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DRUGSENSE WEEKLY

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DrugSense Weekly,             April 24, 2009                       #597

Read This Publication On-line at:  http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

* This Just In

   (1) Sentencing Delayed in Medical Marijuana Case
   (2) Hells Angels Informant Paid $2.9M
   (3) Drug Cartels Keep Catholic Officials in Fear
   (4) Pot Use No Longer An NFL Draft Red Flag?

* Weekly News in Review

Drug Policy-

   (5) Editorial: Wasted - The American Prohibition on Thinking Smart in the Drug War
   (6) Column: Lockdown High
   (7) High Court Curbs Power of Police to Search Cars
   (8) Conservative Activist: Pot Needs Lobbyists

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

   (9) Women Join Hit Lists In Gang Wars
   (10) Grisly Slayings Brings Mexican Drug War To U.S.
   (11) F.B.I. and States Vastly Expand DNA Databases
   (12) Rusoniello Pressed On Drug Policy

Cannabis & Hemp-

   (13) Approval Predicted For Medical Marijuana
   (14) Marijuana Advocates Point To Signs Of Change
   (15) Marijuana Arrests On Campus Continue To Rise
   (16) Editorial: End This Marijuana Charade

International News-

   (17) Prison Term Urged For Marijuana Sales
   (18) Curb AIDS and HIV By Decriminalising Drugs, Say Experts
   (19) Portugal's Experience Shows Decriminalization Can Work
   (20) Authorities Bust Cheech And Chong Fans In Aussie Tour

* Hot Off The 'Net

   Drug Truth Network
   Mexico  Seeking  Permission To Prosecute Drug Mules Caught In U.S.
   Don't  Give  Salvia  The  Reefer  Madness  Treatment / Grant Smith
   Should  Charlie  Lynch  Spend  The  Rest  Of  His  Life  In  Jail?
   The War On Pot Is An Abject Failure ... / Jag Davies
   4/20 Celebrations
   Bill  Moyers  Interviews  'The  Wire'  Screenwriter  David  Simon
   NORML Launches TV Ad Campaign On `4/20'

* What You Can Do This Week

   Write A Letter
   Dismantle The Drug War - Support Sentencing Reform

* Letter Of The Week

   'Trillions' Wasted On Fighting Pot / Wayne Clark

* Feature Article

   The High Cost Of The Drug War / Mark Greer

* Quote of the Week

   Chinese Proverb

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) SENTENCING DELAYED IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA CASE

Pubdate: Fri, 24 Apr 2009
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Times
Author: Scott Glover

A  Federal  Judge  Says He's Inclined to Impose Less Than the Required
Five  Years  on Charles Lynch, Who Ran a Morro Bay Dispensary. Lawyers
Are Given Time to File Briefs Before a June Hearing.

The  sentencing  of  a man who has become a key figure in the national
debate  over  medical marijuana was postponed Thursday, with a federal
judge  saying  he  was inclined to impose a more lenient sentence than
the  five  years  required  by  federal  sentencing  guidelines,  but
questioning whether he had the authority to do so.

"If  I  could  find a way out, I would," U.S. District Judge George H.
Wu  said.  He  gave  lawyers  in  the case until June 2 to file briefs
regarding the impending sentence of Charles Lynch.

Lynch,  47,  ran  a  medical  marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay on the
Central  Coast  in  2006  and 2007. Despite having the blessing of the
city's  mayor  and  other  public  officials,  he  was  charged  with
violating  federal  drug  laws  for  distributing  marijuana  and  was
convicted by a federal court jury in Los Angeles last year.

At  the  hearing  Thursday, Wu heard from several character witnesses,
including  one  of  Lynch's  patients  and  the  young  man's  father.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n458/a13.html

===

(2) HELLS ANGELS INFORMANT PAID $2.9M

Pubdate: Thu, 23 Apr 2009
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Author: Paul Cherry, Canwest News Service

Investigation Resulted In 156 Arrests

A  retired  member  of  the  Hells  Angels  who  was key to the police
investigation  that  has crippled the outlaw motorcycle gang in Quebec
had nearly three million reasons to become an informant.

Sylvain  Boulanger,  45,  a  retired  member  of the gang's Sherbrooke
chapter  who  gave  key  evidence  to  investigators with the Regional
Integrated Squads, signed a contract that will see him paid
$2.9-million,  The  Gazette  has  learned.  It  is  believed to be the
largest contract awarded to an informant in Quebec.

Details  of  Mr.  Boulanger's  19-page  contract  came  from  a source
familiar  with  the  Operation SharQc investigation and were confirmed
through similar sources.

Madeleine  Giauque,  the  lead  prosecutor  in  Operation  SharQc, was
unavailable for comment yesterday.

Mr.  Boulanger  was recruited by the police in 2006 and had officially
agreed  to  co-operate with investigators by June 12 of that year. The
contract  was  signed  on  Sept.  21, 2007, and Mr. Boulanger received
$300,000  upon  signing.  The  contract  called  for  him  to  be paid
another  $600,000  when more than 120 gang members and associates were
rounded up last week.

[snip]

Continues: : http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n458/a11.html

===

(3) DRUG CARTELS KEEP CATHOLIC OFFICIALS IN FEAR

Pubdate: Tue, 21 Apr 2009
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Times
Author: Tracy Wilkinson, Reporting from Mexico City

Mexico Under Siege

In  One  Case,  Archbishop  Hector  Gonzalez Calls Attention to a Drug
Trafficker  in  His  Neighborhood  and  Accuses  the  Government  of
Ignoring  the  Situation.  The  Prelate  Later  Apologizes  for  His
Comments.

By Tracy Wilkinson, Reporting from Mexico City

In  the  tense  state  of  Durango,  Roman  Catholic Archbishop Hector
Gonzalez announced over the weekend that the fugitive drug
trafficker  who  tops  Mexico's  most  wanted  list was living nearby.

