Aug. 7, 2009 #612 |
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- * Breaking News (04/26/24)
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- * This Just In
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(1) OPED: Mexico's War on Civil Rights
(2) Acquitted, Medical Pot Patient Leaves Boulder Court
(3) Pot Smoke As Dangerous As Tobacco: Researchers
(4) Author Has High Hopes for New Book on Marijuana
- * Weekly News in Review
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Drug Policy-
(5) Column: Obama Hypocritical On Drug Policy
(6) OPED: The Needles and the Damage Done
(7) Editorial: Playing a Deadly Game With AIDS
(8) Editorial: Schwarzenegger Should Comply With Court Order on Prisons
Law Enforcement & Prisons-
(9) Former ICE Informant Says He Helped Convict 50
(10) To Catch a Stoner
(11) Why Are 4 Narcs Under Probe Still Getting OT?
(12) Police Say Church Fest Was A Drug Fest
Cannabis & Hemp-
(13) Oakland Pot Tax Fuels Statewide Campaign
(14) Money For Pot Raids Is Drained
(15) Taxes Aside, Legal Pot Would Cost Us Dearly
(16) Let's Reclaim Our Independence And Legalise Marijuana
International News-
(17) Leahy Blocks Positive Report On Mexico's Rights Record
(18) Why It's Time To End The War On Drugs
(19) Proposal To Not Put Dealers In Prison To Win Drug War
(20) Drug Laws Spark Drug Wars
- * Hot Off The 'Net
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ABC News Goes Reefer Madness / Pete Guither
Does The Marijuana Pill Work? / Brian Montopoli
Is The Drug Czar Legally Required To Lie? / Jacob Sullum
Drug Truth Network
Stephen Colbert Nails Another Junkie
Harper Manipulating The Scientific Process / Evan Wood
Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske To Meet With Seattle-Area Experts
The Best Fair-Use Controversy Ever? / Ashby Jones
- * What You Can Do This Week
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Write A Letter
Apply For An Internship With MPP
Hold The White House Accountable
- * Letter Of The Week
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Legalize Pot To End Growing Problem / Tom Kuykendall
- * Letter Writer Of The Month - July
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Mike Foster
- * Feature Article
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Higher Ground / Jonathan Fitzgerald
- * Quote of the Week
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Anonymous
DrugSense needs your support to continue this newsletter and many
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http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
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THIS JUST IN
(Top)
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(1) OPED: MEXICO'S WAR ON CIVIL RIGHTS
(Top) |
Source: | Los Angeles Times (CA)
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Copyright: | 2009 Los Angeles Times
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Obama Must Demand an End to Abuses Linked to President Felipe
Calderon's Drug Crackdown.
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When President Obama goes to Guadalajara, Mexico, this weekend for
the North American Leaders Summit, he will surely praise Mexican
President Felipe Calderon for the courage he has displayed fighting
the war on drugs. The applause is well deserved. Calderon has turned
the crackdown on drug traffickers into the centerpiece of his
administration and has pursued organized crime with undeniable zeal.
But before Obama becomes too effusive and pats Calderon on the back
for a job well done, it's important that the U.S. president remember
the cost and the consequences of his counterpart's crusade.
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In Mexico today, human rights violations committed by the military
and the police in this effort are on the rise, yet punishment for
the perpetrators remains elusive. So although Obama should recognize
Calderon's efforts, he should also insist that drug lawlessness
cannot be combated by breaking the law and that the army must be
subjected to the kind of scrutiny it has shunned so far.
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Today, more than 45,000 soldiers police the roads of Mexico's main
cities and drug-producing areas as part of a strategy designed to
confront drug traffickers and contain the violence they wreak. Many
ring leaders have been captured, many drug shipments have been
confiscated and many smugglers have been imprisoned.
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But violence remains unabated, and the unintended consequences of
Calderon's efforts have become distressingly clear: The number of
cases of human rights violations brought before the Mexican Human
Rights Commission has risen by 600% over the last two years.
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The war on drugs is turning into a war on the civilian population
that can't simply be dismissed as collateral damage. Mexico's
military is capturing "capos," but it's also raping, extracting
confessions through torture and detaining people arbitrarily. Crime
is begetting more crime.
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[snip]
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(2) ACQUITTED, MEDICAL POT PATIENT LEAVES BOULDER COURT WITH DRUGS
(Top) |
Source: | Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)
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Copyright: | 2009 The Daily Camera. |
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Advocates, Juror Agree That Sick People Should Decide How Much Pot
Is Appropriate
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BOULDER, Colo. -- Rolling out of the Boulder County Justice Center
in a wheelchair Thursday with a jumble of once-confiscated pot in
his lap, Jason Lauve smiled and waved to supporters after a jury
acquitted him of possessing too much medical marijuana.
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Eight men and four women found the 38-year-old Louisville resident
not guilty of a felony drug possession charge, as well as lesser
charges of possessing marijuana and marijuana concentrate.
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Lauve, who was prescribed marijuana to relieve the pain from a back
injury, burst out crying, grabbed his defense attorney and nearly
fell to his knees when the verdict was announced.
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"Thank you so much," he yelled out to the jurors.
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Boulder District Judge Maria Berkenkotter had to pause and admonish
Lauve's supporters as they applauded and called out during her
reading of the verdicts.
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She ordered that more than two pounds of Lauve's marijuana supply,
which had been confiscated by police in a raid of his home last
summer, be returned to him.
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"I have a right to live," Lauve said afterward. "All of us as
patients have a right to have our own life, not the government's
life. We should not be treated like criminals."
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[snip]
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(3) POT SMOKE AS DANGEROUS AS TOBACCO: RESEARCHERS
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Thu, 06 Aug 2009
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Source: | Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
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Copyright: | 2009 Times Colonist
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Author: | Amy Minsky, Canwest News Service
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Marijuana Use Has Been Increasing In Canada As Cigarette Sales Fall
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( CNS ) - Smoking pot can cause as much damage to cells and DNA as
tobacco smoke, according to a group of Canadian researchers who
are challenging the belief that marijuana is less harmful than
cigarettes.
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Rebecca Maertens, a researcher from Health Canada and co-author of
the study, says many Canadians believe marijuana smoke is less toxic
and causes less damage than tobacco because pot is "natural."
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Despite several experiments that show marijuana use to have adverse
health effects, the prevalence of marijuana use in Canada has
increased over the past decade, while the incidence of tobacco use
has decreased.
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Nearly one quarter of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 24
reported using marijuana in the previous 12 months according to 2006
Statistics Canada report. More than 14 per cent of those said they
used the drug on a daily basis.
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The team behind this new study suggested that a lack of
understanding about the dangers of marijuana plays a part in why
youth are so cavalier about smoking it.
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Neither marijuana nor the main psychoactive component of the plant,
THC, has been shown to cause cancer.
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There are, however, substances in marijuana that are very harmful,
according to previous studies.
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[snip]
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(4) AUTHOR HAS HIGH HOPES FOR NEW BOOK ON MARIJUANA
(Top) |
Source: | Times-Herald, The (Vallejo, CA)
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Copyright: | 2009 The Times-Herald
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Author: | Rachel Raskin-Zrihen, Times-Herald staff writer
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Paul Armentano is on a mission.
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The 37-year-old Vallejo resident aims to convince the powers that be
that smoking marijuana is less dangerous on a number of levels than
drinking alcohol, and that laws should reflect that.
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He has co-authored a book, "Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We
Driving People to Drink?," which is available on Amazon.com,
BarnesandNoble.com and will soon be distributed to bookstores
nationwide, he said.
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"For those who may be initially skeptical of this message,
'Marijuana Is Safer' will change the way you think about cannabis,"
Armentano said. "And for those roughly 50 percent of Americans
nationwide who already support reforming America's draconian pot
laws, this book will change the way they talk about marijuana."
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A married father of a young daughter, Armentano said he's not a big
pot smoker, though he, "like an estimated 100 million Americans,
including our present president, have experimented with marijuana,
and when I did so I was making a decision to consume a substance
that is objectively safer than alcohol. It is illogical and
inconsistent for the criminal law to punish people for that
decision."
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Working with nationally recognized marijuana-policy experts Steve
Fox and Mason Tvert, Armentano "compares and contrasts the relative
harms and legal status of the two most popular recreational
substances in the world -- marijuana and alcohol," according to
Chelsea Green Publishing, which is handling the book. "Through an
objective examination of the two drugs and the laws and social
practices that steer people toward alcohol, the authors pose a
simple yet rarely considered question: Why do we punish adults who
make the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead of
alcohol?"
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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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Commentators (and others) seem to be tiring of the drug policy
status quo, especially from politicians who promised to be
different.
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(5) COLUMN: OBAMA HYPOCRITICAL ON DRUG POLICY
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Thu, 30 Jul 2009
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Source: | Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC)
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Copyright: | 2009 Sun Publishing Co. |
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The popular TV series "Weeds" is about a widowed suburban mother who
deals pot to preserve her family's cushy California dream. Not a few
Californians would like to see the theme writ large for their state.
California has legalized medical marijuana, its cannabis crop is
valued at $17 billion a year, and people there smoke pot openly. But
the state can't collect a penny of revenues from the enormous
enterprise.
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As California faced budget Armageddon, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
called for "a debate" on the potential of tapping marijuana as a
source of tax revenues. That's all he can do, because federal law
still criminalizes marijuana use.
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Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron has calculated the sort of revenues
California and other states could see were marijuana taxed like
cigarettes and alcohol. California's taxes would easily top $100
million a year.
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Oakland pot activists fresh off a victory at local polls on the
taxing of medical marijuana took their first official step Tuesday
toward asking California voters to legalize pot.
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A proposed ballot measure filed with the California attorney
general's office would allow adults 21 and over to possess up to an
ounce of pot. Homeowners could grow marijuana for personal use on
garden plots up to 25 square feet.
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[snip]
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Nationally, legalizing marijuana would save $7.7 billion a year on
drug-war spending, according to Miron. And government could raise
$6.2 billion annually in tax revenues.
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A vain hope rose that President Obama's naming of Gil Kerlikowske as
drug czar would lead to a more rational and humane policy on drugs.
As Seattle's police chief, Kerlikowske oversaw the city's annual
Hempfest ( a giant and mellow smoke-in ) without bothering the
celebrants.
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But Kerlikowske announced this month that "marijuana is dangerous
and has no medicinal benefit." And to end any idea that the hip,
liberal Obama administration would ease up on pot, he added,
"Legalization is not in the president's vocabulary, and it's not in
mine."
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Obama readily admits having used marijuana in his youth ( and
cocaine ). And every year, many thousands of Americans are arrested
and their lives ruined for doing what he did. Does Obama get to be
president only because he wasn't caught?
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Miron is a libertarian who sees all drug prohibition as interfering
with people's private lives. But he well understands the politics
that stop politicians from taking the no-brainer position on
marijuana.
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"Democrats know that the potheads are going to vote for them
anyway," he told me, "and the people on the other side who care
about this stuff know that this is really a big deal." If marijuana
were legalized, many drug laws would crack.
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[snip]
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(6) OPED: THE NEEDLES AND THE DAMAGE DONE
(Top) |
Source: | Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)
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Copyright: | 2009 Progressive Media Project
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Syringe Exchanges Are About the Most Logical Thing We Could Do to
Stop HIV, but Politics Isn't Logical.
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The House of Representatives showed the courage of President Obama's
convictions on the needle exchange issue.
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Candidate Obama vowed repeatedly to end the ban on federal funding
for needle exchange programs -- a 21-year-old policy that blocks
federal dollars from supporting the most effective, cost-efficient
HIV prevention tool ever dreamed up.
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President Obama, however, retained the ban in his 2010 budget
proposal -- punting the issue to Congress.
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But thankfully, late last month the House voted 263 to 153 to lift
the ban. Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., was instrumental and courageous in
getting the bill through the House. It now goes to the Senate.
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The funding ban is among the most glaring examples of politics
trumping science in modern governance. Congress imposed it in 1988,
arguing that by letting addicts swap dirty needles for clean ones,
syringe exchanges encourage drug use. But research from all over the
world has proved that notion apocryphal. It's now clear beyond a
doubt that these programs not only dramatically reduce HIV
transmission, they also offer excellent conduits to addiction
recovery.
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[snip]
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(7) EDITORIAL: PLAYING A DEADLY GAME WITH AIDS
(Top) |
Source: | New York Times (NY)
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Copyright: | 2009 The New York Times Company
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Nearly 600,000 Americans with AIDS have died since the beginning of
the epidemic. Nearly a third of those cases can be traced to
intravenous drug users who became infected with the virus that
causes AIDS by sharing contaminated needles and who sometimes infect
wives, lovers and unborn children. Many of the dead would never have
been infected if Congress had allowed federal financing for programs
that have been shown the world over to slow the spread of disease,
without increasing drug use, by making clean needles available to
addicts.
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A state-financed version of the program has saved thousand of lives
in New York City, which cut infection rates among addicts by about
80 percent over several years by giving them clean needles and by
working hard to get them into drug treatment programs. But by
banning the use of federal dollars for these programs in 1988, in
the very teeth of the epidemic, federal lawmakers discarded a
powerful weapon in the fight against a deadly disease.
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State and federal public health officials, who have long supported
the programs, were hoping that the ban would be lifted this year.
But a rider attached to two House appropriations bills would
actually continue the ban -- in a tawdry, passive-aggressive way --
by barring federally financed programs from operating within 1,000
feet of colleges, universities, parks, video arcades, day-care
centers, high schools, public swimming pools and other institutions.
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This seems reasonable -- until you consider that such a restriction
would make it virtually impossible to have federally financed
programs anywhere in densely packed urban communities, which is
where the need for AIDS intervention is especially pressing and
institutions like schools and playgrounds are numerous. In other
words, this would wipe out the program.
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Worse still, a rider on the city budget for the District of
Columbia, which is closely controlled by Congress, would place the
same limitations on the use of even locally raised tax dollars. This
would be an outrage in any case. But it is especially troubling
because Washington is an AIDS hotspot, where impoverished
communities have long been ravaged by the disease.
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[snip]
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(8) EDITORIAL: SCHWARZENEGGER SHOULD COMPLY WITH COURT ORDER ON
(Top)PRISONS
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Source: | San Jose Mercury News (CA)
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Copyright: | 2009 San Jose Mercury News
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature have had years to
bring California's overcrowded prisons up to federal standards. They
have failed miserably. Now, if the state can't fix the problem in
the next 45 days, the courts will do it for them, releasing as many
as 44,000 prisoners in the process.
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It's what we've feared all along as state officials abdicated
responsibility for this problem. Instead of whining about the court
overstepping its boundaries, the governor should submit a good-faith
plan to comply with the order.
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He already has a reasonable proposal that would reduce the prison
population by as many as 37,000 over the next two years. Some
legislative leaders have agreed to this, and while Republicans
refused to vote for it as part of the budget, it now can pass with a
majority vote. Schwarzenegger should use the political cover of the
federal court order to implement these changes, which would make
substantial progress toward the courts' goal.
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Californians love being tough on crime, but the state can't afford
to pay for facilities to house one of its biggest growth industries.
So it keeps 158,000 inmates in prisons built for 84,000. Even so,
prison spending has soared to the point where it consumes 10 percent
of the state's budget, nearly as much as higher education.
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For years, reformers have advocated obvious solutions of early
release for nonviolent criminals and revision of parole and
sentencing laws that have caused costs and numbers of prisoners to
soar.
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[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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Sometimes it seems being a drug law enforcer (or informant) is seen
as license to do many things: watch a murder without reporting it;
catching marijuana users with sex stings; getting paid for overtime
even after facing serious corruption charges; and ignoring the First
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
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(9) FORMER ICE INFORMANT SAYS HE HELPED CONVICT 50
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Wed, 29 Jul 2009
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Source: | El Paso Times (TX)
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Copyright: | 2009 El Paso Times
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Author: | Diana Washington Valdez
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EL PASO -- A former ICE informant who faces deportation was a law
enforcement officer in Mexico who quit his job to work in the drug
trade.
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As Guillermo Eduardo "Lalo" Ramirez Peyro described it in federal
documents, life in the Juarez drug cartel consisted of dirty cops
smuggling drugs, sudden kidnappings, double-crossings, acts of
revenge and gruesome murders.
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Ramirez, a former Mexican federal highway police officer, was a DEA
informant until he was busted in New Mexico, allegedly while
bringing drugs across the border.
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The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency that started
in 2003, began to use him as an informant. Ramirez alleges his work
led to the successful U.S. prosecutions of 50 people, including
Heriberto Santillan Tabares ( known in Mexico as Humberto Santillan
Tabares ), a high-ranking cartel member. ICE officials won't say how
many cases Ramirez helped solve.
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[snip]
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The informant said he also met Miguel Loya Gallegos, a Chihuahua
state police commander in Juarez, who trafficked drugs and carried
out hits for the cartel, according to a federal government document.
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In the document, Ramirez mentioned a "big brother" guesthouse in
Juarez that cartel leaders used for meetings to settle accounts and
plan kidnappings and murders. The address was omitted.
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During his involvement with Santillan and Loya, Ramirez said he was
sent to a house in Juarez where a lawyer named Fernando Reyes Aguado
was to be killed so that Loya could steal drugs from him.
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The lawyer "began to struggle with the ( state ) judicial police,
and they asked me to help them get him to the floor," Ramirez said.
"They tried to choke him ( with ) an extension cord, but this broke
and I gave them a plastic bag and they put it on his head and
suffocated him.
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"I asked the judicial police if they were sure Fernando was dead,
upon which ( one of the policemen ) took a ... shovel and hit him
many times on the head until he was sure that he was dead."
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Ramirez, who was wearing a wire and recorded the 2003 murder for
ICE, received $2,000 from Santillan as payment for him and others to
bury the bodies. Eleven more murders occurred during his ICE mission
related to Santillan, Loya and the Juarez house. He also received
$220,000 from the U.S. government for his services as an informant,
according to documents.
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[snip]
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(10) TO CATCH A STONER
(Top) |
Source: | Willamette Week (Portland, OR)
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Copyright: | 2009 Willamette Week Newspaper
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One Cop Shop's Prostitution Sting: Phony Ads on Craigslist of Hot
Women Offering Sex for Weed.
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Early one April morning, Shawn Walsh hopped online in his
one-bedroom apartment in Oregon City and turned to the Casual
Encounters section on craigslist.org.
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Casual Encounters has done for sex what bathhouses and swingers'
parties used to do--made it convenient, available and anonymous.
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Walsh uses Craigslist because, frankly, he wouldn't have much luck
scoring at a club in Old Town, or even at a bar in Oregon City.
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Thirty-eight years old with a paunchy gut and a goatee, he grew up
in Canby and used to work as a mechanic until he broke his back in
1991. Now he's divorced, supporting himself on disability checks and
by selling auto parts online.
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On April 13 this year, he clicked into Casual Encounters and found
this personal ad: "Tuesday is my Friday!! Wanna smoke and....; )"
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The ad said a 23-year-old woman had posted it. Walsh clicked on the
link and read more.
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Tuesday is my last day at work this week and I wanna party on Tues
night!! I'm a hot blonde who has all the right moves." The ad
promised to trade those moves to anyone who could offer some "420,"
or marijuana.
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Walsh wrote back from his Hotmail account: "Hi how you doing my name
is Shawn. I have some bomb 420 and would like to share it with you
tomorrow night."
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"Perfect," came the reply from . "I've got
a little pretty pussy for you to play with while I smoke all your
weed ; ) Wanna work a little trade like that??" The message was
signed Kayla.
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That would be great. I like to play with pussy," Walsh wrote.
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[snip]
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They arranged to meet at 11 pm Tuesday, April 14, at an address on
Southwest Hermoso Way in Tigard. Walsh made the half-hour drive from
his home in Clackamas County west to Washington County.
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When Walsh pulled his black Chevy pickup onto suburban Hermoso Way,
he was surrounded by Tigard police. Officer Oddis Rollins, who had
placed the Craigslist ad and written the emails, asked Walsh to step
out of his truck.
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Walsh had 3.5 grams of weed in his pocket--normally enough to earn
him nothing more than a ticket. But because he'd agreed to trade
drugs for sex, the cops charged Walsh with misdemeanor prostitution
and delivery of drugs, a felony, and booked him into Washington
County Jail. But Walsh insists he was just looking for a good time.
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"I think they were looking to bust some huge drug dealer, I don't
know," Walsh tells WW. "But the way they went about it, who are they
gonna bust besides someone like me?"
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It's not unusual for police to conduct stings to catch prostitutes
or the johns who hire them. Portland police do so several times each
year, including along 82nd Avenue.
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But Walsh's arrest was part of a recent sting operation by Tigard
police that observers call highly unusual. For one thing, the ads
were written to appear as if they were from a promiscuous
girl-next-door type rather than a professional hooker. Even more
strange was the offer of trading sex for pot.
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According to public records, Tigard police spent about eight months
posting such ads online. During that time, they arrested 24 men from
all over the Portland area, including an Oregon Department of
Transportation employee, a Portland State University student and a
former TV news producer visiting from Yakima, Wash.
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[snip]
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(11) WHY ARE 4 NARCS UNDER PROBE STILL GETTING OT?
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Mon, 03 Aug 2009
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Source: | Philadelphia Daily News (PA)
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Copyright: | 2009 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. |
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Authors: | Wendy Ruderman, Barbara Laker & Bob Warner
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THE CITY IS still paying thousands of dollars in court-related
overtime to four narcotics officers taken off the street after being
accused of fabricating evidence and other crimes.
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The officers are being paid to go to court for cases that are
delayed or withdrawn. They show up at the Criminal Justice Center
and do nothing.
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Officers Jeffrey and Richard Cujdik, Robert McDonnell Jr. and Thomas
Tolstoy, in addition to their $58,000-a-year salaries, have
collectively earned more than $15,500 in overtime since being taken
off the street, city payroll records show.
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The city District Attorney's Office continues to subpoena the
officers to appear in court, even though prosecutors routinely ask
judges to postpone or drop the cases.
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Jeffrey Cujdik, 34, was placed on desk duty in February. His
35-year-old brother, Richard, and McDonnell, 38, were taken off the
street in April, and Tolstoy, 35, followed in May.
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Defense lawyers say that the overtime payments are a waste of
taxpayer money and city resources at a time when the city is trying
to curb court-related overtime, which totaled almost $25 million in
fiscal year 2008.
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"In a city scrambling for money, in an economic crisis, why [is the
D.A.'s office] saying, 'Let's subpoena witnesses to come to court'
for cases they know are not going to go on?" questioned defense
lawyer Guy R. Sciolla, a former assistant district attorney. "It's
flat-out wrong to be spending money like that."
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[snip]
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(12) POLICE SAY CHURCH FEST WAS A DRUG FEST
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Mon, 03 Aug 2009
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Source: | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
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Copyright: | 2009 PG Publishing Co., Inc. |
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22 Arrested, Authorities Describe Wide-Open Drug Scene, 'Outraged'
Attorney Says Church Was Targeted
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Authorities said there were four head shops that had 1,000 marijuana
pipes for sale.
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People working like cocktail waitresses walked the crowd, selling
"Ganja" treats -- including Rice Krispies snacks believed to be
laced with marijuana, according to authorities.
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A total of 22 people were arrested Saturday evening as the Fayette
County Drug Task Force raided the 47-acre Bullskin site of the
Church of Universal Love and Music.
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At 4:30 p.m., just about the time Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk was
about to go on as part of the church's three-day Funk Fest, a team
of 30 law enforcement officers were staging themselves.
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The task force -- armed with a search warrant and evidence from two
previous undercover drug buys from concerts in May and July --
raided the church property, which includes a main stage,
campgrounds, a vendor row and a special VIP area.
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Those arrested included concert-goers, the people running the head
shops, as well as those selling the treats.
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"It was as bad as it could be," said Assistant District Attorney
Mark D. Brooks, coordinator of the task force. "We recovered so much
paraphernalia, we had to use two trailers to haul it down the
mountain."
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While police recovered a large amount of drugs on the grounds, they
found even more on the concert-goers.
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Illegal substances seized included several pounds of hallucinogenic
mushrooms, several pounds of marijuana, hash and LSD.
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The operator of the church, Willie Pritts, was not charged.
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Last night, Mr. Pritts' attorney, Gregory Koerner, was outraged by
the raid and arrests and said he felt the church was purposely
targeted.
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"We feel there were gross violations of Mr. Pritts' and the church's
rights," Mr. Koerner said. "This was excessive, unwarranted, and
we're going to be forced to seek redress and take it back to federal
court."
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In February, Mr. Pritts and Fayette County reached a settlement on
the eve of trial in a 2006 federal civil rights lawsuit, claiming
that the county's failure to issue him a special exception permit
violated his First Amendment right to freedom of religion.
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The county, however, argued that Mr. Pritts did not prove that he
was operating a church and instead argued he used the land for
daylong concerts and illegal drugs.
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As part of the settlement agreement, the county paid Mr. Pritts
$75,000 and would allow him to hold 12 events per year. For his
part, he was to forbid public nudity and illegal drug use.
|
"[Saturday's] enforcement action, which started at the very first
concert, seems to violate the spirit of the settlement," Mr. Koerner
said.
|
[snip]
|
|
|
Cannabis & Hemp
|
|
The economics of cannabis prohibition continue to dominate the
discussion in the media, as cash-starved cities in California take
notice of Oakland's new pot tax.
|
The drug war coffers are almost empty in Hawaii, where airborne
search and destroy operations will soon be grounded.
|
Once again a few diehard drug warriors recycled familiar arguments in
defense of the status quo, including the observation that most of the
arguments for cannabis law reform can be applied to other illicit
substances. As a matter of fact ... they can.
|
Many living outside of the United States see reforming cannabis laws
as an issue of national sovereignty, and while some certainly resent
U.S. influence over global drug policy, they are also inspired,
encouraged and emboldened by American activism.
|
|
(13) OAKLAND POT TAX FUELS STATEWIDE CAMPAIGN
(Top) |
Source: | Contra Costa Times (CA)
|
---|
Copyright: | 2009 Bay Area News Group
|
---|
Author: | Peter Hecht, Sacramento Bee
|
---|
|
OAKLAND -- Bill O'Donnell illegally self-medicated himself with
marijuana for years for a combat injury and post-traumatic stress from
military service in Vietnam. It landed him in jail once for
possession.
|
Today, O'Donnell, 58, legally selects medical marijuana pot brands
from the "bud tender" at the Coffeeshop Blue Sky in downtown Oakland.
And he feels proud the dispensary soon will pay taxes on his purchases
-- thanks to Oakland's passage of the nation's first cannabis taxation
law on July 21.
|
"I've gone all the way from doing 60 days in jail to paying taxes on
this," O'Donnell said. "I'm glad to help out -- legitimately."
|
When 80 percent of Oakland voters approved a gross receipts tax that
charged the city's four pot dispensaries $18 for every $1,000 in
revenue, they added political smoke to efforts in other California
cities to treat municipal budget deficits by taxing medical marijuana
revenues.
|
The Oakland vote also stoked a calculated self-taxation movement by
cannabis advocates. Oakland medical pot dispensaries that all but
begged to pay new taxes are backing a 2010 ballot initiative drive to
legalize marijuana for personal use and soothe the Golden State's
fiscal woes with more than $1 billion in state cannabis taxes.
|
"This is just one tax of many. It's one battle in a big war," said
Richard Lee, owner of Coffeeshop Blue Sky. "It's a reverse tax revolt:
No taxation without legalization."
|
[snip]
|
|
|
(14) MONEY FOR POT RAIDS IS DRAINED
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Sun, 02 Aug 2009
|
---|
Source: | Hawaii Tribune Herald (Hilo, HI)
|
---|
Copyright: | 2009 Hawaii Tribune Herald
|
---|
|
More Than 3,000 Plants Uprooted Across Big Island
|
The Hawaii Police Department conducted two marijuana eradication
missions just before the end of the fiscal year June 30.
|
A memo dated July 8 from Police Chief Harry Kubojiri to County Council
Chairman J Yoshimoto said that "Counter Cannabis" field operations
were flown June 29 in East Hawaii and June 30 in West Hawaii.
|
Voters last November passed a law making adult personal use of
marijuana the lowest law enforcement priority, which said the council
"shall not support the acceptance of any funds for the marijuana
eradication program."
|
There is no money in the current fiscal year budget for marijuana
eradication. For the fiscal year that ended June 30, $370,000 was
earmarked for eradication plus a $159,000 statewide marijuana
eradication grant.
|
Assistant Police Chief Marshall Kanehailua said Friday the money for
the mission was from the latter grant.
|
"This was money that was there before," noted Lt. Richard Sherlock of
Hilo Vice Section. "There is money for eradication."
|
[snip]
|
Sherlock said four helicopters involved in the East Hawaii mission --
two from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, one National
Guard chopper and a private copter rented for about four hours at a
cost of $800 per hour. All 10 of the officers involved in the
rappelling and uprooting of the plants were local police, Sherlock
said.
|
[snip]
|
Sherlock said sufficient funds remain for at least one more
eradication mission in both East and West Hawaii.
|
"I can't say when they're going to happen, for obvious reasons," he
said.
|
|
|
(15) TAXES ASIDE, LEGAL POT WOULD COST US DEARLY
(Top) |
Source: | Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
|
---|
Copyright: | 2009 Record Searchlight
|
---|
Author: | Alana Marie Burke
|
---|
|
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States.
It damages the lungs; impairs memory, concentration and motivation;
and contains more carcinogens than cigarettes. However, California is
economically in the tank, and this may be a boon for those who believe
that smoking pot is "no big deal" and want marijuana legalized.
|
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, has introduced Assembly Bill
390, which removes all criminal penalties for personal marijuana
possession and cultivation for adults over age 21, allows persons 21
or older to grow up to 10 mature plants, and makes possession and
sales of marijuana paraphernalia legal for adults 21 and up.
|
According to Ammiano, efforts to eradicate marijuana have not
succeeded, so it is time to bring "a major piece of our economy into
the light of day." In other words, if at first you don't succeed, give
up. Other ballot initiatives in recent months indicate that California
potheads have found their voice and, since the state needs money,
lawmakers are listening.
|
If taxed like cigarettes and alcohol, marijuana could generate an
estimated $100 million a year, with additional savings in law
enforcement resources. These funds would ameliorate California's
budget issues. However, when the smoke clears, the collateral damage
from the government pimping dope will exceed the monetary benefits of
retailing and taxing it.
|
California, fraught with inept government and a populace bent on
pushing every sociopolitical limit, cannot afford to be dumbed down by
legislators championing drug use to make a buck. The big question is
not whether marijuana use for recreation is unhealthy and dangerous,
which it is, but whether the right to do self-harm is a civil right
and, if so, if all drugs should be legal for personal use.
|
One argument purports that drug use is a victimless crime; after all,
the user is not necessarily recruiting or dosing others. Moreover, if
we follow the Roe v. Wade model, people have the right to control
their own body and should be able to alter their consciousness however
they see fit. If marijuana is legalized, then this opens the door to
all illicit drugs - there is no ideological difference between any of
them even if the physical consequences vary.
|
[snip]
|
|
|
(16) LET'S RECLAIM OUR INDEPENDENCE AND LEGALISE MARIJUANA
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Mon, 03 Aug 2009
|
---|
Source: | Jamaica Observer (Jamaica)
|
---|
Copyright: | 2009 The Jamaica Observer Ltd,
|
---|
|
Forty-seven years in the life of any nation is relatively short; yet
years of social blight and economic underperformance can make those
years seem eternal. For when Jamaica gained political independence
from Britain in 1962, it was achieved on the premise that political
independence would empower us not only to embrace the freedom that
came with self-government, but also to help us actualise the
opportunities it offered to develop and maintain a prosperous, well-
organised, and orderly society.
|
Therefore, it was the beliefs, desires and intentions of the
architects of political independence for the country to use the
freedom, the rights and responsibilities that came with such, as
springboards toward achieving social progress and economic
independence for the majority.
|
In fairness, the country experienced social order, economic
development and growth during the first five years following the
Declaration of Independence.
|
However, there have been serious structural defects in the way that
the Jamaican economic and social systems operate.
|
A sad consequence of this lopsided socio-economic apparatus has been
the lasting legacy of economic inequality and social marginalisation,
both of which are responsible for the structure we now have - one
which is bitterly broken, uncompetitive, polarised, underdeveloped,
woefully uneducated and marginally productive.
|
Undoubtedly, there is enough blame to go around, with leftovers to
fill the Mona Reservoir. But as appealing as it may seem to some,
shifting responsibility and apportioning blame, however worthy, cannot
earn Jamaica one extra cent in revenue to help offset the enormous
debt that successive governments have accumulated in the name of our
children and their children's children.
|
Simply put, we have an obligation to reclaim our independence by
demanding that our government pursue the best sets of policies - those
that will eventually lead to prosperity and happiness for all.
|
As we reclaim our independence, we have to start at the point of
honesty. Starting at the point of honesty demands serious
introspection, because we have not been good stewards of our affairs.
|
[snip]
|
In combination with other initiatives, but as a medium-to long-term
solution, I am suggesting that Jamaica reclaim its independence, and
like 13 states in the United States of America, legalise the growth
and distribution of medical marijuana.
|
This could help people suffering from skeleton pains associated with
arthritis and glaucoma, and could provide employment and a steady flow
of revenue to the government. Some will argue correctly, that "the
ends may not always justify the means", without ever once mentioning
the tobacco industry.
|
And Jamaica could go even further and decriminalise the limited use of
marijuana for religious and recreational purposes.
|
[snip]
|
|
|
International News
|
|
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy this week scuttled a State Department report
which would have declared Mexico to be respecting human rights in
the Washington-funded drug war. No dice; as Mexico is embroiled in a
bloody military counter narcotics police action against ostensible
drug smugglers human rights are being trampled. "Those requirements
have not been met, so it is premature to send the report to
Congress," stated Leahy.
|
From the U.K., two excellent pieces recommending the scraping of
drug prohibition. The first, by Matthew Engel, recommends,
"legitimising production and supply, precisely so it can be
controlled.... [T]he places where it is easiest to obtain drugs
would no longer be the inside of jails and inner-city school
playgrounds."
|
The Mirror, a U.K. tabloid, related a UK Drugs Policy Commission's
paper to readers recommending "police should allow some dealers to
ply their trade - and merely ask them to move away from residential
neighbourhoods." Such legalization ideas were immediately dismissed
by the Home Office, which instead claimed "tough enforcement is
fundamental".
|
And from the Canadian Winnipeg Free Press newspaper, a remarkable
editorial this week admitting prohibition causes problems the drugs
alone could never do. "The problem is not so much the use of drugs
as the illegality of that use... Until a federal government has the
courage to recognize that, to accept its responsibility to the
citizens of Winnipeg and Canadians across the country, the drugs and
the profits from them will remain in the hands of criminals, and
drug wars will continue."
|
|
(17) LEAHY BLOCKS POSITIVE REPORT ON MEXICO'S RIGHTS RECORD
(Top) |
Source: | Washington Post (DC)
|
---|
Copyright: | 2009 The Washington Post Company
|
---|
Author: | William Booth and Steve Fainaru, Washington Post Foreign Service
|
---|
|
Skepticism About Conclusions Delays U.S. Anti-Drug Aid
|
MEXICO CITY -- A key senator rejected a State Department plan to
issue a report this week affirming that Mexico is respecting human
rights in its war against drug traffickers, delaying the release of
millions of dollars in U.S. anti-narcotics assistance, according to
U.S. officials and congressional sources.
|
The State Department intended to send the favorable report on
Mexico's human rights record to Congress in advance of President
Obama's visit to Guadalajara for a summit of North American leaders
this weekend, U.S. officials familiar with the report said.
|
That plan was scrapped after aides to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.),
chairman of the Senate Appropriations foreign operations
subcommittee, told State Department officials that the findings
contradicted reports of human rights violations in Mexico, including
torture and forced disappearances, in connection with the drug war.
|
At stake is more than $100 million in U.S. aid under the Merida
Initiative, a three-year, $1.4 billion counternarcotics package
begun by President George W. Bush in 2007. The law requires Congress
to withhold 15 percent of most of the funds until the secretary of
state reports that Mexico has made progress on human rights.
|
"Those requirements have not been met, so it is
premature to send the report to Congress," Leahy said
in a statement. "We had good faith discussions with
Mexican and U.S. officials in reaching these
requirements in the law, and I hope we can continue in
that spirit."
|
Soaring Violence
|
The State Department's failure to push through the report is a
setback for the U.S. and Mexican governments at a time when drug
violence in Mexico continues to soar and President Felipe Calderon
has come under growing pressure to revise his U.S.-backed
anti-narcotics strategy, which relies heavily on the military to
fight the cartels.
|
[snip]
|
|
|
(18) WHY IT'S TIME TO END THE WAR ON DRUGS
(Top) |
Source: | Financial Times Weekend Magazine (UK)
|
---|
Copyright: | The Financial Times Limited 2009
|
---|
|
Carlisle Racecourse, near the border between England and Scotland,
is not usually regarded as one of the world's great centres of
progressive thought. It is not even one of the great centres of
British horse racing. But in a hospitality room there in June, the
director of public health for Cumbria, Professor John Ashton,
startled a room full of local delegates at a conference entitled
"Tackling Drugs, Changing Lives" by calling for total legalisation.
"The war on drugs has failed," he said. "We need to think
differently." He said that heroin, and everything else now banned,
should be available over the counter in chemists' shops.
|
At any rate, he certainly startled the reporter from the Carlisle
News & Star who made a splendid splash with the story, giving just a
paragraph to the counter-argument from Detective Superintendent Paul
Carter of Cumbria Police. "Class A drugs destroy the fabric of
people's lives," he responded. "We have to do everything we can to
get people away from drugs like heroin and cocaine." Well, "Cop
Backs Drug Laws" hardly sounds like news, does it? But actually it
is Carter who seems increasingly out of step.
|
[snip]
|
Proper reform means legitimising production and supply, precisely so
it can be controlled. Would it unleash a drug epidemic worse than
the one we now have? Well, it would be an unusual child of the 1960s
who did not mark the moment with a celebratory joint. But the
novelty would soon wear off. And from then on, the places where it
is easiest to obtain drugs would no longer be the inside of jails
and inner-city school playgrounds.
|
Imagine a situation - as John Ashton started to do at Carlisle
Racecourse - where all drugs were sold in pharmacies licensed for the
purpose. Taxation could be set at a level that brought in revenue but
still made illegal dealing uncompetitive. For the more dangerous and
addictive drugs there would be compulsory medical supervision.
Identity checks and strict record-keeping would be required. There
would be laws (which could actually be enforced) against advertising,
adulteration, use in public, driving under the influence and supply to
minors.
|
In what way would that be worse than the present situation?
|
[snip]
|
|
|
(19) PROPOSAL TO NOT PUT DEALERS IN PRISON TO WIN DRUG WAR
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Fri, 31 Jul 2009
|
---|
Copyright: | 2009 The Mirror
|
---|
|
Police should turn a blind eye to drug dealers if they want to stamp
out street crime, a controversial report says.
|
Locking them up does no good and could even lead to violence as new
villains fight it out to fill the gaps, experts warned in a report
yesterday.
|
Instead, they said, police should allow some dealers to ply their
trade - and merely ask them to move away from residential
neighbourhoods.
|
The UK Drugs Policy Commission's paper suggested crime-busting
crackdowns can be counter-productive.
|
The group's chief executive Roger Howard said police work should not
be "limited to the traditional role of arresting as many dealers as
possible in anticipation of reducing supply". He added: "Drug
markets will inevitably remain."
|
The report said: "Drug enforcement efforts have focused on arrests
and seizures with the aim of reducing supply. But markets are quick
to adapt."
|
The study said a better strategy would be "seeking to displace a
market to another area where it will have less impact".
|
Dismissing the report, the Home Office said "tough enforcement is
fundamental".
|
But Lib Dem spokesman Chris Huhne said: "The Government's current
enforcement policy barely scratches the surface when measured by the
availability or street price of drugs.
|
"The enormous rise in cocaine use last year shows its negligible
impact on the drugs market. We need to focus on what works."
|
Last week figures revealed cocaine use rocketed by 25% in England
and Wales in 2008.
|
|
|
(20) DRUG LAWS SPARK DRUG WARS
(Top) |
Pubdate: | Tue, 04 Aug 2009
|
---|
Source: | Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
|
---|
Copyright: | 2009 Winnipeg Free Press
|
---|
|
[snip]
|
Much of the gang violence that plagues Winnipeg's inner city is
attributed to turf war over the highly lucrative drug trade. It has
been suggested that the shooting at a wedding reception in the North
End last week was part of a drug-trade related gang war and that,
because they continue to indulge their appetites, the St. Vital
housewife and the Broadway boulavardier are responsible for the
death and the injuries.
|
If, in fact, that shooting is connected to the drug trade, it is not
users who are responsible. It is the gunman and, ironically, the law
itself that is to blame for the violence. Simply put, you do not
need to deal with a gangster if you can buy your marijuana, or even
your cocaine, at a store regulated and controlled by the government,
just as you can now buy your tobacco and your alcohol.
|
[snip]
|
Even if it were to do so, however, it would not be enough to solve
the problem this country faces. The decriminalization of marijuana
is not nearly enough. The problem is not so much the use of drugs as
the illegality of that use. Education can moderate and reduce drug
use when it is out in the open -- it is the crime that surrounds the
drug trade that is the country's cancer. Until a federal government
has the courage to recognize that, to accept its responsibility to
the citizens of Winnipeg and Canadians across the country, the drugs
and the profits from them will remain in the hands of criminals, and
drug wars will continue.
|
|
|
HOT OFF THE 'NET
(Top)
|
ABC NEWS GOES REEFER MADNESS
|
Pete Guither, DrugWarRant.com
|
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/2009/08/06.html#a3605
|
|
DOES THE MARIJUANA PILL WORK?
|
By Brian Montopoli
|
The government says a pill called Marinol offers the same benefits as
medical marijuana. Is it true?
|
http://drugsense.org/url/iRf12lDV
|
|
IS THE DRUG CZAR LEGALLY REQUIRED TO LIE?
|
By Jacob Sullum
|
http://www.reason.com/blog/show/135271.html
|
|
DRUG TRUTH NETWORK
|
Cultural Baggage Radio Show - 08/02/09 - Arthur Benavie
|
Professor Arthur Benavie, author of Drugs - America's Holy War + DTN
Editorial, Paul Armentano of NORML, Cookville cops plant drugs + Gary
Storck "where's my medicine"
|
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/2526
|
Century of Lies - 08/02/09 - Arthur Benavie
|
Professor Arthur Benavie, author of "Drugs - America's Holy War" takes
listener questions, live
|
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/2527
|
|
STEPHEN COLBERT NAILS ANOTHER JUNKIE
|
http://drugsense.org/url/MCTW9tfe
|
http://drugsense.org/url/eQYHJloQ (Canada)
|
|
HARPER MANIPULATING THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS
|
By Evan Wood
|
The fate of Vancouver's medically supervised safer injecting facility,
known as Insite, hangs in the balance as three B.C. Court of Appeal
justices weigh arguments by the Harper government aimed at overturning
an earlier ruling that provided the program a brief respite from the
Tories' efforts to close it.
|
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/677476
|
|
DRUG CZAR GIL KERLIKOWSKE TO MEET WITH SEATTLE-AREA EXPERTS
|
The Obama Administration plans to issue a formal report that outlines
its national drug control strategy next year. In the meantime,
officials are talking about the issue with public health and safety
leaders across the country, in a series of meetings. The first one, is
tomorrow in Shoreline. For details, KUOW's Derek Wang spoke with the
nation's drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, officially known as the Director
of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
|
This interview was produced by Liz Jones.
|
http://kuow.org/program.php?id=18134
|
|
THE BEST FAIR-USE CONTROVERSY EVER?
|
By Ashby Jones
|
It hasn't yet boiled into a lawsuit yet, but it's got serious
potential. At issue: a poster created by folks at the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (aka NORML), which uses
a photo of Barack Obama as an undergraduate at Occidental College,
circa 1980.
|
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/08/05/the-best-fair-use-controversy-ever/
|
|
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK
(Top)
|
WRITE A LETTER
|
Why It's Time To End The War On Drugs : A Drugsense Focus Alert
|
http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0410.html
|
|
APPLY FOR AN INTERNSHIP WITH MPP
|
http://www.mpp.org/jobs/
|
|
HOLD THE WHITE HOUSE ACCOUNTABLE
|
President Obama said on the campaign trail that medical marijuana
should be treated the same as prescription medicine and that he would
stop federal law enforcement from arresting people for medical
marijuana in states where it is legal. Since taking office, however,
the Obama administration has been sending mixed messages on medical
marijuana, and providers still live in fear of federal raids. Write to
the White House, and tell the president that people should not be
punished for making doctor-prescribed medical marijuana available to
the people who need it. Ask him to take a clear stance on medical
marijuana.
|
http://drugsense.org/url/utfMrmO6
|
|
LETTER OF THE WEEK
(Top)
|
Legalize Pot To End Growing Problem
|
Your Friday editorial about Mexican drug cartels growing marijuana in
the hills of Butte County was rather irrational.
|
First, the misleading headline ("Marijuana not 'harmless' drug")
implied that marijuana was harmful. Nothing whatsoever was said in the
editorial as to any actual negative effects of marijuana. Of course,
if you're looking for documented harm, there's almost nothing to find.
|
Second, with all your "rally behind the troops" cheerleading, you seem
to totally ignore why the cartels and other criminal elements are
involved in farming marijuana -- honest citizens are not allowed to
grow it. Want to get rid of the cartel elements (as well as most of
the financing for street gangs)? Then allow the legal and regulated
production of marijuana. Then our law enforcement people can do
something meaningful.
|
We tried an ill-fated experiment in the '20s that was a godsend to
organized crime -- it was called Prohibition. Fortunately, we came to
our senses after a few years and did away with it. How long will it
take us, and how many lives will be needlessly lost, until we do away
with Prohibition II?
|
Tom Kuykendall, Oroville
|
Pubdate: | Thu, 30 Jul 2009
|
---|
Source: | Oroville Mercury-Register (CA)
|
---|
Copyright: | 2009 Oroville Mercury Register
|
---|
|
|
LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - JULY
(Top)
|
DrugSense recognizes Mike Foster from Laval, Quebec for his three
letters published during July, bringing his career total that we know
of to seven. You may read Mike's published letters here
|
http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Mike+Foster
|
|
FEATURE ARTICLE
(Top)
|
Higher Ground
|
By Jonathan Fitzgerald
|
Is there a Christian position on marijuana?
|
EVERY YEAR around the 20th of April, the press is infiltrated with a
surge of pot-related stories, complete with as many tongue-in-cheek
headlines as editors will allow. This year's coverage was somehow
different, mostly in that it didn't evaporate into thin air (now
even I'm doing it) after the "holiday." Rather, it seems, the
coverage around marijuana picked up steam over the week of April 20
and is carrying on even now, well into the summer.
|
One explanation is that in the midst of a recession, America is
willing to consider hitting the pipe, toking the spliff, bonging
the, um, bong. Mainstream politicians like California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger are actually considering the legalization of
marijuana (though it won't happen this year). Congressmen like
Barney Frank from my home state of Massachusetts and Ron Paul from
Texas are also on board. Reversing the Bush administration's policy,
Attorney General Eric Holder announced that Federal law enforcement
will not pursue medical marijuana users in California, where the
drug is legalized for medicinal purposes.
|
American culture seems to have moved on a long time ago. References
to marijuana use are so breezily tossed around that one might assume
that the stigma related to this still illegal drug has gone the way
of lava lamps. In the Christian world, weed legalization is mostly
absent from the conversation, but there, the silent assumption about
marijuana's legality probably goes the other way.
|
But younger Christians might be a different story. In late April,
the evangelical blog Burnside Writer's Collective quizzed its
young-ish readers on a series of pot-related questions. Should
marijuana be legalized? Fifty percent of responders thought so, and
the next largest percentage said it should at least be
decriminalized. Have you ever smoked marijuana? Fifty percent said
yes, 40 said no. The 10 percent in the middle respond, in uniquely
young evangelical fashion, that they have smoked once or twice.
(Doesn't that just mean "Yes?") Finally, an overwhelming majority
claim that even if weed was legal, they still wouldn't smoke it.
|
Like many other Western political dilemmas, Scripture doesn't have
an entry on cannabis-not even general statements on hallucinogens.
Without the comfort of "the Bible tells me so," it seems that
Christians take an array of positions on their consumption, from
"it's awesome" to "it's illegal" to "it's witchcraft." With so
little on the subject in our texts, Christians must consider the
same questions as any public official: would the legalization of
marijuana be good for our economy? Would it be bad for the youth?
Are the hurt it might cause drug cartels and the lessened burden on
the penal system more convincing arguments than the claims that it
is a gateway drug or will drastically increase drug use?
|
Perhaps the two most convincing arguments for marijuana legalization
are the fiscal benefits of legalizing and taxing the sale of
marijuana, and the impact that decriminalization would have on the
overrun justice system. Just as the government slaps a tremendous
tax on the sale of tobacco products (it's over $5 in New York City),
taxes on marijuana products could create a much-needed stream of
income for all levels of government. Additionally, if marijuana use
became legal, the resources, monetary and otherwise, spent on
arrests, prosecutions and incarcerations of minor drug offenders
could be redistributed to other, arguably more pressing endeavors.
|
Rather than admitting defeat in the never-ending War on Drugs,
legalization could in many ways, be a means for the United States to
score a major victory. The blow to drug dealers, gangs and cartels
that are substantially fueled by illegal marijuana sales could be
nearly incalculable and, again, the government could focus its
energies on stopping the flow of harder drugs. Finally, by
legalizing the production and sale of marijuana, the Federal Drug
Administration and other government agencies would have the
opportunity to regulate it, ensuring that users don't become
seriously ill due to tainted or laced pot.
|
For the time being, however, the seemingly more influential
arguments are those in favor of marijuana's continued illegality.
Without a doubt, the most common argument against legalization is
the assertion that marijuana is a "gateway drug." The gateway drug
theory postulates that those who use pot eventually find their way
into other, more serious drugs. Though it is often pointed out that
this is nearly impossible to measure, it still remains the most
influential line of reasoning against marijuana use, both legally
and illegally. It is also argued that legalization would make it
easier for children and teenagers, for whom the drug would
presumably be illegal, to gain access to pot.
|
There is one other argument for legalization that may tip the
scales: the fact that the marijuana's illegality is a major
inconsistency in government policy. Selling or smoking weed is a
criminal offense, while alcohol and tobacco products are freely
produced, sold and consumed by Americans. Sure, we need the FDA to
regulate and restrict drugs that have been proven far more harmful
than beneficial, but marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol when
both are used in moderation, and when given the choice, I'd prefer
to be around someone who smoked too much pot rather than drank too
much. Of course people will abuse marijuana as they do alcohol, but
we don't accept that as an argument for prohibition.
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No one should be surprised when, sooner rather than later, the real
possibility of legal marijuana becomes even more ubiquitous in the
news and in everyday conversations. Changes like this don't come
quickly, nor should they. The fact that this debate has been going
on for decades and continues with no end in sight is not necessarily
a bad thing. Let us consider all points of view and, in the end,
make the choice that is best not only for our economy and
government, but, indeed, for our citizens as well. With no easy
answers in sight, perhaps this is what it means to work out our
faith with fear and trembling. And you know what they say is good
for calming that trembling don't you ...
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Jonathan Fitzgerald is managing editor of Patrol, where this piece
first appeared - http://www.patrolmag.com/times/1768/higher-ground
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