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DrugSense Weekly
May 18, 2007 #499


Table of Contents

* Breaking News (03/28/24)


* This Just In


(1) In Other Afghan War, Drugs Are Winning
(2) 'Snitching' Incited Shots, Man Testifies
(3) K-9 Drug Sweep Sparks Debate
(4) PUB LTE: Increment Of Harm

* Weekly News in Review


Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (5-8)
(5) Drug Execs Plead Guilty
(6) U.S. Will Limit Use Of Fentanyl Ingredient
(7) Good Or Bad Meth?
(8) Anti-Meth Group Sets Main Priorities

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (9-13)
(9) Undercover Sting Nabs Six Stores For Drug Violations
(10) Sombrero Incident To Get Federal Review
(11) Border Case Puts U.S. Attorney On Defensive
(12) Third Hollywood Officer Pleads Guilty In Drug Sting
(13) Police Mistakenly Raid Wrong House

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (14-18)
(14) Rosenthal Trial Begins
(15) Ricky Williams Fails Pot Test
(16) High Minded
(17) Drugs In The Dorms - A Look At Marijuana Arrests On Campus
(18) Soy's New Competition: Hemp

International News-

COMMENT: (19-22)
(19) Official's Slaying Prompts Calls For Troops In Mexico City
(20) We're Winning The War On Drugs, Police Warn Dealers
(21) Asian Gangs Develop Highly Potent Cannabis Strain
(22) Europe Unites Against Cannabis In Istanbul

* Hot Off The 'Net


    Should We Subject Teens To Virginity Tests So They Can "Just Say No?"
    Cultural Baggage Radio Show
    More Reports From Warsaw / By Allan Clear
    NPR:  Drug Violence Rampant In Mexico / By Lourdes Garcia-Navarro
    The Colombia Experiment / By Dan Gardner
    Esequiel Hernandez, Jr. Memorial Gallery

* What You Can Do This Week


    Apply For A Grant To Further Drug Policy Reform

* Letter Of The Week


    Argument Goes To Pot / Jerry Epstein

* Feature Article


    The Un-winnable War / David White

* Quote of the Week


    Ambrose Bierce

DrugSense needs your support to continue this newsletter and many
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THIS JUST IN    (Top)

(1) IN OTHER AFGHAN WAR, DRUGS ARE WINNING    (Top)

U.S.  Hopes For Colombia-Like Stability

KABUL:   In a walled compound near Kabul, two members of Colombia's
counternarcotics police force are trying to teach raw Afghan recruits how to wage close-quarter combat.

Using mock wooden AK-47 assault rifles, Lieutenant John Castaneda and Corporal John Orejuela demonstrate commando tactics to about 20 new members of what is intended to be an elite Afghan drug strike force. The recruits - who U.S.  officials say lack even basic law enforcement skills - watch wide-eyed.

"This is kindergarten," said Vincent Balbo, the U.S.  Drug Enforcement Administration chief in Kabul, whose office is overseeing the training.  "It's Narcotics 101."

Another DEA agent added, "We are at a stage now of telling these recruits, this is a handgun, this is a bullet."

It is a measure of Afghanistan's virulent opium trade, which has helped revive the Taliban while corroding the credibility of the government, that U.S.  officials now hope that Afghanistan's drug problem will someday be only as bad as that of Colombia.  While the Latin American country remains the world's cocaine capital and is still wracked by drug-related violence, U.S.  officials argue that decades of counternarcotics efforts there have at least helped stabilize the country.

"I wanted the Colombians to come here to give the Afghans something to aspire to," Balbo said.  "To instill the fact that they have been doing this for years, and it has worked."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 16 May 2007
Source:   International Herald-Tribune (International)
Website:   http://www.iht.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/212
Author:   James Risen
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n613.a09.html


(2) 'SNITCHING' INCITED SHOTS, MAN TESTIFIES    (Top)

Richmond:   Drug Dealer Was Taking Revenge For Student Telling Other
Dealers About His Actions, Says Man Facing Charges

A drug dealer who shot and killed two students at point-blank range in 2003 in Richmond did it out of revenge, testified Kimiko Wilson, who is on trial for the slayings.

"(Uichema Okeigwe) was snitching on him to other drug dealers that he was selling in central Richmond," Wilson said.

Wilson, 22, testified Wednesday on his own behalf for the second day in Superior Court in Martinez, saying he is not guilty of the June 16 shooting that killed 22-year-old Okeigwe, a student at Diablo Valley College, and 16-year-old Erica Young, who attended Mt.  Diablo High School in Concord.  Sheianna Babcock, 31, was wounded.

Prosecutors have charged Wilson with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

From the witness stand, Wilson spoke in an informal tone, swearing more than 60 times in two hours.  He described being at the scene at the moment of the slayings, the real killer's confession and the prohibition against helping police solve a crime.

Wilson sold marijuana on the streets and testified that a drug dealer who tries to sell on the turf of another drug dealer gets in big trouble.

That is what 27-year-old Marcus Rauls was doing, and Okeigwe told other drug dealers about it, Wilson testified.

"One of the main laws of the streets, or whatever the (expletive) you want to call it, is that you don't sell drugs outside your territory," he testified.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 17 May 2007
Source:   Contra Costa Times (CA)
Website:   http://www.contracostatimes.com/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/96
Author:   Bruce Gerstman
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n609.a03.html


(3) K-9 DRUG SWEEP SPARKS DEBATE    (Top)

In recent years, K-9 sweeps of schools by police have raised concerns that these searches may violate students' constitutional rights.  While some area school districts have allowed sweeps, others have not embraced the practice.

In the past year, the Colonial Board of School Directors has resisted requests by local police to perform K-9 searches of hallway lockers in district schools.

A letter from the school board's attorney claims that merely having a suspicion and not hard evidence of student drug use on campus is an insufficient reason to let the police dogs routinely search school lockers.

While fear of unreasonable searches is a legitimate concern when the animals are used to randomly sniff a student's body, clothing or book bag, the same expectation of privacy does not apply to school lockers, which are school property, according to an analysis of a 1998 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling involving a former Harborcreek High School student in Erie County.

