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DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
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DrugSense Weekly,           Feb. 27, 2009                        #589
Read This Publication On-line at:Â http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* This Just In
   (1) Medical Pot Supporters Cheer End of DEA Raids
   (2) Vatican's Stance on UN Drugs Policy 'Risks Lives'
   (3) Hundreds Arrested in U.S. Probe of Mexican Drug Cartel
   (4) Panel Discussion Challenges War On Drugs
* Weekly News in Review
Drug Policy-
   (5) OPED: The War on Drugs Is a Failure
   (6) Mexico Attorney General: We Don't Need U.S. Troops to Intervene in Drug War
   (7) Oregon Church Asks Judge to Allow Use of Ceremonial Herb
   (8) University Logo Policy Stirs An Ire With Marijuana Advocacy Group
Law Enforcement & Prisons-
   (9) Ex-Atlanta Cops Get Prison For Drug Raid Killing
   (10) A Killing, a Cover-Up, a Break in Ranks
   (11) El Paso Police Investigate Threats Against Juarez Mayor
   (12) Opposing the Drug Laws They Enforce
Cannabis & Hemp-
   (13) Charity Yanks Free House To Vet Over Pot Bust
   (14) California Legislator Sees Benefit In Legalizing Pot
   (15) Medical Marijuana Bill Ok'd
   (16) University Logo Policy Stirs An Ire With Marijuana Advocacy Group
International News-
   (17) Swimmer Phelps Uninvited From Speeches In Canada
   (18) Colombia's Worry: Looser U.S. Ties
   (19) Cocaine Price Falls As Gangs Switch Routes
   (20) Mum Doesn't Know Best
   (21) It Just Makes Sense To End The War On Drugs
* Hot Off The 'Net
   Aren't Drug Warriors Funny? / Pete Guither
   Will Legalizing Pot Save California From Its Cash Crunch?
   Plan Mexico Is Back In Congress / Kristin Bricker
   Drug Truth Network
   Rob Kampia Interviewed On Glenn Beck Show
   State Considers Marijuana Tax
   Medical Cannabis An "American Policy" / Steph Sherer
   Drug Policy Reform: Cutting The Gordian Knot
* What You Can Do This Week
   Write A Letter
* Letter Of The Week
   Prohibition Problem / John Chase
* Feature Article
   Tearful Atlanta Cops Express Remorse For Shooting 92-year-old
   Kathryn Johnston, Leaving Her To Bleed To Death In Her Own Home
   While They Planted Drugs In Her Basement, Then Threatening an
   Informant So He Would Lie To Cover It All Up / Radley Balko
* Quote of the Week
   Jello Biafra
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) MEDICAL POT SUPPORTERS CHEER END OF DEA RAIDS
Pubdate: Fri, 27 Feb 2009
Source: Oakland Tribune, The (CA)
Copyright: 2009sANG Newspapers
Author: Josh Richman, Oakland Tribune
California medical-marijuana advocates are celebrating a verbal
promise that federal raids on the state-law-abiding dispensaries
have ended.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in a news conference on an
unrelated matter Wednesday in Washington with Drug Enforcement
Administration chief Michele Leonhart, said the raids -- in many
cases, searches and seizures without arrests -- are not part of
President Barack Obama's policy.
"What the president said during the campaign, you'll be surprised to
know, will be consistent with what we'll be doing in law
enforcement," Holder said. "What he said during the campaign is now
American policy."
Obama last year said he wouldn't be "using Justice Department
resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue," a stance
reiterated earlier this month by White House spokesman Nick Shapiro.
"Today is a victory and a huge step forward," said Steph Sherer,
executive director of Oakland-based Americans for Safe Access. "I'm
overjoyed to finally have a news conference with some great news."
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n230/a05.html
===
(2) VATICAN'S STANCE ON UN DRUGS POLICY 'RISKS LIVES'
Pubdate: Fri, 27 Feb 2009
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited
Author: Duncan Campbell, The Guardian
The Vatican has been accused of putting the lives of thousands at
risk by attempting to influence UN drugs policy on the eve of a
major international declaration.
The Vatican's objection to "harm reduction" strategies, such as
needle exchange schemes, has ignited a fierce debate between the
U.S. and the EU over how drugs should be tackled.
