong and criminologist
Dr. Darryl Plecas.
|
The appearance before the standing committee is being described as
"one of the highest levels yet" that will hear potential solutions
to the marijuana trade.
|
[snip]
|
The Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights has the power to
conduct investigations and recommend policy or legislative changes.
|
|
|
(20) BILLIONS LOST BECAUSE OF PROHIBITION, SAYS EMERY
(Top) |
| Pubdate: | Wed, 29 Apr 2009
|
|---|
| Source: | Salmon Arm Observer (CN BC)
|
|---|
| Copyright: | 2009 Salmon Arm Observer
|
|---|
|
Not legalizing marijuana is costing billions, says the Marijuana
Party candidate in the Shuswap riding, and that's why he's running
for office.
|
"I'm running to keep the discussion about pot honest," says
candidate Chris Emery, running for a second consecutive time in this
riding. "I want the message to get out, not just to the general
public, but to our next representative in the legislature.
Re-legalize it - it used to be legal, we need to regulate and tax
it. Right now we spend billions chasing folks like me around, yet we
leave billions of tax dollars on the table. That's a double whammy.
It's the economics."
|
Emery says the fact that marijuana is illegal fuels
gangs.
|
"It's the lifeblood of gangs and the violence that brings on. They
ended alcohol prohibition and with it went bathtub gin, Al Capone
and the Purple Gang."
|
[snip]
|
"It's not for kids, neither is alcohol. But what bothers me is when
folks come into my kids' classrooms, with and without guns, and tell
them that my pot is the same as crystal meth and crack cocaine."
|
He says legalizing marijuana would not be introducing marijuana -
it's already here.
|
"I would say it's mainstream. Better than one in three people admit
to smoking it, but, more importantly, in survey after survey, the
vast majority of Canadians want to see it legalized. So does the
Canadian senate. So does a Royal Commission that we're not listening
to."
|
[snip]
|
|
|
HOT OFF THE 'NET
(Top)
|
MEXICAN NGOS, BRIGADIER GENERAL, UNITE IN LETTER AGAINST PLAN MEXICO
|
Human Rights Organizations Break from Amnesty International's 2008
Pro-Merida Initiative Letter
|
By Kristin Bricker, Special to The Narco News Bulletin
|
Yesterday, 72 Mexican civil society organizations and a Brigadier
General of the Mexican Army sent the following letter to US Congress
demanding that all military aid to Mexico be immediately halted. The
letter comes as the US House of Representative is considering more
than doubling 2009 funding for the war on drugs in Mexico.
|
http://narconews.com/Issue57/article3519.html
|
|
WHAT DO YOU KNOW, THE EX-DRUG CZAR IS STILL FULL OF S--T!
|
By Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
|
In a revelation that I'm sure will come as a surprise to absolutely no
one, it turns out that ex-Drug Czar John Walters is still full of s--
|
|
http://drugsense.org/url/hy24UPKq
|
|
MEXICO TO DECRIMINALISE POSSESSION OF DRUGS
|
Both Houses in Mexico's legislature have now approved a bill
decriminalising possession of small amounts of all drugs for personal
use. Both the Senate and Congress have supported the bill, meaning
that President Calderon, just needs to rubber stamp the policy before
it becomes law, expected to happen in the next few days.
|
http://drugsense.org/url/gpssBShe
|
|
OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW "DRUG CZAR"
|
From Another Top Cop: End the Drug War
|
By Norm Stamper
|
http://drugsense.org/url/FHP2qiW7
|
|
HIGH TIMES INTERVIEW WITH RICK DOBLIN OF MAPS
|
High Times magazine published an in-depth interview with MAPS
President Rick Doblin in their April edition.
|
http://maps.org/media/doblin_high_times_09.pdf
|
|
MAJORITY SUPPORT FOR MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION?
|
By Jacob Sullum
|
In a recent Zogby poll, 52 percent of voters said they supported
marijuana legalization. As far as I know, this is the first time a
national survey has found majority support for repealing cannabis
prohibition, as opposed to merely decriminalizing possession for
personal use.
|
http://www.reason.com/blog/show/133371.html
|
|
FIRST WEEK OF GLOBAL MARIJUANA MARCH
|
Drug War Chronicle, Issue #584, 5/8/09
|
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/584/2009_global_marijuana_march
|
|
THE MARIJUANA POLICY REFORM REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED
|
by Dan Bernath
|
In yet another sign of the growing acceptance for marijuana policy
reform, MPP's Rob Kampia appeared on MSNBC and CNBC yesterday to
discuss California Gov. Arnold Schwarzegger's recent statement
supporting an open discussion about ending marijuana prohibition.
|
http://drugsense.org/url/B6WLqy79
|
|
DRUG TRUTH NETWORK
|
Century of Lies - 05/03/09 - Sandee Burbank
|
Sandee Burbank director of Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse + Dr.
Robert Melamede on swine flu, Ethan Nadelmann on Colbert Report +
| Borat: | "please buy our heroin"
|
|---|
|
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2405
|
Cultural Baggage Radio Show - 05/06/09 - Brian O'dea
|
Brian O'dea, author of HIGH, Confessions of a Pot Smuggler + Phil
Smith, reporter with Stop the Drug War
|
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2407
|
|
ETHAN NADELMANN ON CNN: THE GROWING DEBATE TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA
|
Anderson Cooper of CNN does a segment on Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger and the growing debate to legalize marijuana.
|
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t01gFYPB_b8
|
|
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK
(Top)
|
DONATE TO DRUGSENSE
|
Our services are free to use, but not free to produce. Please help
out.
|
http://www.drugsense.org/donate/
|
|
CNN WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU!
|
CNN, via their I-reporter (the public) is asking for input from people
who have a loved one imprisoned.
|
To share your experience with CNN, please visit:
|
http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=255322
|
|
URGE MOVEON.ORG TO SUPPORT ENDING PROHIBITION
|
Moveon.org is one of the nation's most powerful grassroots political
organizations.
|
Imagine if they added ending drug prohibition to their action agenda?
|
If you want to suggest this to them, you can write to them here.
|
http://pol.moveon.org/feedback/fb/form.html?tp=suggest
|
Put "Ending drug prohibition is important" in the subject line.
|
|
LETTER OF THE WEEK
(Top)
|
REPEAL MARIJUANA PROHIBITION
|
By Lee Gilbert
|
An open letter to our elected representatives regarding marijuana
legalization:
|
A recent column in the Wall Street Journal ( Weekend Edition, April
26) made the case for marijuana decriminalization leading to
legalization. ( There was also a column offering an opposing
position on drugs. )
|
Also recently, the University of Colorado was the site for a
National Forum on Marijuana sponsored by the student organization
NORML. I attended some of those sessions.
|
On April 20, there was the non-sanctioned, non-violent,
civil-disobedient 4/20 cannabis celebration on the CU campus that I
observed. An estimated 10,000 people attended.
|
Marijuana is wrongly listed as a Schedule 1 drug -- that it is
highly addictive and has no medical use.
|
Clearly this classification is wrong.
|
Given the widespread and routine use of marijuana by large segments
of the public, the acknowledged use of it by prominent public
officials and its relatively safe profile ( certainly as compared to
tobacco and alcohol ), it is absolutely astounding to me that
marijuana prohibition continues.
|
That in a time of huge budget deficits we are wasting money
enforcing this marijuana prohibition, arresting and imprisoning
non-violent marijuana users at great cost and increasing violent
drug-related crime by artificially increasing the profitability of
the marijuana industry is simply unconscionable.
|
I strongly urge that you work to decriminalize and then legalize
marijuana.
|
Having on the books a law that is routinely ignored and only
selectively enforced is a prescription for disrespect for all laws.
|
It's time to repeal marijuana prohibition.
|
Lee Gilbert
Boulder
|
| Pubdate: | Mon, 27 Apr 2009
|
|---|
| Source: | Colorado Daily (Boulder, CO)
|
|---|
|
|
LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - APRIL
(Top)
|
DrugSense recognizes Darral Good from Shoreline, Washington for his
six letters published during April, bringing his career total that
we know of to 34. You may read Darral's published letters here
|
http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Darral+Good
|
|
FEATURE ARTICLE
(Top)
|
Frank J. Melton - 1949-2009: The Drug War Word Made Flesh
|
By Stephen Young
|
Frank Melton didn't just become a soldier in the drug war. Frank
Melton was his own drug war.
|
He personified all the excesses and hypocrisies that the phrase
"drug war" suggests.
|
I suspected he was someone to watch when I first read about him
seven years ago.
|
That's when Melton made the sudden transition from television
executive/commentator to the head of Mississippi's war on drugs.
|
I never met the man or even saw him in person, but while editing
this newsletter, I found it difficult not to read the news stories
about him (all which remain archived by the Media Awareness
Project).
|
After working in broadcast media for decades, Melton was suddenly
and surprisingly named to lead the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics
in 2002. Before the appointment, Melton had made a name for himself
presenting tough-talking TV commentaries in which he ranted against
criminals and those who were too soft on them.
|
He had absolutely no experience in law enforcement, criminal
justice, public health or drug policy.
|
But, as so often is the case with the drug war, rhetoric is all that
really matters, even when rhetoric is at odds with reality.
|
Within a month of his appointment, Melton turned words into action.
Not content being an administrator behind a desk, Melton went out on
calls with enforcement units.
|
He didn't just order constitutionally prohibited roadblocks in the
state's capitol; Melton knocked on motorists' windows to personally
inspect licenses. Without legitimate law enforcement credentials,
the state's attorney general noted at the time, the Narcotics Bureau
head had no legal right to even request IDs.
|
But Melton would not be deterred. He stayed on the streets,
increasingly disturbed by the legal obstacles blocking a real drug
war.
|
He expressed dismay that obtaining a warrant for a drug search cost
valuable time, and he pressed legislators to expedite the process.
|
It didn't take Melton long to realize the resources he had available
were not enough. He needed more, and wanted to take it in forfeited
assets. He thought the state should take a bigger cut, even if that
left municipal police with less.
|
But Melton's visions were derailed by politics. When a new governor
was elected, a new state drug czar was appointed. By that time,
Melton had gained enough notoriety to win his own political job.
|
He was elected Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi in 2005, with the drug
war still on his mind. He started carrying guns everywhere thanks to
a law enforcement waiver he obtained (though the federal
Transportation Security Administration reportedly insisted that he
cease bringing weapons on planes).
|
In his most notorious act as mayor, he gathered employees and
volunteers armed with sledgehammers to destroy an alleged drug
house. No warning, no warrant, just a bunch of thugs led by the
mayor, tearing down a private residence in the middle of the night.
|
This appeared to be Melton's Col. Kurtz moment, the point be became
fully integrated into the drug war. It went beyond cause or crusade.
He was his own weapon of choice, and he didn't believe that weapon
should have limitations.
|
In the drug war, results don't matter. Messages matter. Any proposed
reform will always be met with the reply, "That sends the wrong
message."
|
Though he hadn't been a TV professional for years, Melton was still
sending a message. He just delivered that message with a
sledgehammer instead of broadcast television as his primary medium.
While it's difficult to translate such a primal message into words,
I think it was intended to say: There's a new drug war in town, and
it's named Frank Melton.
|
Other authorities took notice, and Melton soon faced his own legal
troubles. Only about a year into his term, Melton was indicted on
charges stemming from the house beating incident. But he never
resigned office and never acknowledged wrongdoing.
|
By 2007, Reason Magazine ran a story naming Melton as "Worst Mayor
in America." Aside from the public relations nightmare he created
for the city, his administration took a balanced budget and ran it
into a multi-million dollar deficit.
|
Melton had created a firm power base by exploiting the drug war. But
as in the larger drug war, personal prohibition victories can be
completely illusory.
|
In recent months, he campaigned for another term as mayor. He
finished third among nine candidates in the primary election. Melton
died May 7, two days after primary voters rejected him.
|
Though he was acquitted locally, at the time of his death, Melton
was preparing to face federal civil rights charges related to the
sledgehammer raid.
|
I don't know what killed Melton; press reports have been
contradictory so far. But I suspect willing oneself to be an
instrument of war places a fair amount of stress on a human being.
|
Some news reports suggest that Melton had a history of heart
problems, but until very late in his life, he had refused to give up
tobacco and alcohol. (Other reports indicate he was actually drunk
on the night of the infamous raid).
|
Maybe if he could have broken his own obsession with other people's
drug use, Melton might have been able to address some personal
issues related to his own drugs of choice.
|
Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly. He is the producer
of the documentary Government Grown -
http://www.governmentgrownhemp.com - and the author of How to Inhale
The Universe Without Wheezing.
|
|
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
(Top)
|
"People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of
thought which they avoid." - Soren Kierkegaard
|
|
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense
offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what
DrugSense can do for you.
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
Stephen Young (), This Just In selection by
Richard Lake () and Stephen Young, International
content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (),
Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis, Hot Off The Net
selection and Layout by Matt Elrod ().
Analysis comments represent the personal views of editors, not
necessarily the views of DrugSense.
|
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter
writing activists. Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See
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