And everyone knows it, he added. Except, it would seem, the
authorities, who fail to make an arrest.

A  shocking  revelation  indeed. But in Durango, most local newspapers
and  television  stations  declined  to  report  the comments, and for
some  reason  national  papers  that  contained  the  remarks  did not
appear on many newsstands.

Was  the  prelate  being censored? "We have no information on that," a
Durango government spokesman insisted.

Gonzalez  undoubtedly  embarrassed  regional  authorities  in Durango,
some  of  whom  have  long  been  rumored  to  be  lending support and
protection  to  the  fugitive  Joaquin  Guzman,  alias  El  Chapo,  or
Shorty.  The  billionaire head of the powerful Sinaloa cartel has been
on  the  lam  since  escaping  from  a high-security Mexican prison in
2001.

[snip]

Continues  :  http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n457/a03.html  

===

(4) POT USE NO LONGER AN NFL RED FLAG?

Pubdate: Thu, 23 Apr 2009
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 2009 The Tribune Co.
Author: Anwar S. Richardson

TAMPA  -  In  the  past,  when  a  college  football player would puff
marijuana, many NFL teams would pass on drafting him after
discovering his illegal drug use.

Former  Tampa  Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Warren Sapp saw his NFL
stock  go  up  in smoke in 1995 because of alleged marijuana use. Sapp
was  expected  to be a top-five pick, but he fell to No. 12, where the
Bucs selected him.

Although  rumors  have  circulated about college players who allegedly
have  failed  drug tests going into this weekend's NFL draft, teams no
longer seem fired up about marijuana use.

"As  coaches,  we're  optimistic  human beings and we look to the good
side  of  all  these  kids,"  said  former 49ers and Lions coach Steve
Mariucci,  an  NFL Network analyst. "Even if a kid had an issue and it
was  true,  we  feel like we'd like to be able to help them. We'd like
to  be  able  to  put them into an environment that he can change some
of his social habits if he has a problem.

"We  take  it  upon ourselves sometimes as organizations to put an arm
around  the  kid  and  say,  'Listen,  we  can  make this kid complete
again.  We  can help him out. He can overcome any issues that he might
have.'"

The  issues  college  football players face are no different than many
Americans.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n457/a02.html

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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
=======================================================================

Domestic News- Policy
----------------------------------

COMMENT: (5-8)

An  editor at Foreign Policy diagnoses the problem with Americans and
the  drug war. USA Today also printed some common sense regarding the
drug  war  and  the  need  to  allow  school  staff  to  strip search
students.  Even  the  U.S.  Supreme  Court  found  a  drug war policy
objectionable  last  week.  And  some interesting advice for cannabis
activists if they want to see laws change further.

===

(5) EDITORIAL: WASTED - THE AMERICAN PROHIBITION ON THINKING SMART
IN THE DRUG WAR

Pubdate: Fri, 1 May 2009
Issue: May/June 2009
Source: Foreign Policy (US)
Copyright: 2009 Foreign Policy
Author: Moises Naim
Note: Moises Naim is editor in chief of Foreign Policy.

The  Washington consensus on drugs rests on two widely shared beliefs.
The first is that the war on drugs is a failure.

The second is that it cannot be changed.

Americans are a can-do people.

They  tend  to believe that if something does not work, it needs to be
fixed.

Unless, that is, they are talking about the war on drugs.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n446/a07.html

===

(6) COLUMN: LOCKDOWN HIGH

Pubdate: Tue, 21 Apr 2009
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2009 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Author: Jonathan Turley

Are  Zero-Tolerance  Policies  Turning  Schools  into  Authoritarian
Fiefdoms?  A  Case  Today  Before the Supreme Court Challenges How Far
Schools Can Go.

In  Manassas,  Va.,  a  9-year-old  student was suspended for giving a
friend  a  Certs  breath  mint  under  a policy that not only bans any
drugs  but  also  anything  that looks like a drug. A girl in Oklahoma
was  suspended  for  bringing  a prescription hormone tablet to school
to  deal  with  her  ovarian  disease.  At  least  20 students in four
states  have  been  suspended  for  bringing  Alka-Seltzer  to  their
schools.  Under  zero-tolerance policies, officials across the country
have  been  suspending  kids for possession of aspirin, cough medicine
and  even  sunscreen. The question is what lessons are being taught to
our  children  about  basic rights of speech, privacy and due process.
Even  more  troubling,  what  type  of citizens are we shaping in this
increasingly arbitrary and authoritarian atmosphere?

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n446/a02.html

===

(7) HIGH COURT CURBS POWER OF POLICE TO SEARCH CARS

Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Pubdate: 22 Apr 2009
Author: Jess Bravin

WASHINGTON--The  Supreme  Court  ruled that police couldn't search the
car  of  a  person arrested unless the officer's safety was threatened
or  there  was  reason to think the car contained evidence of a crime,
reviving  a  constitutional  protection against unreasonable searches.

The  court  effectively  closed  a  loophole  opened in a 1981 opinion
that  has  been widely interpreted to allow police, without a warrant,
to  search  cars--as  well  as  bags or containers within them -- when
they arrest a driver or passenger.

Tuesday's  5-4  decision  scrambled  the  court's  typical ideological
lineup,  with  conservative  Justices  Antonin  Scalia  and  Clarence
Thomas  joining  liberals  John  Paul  Stevens,  David Souter and Ruth
Bader  Ginsburg  in  the majority. Dissenters included liberal leaning
Justice  Stephen  Breyer,  conservatives  Chief  Justice John Roberts,
and  Justice  Samuel  Alito,  and  Justice  Anthony  Kennedy,  who has
frequently cast the court's deciding vote in other cases.