A new UN declaration of intent is due to be signed in Vienna on 11
March. However, there are major disagreements between member
countries over whether a commitment to "harm reduction" should be
included in the document, which is published every 10 years.
Now the Vatican has issued a statement that claims that using drugs
is "anti-life" and "so-called harm reduction leads to liberalisation
of the use of drugs". The Vatican's last-minute intervention appears
to have led to Italy withdrawing from the EU consensus on the issue
and thrown the talks over the declaration into confusion.
In 1998, the declaration of intent was "a drug-free world - we can
do it", which critics claimed was unrealistic and did not address
the complex nature of drug treatment. In favour of including support
for a harm reduction clause are most EU countries, Brazil and other
Latin American countries, Australia and New Zealand. They argue that
some commitment to tackling HIV and addiction through needle
exchange programmes and methadone and other drugs should be
included. Opposed to this are the US, Russia and Japan. The U.S.
position has been that such inclusion sends the wrong message,
although there have been indications a more liberal policy might be
adopted under Barack Obama.
"By making a statement against harm reduction, the Vatican has
indicated that its moral objection to drug use is more important
than its commitment to the sanctity of life," said Release, the
UK-based drugs and legal advice charity.
 [snip]
Continues: : http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n229/a01.html
===
(3) HUNDREDS ARRESTED IN U.S. PROBE OF MEXICAN DRUG CARTEL
Pubdate: Thu, 26 Feb 2009
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Times
Author: Josh Meyer, Reporting from Washington
Fifty Arrests in California and Elsewhere Are the Latest Among 730
Targeting the Sinaloa Cartel in a 21-Month Investigation.
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that authorities had
arrested more than 730 people across the country in a 21-month
investigation targeting Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel and its
infiltration into U.S. cities.
The arrests, including 50 on Wednesday in California, Minnesota,
Maryland and the nation's capital, come amid growing concern in
Washington that Mexican crime organizations are out of control and
threaten the stability of parts of Mexico and the safety of U.S.
citizens.
The Homeland Security Department has developed a plan to send more
agents and other resources, and possibly military support, to the
U.S.-Mexico border if the drug violence continues to spill over and
overwhelm the agents stationed there, a department official
confirmed.
The Pentagon is looking into a larger role in bolstering
counter-narcotics efforts. Adm. Dennis C. Blair, the director of
national intelligence, told Congress on Wednesday that the
corruptive influence and increasing violence of the cartels had
undermined the Mexican government's ability to govern parts of its
country.
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n228.a10.html
===
(4) PANEL DISCUSSION CHALLENGES WAR ON DRUGS
Pubdate: Thu, 26 Feb 2009
Source: Appalachian, The (NC Edu)
Copyright: 2009 Appalachian State University
Author: Edward Sztukowski, News Reporter
The student American Civil Liberties Union partnered with the Campus
Anti-War Network to hold a discussion about the War on Drugs Monday.
The event was initially intended as a debate, but the plan went up
in smoke because the police could not make it to the event.
Three members of the community led the panel discussion. Mathew
Robinson and Renee G. Scherlen, both associate professors in the
government and justice studies department, led the discussion for
decriminalization.
On the other side of the room Charlie Byrd, assistant district
attorney for Watauga County offered input and answered questions
from the audience regarding legal aspects.
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n229/a12.html
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
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Domestic News- Policy
----------------------------------
COMMENT: (5-8)
 Three former presidents of Latin American countries published an
 important editorial in the Wall Street Journal last week. The piece
 did not mince words about the disaster of the drug war and the need
 for reform. And as U.S. officials scheme about ways to enhance the
 drug war in Mexico, that country's attorney general says U.S. troops
 are not needed.
 Back in the U.S.A, some citizens are demanding their constitutional
 rights, even if those rights conflict with drug war ideology. A
 religious group from Oregon that ingests an illegal tea during
 ceremonies is pushing their case in court in order to legally use
 the drug. And, finally, in Georgia, a university takes a stand
 against free speech, but the local NORML chapter resists.
===
(5) OPED: THE WAR ON DRUGS IS A FAILURE
Pubdate: Mon, 23 Feb 2009
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Authors: Fernando Henrique Cardoso, CeSar Gaviria and Ernesto Zedillo
We Should Focus Instead on Reducing Harm to Users and on Tackling
Organized Crime.