The former student, Vincent Cass, was arrested in 1994 after a K-9 sweep of his school found marijuana and drug paraphernalia in his locker.  Cass filed a lawsuit claiming the police action constituted an unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment and Article 1, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Though the trial court granted a motion to suppress the seized evidence, and the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the ruling, the state Supreme Court ultimately reversed the decision.

The justices ruled students' measure of privacy was limited regarding school lockers, and concluded from case law that dogs sniffing lockers was not even considered a search under the Fourth Amendment, according to a case summary by legal expert Mark Strezelecki.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 17 May 2007
Source:   Colonial, The (PA)
Website:   http://www.zwire.com/site/news.asp?brd=1306
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/4504
Author:   Keith Phucas
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n614.a12.html


(4) PUB LTE: INCREMENT OF HARM    (Top)

Government Obsession With Drug Crime Has Overshadowed The Needs Of The Truly Marginalised

UK drug policy is unique.  In no other area of social policy do we criminalise at one stroke both recreation and disadvantage.  In no other area have we seen so much evidence of the counterproductive effects of a predominantly criminal justice response to a public health problem.  And we have seen almost no genuine debate or evidence- based scrutiny from ministers.  The last 10 years of this parliament's tacit and active support for a policy based on moral panic has finally broken the camel's back.  As the Home Office reviews its last 10-year strategy - results are expected next month - the Drugs and Health Alliance has been formed to bring together organisations committed to bringing about a public health-led approach for the next decade.

In the mid-80s the Conservative government, in the face of a potential HIV/Aids epidemic, initiated a proactive harm reduction strategy that led to the UK having one of the world's lowest rates of HIV.  It was based exclusively on a pragmatic public health and harm reduction approach to dealing with unsafe sex and injecting.  No one suggested that we should ramp up penalties for injecting drugs or make unsafe sex illegal.  How times have changed. Twenty years later there are significant political taboos among senior policymakers who dare question the prevailing tough criminal justice line on drugs.  The result has been that most of the drugs initiatives in the last decade have had draconian law-making at their core.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 16 May 2007
Source:   Guardian, The (UK)
Website:   http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Author:   Danny Kushlick
Cited:   http://www.drugshealthalliance.net/
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n610.a11.html


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW    (Top)

Domestic News- Policy


COMMENT: (5-8)    (Top)

The fine line between legal and illegal drugs may be getting hazier as Purdue Pharma executives pled guilty last week to misleading the public about the true nature of Oxycontin, the company's most popular product.  It seems the narcs will go after anyone they want, even if their product is legal.  Along the same lines, federal regulators are ready to ban one of the ingredients in the legal pain-killer fentanyl; and a private company claims to have a test that will make the distinction between the use of "good meth and bad meth." And, in another exercise in futility, another state is eagerly awaiting a report from its anti-meth task force .


(5) DRUG EXECS PLEAD GUILTY    (Top)

Oxycontin Makers Misled Public About Addictive Painkiller

ROANOKE, Va..  - The maker of the powerful painkiller OxyContin and three of its current and former executives pleaded guilty Thursday to misleading the public about the drug's risk of addiction, a federal prosecutor and the company said.  Purdue Pharma LP, its president, top lawyer and former chief medical officer will pay $634.5 million in fines for claiming the drug was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain medications, U.S.  Attorney John Brownlee said.

The plea agreement settled a national case and came two days after the Stamford, Conn.-based company agreed to pay $19.5 million to 26 states and the District of Columbia to settle complaints that it encouraged physicians to overprescribe OxyContin.

"With its OxyContin, Purdue unleashed a highly abusable, addictive, and potentially dangerous drug on an unsuspecting and unknowing public," Brownlee said.  "For these misrepresentations and crimes, Purdue and its executives have been brought to justice."

Privately held Purdue learned from focus groups with physicians in 1995 that doctors were worried about the abuse potential of OxyContin.  The company then gave false information to its sales representatives that the drug had less potential for addiction and abuse than other painkillers, the U.S.  attorney said.

Ken Jost of the Justice Department's Office of Consumer Litigation said this case should put pharmaceutical companies on notice that they won't be able to get away with breaking the law to make a profit.

"The things that they plot in their boardrooms, the things that they do behind closed doors will not stay behind closed doors," Jost said.  "We have the people, we have the resources. We'll take the time and we'll take the effort to find out what they did and how they did it." Purdue Pharma said it accepted responsibility for its employees' actions and has implemented changes to prevent a similar occurrence.  Company Chief Executive Officer Michael Friedman, general counsel Howard Udell and former chief medical officer Paul Goldenheim each pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of misbranding the drug.  Of the total fine, $34.5 million was levied on those three.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 11 May 2007
Source:   Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright:   2007 The Charlotte Observer
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/78
Author:   Sue Lindsey, Associated Press
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n587/a09.html


(6) U.S. WILL LIMIT USE OF FENTANYL INGREDIENT    (Top)

WASHINGTON -- The federal government announced Monday that it will regulate a chemical that can be used in the production of fentanyl, a powerful drug often combined with heroin and blamed in the deaths of more than 200 people in metro Detroit since late 2005.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said the government will regulate the manufacture, importation, exportation and distribution of the chemical N-phenethyl-4-piperidone, also known as NPP.

Officials say NPP is a base chemical used in production of fentanyl in the United States and has been seen in several fentanyl labs raided in the last seven years.

"If we can control the precursor, hopefully we can reduce the illicit manufacture of fentanyl," Deputy Drug Czar Scott Burns said Monday.

However, law enforcement authorities say Mexico was the likely source of many overdoses in cities, including Detroit, last year.

Fentanyl -- as much as 50 times more powerful than heroin -- is blamed in more than 1,000 overdose deaths in the United States since 2005, the drug policy office said.

The office said Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia have seen an extremely high number of fentanyl-related deaths.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 08 May 2007
Source:   Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright:   2007 Detroit Free Press
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/125
Author:   Todd Spangler
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n579/a07.html


(7) GOOD OR BAD METH?    (Top)

COVINGTON - A small tech firm in Covington has developed a way to tell whether people who take drug tests have been using the "bad" methamphetamine - the illegal street drug - or its chemical half-sister, "good" meth, which is a common ingredient in over-the-counter cold relief products.

ASAP Analytical in November bought the rights to build computerized systems that separate materials into their basic molecular structures and then use infrared light to analyze the unique "fingerprint" of every chemical in a material.

Had the test been developed years earlier, it might have helped British skier Alain Baxter show beyond doubt after the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics that he had used the Vicks inhaler. Baxter, known as "the Highlander," was stripped of his bronze medal in slalom skiing.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport several months later cleared Baxter of suspicion he had intended to cheat by using the Vicks inhaler.  But his Olympic medal was not reinstated.

Baxter participated in the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics and still competes.

Today, law-enforcement agencies can use ASAP's combination of gas chromatography and infrared spectroscopy to determine what form of methamphetamine someone on parole or probation has used.

"It actually shows up different in two parts of the ( infrared ) spectrum, so now you can differentiate between 'd' ( dextro- ) and 'l' ( levo- ) forms of methamphetamine," said Lewis Smith, a forensic scientist with the New Jersey State Police South Regional Laboratory.  "And that is really good."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 13 May 2007
Source:   Cincinnati Enquirer (OH)
Copyright:   2007 The Cincinnati Enquirer
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/86
Author:   Mike Rutledge
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n599/a02.html


(8) ANTI-METH GROUP SETS MAIN PRIORITIES    (Top)

Gov.  Janet Napolitano's Methamphetamine Task Force on Monday unveiled 10 priority recommendations on how Arizona can fight meth use and related crimes.

The main priorities include:

- -- Expanding prevention programs for high-risk populations, schools, rural areas and tribal nations.

- -- Working with the Office of Homeland Security and tribal governments to prevent the trafficking of methamphetamine and chemicals used to make the drug.

- -- Expanding treatment for meth users, including treatment alternatives to prison.

"This is the first time in this state that there is a coordinated effort to address what is possibly the No.  1 drug problem in the state," said Barbara LaWall, Pima County attorney and task force chairwoman.  "Now we're going to have to do mini-action-plans for each step."

From 2004 to 2005, methamphetamine-related hospital admissions in Arizona rose by 20 percent, according to the task force's report.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 08 May 2007
Source:   Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ)
Copyright:   2007 Arizona Daily Star
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/23
Author:   Nathan Olivarez-Giles
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n579/a04.html


Law Enforcement & Prisons


COMMENT: (9-13)    (Top)

North Carolina police have advice for sellers of alleged drug paraphernalia: Don't say what it's for.  Officers arrested six store owners who acknowledged that products could be used for drug activity.

Out of all of the outrages of the drug war, photographing a drug suspect with a sombrero on his head might not seem like the worst, but this is the one federal officials are taking seriously, perhaps because they are still taking heat for prosecuting a pair of border patrol agents who illegally shot suspects.

Also last week, more corruption and incompetence made possible only by the drug war.


(9) UNDERCOVER STING NABS SIX STORES FOR DRUG VIOLATIONS    (Top)

You're a store clerk and a customer walks up to the cash register with a set of digital scales, then says, "Man, I want to buy these to weigh my cocaine."

What do you do? Hint: The correct answer is not "Complete the sale."

Six convenience-store owners in High Point learned that lesson the hard way Friday as they and some of their employees were cited for allegedly making such sales to undercover agents.

Officers from the state Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement and the High Point Police Department issued citations for drug violations at four stores on various parts of Green Drive, and at one each on Kivett Drive and West English Road.

Undercover detectives bought scales, smoking pipes, rolling papers, plastic bags and cigars, none of which amounted to a crime until the purchaser told the clerk about their purported use with drugs, said ALE investigator Chris Poole .

"They should have refused to sell at that point," Poole said.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 12 May 2007
Source:   Greensboro News & Record (NC)
Copyright:   2007 Greensboro News & Record, Inc.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/173
Author:   Taft Wireback
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n591/a11.html


(10) SOMBRERO INCIDENT TO GET FEDERAL REVIEW    (Top)

U.S.  Attorney 'Troubled' By Report Of Agent's Photo Of Drug Trafficking Suspect

RALEIGH - A federal review was launched Friday into an incident in which a Drug Enforcement Administration agent forced a drug trafficking suspect to pose for a photograph wearing a sombrero and holding a Mexican flag.  George Holding, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announced in a news release Friday that he was "troubled" by an article in Thursday's News & Observer about the case.  He has asked the Department of Justice, which oversees both the U.S.  Attorney's Office and the DEA, to determine whether Jorge Hernandez-Villalvazo's civil rights were violated.  "Regardless of what crime an individual may have committed, all are entitled to humane and respectful treatment by the criminal justice system," Holding stated.  Although the photograph was taken in the spring of 2005, its existence wasn't made public until this week.

The DEA has not released the agent's name, in line with its policy not to identify agents in most situations.  The federal agency is doing its own investigation into the circumstances surrounding the photograph, said Ruth Porter-Whipple, an Atlanta-based spokeswoman for the federal agency.  The agent worked from the DEA's office on Falls of Neuse Road in Raleigh at the time of the incident.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 12 May 2007
Source:   News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Copyright:   2007 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Author:   Sarah Ovaska
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n594/a07.html


(11) BORDER CASE PUTS U.S. ATTORNEY ON DEFENSIVE    (Top)

Johnny Sutton prosecuted a pair of agents who shot a fleeing Mexican smuggler.

Conservatives are up in arms.

WASHINGTON -- Internet cartoons show him with horns and the word "TRAITOR" branded on his forehead.  Conservative talk radio derides him as "Johnny Satan." At least two Republican congressmen, normally staunch defenders of the Bush administration, have castigated him on the House floor.

If the White House and Justice Department had added Johnny Sutton to the list of federal prosecutors to be fired, his ouster probably would not have raised an eyebrow among Democrats, and it would have pleased much of the president's conservative base.

Sutton is the U.S.  attorney in west Texas. Based in San Antonio, his border district reaches to El Paso.  For five years he has been the top federal lawman in one of the nation's busiest regions, a job he long dreamed of having.  It also is one he secured with deep ties to President Bush and Atty.  Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, going back to their time in state government in Austin.

The uproar is over his prosecution of two U.S.  Border Patrol agents for the February 2005 shooting of a fleeing Mexican drug smuggler near El Paso, a shooting the agents tried to cover up.  Last year, Sutton's office won convictions against Agents Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.

Each was a line officer in what many people consider a hopeless chore: trying to hold back a deluge of illegal immigrants from Mexico.  Each is a father of three. And each was sentenced to more than a decade in prison: Ramos to 11 years, Compean to 12.

"This was a serious, serious crime," Sutton said Thursday on a conservative radio program in Houston, trying again to calm the anger on the political right.  "It is a serious crime when law enforcement officers shoot at somebody, shoot him in the back as he's running away, and then cover up the crime."

The agents were sentenced in October, just as the White House and Justice Department were preparing plans to fire eight other federal prosecutors, and the parallel events have left normally strong Bush supporters disappointed that Sutton was not terminated too.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 14 May 2007
Source:   Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright:   2007 Los Angeles Times
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author:   Richard A.  Serrano, Times Staff Writer
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n598/a01.html


(12) THIRD HOLLYWOOD OFFICER GUILTY IN DRUG STING

A third Hollywood police officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to heroin conspiracy charges arising from an undercover FBI corruption sting in which federal agents posed as mobsters involved in drug trafficking, illegal gambling and stolen valuables.

Detective Thomas Simcox, 50, pleaded guilty to being one of four Hollywood officers who helped escort a large load of what they thought was heroin concealed inside a truck from Miami Beach to northern Broward County in November 2006.  In reality, the drugs were fake and the traffickers were FBI agents.

"Guilty, your honor," Simcox told U.S.  District Judge Donald Graham when asked for a plea.

Graham set sentencing for July 18.  The drug charge carries a sentence of between 10 years and life in prison, but because Simcox cooperated with the FBI he could receive a reduced sentence if prosecutors recommend one.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 09 May 2007
Source:   Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright:   2007 The Miami Herald
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/262
Author:   Curt Anderson
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n257/a02.html
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n578/a01.html


(13) POLICE MISTAKENLY RAID WRONG HOUSE    (Top)

Officers with the Hendersonville Police Department mistakenly entered the wrong house when executing a search warrant early Saturday morning.

Two teams of officers were executing a search warrant shortly after 1 a.m.  at 729 Geneva St., when one team of three officers went to the rear of the wrong house, said Capt.  John Nicholson.

The team coming to the rear of the house had to cross yards and over a fence, Nicholson said.

"The officers became disoriented, entered the wrong house and told the people to get down," Nicholson said.

There was a party at 208 Oak St., the house entered by mistake and the residence of Dennis and Sandra Braswell, Nicholson said.

"Two of the people at the party, when they saw the officers, took off running," Nicholson said.

This added to the confusion.

"The third officer with the team realized they were at the wrong house, told the rest of the team, and they began exiting," he said.

There were no injuries.  There was minor damage to the house, Nicholson said.

"The Police Department will see to it the damage is repaired," he said.  "We met with the owners and apologized.

"This has never happened before," Nicholson said.

There were some underage youths at the party on Oak Street, he said. Officers notified the youths' parents, who came and picked up the young people.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 13 May 2007
Source:   Hendersonville Times-News (NC)
Copyright:   2007 Hendersonville Newspaper Corporation
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/793
Author:   Jennie Jones Giles
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n592/a05.html


Cannabis & Hemp-


COMMENT: (14-18)    (Top)

Ed Rosenthal's federal trial on marijuana growing charges got off to an interesting start as the defendant's attorney made heroic efforts to let the jury know the case is really about medical marijuana, even though the judge has barred anyone from saying so in the courtroom.  In other celebrity cannabis news, football star Ricky Williams has failed another drug test.

College students, and even college journalists are starting to ask the right questions about cannabis prohibition.  At one Washington state university, students used campus voting to recommend equalizing the penalties for alcohol and marijuana.  At a Washington, D.C.  university, the student newspaper took an in-depth look at marijuana distribution arrests on campus.

And, finally, the Los Angeles Times took reported at the taste and nutritional value of hemp.


(14) ROSENTHAL TRIAL BEGINS    (Top)

San Francisco Pot Advocate's New Trial Begins

The lawyer for marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal pushed as far as she could Tuesday against a judge's edict to keep the subject of medical marijuana out of his retrial on federal cultivation charges, trying to let jurors know that Rosenthal was growing cannabis for sick patients. Defense attorney Shari Greenberger began her opening statement in federal court in San Francisco by addressing jurors as "fellow Californians,'' a less-than-subtle reminder that state voters legalized marijuana for medical use in 1996.  She later acknowledged that "this is a federal case brought by the federal government.  There are certain areas where we cannot go.'' Greenberger said, "Mr. Rosenthal is a scientist and the government will attempt to suppress his ideas.  ... For the past 40 years, my client, Ed Rosenthal, has been a proponent of marijuana advocacy and reform, and that is why we are here.'' Her opening statement drew repeated objections from the prosecution, and U.S.  District Judge Charles Breyer told the jurors they were there to decide whether Rosenthal was guilty of growing marijuana, not to draw conclusions about why the government was prosecuting him.

For his part, Assistant U.S.  Attorney George Bevan described the case as a straightforward prosecution for marijuana cultivation.  He reminded the jurors in his opening statement that they had promised to apply the law according to Breyer's instructions.  Rosenthal, 62, an authority on marijuana cultivation and writer of numerous books and magazine articles on the subject, was arrested in 2002 and charged with growing thousands of plants in an Oakland warehouse for patients at a San Francisco dispensary.  He was convicted in 2003 but sentenced by Breyer to only one day in jail, which he had already served.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 16 May 2007
Source:   San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright:   2007 Hearst Communications Inc.
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author:   Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/people/Ed+Rosenthal (Ed Rosenthal)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n606/a06.html


(15) RICKY WILLIAMS FAILS POT TEST    (Top)

NFL Advised To Delay Miami Dolphin Running Back's Reinstatement

Ricky Williams, who spent last season in the CFL while serving an NFL drug suspension, has tested positive again for marijuana, according to a source.

A person familiar with the case said the former NFL rushing champion tested positive last month.

Williams had applied to the NFL for reinstatement in April but following the latest positive drug test, clinicians in the program advised league commissioner Roger Goodell to delay reinstatement, the source said.

Both the NFL and Dolphins declined comment.  Leigh Steinberg, Williams' agent, did not immediately return a telephone message.

Williams spent the 2006 season with the Toronto Argonauts, rushing for 526 yards on 109 carries but missed two months with a broken arm and Achilles tendon injury.  But yesterday in Toronto, Argos president Keith Pelley said if Williams has indeed tested positive, he won't be able to find refuge in the CFL this season.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sat, 12 May 2007
Source:   Hamilton Spectator (CN ON)
Copyright:   2007 The Hamilton Spectator
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/181
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/people/Ricky+Williams
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n591/a05.html


(16) HIGH MINDED    (Top)

Sophomore Smokes Out UW's Hypocritical Drug Policy

With 65 percent approving, University of Washington students passed a referendum May 10 advising the school to equalize penalties for alcohol and pot.  That's the first step in changing campus policy.

Currently, according to UW's official alcohol and drug-abuse statement, students are prohibited from using either substance on campus: "Violation of the University's alcohol and drug prohibitions is cause for disciplinary or other appropriate action."

However, according to Tim Kelly, the sophomore behind the pot vote ( he's the president of UW's chapter of NORML/SSDP, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and Students for Sensible Drug Policy ), there's a disparity when it comes to enforcement.  Residential advisers, who are like dorm moms, have repeatedly told Kelly they are allowed to simply pour a student's hooch down the drain.  End of story ( even for minors ). But if marijuana is suspected, residential advisers are required to call the UW police--and then students face arrest, suspension, expulsion, or eviction from student housing.

Chris Jaehne, assistant director of residential life, confirms most of Kelly's depiction, but maintains that alcohol infractions are written up and minors could face punishment.

"The penalties for each substance should reflect the harms of the substance to the individuals," Kelly says.  "The system the school has for alcohol works fine, so they should use that system for marijuana."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 15 May 2007
Source:   Stranger, The (Seattle, WA)
Copyright:   2007 The Stranger
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/2241
Author:   Dominic Holden
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n607/a12.html


(17) DRUGS IN THE DORMS - A LOOK AT MARIJUANA ARRESTS ON CAMPUS    (Top)

Freshman Sriram Prakash was standing outside of Package Services when an early snow fell Jan.  15. Handcuffs bound his arms behind his back.

Flanked by two Metropolitan Police Department officers wearing civilian clothing, Prakash was arrested on drug charges.  The undercover officers had waited in Foggy Bottom until Prakash arrived at Package Services to retrieve a box filled with marijuana.

Each year, several students are arrested by MPD on charges of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.  These arrests have become more prevalent on campus in recent years, according to police records obtained by The Hatchet under the D.C.  Freedom of Information Act and University officials.  Prakash is one of at least four students to be arrested this academic year on this type of drug charge.

Many of the students arrested by MPD on intent to distribute charges are evicted from University housing and expelled from GW.  Rarely do these students serve any time in jail for their offenses, though many are on probation, according to police and court records obtained by The Hatchet.

Statistics for drug law arrests have fluctuated drastically in the past decade, but University officials said arrests for drug distribution are more prevalent this year.

"We have seen a rise in cases that involve distribution of drugs," said Tara Woolfson, director of Student Judicial Services, in an e-mail.  "This is a significant concern for us. I can't speculate as to why we have seen an increase."

[snip[

Pubdate:   Mon, 14 May 2007
Source:   GW Hatchet (George Washington U, DC Edu)
Copyright:   2007 The GW Hatchet
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/757
Author:   Bryan Han
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n600/a08.html


(18) SOY'S NEW COMPETITION: HEMP    (Top)

Breads, Bars And Milk Are Flying Off The Shelves, But Excitement Is Outpacing Evidence

Like a bloodhound, Gira Balistreri is racing through the palatial Whole Foods Market in El Segundo, sniffing out some of her favorite foods.

A new employee at the 65,000-square-foot flagship store, she goes directly to several shelves of hemp shakes and snacks, then trots over to tidy rows of hemp butter and oil, then rushes down an aisle and snaps up a fresh package of hemp tortillas on her way to the hemp bars, hemp bread and hemp bagels.

"Hemp," she says excitedly, "is just an awesome seed."

Balistreri isn't alone in her devotion.  In the last two years, sales of hemp food products in markets and grocery stores rose by more than 50%, propelling the unassuming seed to an $8.6-million industry, according to SPINS, a market research and consulting firm for the natural products industry.

Hemp foods began filtering into grocery stores about five years ago, after the 1998 legalization of industrial hemp farming in Canada. The U.S.  currently prohibits commercial cultivation of industrial hemp, but allows the import of seeds, oil, flour and other byproducts to be manufactured into ready-to-eat foods in the U.S.

The plant's shelled seed, or nut, can be added to baked goods and nutritional supplements and bars, sprinkled onto other foods such as salads and yogurt, or eaten alone as a snack.  The seed can also be milled into flour, which can be used for baked goods, and pressed to make oil, which can be used in salad dressings, dips, spreads and sauces.  ( Due to its high unsaturated fat content, hemp oil must be refrigerated and is unsuitable for frying.  )

There are hundreds of hemp foods now available online and on supermarket shelves, says Robin Rogosin, a certified nutritionist and buyer for Whole Foods Market.  Rogosin estimates that the chain's selection has tripled in the last year.  Hemp milk, the newest addition, is flying off the shelves, she says.

"We're shipping truckloads -- 60,000 liters of it so far," confirms Mike Fata, president and co-founder of Canada's Manitoba Harvest, which introduced Hemp Bliss milk in March.

Living Harvest, an Oregon-based hemp food manufacturer, is forecasting just under $5 million in sales in 2007 -- a three-fold increase from 2006, largely due to sales of its own hemp milk product, Hempmilk, company President Christina Volgyesi says.

Hemp appeals to consumers for several reasons.  It can be used as an alternative to soy products such as soy milk, which some people can't tolerate.  Some people find hemp foods tasty. ( We'll get to that in a minute.  ) Others are attracted to hemp's nutritional value.  This may be its strongest draw.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 14 May 2007
Source:   Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright:   2007 Los Angeles Times
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author:   Janet Cromley, Times Staff Writer
Bookmark:   http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n598/a03.html


International News


COMMENT: (19-22)    (Top)

In Mexico, President Calderon's splendid little War on Drugs takes a new turn as the head of a federal anti-narcotics intelligence unit, Jose Nemesio Lugo Felix, was killed last week.  The killing of this "high-ranking official" who worked out of the attorney general's office in Mexico City led critics to complain Calderon's ramped-up drug war "has made the violence worse, and that he was not fully prepared for the escalation of violence that followed."

When police want to paint prohibition as a success, they make some busts, and call press conferences to crow they have taken 'drugs off the street'.  South African police are no different, and last week made the claim that some recent large busts there, instead of indicating large supplies, meant that "we're winning the war on drugs." The claim, reported in the South African Cape Argus newspaper, hailed assertions by the "SA Police Service, the U.S. government and independent South African security experts" that South Africa "is winning the war against drugs." However, there were some clouds on the drug-free horizon, the Cape Argus paper let on, as "accusations of police corruption are frequent." And the "major obstacle" to a drug-free utopia? The "low level of co-operation received from the public."

If you're a Prime Minister, and your foreign military adventures go sour, what do you do? Why, you loudly ramp up a war on drugs (read: cannabis) back home, that's what you do.  (Ignoring the existence of things like hashish or Thai cannabis), you can stoke fears by accusing shadowy foreign criminal gangs of developing "a new form of incredibly potent cannabis" which is grown by "Vietnamese criminal gangs in Canada".  This dark "new threat" was "revealed", says The Advertiser newspaper, in the government "Crime Commission's annual Illicit Drug Data Report." Most (70%) of "drug" arrests in Australia, the report admitted, were for cannabis possession.  And in some "frightening statistics," The Advertiser reported, some 100,000 MDMA pills are consumed every weekend in Australia, giving "Australia ...  the world's highest rate of ecstasy consumption."

And finally, a report from a prohibitionist conference in Turkey sponsored by European Cities Against Drugs (ECAD).  And what is the target of these prohibitionists' wrath, you ask? The "legalization of cannabis," of course.  In attendance was John Walters, U.S. Drug Czar, who hailed Turkish prohibition efforts.  "Turkey is a story of amazing success," said Walters.  But as elsewhere, the public doesn't exactly share police enthusiasm for jailing cannabis users.  Lamented Walters, "one area we have not had consensus is cannabis." The U.S. Drug Czar went on to accuse "the Soros Foundation" of thwarting drug prohibition "by funding a worldwide campaign to legalize cannabis claiming it is not worth fighting against."


(19) OFFICIAL'S SLAYING PROMPTS CALLS FOR TROOPS IN MEXICO CITY    (Top)

Party Officials Say The Capital Was Unprepared For A Backlash From The War On Drug Traffickers

MEXICO CITY -- The leaders of two political parties called Tuesday for army troops to be dispatched to this capital city and its suburbs to fight drug traffickers in the wake of the assassination of a high-ranking official in the attorney general's office.

President Felipe Calderon promised an "unprecedented battle" against the traffickers, who have killed as many as 1,000 people this year as they fight Mexican authorities while battling one another for control of a lucrative trade in cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin and other illicit drugs.  Most of the drugs are shipped to the United States.

[snip]

Jorge Chabat, an author and drug trade expert here, said the public would probably continue to back Calderon's efforts against the traffickers, despite the recent setbacks.

"It could be argued that Calderon's offensive has made the violence worse, and that he was not fully prepared for the escalation of violence that followed," Chabat said.  "But the only other alternative was to do nothing.  Or to make a deal with the drug traffickers.  And that just isn't possible in a democratic state under the rule of law."

[snip]

On Tuesday, observers said Lugo Felix's death could mark a turning point in the nation's drug war.

"The killing is proof of the enormous power and impunity of organized crime," said an editorial in the left-leaning La Jornada, which accused the Calderon government of launching its anti-drug offensive without adequate preparation or protection for even the highest officials involved in the operation.

[snip]

Leaders of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, which controls Mexico City's government, called any such deployment in the capital premature.

"The army is the last card we should play," said Victor Hugo Cirigo, a PRD city lawmaker and the leader of the capital's Legislative Assembly.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 16 May 2007
Source:   Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright:   2007 Los Angeles Times
Author:   Hector Tobar
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n606.a02.html


(20) WE'RE WINNING THE WAR ON DRUGS, POLICE WARN DEALERS    (Top)

South Africa - a staging post to Europe and America - is winning the war against drugs, say the SA Police Service, the U.S.  government and independent South African security experts.

[snip]

And two weeks ago police seized cocaine worth R60 million at OR Tambo International Airport, bringing the total value of this drug seized at the airport over the past two years to between R200m and R300m.  This was the first major bust at OR Tambo for many months.

SAPS spokesperson Vishnu Naidoo said police seized drugs worth hundreds of millions of rands between November 2005 and last June, which brought a sudden halt to smuggling through the airport.

[snip]

In its recently released International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2007, the U.S.  State Department praised South Africa for its commitment to fighting domestic and international drug trafficking, production and abuse.

Last year there were 273 organised-crime groups operating in South Africa, with at least 132 of these involved in drug trafficking, according to the report.

[snip]

There has been an explosion in the abuse and manufacture of methamphetamine in Cape Town, where the drug has cut a swathe through communities, and gangs regularly wage a bloody war over territory in a bid to control supply.

[snip]

And because of this crackdown, labs were increasingly being established on farms, making them more difficult to find and destroy.

The report says that although drug seizures were becoming more frequent in South Africa, accusations of police corruption are frequent.  However, credible evidence against South African law enforcement officials has not been brought to light.

Naidoo, meanwhile, admits there is corruption within the SAPS but adds that it must be measured against "the hundreds of other loyal, honest and hard-working officers.  When you look at it like that, there is no comparison."

The Institute for Security Studies says the major obstacle to stopping the illicit drug trade and dealing with drug syndicates is the low level of co-operation received from the public.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 13 May 2007
Source:   Cape Argus (South Africa)
Copyright:   2007 Cape Argus.
Author:   Kashiefa Ajam
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n595.a06.html


(21) ASIAN GANGS DEVELOP HIGHLY POTENT CANNABIS STRAIN    (Top)

POLICE fear a new form of incredibly potent cannabis is destined to hit Australia.

Vietnamese criminal gangs in Canada have developed a sophisticated method of growing the plant indoors year round.

It greatly increases both the yield and potency of the cannabis and cuts growing time.

Latest criminal intelligence suggests that Australia-based Vietnamese drug dealers have travelled to Canada to learn how to cultivate the highly addictive cannabis.

They are expected to use this knowledge to grow and sell it in Australia.

The new threat was revealed in the Australian Crime Commission's annual Illicit Drug Data Report.

Justice Minister David Johnston said the amount of illegal drugs seized had decreased from 13 tonnes in 2004-05 to six tonnes in 2005-06, but the number of drug arrests had increased.

"We have more people arrested for less weight," Mr
Johnston said.

The report reveals that cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in this country.

Cannabis arrests account for almost 70 per cent of drug arrests in Australia.

[snip]

Frightening Statistics

[snip]

* At least 100,000 ecstasy pills are used every weekend in Australia

* Australia has the world's highest rate of ecstasy consumption

* Twenty per cent of Australians aged 20 to 29 take ecstasy

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 14 May 2007
Source:   Advertiser, The (Australia)
Copyright:   2007 Advertiser Newspapers Ltd
Author:   Keith Moor
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n599.a05.html


(22) EUROPE UNITES AGAINST CANNABIS IN ISTANBUL    (Top)

In an effort to fight against drugs European leaders meet in Turkey, one of Europe's major drug traffic hubs, to advocate a cannabis free world

The current international debate on cannabis zoomed in on Turkey, when last week European mayors and municipal leaders combating drug abuse gathered in Istanbul to lobby the U.S.  government to continue its fight against the legalization of cannabis and discuss the challenges that drugs pose to their cities.

[snip]

John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), told the Turkish Daily News that Turkey's relationship with the United States in the fight against drugs has been outstanding.  He hailed the efforts of the Turkish government to harmonize anti-drug legislation with international laws.  "This allows us to use as many of the law enforcement tools in the world as we can to fight against drugs ...  Turkey is a story of amazing success," he said.

[snip]

Cannabis is the most widely used drug among teenagers.  After cigarettes and alcohol it is the most common introductory substance to a life of addiction as it changes the wiring of the human brain.

[snip]

He underlined, however, that although there was broad consensus against the dangers of cocaine, synthetic drugs, and heroin, "one area we have not had consensus is cannabis."

Walters accused the Soros Foundation of undermining the policies of anti-drug organizations by funding a worldwide campaign to legalize cannabis claiming it is not worth fighting against.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 14 May 2007
Source:   Turkish Daily News (Turkey)
Copyright:   2007 Dogan Daily News Inc.
Author:   Damaris Kremida
Continues:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n598.a02.html


HOT OFF THE 'NET    (Top)

SHOULD WE SUBJECT TEENS TO VIRGINITY TESTS SO THEY CAN "JUST SAY NO?"

The Bush administration is pushing high schools across the country to implement random, suspicion-less student drug testing.  The logic is that we need to rid our schools of drugs and give students more ways to "Just Say No."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-newman/


CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW

Last:   05/11/07 - Gabriel Sayegh of Drug Policy Alliance re
Rockefeller drug laws, Eric Sterling of Criminal Justice Policy Foundation on US drug laws.

Audio:   http://drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/FDBCB_051107.mp3

Listen Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at http://www.kpft.org/


MORE REPORTS FROM WARSAW

Allan Clear continues his reporting from the International Harm Reduction Association conference in Warsaw, this time covering days two and three.

http://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy_main/2007/may/18/more_reports_from_warsaw


DRUG VIOLENCE RAMPANT IN MEXICO

By Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Vowing to topple drug cartels in Mexico, President Felipe Calderon has deployed thousands of troops to fight deadly drug gangs.  The bloodiest gunfight recently occurred along the border with Arizona when armed assailants killed 22 people, including five policemen, in a five-hour gun battle.  More than 900 people were killed in drug-related incidents in Mexico this year.

Audio:   http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10253844


THE COLOMBIA EXPERIMENT

By Dan Gardner

On Wednesday, a feature story in the New York Times began with an unusual scene.  In a compound outside Kabul, a group of raw Afghan recruits was being instructed in the basics of enforcing drug laws. "It's Narcotics 101," one of the instructors, a U.S.  Drug Enforcement Administration agent, told the reporter.  "We are at a stage now of telling these recruits, 'this is a handgun, this is a bullet.' "

http://www.dangardner.ca/Colmay1807.html


ESEQUIEL HERNANDEZ, JR.  MEMORIAL GALLERY

On May 20, 1997, Esequiel Hernandez, Jr.  was herding his family's goats 100 yards from his home on the US-Mexican border in Redford, Texas as he did every day.

Unknown to Esequiel or any of the other residents of Redford, a group of four Marines led by 22-year old Corporal Clemente Banuelos had been encamped just outside the small village along the Rio Grande River for three days.  After watering his small flock of goats in the river, Esequiel started on his way back home when the Marines began stalking him from a distance of 200 yards.

Gallery:   http://www.mapinc.org/hernandez/

Related:   http://mapinc.org/people/Esequiel+Hernandez


WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK    (Top)

APPLY FOR A GRANT TO FURTHER DRUG POLICY REFORM

Through the annual Promoting Policy Change grant cycle, the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) seeks to broaden public support for drug policy reform.  Policy Change grants fund strategic and innovative approaches to increase such support, including public education campaigns and organizing efforts.

http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/050307grants.cfm


LETTER OF THE WEEK    (Top)

ARGUMENT GOES TO POT

By Jerry Epstein

The letter from Stephen J.  Barringer entitled "Pot reconsidered" ( May 3) is a classic example of attempts to distort science through selective presentation.  At issue is the relative danger of marijuana when compared to other drugs of potential abuse.

Barringer stressed: "Research published in the medical journal The Lancet...  shows cannabis to be more dangerous than LSD or ecstasy." A more accurate statement would have also said that research published in The Lancet shows cannabis to be less dangerous than cigarettes and much less dangerous than alcohol.  ( Also, there were two independent panels involved and one ranked ecstasy as more dangerous than marijuana.  )

Not mentioned is the fact that The Lancet ( arguably the world's leading medical journal for a century ) has called for the legalization of marijuana since 1995: "Sooner or later politicians will have to stop running scared and address the evidence: cannabis per se is not a hazard to society but driving it further underground may well be." The Lancet is well aware of the recent claims ( grossly exaggerated ) and has not changed its ultimate conclusion.

Most important is the fact that making a drug illegal increases its danger, hampers productive research, prevention and treatment, does not significantly alter its use, and does an enormous amount of damage by creating illicit drug markets - marijuana being their biggest seller and their bridge to offer other illicit drugs to consumers - that bring crime, violence and corruption on a massive scale.

Jerry Epstein

Pubdate:   Thu, 10 May 2007
Source:   Eye Weekly (CN ON)
Referenced:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n570/a06.html


FEATURE ARTICLE    (Top)

THE UN-WINNABLE WAR

By David White

Persons and pundits both local and national are criticizing the war in Iraq as un-winnable and demanding a change in policy while, sadly, they seem indifferent to the glaring failure of another war which has been pursued for over 40 years, cost more money, destroyed more lives, killed more citizens and generated more anguish than any conflict since World War II; the so called 'War On Drugs.' It is our government's policies rather than the substances involved which are more responsible for the ongoing deaths, defilement, misery and despair which permeate our society.  Incarceration, stigmatization, surreptitious spying, asset forfeiture, poisoning our environment, turning friends and family members into traitors and squealers.

Drug free zones, zero tolerance policies, dope sniffing dogs, seemingly no idea too fanciful, frivolous or absurd that it is refused its ignoble place in this pathetic pursuit of the unattainable.

Each of us should ask ourselves, after 40 years of stricter laws, tougher enforcement and harsher punishments is the problem now better or worse? Is it easier or more difficult now to obtain illicit drugs if one is so inclined?

Our drug laws are prohibitionist in nature and prohibitionist laws do NOT work for they seek to overcome two obstacles which cannot be overcome; the law of supply and demand, and the rule of risk and reward.

As long as there is demand for a product or service there will always be someone willing to provide it.  Our laws attack the supply side of this equation with a predictably futile result.

For despite the ever increasing amounts of illegal drugs confiscated there ALWAYS remains adequate supply available to fulfill the demand and there ALWAYS will be.  We have jammed our prisons with criminals who sell and deal in these drugs and yet there are always more to take their place for the truth is that the only effect of this monumental enforcement effort is to raise the price of these substances and once the price is high enough there will ALWAYS be someone willing to take the risk.

Acknowledging that the drug problem is not going to go away, our focus should be on policies which improve rather than exacerbate the situation.  It is imperative the monetary profit be removed and as the only thing making these substances valuable is their illegality they should be at a minimum de-criminalized.

The benefits from these changes would be immediate and remarkable. Police officers could return to performing tasks of benefit to the public rather than play catch me if you can with some Al Capone wannabe.  Prosecutors and judges would have the time to pursue matters which now must be dismissed due to the burden of prosecuting the deluge of drug offenses.  Our prison system would have the space to house the dangerous individuals who need and deserve to be located there.

The resources now being wasted on these functions could be redirected toward providing serious public education concerning the dangers of these drugs and providing the facilities for the rehabilitation of those seeking such.  Addicts could be provided a location to use their drugs allowing our parks to again be used as playgrounds rather than 'shooting galleries.' The spread of diseases associated with drug use could be reduced along with the accompanying cost of medical treatment.

As with any dramatic change there would be winners and losers.

The losers would include all those who are now profiting from the status quo, street gangs, smugglers and criminal organizations currently gorging themselves on the tremendous untaxed revenue they are receiving as well as law enforcement agencies receiving funding grants and seizing cash from drug raids to continue this enforcement farce.

Winners would be all of us in the public suffering personally or financially as a result of this misguided effort.

But those who find my proposals appalling need not fear them being adopted as long as we have Republicans and Democrats making the laws; political harlots concerned only with what makes good politics rather than good policy.

These are the 'generals' running the 'war' who insist that doing more of what we have done for 40 years past will somehow produce different results in the future.

Obstinate and recalcitrant fools willing to fight to the last drop of someone else's blood and the last dime of someone else's money rather than adopt someone else's suggestions.  They are supported by persons who have exchanged their humanity for moral righteousness and their compassion for moral superiority.  They prefer policies which make them feel good rather than policies which would accomplish good.

Compared to our chances of winning the current 'war on drugs,' succeeding in Iraq looks like a sure thing.

David White is Oroville's outspoken advocate of good public policy.

Pubdate:   Sat, 12 May 2007
Source:   Oroville Mercury-Register (CA)
Copyright:   2007 Oroville Mercury Register
Details:   http://www.mapinc.org/media/2277


QUOTE OF THE WEEK    (Top)

"Liberty: One of Imagination's most precious possessions." - Ambrose Bierce


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CREDITS:  

Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Richard Lake (), International content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (), This Just In selection, Hot Off The Net selection and Layout by Matt Elrod ().  Analysis comments represent the personal views of editors, not necessarily the views of DrugSense.

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