Writing  for  the  majority, Justice Stevens cited one of the landmark
opinions  of  the  court  under  Chief Justice Earl Warren, which held
that  warrantless  searches  are inherently unreasonable apart from "a
few specifically established and narrow exceptions."

"Officer  safety  and  evidence  preservation,"  often  significant
concerns  during  arrests,  fall  among  those  exceptions,  Justice
Stevens  wrote,  so police can search areas of the car within reach of
the  suspect  for  weapons  or evidence. If they turn up evidence of a
different  crime  during  such  a  search,  it can be used against the
suspect.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n451/a01.html

===

(8) CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST: POT NEEDS LOBBYISTS

Pubdate: Sun, 19 Apr 2009
Source: Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)
Copyright: 2009 The Daily Camera.
Author: Ryan Morgan

Corry Urges Advocates To Participate In Politics

A self-described conservative "soccer mom" told marijuana
legalization  advocates  that  they'll  need to do more than smoke pot
in  public  to get drug laws changed during a speech on the University
of Colorado campus Saturday.

Jessica  Corry,  the  executive  director of the Colorado Civil Rights
initiative,  said  4/20  "smoke-out"  events  like the one planned for
Farrand  Field  on  Monday  are  a  good way to bring attention to the
issue.

But  she  said  people  fighting  marijuana  prohibition  also need to
participate  in  the  political  process  --  and, she said, advocates
need to show lawmakers a sober, serious side as well.

"They're  laughing  at us," she said. "The 4/20 events are fine... but
let's  also  get  people down to the Capitol in suits." Corry's speech
kicked  off  a  two-day  "National  Forum on Marijuana," hosted by the
CU-Boulder  chapter  of  the  National  Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n439/a01.html

=======================================================================

Law Enforcement & Prisons
-------------------------

COMMENT: (9-12)

Drug  war  violence, and violent responses to that violence, continue
to advance in shocking ways. In Canada, women are targeted more often
in  gang  hits.  The drug war at the U.S.-Mexico border seems to have
found  its  way to Alabama. And, drug suspects are among the many who
will  soon be added to federal DNA databases. In California, one U.S.
Attorney  pushes the boundaries of drug prosecutions, irritating many
others in the judicial community.

===

(9) WOMEN JOIN HIT LISTS IN GANG WARS

Pubdate: Sun, 19 Apr 2009
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Author: Katie Mercer

Since  Feb.  3  Four  Females  With  Links  To Gang Activity Have Been
Targeted, Gunned Down

In  a  year  that  has seen a maelstrom of targeted shootings in B.C.,
the  code  of  "no  women,  no  children"  seems  to  no longer abide.

Since  Feb.  3,  four  women  with  links  to  gang activity have been
gunned  down  in  targeted  hits,  an  anomaly in the Lower Mainland's
male-dominated gangland violence.

"We  haven't  seen this very often; we certainly can say we've seen an
increase  in  the  number  of women which appear to be targeted," said
Cpl.  Dale  Carr,  spokesman for the Integrated Homicide Investigation
Team.  "This  indicates  that  women  are  not  exempt from being tar-
geted."  First  there  was  Brianna  Kinnear,  then  Nikki Alemy, then
Laura  Lamoureux  and  last  week  Betty  Yan.  All  four had links to
either  drug  or  gang activity. All four were gunned down in targeted
shootings.

The  murders  seem  anomalous,  said gang expert Michael Chettleburgh,
because  we  haven't  heard  much of this before. "We are going to see
more  of  [these  targeted  hits] in the future because more women are
getting involved in the game," he said.

That  wasn't  the  case  15  years  ago, when veteran gangsters upheld
common  street  rules  best documented by rapper Tupac's "Code of Thug
Life." New gangsters don't subscribe to this code, said
Chettleburgh,  because  "anyone's  fair  game"  --  women  included.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n439/a04.html

===

(10) GRISLY SLAYINGS BRINGS MEXICAN DRUG WAR TO U.S.

Pubdate: Mon, 20 Apr 2009
Source: Contra Costa Times (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Knight Ridder
Author: Pauline Arrillaga, AP National Writer

COLUMBIANA, Ala. -- Five men dead in an apartment.

In  a  county  that  might  see  five homicides in an entire year, the
call  over  the sheriff's radio revealed little about what awaited law
enforcement.  A  type  of  crime,  and  criminal, once foreign to this
landscape  of  blooming dogwoods had arrived in Shelby County. Sheriff
Chris  Curry  felt  it  even before he saw the grisly scene. He called
the state. The FBI. The DEA.

"I  don't  know  what I've got," he warned. "But I'm gonna need help."

The  five  dead  men  lay  scattered  about a living room. Some showed
signs  of  torture:  Burns  seared  into their earlobes revealed where
modified jumper cables had been clamped as an improvised
electrocution  device.  Adhesive  from  duct  tape  used  to  bind the
victims still clung to wrists and faces.

As a final touch, throats were slashed, post-mortem.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n442/a08.html

===

(11) F.B.I. AND STATES VASTLY EXPAND DNA DATABASES

Pubdate: Sun, 19 Apr 2009
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company
Author: Solomon Moore

Law  enforcement  officials  are  vastly expanding their collection of
DNA  to  include  millions  more  people  who  have  been  arrested or
detained  but  not  yet  convicted.  The  move, intended to help solve
more crimes, is raising concerns about the privacy of petty
offenders and people who are presumed innocent.

Until  now,  the federal government genetically tracked only convicts.
But  starting  this  month,  the  Federal Bureau of Investigation will
join  15  states  that  collect  DNA samples from those awaiting trial
and  will  collect  DNA  from detained immigrants -- the vanguard of a
growing class of genetic registrants.

The  F.B.I.,  with  a DNA database of 6.7 million profiles, expects to
accelerate  its  growth  rate  from  80,000  new entries a year to 1.2
million  by  2012  --  a  17-fold  increase. F.B.I. officials say they
expect  DNA  processing  backlogs  --  which  now  stand  at more than
500,000 cases -- to increase.

Law  enforcement  officials  say  that  expanding the DNA databanks to
include  legally  innocent people will help solve more violent crimes.
They  point  out  that  DNA  has helped convict thousands of criminals
and  has  exonerated  more  than  200  wrongfully  convicted  people.

But  criminal  justice  experts cite Fourth Amendment privacy concerns
and  worry  that  the  nation  is  becoming  a  genetic  surveillance
society.

[snip]

Sixteen  states  now  take DNA from some who have been found guilty of
misdemeanors.  As  more police agencies take DNA for a greater variety
of  lesser  and  suspected  crimes,  civil  rights  advocates  say the
government's  power  is  becoming too broadly applied. "What we object
to  --  and  what  the Constitution prohibits -- is the indiscriminate
taking  of  DNA  for  things like writing an insufficient funds check,
shoplifting,  drug  convictions,"  said  Michael  Risher, a lawyer for
the American Civil Liberties Union.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n437/a07.html

===

(12) RUSSONIELLO PRESSED ON DRUG POLICY

Pubdate: Tue, 21 Apr 2009
Source: Recorder, The (CA)
Copyright: 2009 ALM Properties, Inc.
Author: Dan Levine

SAN  FRANCISCO  - U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello wasn't scheduled to
talk  Saturday  at  the  Northern District's annual conference in tony
Yountville.

But  with  some  popular demand, Russoniello decided to leave his home
in  a  nearby  stomped-grape  purlieu to face defense lawyers and some
judges  over  his  office's stiff new charging policies. This resulted
in  heated  -  -  and  occasionally  ugly  -  exchanges,  as well as a
picture  of  the  federal  bar  that is deeply divided about the right
way to approach criminal justice.

At  one  point, K&L Gates partner Jeffrey Bornstein - himself a former
federal  prosecutor  -  questioned  Russoniello on his office's use of
higher  mandatory  minimums  to  pressure  defendants  into  pleading
guilty  without  fighting their cases. If a prosecutor really believes
that  a  particular  defendant  deserves  a  20-year  prison sentence,
Bornstein said, then the government should just file that
defendant's  prior  drug  conviction  at the outset, and then litigate
the case.

By  making  the  longer  prison  sentence  contingent on a defendant's
willingness  to  fold  - without regard to the individual circumstance
-  prosecutors  are  abdicating  their  discretion  across  the board,
Bornstein  said,  and  making  it  impossible  for  defense lawyers to
advise their clients.

"When  was  the last time you handled a drug case?" Russoniello asked,
prompting drawn breaths in the room.

"I've got three," Bornstein shot back.

The  weekend  confrontation was the latest in a running controversy in
Northern  California.  Since taking over as U.S. attorney, Russoniello
has  argued  that  by  using  mandatory minimum sentences as leverage,
his  office  can  more  efficiently  close  cases.  In one matter last
week,  Judge  Maxine  Chesney  validated  the government's strategy of
hiking  one  defendant's  prison  time  because  he  wouldn't  snitch.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n456/a01.html

=======================================================================

Cannabis & Hemp-
----------------------------

COMMENT: (13-16)

New  York  is  poised to become the 15th state to regulate medicinal
cannabis.

The  New  York  Times  honored  4/20  by taking note of the shifting
zeitgeist surrounding the herb.

The  bad  news  is  that  cannabis  arrests continue to rise wherever
rights  to  privacy  and  personal  autonomy  erode, such as schools,
colleges and universities.

Say  what  you  will  about  the  political  effectiveness  of large,
open air cannabis  rallies,  but they  continue  to  demonstrate  the  
benign  nature  of  cannabis culture  and  the  absurdity of cannabis
"crimes."  There is no international day for celebrating
methamphetamine.

===

(13) APPROVAL PREDICTED FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Pubdate: Wed, 22 Apr 2009
Source: Buffalo News (NY)
Author: Tom Precious, News Albany Bureau

ALBANY  --  Long-stalled  efforts  to  permit  the  medicinal  use  of
marijuana in this state appear to have a good chance of passage before
lawmakers  end  their session in June. It would make New York the 15th
state to legalize the drug for medical reasons.

Advocates  say  they  believe  the  Democratic-controlled  Senate  and
Assembly  have  the  votes  to  pass  legislation permitting qualified
patients to grow their own marijuana plants, or obtain the drug on the
streets  or  through  a  state-sanctioned  dispensary.  Gov.  David A.
Paterson also is said to be supportive of the legalization.

"It's  looking  pretty darn good," Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried, a
Manhattan  Democrat  and Health Committee chairman, said of the bill's
chance to become law this session.

The  lawmaker,  who  has  sponsored  the  measure for years, renewed a
public  push  Tuesday,  using  the  cases  of two New Yorkers who have
turned  to  marijuana to relieve their chronic pain as evidence of the
need for the bill.

"I'm  looking  for  all  the help we can get to get this passed," said
Joel  Peacock, a Buffalo resident and self-described conservative, who
turned to the drug in the past to help with severe pain he still feels
from a 2001 car accident.

The  effort was jump-started by the Obama administration's decision in
February  to stop raids on marijuana-dispensing centers in California,
where  medical  marijuana  is  legal.  U.  S. Attorney General Eric H.
Holder  Jr.  signaled  that  federal prosecution would cease in states
that legalize medical marijuana, even though U. S. law bans the drug's
use.

The  Assembly is considered certain to pass the measure. Advocates are
working on the Senate , where control switched in January to Democrats
from Republicans.

[snip]

Paterson's  office  said  the  governor  is not taking a stance on the
bill,  but  sources  described him as very supportive and said he even
offered to introduce his own legislation legalizing medical marijuana.

[snip]

The most vocal opposition comes from the state's small but influential
Conservative  Party,  which  helped  to  kill  the  2007  bill  in the
Republican-led Senate.

"If  this passes, this is the beginning of a slippery slope that opens
the  door  to  legalize  drugs,"  said  Michael  R.  Long, the party's
chairman.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n454.a08.html

===

(14) MARIJUANA ADVOCATES POINT TO SIGNS OF CHANGE

Pubdate: Mon, 20 Apr 2009
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company
Author: Kevin Moloney

SAN  FRANCISCO  --  On  Monday, somewhere in New York City, 420 people
will  gather  for  High  Times  magazine's  annual  beauty  pageant, a
secretly  located  and sold-out event that its sponsor says will "turn
the  Big  Apple into the Baked Apple and help us usher in a new era of
marijuana freedom in America."

David  Perleberg  sold  pro-marijuana T-shirts at the forum, including
one that shows the university's buffalo mascot inhaling.

They  will  not  be the only ones partaking: April 20 has long been an
unofficial  day  of  celebration  for  marijuana fans, an occasion for
campus smoke-outs, concerts and cannabis festivals. But some advocates
of  legal  marijuana  say  this  year's  "high  holiday" carries extra
significance  as  they  sense increasing momentum toward acceptance of
the drug, either as medicine or entertainment.

"It  is the biggest moment yet," said Ethan Nadelmann, the founder and
executive  director  of  the  Drug  Policy Alliance in Washington, who
cited several national polls showing growing support for legalization.
"There's  a  sense that the notion of legalizing marijuana is starting
to cross the fringes into mainstream debate."

For  Mr.  Nadelmann  and  others  like  him,  the  signs of change are
everywhere,  from  the nation's statehouses -- where more than a dozen
legislatures  have  taken  up  measures  to  allow some medical use of
marijuana  or  some easing of penalties for recreational use -- to its
swimming  pools,  where  an  admission of marijuana use by the Olympic
gold  medalist  Michael  Phelps  was  largely  forgiven  with a shrug.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n447.a07.html

===

(15) MARIJUANA ARRESTS ON CAMPUS CONTINUE TO RISE

Pubdate: Mon, 20 Apr 2009
Source: Daily Reveille (Louisiana State U, LA Edu)
Copyright: 2009 Daily Reveille
Author: Kyle Bove

Marijuana arrests on campus are rising like smoke.

The  LSU Police Department has made 38 drug arrests this semester, and
a majority involved marijuana.

LSUPD  spokesman  Maj.  Lawrence Rabalais said the number of marijuana
arrests  has  significantly  increased since the implementation of the
Crime Interdiction Unit in 2008.

Formed  in  response to the murder of two University doctoral students
in  December  2007,  the  CIU  is  made up of four officers who patrol
campus  in  plain  clothing.  Their  goal  is  to  stop  and  identify
suspicious  people, Rabalais said. Drug arrests nearly tripled between
2007 and 2008 - climbing from 56 to 152.

"Since we have enacted the Criminal Interdiction Unit, they are making
more  stops  for  probable  causes  such  as  expired  license plates,
speeding  and red light [violations]," Rabalais said. "In doing so, it
has  become  more  apparent  to them - through the number of increased
violator stops - that people are using marijuana."

Rabalais  said  if  an  officer  smells  marijuana  during  a  traffic
violation stop, he or she will question the driver.

"Typically,  the  persons  admit to either having the marijuana in the
vehicle  or  having smoked the marijuana - subsequently giving consent
to  search," Rabalais said. "Most people - whether they have marijuana
in there or not - allow the officers to search."

If  someone  smoked marijuana before driving and smells because of it,
officers  cannot  arrest the driver for marijuana possession. A driver
can  also  refuse  to  give  consent to search, but officers can still
detain the driver and get a search warrant.

[snip]

Many  marijuana violations occur in residence halls too. Rabalais said
officers  can  only  search  rooms  if they have probable cause - like
smoke  billowing  from the room, for example. If there's more than one
person  living  in  a  room,  officers  can  only search the consented
person's portion of the room.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n450.a01.html

===

(16) EDITORIAL: END THIS MARIJUANA CHARADE

Pubdate: Wed, 22 Apr 2009
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2009 Winnipeg Free Press
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502

On  Monday,  Winnipeg  Police  Inspector  Dave  Thorne  stood atop the
Legislative  Building's  steps  and gazed out at a throng of hundreds,
perhaps  thousands  of  people publicly -- flauntingly -- breaking the
law  by  smoking  marijuana,  and  observed:  "Our  view  is this is a
worldwide  protest  for  the  proponents of decriminalizing marijuana.
From  a  police  point  of  view,  it's  more  about  providing a safe
environment  for  people  to  express  their views. It doesn't mean we
promote  the  breaking  of  acts  or  statutes, but we're trying to be
realistic."

In  cities  across  the country the same scene played out as marijuana
militants advocated for the legalization, or at least the
decriminalization, of marijuana, and even more politically unmotivated
just-plain-potheads  took  advantage  of 4/20 -- which might be called
International  Marijuana  Day -- to take a hoot in public without fear
of being harassed or arrested.

It  was almost certainly the greatest day for criminal activity in the
history of Canada, with thousands of crimes being committed across the
country  -- or one crime being committed thousands of times, depending
on  how  one  interprets it -- while the police looked on benignly. In
Ottawa,  police  turned the same blind eye as they did in Winnipeg. In
Vancouver, they did not even bother to show up for the well advertised
crime spree.

Some  Canadians,  some  police  officers, politicians and prosecutors,
might  argue  that the police were being derelict in their duty, which
is  to  arrest people when they see crimes being committed. Many more,
however,  would  argue  that the police on Monday demonstrated a finer
sense  of  responsibility in their common sense and restraint than the
federal  government  has shown so far in its stubborn and indefensible
persistence  in  keeping the possession and trafficking of marijuana a
criminal offence punishable by imprisonment. As Insp. Thorne said, the
police "are trying to be realistic." Prime Minister Stephen Harper and
his  Conservative  government  --  almost the last, lorn opposition to
reforming  Canada's  marijuana  laws  -- could learn a lesson from the
Winnipeg police.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n453.a06.html

======================================================================

International News
---------------------------

COMMENT: (17-20)

As  DrugSense  Weekly has been shouting for years now, in Canada, the
right-wing  government  of  Stephen  Harper is now openly going after
small-time  marijuana  sellers  and  growers  ("including  growing as
little  as  one  pot  plant").  Using the pretext of 'drug gang wars'
(Canada has but a tiny fraction of the gun crime of its neighbor to
the  south), the minority conservative Harper government is proposing
private-prison-packing mandatory minimum sentences for anyone growing
any  amount of cannabis. The bill, C-15, is expected to be close, and
the  Conservative  party  is  piling it on thick, scapegoating people
involved  with  pot,  who,  "belong  in jail because pot is used as a
'currency' to bring harder drugs into the country."

The  Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, warned this
week  that  use of drugs must be decriminalized in order to help halt
the spread of Aids. "A repressive way of dealing with drug users is a
way  of  facilitating  the  spread  of the [HIV/Aids] epidemic," says
Global  Fund  director,  Michele  Kazatchkine.  "From  a  scientific
perspective,  I cannot understand the repressive policy perspective."

According  to  the  prohibitionist  narrative,  drugs  are illegal to
protect  citizens from harm. If illegal drugs are legalized (says the
prohibitionist)  then use of drugs will skyrocket - as the only thing
that prevents most people from taking drugs is police, and the threat
of  arrest and imprisonment. While this sounds plausible enough, when
put  to  the test, it doesn't really hold up. In an article appearing
in  this  week's  Vancouver  Sun, Peter Mcknight details the drug war
myths deflated by the real-world reality of drug decriminalization in
the  nation  of  Portugal.  Drug  use  rates  have  not risen (to the
contrary);  while,  at  the  same  time, the health of drug users has
improved.

And finally this week, when Cheech and Chong begin to poke fun at the
establishment over the issue of marijuana, the boys in blue know what
to  do:  hassle  the  usual  suspects, shaking them down for a little
grass. It happened this week in Sydney on the "Cheech and Chong Light
Up  Australia tour," when police suspected some of the audience might
be  in possession of a certain illicit herbal substance. Stopping the
show  and  calling in "25 police and four drug dogs... 50 people were
searched."  Result  of  this super-sleuthing? "[S]ix were issued with
caution notices. They were not fined nor charged."

===

(17) PRISON TERM URGED FOR MARIJUANA SALES

Pubdate: Thu, 23 Apr 2009
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2009 Canwest News Service

Canada's  justice  minister  says  people  who  sell or grow marijuana
belong  in  jail  because  pot is used as a "currency" to bring harder
drugs into the country.

"This  lubricates  the  business  and  that  makes  me  nervous,"  Rob
Nicholson  told  the  Commons  justice committee Wednesday as he faced
tough  questions  about  a  controversial  Conservative bill to impose
automatic  jail  and  prison  sentences  for  drug  crimes,  including
growing as little as one pot plant.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n455.a06.html

===

(18) CURB AIDS AND HIV BY DECRIMINALISING DRUGS, SAY EXPERTS

Pubdate: Sun, 19 Apr 2009
Source: Observer, The (UK)
Copyright: 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited
Author: Mary O'Hara, The Observer

The  use  of  illicit  drugs must be decriminalised if efforts to halt
the  spread  of  Aids  are  to  succeed,  one  of  the world's leading
independent authorities on the disease has warned.

In an unprecedented attack on global drugs policy, Michele
Kazatchkine,  head  of  the  influential  Global  Fund  to Fight Aids,
Tuberculosis  and  Malaria,  has  told  the  Observer  that, without a
radical  overhaul  of  laws that lead to hundreds of thousands of drug
users  being  imprisoned  or  denied  access  to  safe  treatment, the
millions  of  pounds  spent  on  fighting HIV and Aids will be wasted.

Kazatchkine  will  use  his  keynote  speech at the 20th International
Harm  Reduction  Association  conference tomorrow in Bangkok to expose
the  failures  of  policies  which treat addiction as a crime. He will
accuse  governments  of using what he calls "repressive" measures that
deny  addicts  human  rights  rather  than putting public health needs
first.

He  will  argue that governments should fully commit to the widespread
provision  of  harm  reduction  strategies  aimed  at intravenous drug
users,  such  as  free  needle  exchanges and providing substitutes to
illicit drugs, such as methadone.

"A repressive way of dealing with drug users is a way
of facilitating the spread of the [HIV/Aids] epidemic,"
Kazatchkine said. "If you know you will be arrested,
you will not go for treatment. I say drug use cannot be
criminalised. I'm talking about criminalising
trafficking but not users. From a scientific
perspective, I cannot understand the repressive policy
perspective."

[snip]

What  is  needed,  Kazatchkine will argue tomorrow, is a total rethink
of  drugs  policies. "What I'm saying is that government's function is
to  protect  their  citizens.  This  is  why  harm reduction should be
supported by all governments everywhere."

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n440.a05.html

===

(19) PORTUGAL'S EXPERIENCE SHOWS DECRIMINALIZATION CAN WORK

Pubdate: Sat, 18 Apr 2009
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 The Vancouver Sun
Author: Peter Mcknight

Both  Drug-Related  Pathologies  And  Overall  Drug Use Have Decreased
There Since Its Drug Law Was Moderated

With  Mexico  being  increasingly  rapidly  and  increasing  visibly
crushed  by  its  war  on  drugs,  some  politicians in Mexico and the
United  States  have  dared  to  suggest that decriminalization is the
answer.

According  to  these  politicians,  decriminalization  would  allow
governments  to  switch  their  focus  from supply reduction to demand
reduction,  and  to  redirect  funds  away  from  law  enforcement and
toward  treatment.  The  end  result, they argue, would be a reduction
in the harms caused by substance use.

Advocates  of  criminalization  suggest  the  opposite  would  occur.
Decriminalization would send the message that drug use is
acceptable,  they  argue,  thereby  leading  to an increase in use and
drug-related harms.

The  trouble  with these arguments, which we've heard a million times,
is  that  they  take  place  in an empirical vacuum. Given the lack of
empirical  evidence,  we're  left  to  speculate  about the effects of
decriminalization  and,  since  it  might  lead  to greater harm, many
people  are  persuaded  that  it's  best  to  leave  bad enough alone.

The  trouble  with  this  is  that  empirical  evidence  does  exist.
Although  it  seems  to  be  the  world's  best-kept  secret, Portugal
formally  decriminalized  possession of all illicit drugs in 2001. And
its  experiment  has  provided  us with a wealth of empirical evidence
about the positive effects of decriminalization.

According  to  American  constitutional  lawyer  Glenn  Greenwald, who
produced  a  report on Portugal's drug policy for the Washington-based
Cato Institute, decriminalization has led to a reduction in
drug-related  pathologies  --  precisely  what  advocates predicted --
and  a  reduction  in  drug  use  --  precisely  the  opposite of what
opponents feared.

[snip]

Now that the evidence in favour of decriminalization is in,
politicians  should  no  longer  be  permitted  to  corral support for
criminalization  by  stirring  up  public  fear  of  a  bogeyman  that
doesn't exist.

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n435.a10.html

===

(20) AUTHORITIES BUST CHEECH AND CHONG FANS IN AUSSIE TOUR

Pubdate: Fri, 17 Apr 2009
Source: Herald Sun (Australia)
Copyright: 2009 Herald and Weekly Times

Cheech  and  Chong fans be warned, authorities aren't seeing the funny
side  of  wacky  weed,  busting  several  fans for cannabis possession
interstate.

The  irreverent  U.S.  comedians  and  hippie culture advocates Cheech
and  Chong's  Sydney  stand-up  show  was  the target of a police drug
operation.

The  '70s  stoners,  who  are  part-way through their Cheech and Chong
Light  Up  Australia tour, had to delay the start of their show at the
Enmore  Theatre  in  Sydney's  Newtown  on  Wednesday,  while  police
carried out the search with sniffer dogs.

About 25 police and four drug dogs were involved.

[snip]

About 50 people were searched and six people were caught in
possession of small amounts of cannabis.

The  six  were  issued  with  caution notices. They were not fined nor
charged.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n452.a01.html

***********************************************************************

HOT OFF THE 'NET
-------------------------------

DRUG TRUTH NETWORK

Century of Lies - 04/19/09 - Mike Gray

Mike  Gray,  chairman  of  Common  Sense for Drug Policy regarding his
recent  OpEd  in the Washington Post, Radley Balko of Reason Magazine,
Bill Moyers speaks to writer David Simon of the Wire + The
Abolitionists Moment

http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2379

Cultural Baggage Radio Show - 04/22/09 - Buford Terrell

Buford  Terrell,  professor  of law + Terry Nelson of LEAP, Family Guy
sings for marijuana & DTN Editorial

http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2387

===

MEXICO  SEEKING  PERMISSION  TO  PROSECUTE  DRUG  MULES CAUGHT IN U.S.

By Bill Conroy

Leaked  memo  reveals  Customs and Border Protection less than keen on
proposal

http://drugsense.org/url/QJZfrsvE

===

DON'T GIVE SALVIA THE REEFER MADNESS TREATMENT

By Grant Smith

Move over marijuana. There's a new media sensation.

http://drugsense.org/url/okAvRiO9

===

SHOULD CHARLIE LYNCH SPEND THE REST OF HIS LIFE IN JAIL?

Or Even a Single Day, For Operating a Legal Medical Marijuana Dispensary?

By Nick Gillespie

http://reason.com/blog/show/133010.html

===

THE WAR ON POT IS AN ABJECT FAILURE ...

Now's the Time for a New Approach

By Jag Davies

Calls  for  a  new  international  framework for narcotics control are
growing.

http://drugsense.org/url/XSZDwajr

===

4/20 CELEBRATIONS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfyVqJUjxBQ (Colorado)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5nY1so-xPw (San Francisco)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ImxPj4XVCU (Vancouver)

===

BILL MOYERS INTERVIEWS 'THE WIRE' SCREENWRITER DAVID SIMON

From  crime  beat  reporter  for  the  Baltimore  Sun to award-winning
screenwriter of HBO's critically-acclaimed The Wire, David Simon talks
with Bill Moyers about inner-city crime and politics, storytelling and
the future of journalism today.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04172009/watch.html

===

NORML LAUNCHES TV AD CAMPAIGN ON `4/20'

By Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director

http://drugsense.org/url/E4vafa61

***********************************************************************

WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK
--------------------------------------------------

WRITE A LETTER

CANADA'S JUSTICE MINISTER ADVOCATES REEFER MADNESS

http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0401.html

===

DISMANTLE THE DRUG WAR - SUPPORT SENTENCING REFORM

With  prohibition-related  violence  along  the  Mexico-U.S.  border,
increasing  budget  woes  that  require  cheaper  and  more  effective
alternatives  to incarceration and New York headed for a new direction
in  drug  policy, it's time to step up the pressure on Congress to end
the  drug war. A good start would be eliminating the unfair difference
in sentencing for crack versus powder cocaine.

http://drugsense.org/url/PhA2T0a8

***********************************************************************

LETTER OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------

'TRILLIONS' WASTED ON FIGHTING POT

By Wayne Clark

Editor:

The  decriminalization  of  marijuana  is  a  no-brainer.  There is no
question  that  the  war on drugs has been a total failure and a total
waste  of  taxpayer  money. We have wasted trillions of dollars trying
to enforce a flawed ideal.

We  see  the  end  results  in  the  papers and on the news every day,
gangsters  shooting  each  other  to  get  control  of  the outrageous
profits  from  illegal drugs. We are also ruining other countries with
our  irrational  behavior,  for  example,  Mexico,  Colombia where the
government  is  afraid to arrest drug cartel members, even Afghanistan
and  we  know  where  those  illegal  drug  profits  go  - to fund the
terrorists that are killing our soldiers.

These  gangsters  have more money than the governments that are trying
to  run  these  countries.  The  champions of continuing this insanity
will  tell  you  that the policy isn't bad we just haven't enforced it
severely  enough.  Well  you  only  have to look at America to see the
folly of that statement.

One  out  every 100 Americans is behind bars and almost half are there
as  a  result  of  drug  charges,  which  gives  America  the  highest
incarceration  rate  in the world. In fact you would have to give them
an  A  for effort on fighting the so-called drug war, but quite simply
prohibition  doesn't  work,  never  has,  never  will. Albert Einstein
said  the  definition  of  insanity  is  doing the same thing over and
over and expecting different results.

Wayne Clark
Maple Ridge

Pubdate: Fri, 10 Apr 2009
Source: Maple Ridge Times (CN BC)

***********************************************************************

FEATURE ARTICLE
-------------------------------

THE HIGH COST OF THE DRUG WAR

By Mark Greer

As  Quoted  from  2008  News  Clippings  in  the MAP DrugNews Archive

While  the  U.S. deficit approaches $1 trillion, many states and local
communities  also  face  major  budgetary shortfalls. Yet, despite the
economic  crisis,  your  tax  dollars  continue to fund drug war costs
like these:

$40  billion  for  the drug war. "Despite a $40 billion-a-year 'war on
drugs'  and  political  speeches  about  a  'drug-free  society,'  our
society  is  swimming in drugs: cigarettes, sugar, alcohol, marijuana,
Prozac, Ritalin, Viagra, steroids and caffeine."
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n913/a03.html

$700  million  to  build  prisons  in just one state; $100 Million per
year  to  run  them.  "[The  state  prison  in  Scotland County, North
Carolina]  is  one  of  six  that  state lawmakers have approved since
2001  to  address  a  dire need for prison space, and they are already
being  expanded.  When  complete,  the  construction and expansions at
all  six  facilities  will  have  cost  more  than  $700  million  and
operating costs will top $100 million annually."
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n702/a11.html

$400  million  more  to  Mexico. "This past June [2008], Bush struck a
deal  with  Calderon  to  approve  $400 million toward additional drug
war assistance (representing a 20% increase in the Mexican
anti-narcotics  budget)  --  for  still  more  helicopters,  military
training,  ion  scanners,  canine units, and surveillance technology."
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n940/a04.html

$225  million  for  regional  anti-drug  efforts.  "It [High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Area program] is one of 28 similar efforts
nationwide,  with  the  federal government spending about $225 million
annually  to  coordinate  federal,  state  and  local  law-enforcement
campaigns."  http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n1082/a02.html

$702,969  to  prosecute  drug  offenses in just one U.S. county. "Lake
County  [Illinois]  will spend $702,969 prosecuting drug offenses this
year  .  Except  for  an  estimated  $30,000  in  revenue  from  asset
forfeitures, county taxpayers absorb the difference."
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n793/a06.html

$178,290  for  drug  testing  in just one school district. "A $178,290
drug  prevention  grant  means  5,900  drug  tests  for  the  Victoria
[Texas] school district."
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n712/a01.html

$615,000  for  all  kinds of things. "[Sheriff] Smith Used $615,000 in
Federal  [forfeiture]  funds  for Tuition, a Lease, Private Lawyer and
More  ..  $14,400  on  employee  training  and  associated  travel . a
28-foot boat . $100,000 for a scholarship at Georgia State
University  .  About  $9,000 to help a boxing club owner pay her lease
. $4,000 in retainer fees for Brunswick lawyer."
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n654/a13.html

$60,000 for just one police force to buy drugs. "Estimating
controlled  drug  buys  for  the average local case run his task force
$200,  Centeno  figured  his  officers  spend  at least $60,000 a year
just  to  purchase  the  drugs  they  need  to seal the average of 300
cases." http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n526/a01.html

What  if,  instead  of  spending  such shameful sums, we instead taxed
and regulated illicit substances?

"By  legalising  drugs  we  can  apply  the  same  controls  to  their
production,  distribution  and  consumption as we apply to alcohol and
tobacco.  And  there's  a  triple  bonus to society: spending on crime
prevention  will  plunge, not just on drug-related policing but on all
the  criminality  arising  from the activities of drug-financed gangs;
crime  levels  overall  will  plunge; and the government becomes a net
recipient  of  monies  from drug consumption rather than a net spender
via  law  enforcement.  Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron estimates that
the  United  States  spends  $44  billion  a  year fighting the war on
drugs.  If  they  were  legal, the U.S. government would realise about
$33  billion  a  year  in  tax  revenue - a net swing of $77 billion."
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n388/a07.html

If  you  think  that  your  tax  dollars can be better spent, then you
know it's time to change drug policy.

Here's  what  you can do to end our failed and expensive War on Drugs:

A.  Join  DrugSense  or  other 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.

B.  DONATE.  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 us uncover more government drug war waste.

Get involved. Write. Join. Donate.

Mark Greer is the Executive Director of DrugSense.

***********************************************************************

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------

"It  is  easy  to  get  a  thousand  prescriptions but hard to get one
single remedy." - Chinese Proverb

***********************************************************************

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writing  activists.  Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See
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===

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