The war on drugs has failed. And it's high time to replace an
ineffective strategy with more humane and efficient drug policies.
This is the central message of the report by the Latin American
Commission on Drugs and Democracy we presented to the public
recently in Rio de Janeiro.
Prohibitionist policies based on eradication, interdiction and
criminalization of consumption simply haven't worked. Violence and
the organized crime associated with the narcotics trade remain
critical problems in our countries. Latin America remains the
world's largest exporter of cocaine and cannabis, and is fast
becoming a major supplier of opium and heroin. Today, we are further
than ever from the goal of eradicating drugs.
Over the last 30 years, Colombia implemented all conceivable
measures to fight the drug trade in a massive effort where the
benefits were not proportional to the resources invested. Despite
the country's achievements in lowering levels of violence and crime,
the areas of illegal cultivation are again expanding. In Mexico --
another epicenter of drug trafficking -- narcotics-related violence
has claimed more than 5,000 lives in the past year alone.
The revision of U.S.-inspired drug policies is urgent in light of
the rising levels of violence and corruption associated with
narcotics. The alarming power of the drug cartels is leading to a
criminalization of politics and a politicization of crime. And the
corruption of the judicial and political system is undermining the
foundations of democracy in several Latin American countries.
The first step in the search for alternative solutions is to
acknowledge the disastrous consequences of current policies. Next,
we must shatter the taboos that inhibit public debate about drugs in
our societies. Antinarcotic policies are firmly rooted in prejudices
and fears that sometimes bear little relation to reality. The
association of drugs with crime segregates addicts in closed circles
where they become even more exposed to organized crime.
 [snip]
Â
Note: Mr. Cardoso is the former president of Brazil. Mr. Gaviria is a
former president of Colombia. Mr. Zedillo is a former president of
Mexico.
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n218/a03.html
===
(6) MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL: WE DON'T NEED U.S. TROOPS TO INTERVENE
IN DRUG WAR
Pubdate: Wed, 25 Feb 2009
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2009 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
Author: Todd J. Gillman, Washington Bureau
WASHINGTONÂ --Â Mexico's attorney general said Tuesday he sees no need
for U.S. troops to intervene in his country's war on drug cartels,
nor to gear up for a spillover of violence across the border.
"I don't see that," Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora said in an
interview with The Dallas Morning News. "I don't see the U.S.
military playing an active role. The size of the problem on the U.S.
side is not calling for that, and certainly Mexico has enough
institutional capabilities to deal with this."
U.S. officials view the violence as a potential national security
threat, and last month the Bush administration's homeland security
chief, Michael Chertoff, said Washington has drawn up contingency
plans for a "surge" of both civilian law enforcement and military
assets along the border.
Texas also has developed a contingency plan to cope with spillover
violence. On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Perry demanded a tighter security
net from Washington, saying he's asked the Obama administration for
more aircraft and "a thousand more troops" to the border.
"I don't care whether they're military troops, or they're National
Guard troops or whether they're customs agents," he said during a
visit to El Paso with retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the former U.S.
drug czar who warned two months ago that Mexico could soon become a
"narco state."
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n224/a03.html
===
(7) OREGON CHURCH ASKS JUDGE TO ALLOW USE OF CEREMONIAL HERB
Pubdate: Fri, 20 Feb 2009
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Copyright: 2009 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Oregon members of a Christian church based in Brazil are asking a
federal judge to allow the use of a hallucinogenic tea during
religious services.
The Church of the Holy Light of the Queen blends Christian theology
with traditional indigenous religious beliefs from Brazil.
Church members also consume ayahuasca tea, made from Amazonian
plants. But federal agents seized a shipment of the disputed tea
leaves in 1999.
Now the Ashland chapter of the church has gone to federal court to
argue the tea should be allowed under the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act.
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n217/a01.html
===
(8) UNIVERSITY LOGO POLICY STIRS AN IRE WITH MARIJUANA ADVOCACY GROUP
Pubdate: Fri, 20 Feb 2009
Source: Red and Black, The (U of Georgia, GA Edu)
Copyright: 2009 The Red and Black Publishing Co., Inc.
Author: Tiffany Stevens
University Logo Policy Stirs An Ire With Marijuana Advocacy Group
A T-shirt depiction of Hairy Dawg smoking marijuana at the Arch has
stirred the copyright debate between a student marijuana advocacy
group and the University.
The University chapter of the Georgia National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws held a press conference Thursday discussing
what the group describes as the hypocrisy of the University's stance
on recreational drugs.
"We have launched a grassroots campaign to respectfully call out and
stop the hypocrisy of UGA," said John Hill, treasurer of GA NORML.
"UGA officials should leave GA NORML alone and stop sending its
dangerous 'alcohol only' message towards students."
NORML was asked by the Center for Student Organizations "to
surrender any and all remaining T- shirts that carry the
logo/trademark violation to the Center for Student Organizations" by
Wednesday, despite being told by a CSO official that it was alright
for them to distribute their shirts after a previous warning to
surrender.
Joshua Podvin, the assistant director for student activities and
organization, told The Red & Black earlier this week the final
decision was made by the Office of Legal Affairs.
Others say that the Hairy Dawg depiction is protected under free
speech for political satire.
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n215/a12.html
=======================================================================
Law Enforcement & Prisons
-------------------------
COMMENT: (9-12)
 As three Atlanta cops receive relatively light sentences for a
 trumped-up drug raid that killed a 92- year-old woman, the Atlanta
 Journal-Constitution looks at some of the heinous details of the
 case. In Texas, one city's police force is paying attention to a
 former Mexican mayor in town, and a profile of an active New
 Hampshire cop who promotes drug war reform in his off-duty hours.
===
(9) EX-ATLANTA COPS GET PRISON FOR DRUG RAID KILLLING
Pubdate: Mon, 23 Feb 2009
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Author: Bill Rankin
A federal judge on Tuesday handed down varying prison terms to three
Atlanta police officers for their roles in the notorious 2006 drug
raid that left an elderly woman dead and disgraced the department's
narcotics unit.
U.S. District Judge Julie Carnes sentenced former officer Gregg
Junnier to six years in prison, Jason Smith to 10 years in prison
and Arthur Tesler to five years in prison.
Junnier, 42, and Tesler, 42, had faced recommended 10 years in
prison under sentencing guidelines, while Smith, 36, faced 12 years
and seven months.
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n225/a10.html
===
(10) A KILLING, A COVER-UP, A BREAK IN RANKS
Pubdate: Sun, 22 Feb 2009
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Authors: Bill Torpy, Bill Rankin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3 Police Officers: Their Actions Lost Public Trust in the Atlanta
Police Department.
Jason Smith was losing it.
"IÂ [screwed]Â up; I think I killed this woman," the Atlanta narcotics
cop told partner Arthur Tesler in the yard behind a small brick
bungalow on Neal Street. "You guys got to help me."
Inside, a 92-year-old woman lay dead, killed by a fusillade of
police bullets. Officer Gregg Junnier, his face grazed by a bullet
and bleeding, stalked through the home looking for suspects and
contraband.
But there were no dealers, no kilo of cocaine. The tip that brought
police to 933 Neal St. was as bogus as the story they used to sell a
judge on the raid.
Desperation and self-preservation kicked in. Smith remembered the
marijuana seized earlier that day. Better make it look like a drug
house, he reckoned. He pulled baggies of pot from his sleeve, nodded
to Tesler, and planted them in the basement.
The Nov. 21, 2006, killing of Kathryn Johnston, two days before
Thanksgiving, outraged residents of the northwest neighborhood,
shocked the nation and rocked Atlanta's police force. It laid bare
the corruption of an out-of-control narcotics squad that lied to get
search warrants and planted drugs on suspects.
This time, Smith had authored the trumped-up affidavit. For all
three, it was business as usual.
On Monday, the three former officers will be together again in
federal court to be sentenced for conspiring to violate Johnston's
civil rights. A sentencing memo from prosecutors to the judge, along
with prior testimony and other court records, reveals how the
officers concocted a sophisticated cover-up that fell apart when
Junnier, the squad veteran and the son of a cop, turned on his
colleagues. He crossed the "blue line."
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n213/a01.html
===
(11) EL PASO POLICE INVESTIGATE THREATS AGAINST JUAREZ MAYOR
Pubdate: Tue, 24 Feb 2009
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2009 El Paso Times
Author: Diana Washington Valdez, El Paso Times
EL PASO - The El Paso Police Department is investigating alleged
threats against Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz, who reportedly moved
his family to El Paso for safety reasons, Det. Carlos Carrillo said
Monday.
"We received information that the Juarez mayor lives in El Paso, and
that possibly they were going to come to El Paso to get him,"
Carrillo said. "He has not asked us for our help, but it's our duty
to protect any resident of our city who may be under threat."
Juarez police said written threats against Reyes Ferriz and his
family were left in different parts of Juarez after ex-police chief
Roberto Orduna Cruz resigned Friday.
The threats were written on banners the Juarez drug cartel has used
to send messages to the police and others.
In light of the threats, Juarez city spokesman Sergio Belmonte said
the mayor has increased security for himself and other city
officials.
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n223/a06.html
===
(12) OPPOSING THE DRUG LAWS THEY ENFORCE
Pubdate: Sun, 22 Feb 2009
Source: Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
Copyright: 2009 The Union Leader Corp.
Author: Jason Schreiber, Sunday News Correspondent
When he's working, Epping Police Officer Bradley Jardis is just like
any other cop.
He's patrolling the streets to catch people with drugs because
that's what he's supposed to do.
But when he's off the clock, this 28-year-old officer is speaking
publicly about why he believes existing drug policies have failed
and why it's time for lawmakers to legalize drugs.
It's an unusual position to take for a police officer charged with
enforcing laws, but Jardis insists that prohibiting drugs leaves the
dealers in control, creating a dangerous black market that breeds
crime and gives kids easy access.
Jardis believes drugs should be regulated by the government just
like alcohol. "We treat alcoholism as a public health problem, but
we treat drug addiction as a criminal problem, and that's wrong," he
said.
And he's not the only officer who feels this way.
Jardis, of Hooksett, is among a growing number of current and former
New Hampshire law enforcement officers and others in criminal
justice who have joined a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization
called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP.
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n212/a03.html
=======================================================================
Cannabis & Hemp-
---------------------------
COMMENT: (13-16)
 More collateral damage in the war on cannabis, as a wounded veteran
 learned how a criminal conviction can be a life-changing disability.
Â
 Californian Assemblyman Tom Ammiano caused a media maelstrom last
 week when he introduced a bill that would tax and regulate cannabis
 in an effort to bail out his bankrupt state.
Â
 New Jersey moved closer to becoming the fourteenth state to legalize
 medical marijuana, as the state Senate voted 22 to 16 in favor of the
 New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, which would
 require the state to issue registration cards to patients who have
 been diagnosed with debilitating medical conditions.
Â
 Mason Tavert, executive director of SAFER, weighed in on a Â
 free speech controversy in Georgia, where the NORML chapter at the
 University of Georgia produced a t-shirt featuring the school
 mascot smoking weed. "Why is it OK for UGA to put its logos on shot
 glasses and other alcohol-related paraphernalia ... but not OK for
 Georgia NORML to depict Hairy Dawg making the safer choice to use
 marijuana instead?"
===
(13) CHARITY YANKS FREE HOUSE TO VET OVER POT BUST
Pubdate: Tue, 24 Feb 2009
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
Copyright: 2009 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Author: Phillip O'Connor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Branson, Mo. - Newlyweds Scott and Samantha West drove their SUV
through the gate of the exclusive housing community, winding upward to
an empty cul-de-sac that offers commanding views of the surrounding
valleys.
For months, the young couple visited this site and dreamed of their
bright future, ever since a charity that serves wounded veterans
announced last year it was building a house for Scott at no charge.
The gift, like his new bride, seemed heaven-sent to Scott West, 23,
who had lost his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq in December 2005. The
new home would feature wide hallways, voice-activated lighting and
other amenities tailored to Scott's needs.
And when a developer offered to give the Wests a free lot in
Saddlebrooke, a community where house prices range from $350,000 to
more than $1 million, the couple thought it was too good to be true.
"This was a place where I thought I could live the rest of my life and
never have to worry," West said.
On this night, the couple didn't linger long at the vacant lot. The
winter wind was bitter. So too, are the memories.
In January, just two days after the couple had returned from their
honeymoon, the charity took back its gift after learning that Scott
West had been arrested on marijuana charges in 2007 and pleaded guilty
in December to a felony of possession with intent to distribute. Last
week, a judge placed West on five years probation.
 [snip]
Â
Homes for Our Troops founder John Gonsalves did not respond to several
requests for an interview. The nonprofit organization has built more
than three dozen homes nationwide since it was established in 2004. It
has about two dozen more homes under construction.
AÂ spokeswoman for the charity said it was grateful for West's service
and sacrifice. She described the decision to drop West from the
program as the most painful Gonsalves has had to make.
"It hurts him; it haunts him," spokeswoman Vicki Thomas said.
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n227.a10.html
===
(14) CALIFORNIA LEGISLATOR SEES BENEFIT IN LEGALIZING POT
Pubdate: Wed, 25 Feb 2009
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Author: Stu Woo
SANÂ FRANCISCOÂ --Â A state legislator proposed legalizing the sale of
marijuana in California, saying the plan would generate more than $1
billion annually for the cash-strapped state.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced a bill Monday that would legalize
possession and sales of the drug for people aged 21 and older. The
legislation would impose regulations and taxation similar to those for
alcohol sales. Federal law makes it a crime to possess or sell
marijuana, so the measure, if passed, would likely face an immediate
legal challenge. Mr. Ammiano, a San Francisco Democrat who is well
known in the state as a champion of liberal causes, proposes a tax of
$50 on an ounce of marijuana, which sells for a few hundred dollars on
the street. California's dire financial situation was the impetus for
proposing the bill, said Quintin Mecke, a spokesman for Mr. Ammiano.
The state, which last week closed a $42 billion budget deficit through
steep spending cuts and tax increases, should be making money on pot
sales, Mr. Mecke said. He estimated that marijuana is a $14 billion-a-
year crop in California.
The pot-legalization bill will be up against significant opposition.
"It's one of these [proposals] that is based on fallacious assumption
that if we could only legalize marijuana, that we will have fiscal and
social Shangri-La," said John Lovell, a lobbyist who represents three
California police groups.
 [snip]
Â
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n225.a01.html
===
(15) MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL OK'D
Pubdate: Tue, 24 Feb 2009
Source: Today's Sunbeam (NJ)
Copyright: 2009 Today's Sunbeam
TRENTON - The state Senate voted Monday to legalize the use of
marijuana for medicinal purposes, taking a huge step toward making New
Jersey the 14th state in the nation to allow residents with serious
debilitating conditions to use it for relief.
"We aren't talking about thrill-seekers or drug addicts here. We are
talking about very sick people who are in desperate need of relief,"
said Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, the bill's sponsor. "These people
are not criminals and it does not behoove us as a society to treat
them as such."
The legislation passed by a 22 to 16 vote. The Assembly has yet to
consider the bill, although Gov. Jon S. Corzine has said he would sign
it if it made it to his desk.
Sen. Stephen Sweeney, D-3rd Dist., voted in favor of the bill.
The measure would give residents, with a doctor's recommendation, the
ability to obtain a registration card from the state Department of
Health and Senior Services to use marijuana for medicinal purposes
without the possibility of arrest, prosecution or penalty.
Those approved by the state could possess up to six marijuana plants
and one usable ounce of marijuana, grown at home or obtained from an
alternative treatment center, a facility that would be designated to
grow and distribute the drug. Patients under the age of 18 could also
seek eligibility from the state with the permission of a parent or
guardian.
The measure set off a range of emotions from those on both sides of
the issue. Supporters, both Democrats and Republicans, said the
legislation would give healthcare professionals options in treating
their patients pain and suffering. Many of those patients are facing
terminal diseases.
But opponents said the lack of regulation over the use of marijuana,
with no prescriptions needed and little oversight over registrants
growing the plant, could make it too easily available, opening the
door to wide-ranging abuses.
 [snip]
Â
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n220.a08.html
===
(16) UNIVERSITY LOGO POLICY STIRS AN IRE WITH MARIJUNA ADVOCACY GROUP
Pubdate: Fri, 20 Feb 2009
Source: Red and Black, The (U of Georgia, GA Edu)
Copyright: 2009 The Red and Black Publishing Co., Inc.
Author: Tiffany Stevens
University Logo Policy Stirs An Ire With Marijuana Advocacy Group
A T-shirt depiction of Hairy Dawg smoking marijuana at the Arch has
stirred the copyright debate between a student marijuana advocacy
group and the University.
The University chapter of the Georgia National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws held a press conference Thursday discussing
what the group describes as the hypocrisy of the University's stance
on recreational drugs.
"We have launched a grassroots campaign to respectfully call out and
stop the hypocrisy of UGA," said John Hill, treasurer of GA NORML.
"UGA officials should leave GA NORML alone and stop sending its
dangerous 'alcohol only' message towards students."
NORMLÂ was asked by the Center for Student Organizations "to surrender
any and all remaining T-shirts that carry the logo/trademark violation
to the Center for Student Organizations" by Wednesday, despite being
told by a CSO official that it was alright for them to distribute
their shirts after a previous warning to surrender.
 [snip]
Â
Others say that the Hairy Dawg depiction is protected under free
speech for political satire.
Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation teamed up with GA NORML
students on Wednesday to begin a "Stop the Hypocrisy" campaign.
Mason Tvert, executive director of SAFER, said in a press release that
Hairy Dawg is a public figure, and the group was employing political
satire.
"Surely UGA's lawyers are aware of the sound legal precedent that
protects the freedom to such political speech," Tvert wrote. "The
administration simply dislikes the marijuana-related content of that
speech."
 [snip]
According to Tvert, objective studies on marijuana have found it safer
than alcohol.
The conference tried to compare the University's stance on alcohol use
versus its drug policy.
"Alcohol contributes to overdose deaths, injuries, sexual assaults and
date rapes, whereas the use of marijuana does not," said Tvert. "Why
is it OK for UGA to put its logos on shot glasses and other alcohol-
related paraphernalia - and sell it to students and visitors at the
campus bookstore - but not OK for Georgia NORML to depict Hairy Dawg
making the safer choice to use marijuana instead?"
 [snip]
GAÂ NORMLÂ members also gathered wearing shirts with the controversial
picture in question.
Efforts to reach the Office of Legal Affairs for University comment
were unsuccessful Thursday afternoon.
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n215.a12.html
=======================================================================
International News
---------------------------
COMMENT: (17- )
 International News
------------------
 In Canada, U.S. champion swimmer Michael Phelps was "uninvited" from
 motivational speaking events in continuing fallout from a photo of
 the swimmer using a bong, the "widely publicized alleged use of
 marijuana." Phelps was replaced as a speaker by prohibitionist actor
 Martin Sheen.
 It is time this year for officials from the South American nation of
 Colombia to make the pilgrimage to the north, to ask for money from
 the Americans. Potential threats to the pipeline of money from D.C.
 to Colombia were portrayed as "pulling the rug out" from the nation;
 a menace to American children. "A reduction means more cocaine ends
 up on the streets of U.S. cities," warned Colombian officials. Noted
 observers: "It's a tricky case to make, because they have to show
 progress... But if you claim too much progress, the question
 becomes, 'Why do you need such significant assistance?'"
 Meanwhile in Europe, officials admit that the prohibition of cocaine
 is failing miserably - as cocaine prices continue to plummet, and
 this in the face of inflated currencies. Said to retail for little
 as little as UKP 20 a gram, officials in Europe are blaming
 body-packing African and Eastern European "drug mules" for the
 cocaine glut.
 In the U.K., the government launches a 2.2 million pound ad campaign
 criticized for overstating negative claims about cannabis. The moves
 comes in the wake of government insistence that cannabis be
 re-classified, despite evidence presented by its own scientific
 advisors against such a move. We "do need to be assured that advice
 is evidence-based, that the authorities haven't just ignored the
 evidence and gone ahead anyway... public health messages have to
 chime with experience... when they don't, they are not simply a bit
 less effective: they discredit the promulgating authority."
 And finally, from Canada this week, editorial after editorial used
 alleged gang violence to prepare Canadians to accept prime minister
 Harper's ready-made solution in the form of mandatory minimums for
 "drug crimes". Some went against the trend, like this piece from Ian
 Mulgrew in the Vancouver Sun. Time to end the "war on drugs" says
 Mulgrew: "we are discussing everything except the obvious solution
 -- an end to the continental prohibition on illicit drugs." Can't
 legalize in Canada for fear of offending the colossus to the south?
 Think again. "Those who continue to offer the hoary shibboleth that
 Canada can't consider legalization without offending Uncle Sam
 haven't kept up to date." Time to "end the drug prohibition. