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DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
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DrugSense Weekly,           March 27, 2009                       #593
Read This Publication On-line at:Â http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* This Just In
  (1) Obama Makes History in Live Internet Video Chat
  (2) Albany Reaches Deal to Repeal '70s-Era Drug Laws
  (3) Bill C-15 Could Fill Prisons
  (4) Treat Addiction As A Disease, MDs Tell Victoria
* Weekly News in Review
Drug Policy-
  (5) Anti-Drug Effort At Border Is Readied
  (6) Why Secretly Funded DEA Surveillance Planes Aren't Flying
  (7) Cleveland Relaxes Policy On Drug Arrests With Trace Amounts
  (8) Prosecutors Seek Elimination of Mandatory Prison For Some Drug Offenders
  (9) State Considers Decriminalizing Pot
Law Enforcement & Prisons-
  (10) Cops Face Obstruction Charges
  (11) Pew Study Finds Imprisonment Too Costly And Ineffective
  (12) Public Needs More Information About Shooting Of GVSU Student During Drug Raid
  (13) Daredevil's Final Act
  (14) When The Good Guys Go Bad
Cannabis & Hemp-
  (15) Towns Try To Punish Public Marijuana Use
  (16) Legalize Marijuana -- And Tax It, Too
  (17) Shift On Marijuana Policy Delays Sentencing
  (18) Nicholson Says No To Legalizing Marijuana
International News-
  (19) NDLEA Arrests 114-Year-Old Man
  (20) Clinton Offers Mexico Help In Drug War
  (21) Gangs Are A Symptom, Drugs Are The Disease
  (22) Greens Want Pot Legalized
* Hot Off The 'Net
  Video Of President Obama Rejecting Legalized Cannabis
  Obama Should Have Taken Pot Question Seriously / Paul Armentano
  Reactions To Obama's Marijuana Blunder
  End Prohibition And End Gang Violence
  Former Drug Free America Director Endorses Medical Marijuana
  UNODC Remains Shy About Publishing Report On Dutch Coffee Shop System
  The End Of Hysteria And The Last Man / Jacob Sullum
  Help Mexico By Legalizing Marijuana / Bill Piper And Ethan Nadelmann
  Drug Truth Network
  Rob Kampia Discusses Marijuana Tax And Regulation On CNBC's Power Lunch
  More Than A Quarter Million Marijuana Smokers In Drug Treatment Each Year
  Hemp Is Not Pot / Dara Colwell
* What You Can Do This Week
  Tell Obama You Are Not Amused
  Finalize Real Rockefeller Reform In New York
* Letter Of The Week
  Legalized Drugs Would End Long List Of Problems / Alan Randell
* Feature Article
  There Are No Victories In The War On Drugs, Only Victims
* Quote of the Week
  Earnest Benn
DrugSense needs your support to continue this newsletter and many
other important projects - see how you can help at
http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
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THIS JUST IN
=======================================================================
(1) OBAMA MAKES HISTORY IN LIVE INTERNET VIDEO CHAT
Pubdate: Fri, 27 Mar 2009
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company
Author: Sheryl Gay Stolberg
WASHINGTON -- The White House said more than 64,000 people watched
President Obama answer questions on Thursday in the first live
Internet video chat by an American president. But in declaring
itself "Open for Questions," on the economy, the White House learned
it must be careful what it wishes for.
More than 100,000 questions were submitted, with the idea that Mr.
Obama would answer those that were most popular. But after 3.6
million votes were cast, one of the top questions turned out to be a
query on whether legalizing marijuana might stimulate the economy by
allowing the government to regulate and tax the drug.
"I don't know what this says about the online audience," Mr. Obama
said, drawing a laugh from an audience gathered in the East Room,
which included teachers, nurses and small-business people. "The
answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow the
economy."
The marijuana question later took up a good chunk of the daily White
House press briefing, where Robert Gibbs, the press secretary,
suggested that advocates for legalizing marijuana had mounted a
drive to rack up votes for the question.
Those advocates included NORML, the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws, which urged supporters to "let the
president know that millions of American voters believe that the
time has come to tax and regulate marijuana."
But however the marijuana query rose to the top of the White House
list, it provided one of the livelier moments in the mostly staid
70-minute event.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n340/a01.html
===
(2) ALBANY REACHES DEAL TO REPEAL '70S-ERA DRUG LAWS
Pubdate: Thu, 26 Mar 2009
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company
Author: Jeremy W. Peters
ALBANY - Gov. David A. Paterson and New York legislative leaders
have reached an agreement to dismantle much of what remains of the
state's strict 1970s-era drug laws, once among the toughest in the
nation.
The deal would repeal many of the mandatory minimum prison sentences
now in place for lower-level drug felons, giving judges the
authority to send first-time nonviolent offenders to treatment
instead of prison.
The plan would also expand drug treatment programs and widen the
reach of drug courts at a cost of at least $50 million.
New York's drug sentencing laws, imposed during a heroin epidemic
that was devastating urban areas nearly four decades ago, helped
spur a nationwide trend toward mandatory sentences in drug crimes.
But as many other states moved to roll back the mandatory minimum
sentences in recent years, New York kept its laws on the books,
leaving prosecutors with the sole discretion of whether offenders
could be sent to treatment.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n338/a05.html
===
(3) BILL C-15 COULD FILL PRISONS
Pubdate: Thu, 26 Mar 2009
Source: Georgia Straight, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 The Georgia Straight
Author: Carlito Pablo
On March 2, the Pew Center on the States, a Washington, D.C.-based
think tank, released a report on the staggering growth of the
American correctional system.
Entitled One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections, the
report noted that "sentencing and release laws passed in the 1980s
and 1990s put so many more people behind bars that last year the
incarcerated population reached 2.3 million and, for the first time,
one in 100 adults was in prison or jail."
It also cited the tremendous increase in the number of people on
probation or parole, such that "combined with those in prison and
jail, a stunning 1 in every 31 adults, or 3.2 percent, is under some
form of correctional control."
Why is this relevant to Canada?
"We only need to go south of the border and see a nation that
enacted mandatory minimums related to drug offences from the
mid-1980s on," criminologist Susan Boyd told the Georgia Straight.
"It didn't reduce violence and drug use. So here we are saying,
'We're going to do this.' "
Boyd-an associate professor at UVic and research fellow at the
Centre for Addictions Research of B.C.-was referring to the
reintroduction in Parliament by the Conservative government of a
bill that proposes mandatory minimum jail sentences for drug
offenders.
If passed into law, Bill C-15 would, among its other provisions,
throw people caught with one marijuana plant into the slammer for a
minimum of six months. If growing a single plant is done on a
property that belongs to another person or in an area where it may
present a hazard to children, minimum jail time is nine months.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n338/a03.html
===
(4) TREAT ADDICTION AS A DISEASE, MDS TELL VICTORIA
Pubdate: Thu, 26 Mar 2009
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 The Vancouver Sun
Author: Kelly Sinoski
Health Care System Should Cover Alcoholics, Chronic Gamblers And
Other Addicts, BCMA Says
B.C. doctors are calling for the provincial government to formally
recognize addiction as a chronic disease -- and provide public
funding to deal with it.
The call comes in a report being released today by the B.C. Medical
Association that says more than 400,000 British Columbians suffer
from some form of addiction.
These people are struggling to get help when they need it, the
report says, because of a lack of resources or the high cost of
treatment. This in turn puts strains on emergency departments,
workplaces and families.
"For many years, addiction was seen as a personal failure rather
than an illness," said Dr. Shao-Hua Lu, an addictions psychiatrist.
"One tends to focus on the terrible losses in the Downtown Eastside,
but in terms of overall cost, alcohol, gambling and tobacco probably
costs society much more."
The BCMA says alcohol, gambling and drug addictions, which are often
linked to some form of mental illness, are akin to heart disease and
diabetes and the province should treat them the same way. While
treating a gambling addict the same as a cancer patient would add
new costs to the system, the BCMA argues it would ultimately save
money by preventing the costly results of untreated addictions.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n339/a11.html
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
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Domestic News- Policy
----------------------------------
COMMENT: (5-9)
The Obama administration is ready to send more manpower to the
Mexican border. Will the effort have any more effect than DEA
surveillance planes? Hard to tell, but the DEA surveillance planes
fit the profile of a classic government boondoogle: overpriced,
secretly and questionably funded, and a complete failure (with bonus
points since the last point had already been determined by another
government agency).
Drug policy reform is coming piecemeal around the country as a way
to cope with other crises. In Ohio, prosecutors are hoping to phase
out mandatory minimums for some drug offenders to save money; while
the city of Cleveland has liberalized itself to the point of not
considering possession of drug residue in pipes as a felony. And, in
Connecticut, some legislators like what the people have done in
Massachusetts.
===
(5) ANTI-DRUG EFFORT AT BORDER IS READIED
Pubdate: Sun, 22 Mar 2009
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2009 The Washington Post Company
Author: Spencer S. Hsu, and Mary Beth Sheridan
Obama Plans to Send Agents, Equipment To Aid Mexican Fight
President Obama is finalizing plans to move federal agents,
equipment and other resources to the border with Mexico to support
Mexican President Felipe Calderon's campaign against violent drug
cartels, according to U.S. security officials.
In Obama's first major domestic security initiative, administration
officials are expected to announce as early as this week a crackdown
on the supply of weapons and cash moving from the United States into
Mexico that helps sustain that country's narco-traffickers,
officials said.
The announcement sets the stage for Mexico City visits by three
Cabinet members, beginning Wednesday with Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton and followed next week by Attorney General Eric H.
Holder Jr. and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
Napolitano, designated by Obama to convene a multi-agency security
plan for the border, said the government is preparing plans to send
more agents and intensify its investigation and prosecution of
cartel-related activity in the United States. In addition, she said,
the government may expand efforts to trace the sources of guns that
move from the United States into Mexico.
To combat the southbound flow of guns, ammunition and grenades at
border checkpoints, the government may deploy new equipment, such as
scales to weigh vehicles and automated license-plate readers linked
to databases, as well as other surveillance technology, she said.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n325/a02.html
===
(6) WHY SECRETLY FUNDED DEA SURVEILLANCE PLANES AREN'T FLYING
Pubdate: Wed, 25 Mar 2009
Source: Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus,GA)
Copyright: 2009 Ledger-Enquirer
Author: Marisa Taylor
Why Secretly Funded DEA Surveillance Planes Aren't Flying
WASHINGTON -- The first sign of trouble with the Drug Enforcement
Administration's new surveillance planes surfaced almost
immediately. On the way from the manufacturer to the agency's
aviation headquarters, one of them veered off a runway during a fuel
stop.
The malfunction last spring was only the beginning. A month later,
the windshield unlatched in mid-flight and smashed into the engine.
Then, in a third incident on the same plane, a connection between
the propeller and the engine came loose and forced an emergency
landing.
In January, after less than 10 months of operation, the cascade of
mechanical problems forced the DEA to ground the planes.
The planes recently were scheduled to be "cannibalized" so the DEA
could sell the parts and recover as much of its money as possible.
The story behind why the DEA sought out the three planes, only to
become the second federal agency to give them up, illustrates the
pitfalls of "black," or classified, budgeting in which Congress
approves tens of billions of dollars for intelligence agencies
outside the public's view.
The twin-engine planes, manufactured by Schweizer Aircraft, likely
came out of an even more shadowy funding provision known as "black
earmarks," according to government officials with knowledge of the
contract. The officials asked to remain anonymous because the
planes, known as "Shadowhawks," received funding secretly.
Lawmakers often earmark projects to score sought-after contracts for
companies back home.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n337/a01.html
===
(7) CLEVELAND RELAXES POLICY ON DRUG ARRESTS WITH TRACE AMOUNTS
Pubdate: Tue, 24 Mar 2009
Source: Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)
Copyright: 2009 The Plain Dealer
Author: Mark Puente
Trace Amounts Now Bring Misdemeanors
People busted with drug residue in pipes and syringes in Cleveland
are no longer automatically charged as felons, bringing the city's
policies in line with other urban areas throughout the state.
Until two weeks ago, drug abusers faced felony possession charges if
caught with trace amounts of drugs in a crack pipe or heroin
syringe. They now face misdemeanor charges, which allows them to
seek treatment through the Greater Cleveland Drug Court.
City officials announced the policy change in November, but it took
about four months to implement it because the courts and
prosecutor's office had to prepare for the change.
The goal of switching from felonies to misdemeanors is to get
addicts treatment without saddling them with a felony that could
hamper them in turning their lives around, Mayor Frank Jackson said.
With treatment, the offenders are more likely to kick the habit and
less likely to commit more crimes, Jackson said.
"It will greatly reduce the number of crimes committed," the mayor
said.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n334/a04.html
===
(8) PROSECUTORS SEEK ELIMINATION OF MANDATORY PRISON FOR SOME DRUG
OFFENDERS
Pubdate: Tue, 24 Mar 2009
Source: Columbus Dispatch (OH)
Copyright: 2009 The Columbus Dispatch
Ohio's county prosecutors are recommending major changes to state
drug laws, including the elimination of mandatory prison sentences
for trafficking and possession of chemicals for the manufacture of
drugs, except in the most serious cases.
The prosecutors also want to reduce several other non-drug crimes to
misdemeanors from felonies, including assaulting a school teacher,
administrator or school bus operator without physical harm; injuring
a police dog or horse; illegal use of food stamps; and unauthorized
use of a cable television or telecommunication device.
If approved, the changes would ratchet back some "tough-on-crime"
laws enacted in the 1980s and 1990s.
John E. Murphy, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys
Association, said the changes are intended to counter the Strickland
administration's proposal to ease prison overcrowding by allowing
inmates to accumulate seven days of "earned credit" per month by
participating in programming. The credit would allow them to reduce
their sentences -- even if they're serving definite or "flat"
sentences -- so they can be released earlier.
"We do support a lot of mandatory penalties that deal with violence.
But for crimes like drug trafficking, we have some reservation about
whether there should be a mandatory prison sentence. It's still a
crime. It still has a presumption for prison.
"It would still be up to the judge. In many cases, the judges would
still send them to prison," Murphy said.
[snip]
Continues: : http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n335/a04.html
===
(9) STATE CONSIDERS DECRIMINALIZING POT
Pubdate: Wed, 25 Mar 2009
Source: Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, CT)
Copyright: 2009sMediaNews Group, Inc
Author: Ken Dixon
HARTFORD -- The legislative push began Tuesday for a
Massachusetts-style law to decriminalize possession of up to an
ounce of marijuana, making it punishable by a small fine and
removing the lifetime stigma of a misdemeanor arrest.
Led by Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, the
bill would save the state an estimated $11 million a year in police,
court and incarceration costs and produce about $320,000 in revenue
from fines.
More than a dozen people, including college students and drug-policy
advocates, from throughout the state testified in favor of the
legislation during an afternoon-long hearing before the powerful
Judiciary Committee.
If approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. M.
Jodi Rell -- who last year vetoed legislation to allow medical uses
of marijuana -- Connecticut would join a dozen other states with
reduced penalties for marijuana kept for personal use.
But Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane said that there are as many as
five programs that divert small-time users from state prisons and
that current law essentially decriminalizes small-time possession.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n336/a08.html
=======================================================================
Law Enforcement & Prisons
-------------------------
COMMENT: (10-14)
More corruption, waste, overkill and tragedy in the war on drugs.
===
(10) COPS FACE OBSTRUCTION CHARGES
Pubdate: Fri, 20 Mar 2009
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2009 Winnipeg Free Press
Authors: Mike McIntyre, and Gabrielle Giroday
Case Stayed After Two Accused Of Fabricating Evidence In Drug Case
At first glance, it must have looked like an open-and-shut case -- a
Winnipeg man apparently caught red-handed with a stash of cocaine
and cash.
But now it is the arresting officers, not the suspected drug dealer,
who are before the courts facing serious criminal allegations.
The Crown attorney stayed charges of trafficking and proceeds of
crime against the 20-year-old accused based on information that
surfaced at his preliminary hearing last fall, according to court
documents. That surprise development triggered an internal Winnipeg
police investigation that ended this week with the arrests of the
two officers who arrested the young man in May 2008 following a
search of an inner-city home.
Const. Graeme Beattie, 29, and Const. Paul Clark, 40, now face an
internal hearing, which will determine their employment status while
charges of fabricating evidence, obstructing justice and public
mischief remain before the courts. Both officers were released on a
promise to appear in court at a later date.
The case against the inner-city resident appeared to be going
smoothly when it came up in court on Oct. 31 for a preliminary
hearing. Federal Crown attorney Erin Magas told provincial court
Judge Mary Curtis she expected defence lawyer Bruce Bonney to
consent to having the case committed to trial.
However, she said, Bonney had a few "charter issues" to raise with
the two arresting officers and would question them on the witness
stand. The lawyers requested a short recess for a private
discussion-- only to have Magas return saying the case won't be
proceeding.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n320/a03.html
===
(11) PEW STUDY FINDS IMPRISONMENT TOO COSTLY AND INEFFECTIVE
Pubdate: Fri, 20 Mar 2009
Source: Guilfordian, The (Guilford College, NC Edu)
Copyright: 2009 The Guilfordian.
Author: Jasmine Ashton
The federal government can no longer afford to incarcerate the 2.3
million in jails and prisons across the nation - another symptom of
the current financial crisis. As a result, states are beginning to
consider criminal justice and policy changes in order to save funds
and alleviate overcrowding.
New policy recommendations are designed to reduce prison and jail
populations through sentencing changes, recidivism reduction
programs, and early release modifications.
"In order to solve a problem you must work to prevent it from the
root," said junior Jossie Dowling, the project coordinator for the
Guilford Correctional Center ( McLeansville ) reading and discussion
group. "I believe that there are several different roots to the
overcrowding issue: globalization, the War on Drugs, and the three
strikes policy."
The War on Drugs is a prohibition campaign undertaken by the U.S.
government with the assistance of participating countries. It is
intended to reduce the illegal drug trade - to curb supply and
diminish the demand for drugs deemed immoral, harmful, dangerous, or
undesirable.
According to Dowling, the three strikes policy, which often goes
along with the War on Drugs, has unjustly put many minor offenders
behind bars.
"It is essentially the idea that after committing three crimes it is
mandatory that you serve time in prison," said Dowling. "So many
different things count as felonies that people can really get
screwed if they commit three minor crimes
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n321/a07.html
===
(12) PUBLIC NEEDS MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SHOOTING OF GVSU STUDENT
DURING DRUG RAID
Pubdate: Sat, 21 Mar 2009
Source: Grand Rapids Press (MI)
Copyright: 2009 Grand Rapids Press
It's been 11 days since an unarmed Grand Valley State University
student was shot by police during a drug raid at his off-campus
apartment. The public knows little more now about the circumstances
surrounding the shooting than when it occurred. Law enforcement
officials need to move with more dispatch in making the facts of
this case known. The longer authorities remain silent, the more time
for rumors, speculation and even anger to grow.
We entrust officers, State Police troopers, sheriff's deputies and
others with considerable power, including the right to use deadly
force when circumstances warrant. That extraordinary authority needs
to be balanced by a heavy dose of accountability and public
disclosure. But details from the authorities have been in short
supply regarding this case.
We know Derek Copp, a 20-year-old GVSU student, was shot in the
chest by police March 11 during the execution of a drug-related
search warrant. We know he was unarmed. We know the 12-year Ottawa
County sheriff's deputy who fired his weapon is on paid
administrative leave.
We know. . .well, that's about all we know.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n322/a04.html
===
(13) DAREDEVIL'S FINAL ACT
Pubdate: Thu, 19 Mar 2009
Source: Pacific Northwest Inlander, The (US WA)
Copyright: Inland Publications, Inc. 2009
Author: Kevin Taylor
A Young Canadian Mountain Biker, Facing U.S. Drug Charges, Takes His
Own Life In Spokane's Jail
Any suicide leaves behind painful, unanswered questions, but the
hanging death three weeks ago of Samuel Jackson Lindsay-Brown leaves
more than most.
In addition to the searing questions for family and friends over why
he ended his life, no information has yet been released about
Lindsay-Brown's involvement in the murky world of cross-border drug
smuggling and why undercover agents busted him when they did. His
passing has become big news across western Canada, where he is seen
as a casualty in the U.S. government's war on drugs.
The 24-year-old Canadian was arrested Feb. 23 on federal drug
trafficking charges after flying a helicopter bearing 350 pounds of
marijuana over the border in crappy weather at night. Lindsay-Brown
landed in a clearing in the Colville National Forest to rendezvous
with men who turned out to be undercover agents with the Drug
Enforcement Administration.
He was booked into the Spokane County Jail Feb. 24 and, using
ingenuity and a bed sheet, hanged himself in his cell three days
later.
His loss is keenly felt in the tight-knit world of mountain bikers,
where a tribute site soon appeared on the Web and continues to draw
postings that mourn Lindsay-Brown's death as well as videos of his
daredevil riding feats and stories of his charisma and skill.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n323/a04.html
===
(14) WHEN THE GOOD GUYS GO BAD
Pubdate: Tue, 24 Mar 2009
Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright: 2009 Detroit Free Press
Authors: Joe Swickard, and Ben Schmitt
Case Turns Law Enforcement Upside Down
Even in metro Detroit, an area long familiar with staggering levels
of dope trafficking, Inkster cops earned high-fives all around when
they grabbed 47 kilos of cocaine back in 2005.
But now that seizure from a Texas narcotics pipeline -- one of the
largest local narcotics busts this area has seen -- has turned the
regular law enforcement roles upside down, with the state now
expecting to seek felony charges against the cops and the trial
prosecutor. The trial judge also may be named in a criminal warrant
request brought after a nine-month investigation by the Michigan
Attorney General's Office.
The original drug cases against Alexander Aceval and Ricardo Pena
were ruined, authorities contend, by the cops' false testimony that
a key witness had no prior contact with Inkster police. The man, who
also testified falsely, was actually a paid police informant, a fact
shielded from jurors and defense lawyers.
Aceval and Pena pleaded guilty to drug charges after the lies were
exposed.
Lawyers involved in or familiar with the state's perjury
investigation said Monday that former Wayne County Assistant
Prosecutor Karen Plants and Inkster Sgt. Scott Rechtzigel and
Officer Robert McArthur said they've been told the state is seeking
charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and conspiracy against
them. The judge who heard the 2005 drug prosecution, Wayne County
Circuit Judge Mary Waterstone, who has retired, could also be named
as a defendant for learning of the false testimony from Plants, but
allowing jurors to hear it anyway.
People familiar with the investigation said the exact charges being
sought could change by the time they are filed. It is also possible,
said one, that the state could decide at the last moment not to
charge one or more of the four.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n334/a02.html
=======================================================================
Cannabis & Hemp-
---------------------------
COMMENT: (15-18)
In the wake of cannabis decriminalization in Massachusetts, several
cities are imposing additional fines for those found smoking cannabis
in public.
Misapprehensions in D.C. notwithstanding, beleaguered state
governments are seriously considering if legalizing cannabis "would
improve the economy and job creation."
The fate of Charles Lynch and other dispensary operators charged
under federal cannabis laws, despite their compliance with state
laws, remains unknown.
The conservative government in Canada is posed to exploit public fear
over gangland violence to escalate the war on cannabis, including
imposing mandatory prison sentences for growing a single plant.
===
(15) TOWNS TRY TO PUNISH PUBLIC MARIJUANA USE
Pubdate: Wed, 25 Mar 2009
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2009 Globe Newspaper Company
Author: Jonathan Saltzman
Officials Want Children Shielded
Dozens of Massachusetts cities and towns are taking steps to impose
stiff new fines for smoking marijuana in public and even to charge
some violators with misdemeanors, a trend that critics say subverts
the state ballot question passed overwhelmingly last fall to
decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.
In recent weeks, at least seven communities - Duxbury, Lynn, Methuen,
Medway, Milford, Salem, and Springfield - have passed bylaws that
target people who light up in public. And two dozen cities and towns
expect to vote this spring on similar measures, which proponents liken
to local open container laws that ban drinking alcohol in public.
Police officials say they want to discourage flagrant marijuana
smoking, particularly in public parks, schoolyards, and on beaches
where young children gather. While last year's ballot initiative
reduced possession of an ounce or less from a misdemeanor to a civil
infraction carrying a $100 fine, police say that some marijuana
smokers mistakenly believe that the voters legalized the drug
entirely.
"If you're smoking marijuana in front of schoolchildren, to me that's
a little bit more serious than smoking a joint by yourself out in the
middle of the woods," said Salem police Captain Brian Gilligan. His
city recently authorized officers to fine public smokers $300 in
addition to the $100 fine for possession. The Salem bylaw also lets
officers give them a misdemeanor summons, although Gilligan predicted
that few will get them.
Advocates of last fall's ballot initiative say the new civil fines for
smoking marijuana in public are, at best, unnecessary because those
individuals can already be fined for possession. At worst, they say,
bylaws that treat smoking violations as a misdemeanor are a backdoor
attempt to subvert the will of Massachusetts voters, who approved
decriminalization in November by a margin of nearly 2 to 1.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n336.a10.html Close Window
===
(16) LEGALIZE MARIJUANA -- AND TAX IT, TOO
Pubdate: Wed, 25 Mar 2009
Source: Providence Journal, The (RI)
Copyright: 2009 The Providence Journal Company
Author: Richard M. Evans
IS IT TIME -- yet -- to tax marijuana?
California dodged a budget bullet, and now Massachusetts, New York and
other states are under the same gun. As governors and state
legislatures scrape for new sources of revenue, has the time come to
talk seriously -- really seriously, without winks, puns and smirks --
about regulating and taxing marijuana?
It's hard to avoid the brutal truths, and even harder to admit them.
The marijuana market is immense, barely restrained by prohibition
laws, while the harm it causes society is minuscule compared with
alcohol and tobacco.
If there is anyone, anywhere, who believes that investing more
taxpayer dollars in prohibition enforcement will extirpate marijuana
from within our national borders, let him or her step forward and
answer a few plain questions:
* How many more millions of people will have to be arrested,
prosecuted, convicted and punished to achieve success in the struggle
against marijuana?
* When "success" is achieved, how many more people will be in jails
and prisons?
* How much will that cost taxpayers and where will the money come
from?
This is the time for defenders of prohibition to answer those
questions, or otherwise explain specifically how the war against
marijuana can be won. If they can't, let them forever hold their
peace, letting the debate turn productively to the alternatives.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n335.a11.html
===
(17) SHIFT ON MARIJUANA POLICY DELAYS SENTENCING
Pubdate: Tue, 24 Mar 2009
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company
Author: Rebecca Cathcart
LOSÂ ANGELES - A federal judge here Monday postponed the sentencing of
a man convicted of running a medical marijuana dispensary and asked
the Department of Justice to clarify its revised position on such
cases.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said last week that federal
authorities would not seek to prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries
if the operations complied with state and local laws, a departure from
the Bush administration policy that federal narcotics laws held sway.
California is one of 13 states that allow the growth and sales of
medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.
"The judge said this statement raises more questions than it answers,"
said Reuven Cohen, a lawyer for the defendant, Charles Lynch. "He said
he needed an explanation, and he needed it from the Department of
Justice, not the local prosecutor."
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the United States attorney in Los
Angeles, said that he could not comment on the specifics of the
request by Judge George H. Wu, but that prosecutors "do believe that
Mr. Lynch violated state law."
Last August, a jury convicted Mr. Lynch on five counts related to
running a dispensary and selling medical marijuana to customers under
21, considered minors under a federal statute that prohibits the sale
of marijuana and other narcotics to minors. Mr. Lynch faces a minimum
sentence of five years in federal prison.
The case has been widely followed by medical marijuana advocates since
Mr. Lynch was arrested after a 2007 raid on his dispensary in Morro
Bay, Calif.
[snip]
Mr. Mrozek said both sides would have a conference with Judge Wu on
Friday, but prosecutors may not have a filing from the Department of
Justice by then. The sentencing hearing has been postponed until April
30.
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n329.a09.html
===
(18) NICHOLSON SAYS NO TO LEGALIZING MARIJUANA
Pubdate: Wed, 25 Mar 2009
Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009, West Partners Publishing Ltd.
Author: Adrian Nieoczym
Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson came to Kelowna to give a
colleague a hand and to make it clear that the Conservative Party has
a tough on crime agenda.
Nicholson was the guest speaker for Conservative Kelowna-Lake Country
MPÂ Ron Cannan's fundraising dinner Saturday at the Coast Capri Hotel.
"Ron Cannan is an outstanding member of parliament," Nicholson told
the roomful of Conservative party members and supporters.
"It's not just a coincidence I am out here. I appreciate the support
that he has delivered."
Cannan and Nicholson, who hails from Niagara Falls, both represent
regions with vibrant wine industries.
Nicholson credited Cannan for helping do away with the federal excise
tax on Canadian wine. He also praised Cannan for helping with the
government's crime agenda.
"He has been consistently supportive of what we have been trying to do
to get tough on violent crime in this country," he said to loud
applause.
Speaking with reporters after his speech, Nicholson said the recent
gang violence in the Lower Mainland has got politicians of all stripes
focusing on crime.
He expressed his hope that as a result, the government will be able to
get its recent crime bills passed.
"This is a terrible tragedy what is taking place in the Lower
Mainland. At the same time we seem to have had the attention of all
political parties now. I hope it sustains. We have to get it passed
not only the House of Commons but in the Senate as well and that's
always a challenge," he said.
The Conservative government has tabled legislation which would mandate
automatic first degree murder charges for gang-related killings and
introduce stiffer penalties for drive by shootings, attacks on police
and the production and distribution of illegal drugs.
Nicholson also rejected the notion that legalizing marijuana would
eliminate the incentive for criminals to grow and distribute the drug,
and in the process reduce gang violence.
"We won't be legalizing marijuana. We believe that previous
governments sent out the wrong message on this," he said.
"We're going to be taking some very firm measures against people who
produce drugs, manufacture drugs, people who ship drugs out of this
country or import drugs into this country. We're sending a very clear
message to them that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated."
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n331.a07.html
=======================================================================
International News
---------------------------
COMMENT: (19-22)
He was a 114-year-old tribal chief, according to the Nigerian
"Punch"Â newspaper, but that didn't stop the man from having over six
tons of cannabis in the backyard. "I don't know anything about it,"
claimed Chief Sulaimon Adebayo. Nigerian police shudder to think of
the devastation narrowly averted. "Imagine what could have happened
if this drug had not been intercepted. Imagine the lives that would
have been destroyed by this illicit drug."
Mexican President Felipe Calderon's "war" against drug cartels,
while failing utterly to put a dent into the colossal flow of
illegal drugs moving north did, instead, manage to decapitate the
cartels - repeatedly stirring up deadly turf battles. As the turf
battles become ever more murderous, the new U.S. Secretary of State,
Hillary Clinton, arrived in Mexico to meet with Mexican leaders.
Unable to admit drug prohibition itself drives violence, Clinton
instead proceeded to blame (the supply of) drugs on the demand for
them, "Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug
trade."Â Clinton pledged additional U.S. taxpayer dollars for weapons
to bolster the Mexican police and military.
The NDLEA, Hillary, and prohibitionists around the world would do
well this week to heed the words of Vancouver Sun columnist Ian
Mulgrew. "The issue isn't gangs; it's illicit drugs. Illegal drugs
are big money precisely because they are prohibited: Marijuana grows
like a weed and cocaine can be processed for pennies... the gangs
are a symptom, not the disease... There is only one solution that
promises to reduce the violence -- the end of the drug prohibition."
And finally this week, British Columbia Green Party leader, Jane
Sterk, said gang wars might not be happening if cannabis were legal.
"The war on drugs is a colossal failure," said Sterk. Shoot-outs are
"over the control of controlled substances that are now deemed to be
illegal."Â Legalize cannabis and "There should not be any money to be
made for the gangs in this whole production and distribution end."
===
(19) NDLEA ARRESTS 114-YEAR-OLD MAN
Pubdate: Sat, 21 Mar 2009
Source: Punch (Nigeria)
Copyright: 2009 The Punch
Author: Ademola Oni
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 114-year-old
man, Chief Sulaimon Adebayo, in Ogun State, in connection with the
discovery of 6.5 tonnes of weeds suspected to be marijuana,
popularly called Indian Hemp, behind his house.
Parading the suspect in Abeokuta on Friday, the State Commandant of
the NDLEA, Mrs. Chinyere Obijuru, said the anti-drug agency, acting
on a tip off, swooped on the house of the centenarian, who claimed
to be the Baale (community leader) of Oja Sango, Odeda Local
Government of the state.
[snip]
"Imagine what could have happened if this drug had not been
intercepted. Imagine the lives that would have been destroyed by
this illicit drug."
[snip]
"Someone came and dropped them at the back of my house in the night.
The first time he came, I saw him but I thought what he dropped were
bags of rice and I did not see him until the police came. I don't
know anything about it," he said.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n325.a03.html
===
(20) CLINTON OFFERS MEXICO HELP IN DRUG WAR
Pubdate: Thu, 26 Mar 2009
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
MEXICOÂ CITYÂ -- Mexican officials announced the capture of an alleged
drug lord Wednesday as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
arrived, carrying a conciliatory message: U.S. demand is a principal
reason for spiraling drug-related violence in Mexico.
Mrs. Clinton pledged that the Obama administration will work
aggressively to reduce drug demand, while seeking to cut off the
flow of high-tech weapons from the U.S. that Mexican narcotics gangs
are using in their internal wars and in conflict with Mexican
authorities.
The U.S. will also seek to expedite shipments of military hardware
and technical assistance, she said, part of $700 million in aid this
year to help Mexico respond to the narcotics threat.
Mrs. Clinton said the Obama administration would seek $80 million
from Congress for three Black Hawk helicopters for Mexico, $66
million of which is new money. "Our insatiable demand for illegal
drugs fuels the drug trade. ...So yes, I feel very strongly that we
have a co-responsibility" to confront it, Mrs. Clinton told
reporters traveling with her to Mexico City from Washington.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n337.a04.html
===
(21) GANGS ARE A SYMPTOM, DRUGS ARE THE DISEASE
Pubdate: Mon, 23 Mar 2009
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 The Vancouver Sun
Author: Ian Mulgrew
[snip]
We didn't get any solutions from the justice ministers Saturday
because they are avoiding the truth: The issue isn't gangs; it's
illicit drugs.
Illegal drugs are big money precisely because they are prohibited:
Marijuana grows like a weed and cocaine can be processed for
pennies.
The U.S. and Mexico don't have our legal niceties problem and
neither is dealing with the burgeoning gangsterism any better than
we are. No country is.
That's because the gangs are a symptom, not the
disease.
Whether you live in Tijuana, New York or Vancouver, murders and
shootings have become common because of the illegal drug market.
There is only one solution that promises to reduce the violence --
the end of the drug prohibition. We can only sap the strength of the
gangs by removing the enormous profits reaped from drug trafficking.
[snip]
Removing massive drug profits from the underground economy won't
eliminate gangs, but it will reduce their number and scope
considerably.
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n330.a03.html
===
(22) GREENS WANT POT LEGALIZED
Pubdate: Sun, 22 Mar 2009
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Author: John Bermingham
Party Also Wants To Ban Tasers, Increase Energy Production
B.C. Green leader Jane Sterk said if cannabis was legalized, there
might not be a gang war going on around the Lower Mainland.
Sterk was speaking with The Province after the release of her
party's platform for the May 12 provincial election, which calls for
the legalization of cannabis, among its 500 ideas.
"The war on drugs is a colossal failure," Sterk said Friday. "It's
illogical to do something that has been such a failure."
The current gang violence is an offshoot of failed prohibition
policies, she said.
"It's over the control of controlled substances that are now deemed
to be illegal," she said.
Government should take over the production and distribution of
marijuana, she said, and take the money-making incentive away from
the criminals.
"There should not be any money to be made for the gangs in this
whole production and distribution end," she said.
Sterk said addiction should be treated as a public health issue, and
doctors given the power to prescribe drug substitutes.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n324.a11.html
***********************************************************************
HOT OFF THE 'NET
-------------------------------
VIDEO OF PRESIDENT OBAMA REJECTING LEGALIZED CANNABIS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtBl0KNKha4
===
OBAMAÂ SHOULD HAVE TAKEN POT QUESTION SERIOUSLY AT HIS PUBLIC TOWNHALL
By Paul Armentano, NORML
Since 1965, police have arrested over 20 million Americans for
violating marijuana laws. Obama shouldn't laugh at questions about
legalizing it.
http://drugsense.org/url/v47yij8y
===
REACTIONS TO OBAMA'S MARIJUANA BLUNDER
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/2009/03/27.html#a3380
===
END PROHIBITION AND END GANG VIOLENCE
This was the debate between Kirk Tousaw and Barry Joneson which took
place as part of the Langara College Dialogues series held in
Vancouver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWjLBuNR4qU
===
FORMERÂ DRUGÂ FREEÂ AMERICAÂ DIRECTORÂ ENDORSESÂ MEDICALÂ MARIJUANA
Contrary to scientific opinion, the U.S. government still posits that
marijuana has no medical value. Not only has the government used this
position to harmfully intrude in the lives of our most vulnerable
citizens, it has done so with scorn for the voters and legislatures
that enacted state medical marijuana laws
By David E. Krahl, Ph.D.
http://drugsense.org/url/lJdr8x9Y
===
UNODCÂ REMAINS SHY ABOUT PUBLISHING REPORT ON DUTCH COFFEE SHOP SYSTEM
Dr Frederick Polak and others have been trying to get the UNODC to
publish their discussion document on the Dutch coffee shop system for
some time now. Here's the latest attempt to get some answers about the
report.
http://drugsense.org/url/dGf7RUBZ
===
THE END OF HYSTERIA AND THE LAST MAN
Will the Justice Department's new medical marijuana policy save Charlie Lynch?
By Jacob Sullum
http://www.reason.com/news/show/132436.html
===
HELP MEXICO BY LEGALIZING MARIJUANA
By Bill Piper and Ethan Nadelmann
If ever there were a time for politicians to open up this debate, it
is now.
http://drugsense.org/url/THrBxvMA
===
DRUG TRUTH NETWORK
Century of Lies - 03/22/09 - Martin Jelsma
Martin Jelsma director of Transnational Institute, interviewed at the
UN Drug Conference in Vienna by Michael Krawitz
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2340
Cultural Baggage Radio Show - 03/25/09 - Terry Nelson
UN Drug Conference NGO's speak in Vienna, with Professor Fredrick
Polak, Terry Nelson of LEAP, Lennice Werth, Chris Conrad and Mikki
Norris, courtesy Vienna Public Radio
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2348
===
ROB KAMPIA DISCUSSES MARIJUANA TAX AND REGULATION ON CNBC'S POWER LUNCH
MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia debates the failure of the war on
marijuana and the benefits of taxation and regulation on CNBC Power
Lunch. Also on the show was Asa Hutchinson, former head of the DEA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALc0wVFfIKs
===
MORE THAN A QUARTER MILLION MARIJUANA SMOKERS IN DRUG TREATMENT EACH YEAR
Are We Wasting Valuable Treatment Resources?
Even as the demand for drug treatment slots continues to grow, an
increasing number of people who enter drug treatment are being treated
for marijuana as their primary drug of abuse, leading some observers
to question whether scarce drug treatment resources are being wasted
on people who don't need drug treatment.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/578/SAMHSA_drug_treatment_marijuana
===
HEMP IS NOT POT
It's the Economic Stimulus and Green Jobs Solution We Need
By Dara Colwell
We can make over 25,000 things with it. Farmers love it.
Environmentalists love it. You can't get high from it. So why is it
still illegal?
http://drugsense.org/url/PBwvLpW7
***********************************************************************
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK
--------------------------------------------------
TELL OBAMA YOU ARE NOT AMUSED
Since many of you are writing President Obama on your own, NORML would
like to assist the process by providing you with a link for contacting
the White House directly.
http://drugsense.org/url/8ewfyZ4N
===
FINALIZE REAL ROCKEFELLER REFORM IN NEW YORK
Tell your state senator, the senate president and the governor to
finalize real Rockefeller reform.
http://drugsense.org/url/jE2lLIea
***********************************************************************
LETTER OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------
LEGALIZED DRUGS WOULD END LONG LIST OF PROBLEMS
By Alan Randell
THE EDITOR:
Re: Helping Port Alberni become crystal clear, March 16
May I respond to the above propaganda so that your readers are
exposed to both sides of the issue?
If users were free to purchase clean, cheap, quality-tested marijuana,
cocaine, heroin, etc. at the corner store, why would anyone bother
with such an awful drug as meth?
In any event, most of the harm done by meth is very likely caused by
adulterants in the drug. If the drug were legally produced in
government inspected premises by knowledgeable and experienced people,
it would probably be much less harmful. When alcohol was made legal
again after being prohibited, the number of users dying or suffering
harm as a result of ingesting that drug dropped precipitously.
The best way to reduce the harm and heartbreak of illegal drugs is to
legalize them.
Alan Randell
Victoria
Pubdate: Thu, 19 Mar 2009
Source: Alberni Valley Times (CN BC)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n314/a06.html
***********************************************************************
FEATURE ARTICLE
-------------------------------
There are no victories in the war on drugs, only victims. There Are
No Victories In The War On Drugs, Only Victims
There's a war going on, adding more victims each day. Stories such
as these, representing less than one-month's-worth of drug war
abuses, are still far too common:
1. An estimated 6,290 drug-related murders occurred last year in
Mexico, six times the standard definition of a civil war, according to
a leading scholar at the Brookings Institution.
2. Within 24 hours, the president and the army-chief-of-staff of
Guinea-Bissau, a small country in Africa, lost their lives following
violent explosions linked to the drug trade.
3. Engaged in a "battle against drug trafficking" along a busy highway
connecting Houston with Louisiana, police in Tehana, Texas have been
increasing city coffers by seizing cash from black motorists -
including a grandmother and an interracial couple - without charging
them with a crime. stacks o cash
4. Two executives with the Mutual Benefits insurance company
have been charged with orchestrating a billion dollar Ponzi scheme
that allowed narcotics traffickers to purchase life insurance
policies payable upon the deaths of people with AIDS and other fatal
diseases.
5. After a disabled Colorado medical marijuana patient was busted for
growing a couple of marijuana plants, police checked county records,
found that he had paid off his mortgage with accident settlement
money, and started forfeiture proceedings against him, profiting their
agency while seizing his home.
6. After learning of vandalism and several thefts in a Baltimore
neighborhood, about two dozen SWAT officers, wearing all black with
guns drawn, raided a nearby mobile home belonging to a computer
analyst with no criminal record; they handcuffed his wife and shot his
dog near his bed.
7. Suspicious of drug sales, an Ontario, Canada, high school vice
principal took away a student's cell phone, deleted its numbers,
summoned the holders of the numbers to his office, and forced them to
confess to drug trafficking.
8. A farm purchased and operated by widows from Colombia's civil war
was decimated by the chemical defoliant spray used by U.S. contractors
to kill coca plants on 2.6 million acres of Colombian land at the cost
of a half billion dollars.
Angry Yet?
There are actions that you can take to end this failed and costly
drug prohibition. Here are several suggestions: newspaper a. Write a
letter. Articles about each of these atrocities (see references
below)Â can be found in our DrugNews Archive, http://www.drugnews.org/
Each article contains an e-mail address or web link to directly
contact the source publication. It's "point and click" access to
editors and Websites that want to hear what you think. b. Join local,
state or federal groups working on drug policy reform here and around
the world. Our Drug Policy Central provides web services to more than
120 drug policy focused organizations.
Check out http://www.drugpolicycentral.com/hosting/clients.htm for a
group in your area. Hate the drug war, but can't locate a group
near you? Join DrugSense at http://www.drugsense.org/ to find and
network with thousands of like-minded people.
We're able to get the word out about the incredible harms of the drug
war and alternatives to prohibition because people like you.
Donate. It's quick, easy, and secure. Just visit
http://www.drugsense.org/donate. Help stop this war on our personal
rights and freedoms.
Get involved. Write. Join. Donate.
References to the articles about the drug war victims described
above:
(1) Mexico. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n297/a02.html
(2) Guinea-Bissau, Africa.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n294/a06.html
(3) Tenaha, Texas. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n293/a04.html
(4) Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n291/a10.html
Donate Now!
(5) Denver, Colorado. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n272/a04.html
(6) Baltimore, Maryland.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n246/a07.html
(7) Peterborough, Ontario.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n259/a04.html
(8)Â Colombia.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n262/a03.html
Convinced? DONATE NOW to help us stop the War on Drugs.
http://www.drugsense.org/donate/
Mark Greer is the Executive Director of DrugSense. DrugSense is a
501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization. Your donations are
tax deductible to the extent provided by law.
***********************************************************************
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it
exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong
remedy." -Earnest Benn
***********************************************************************
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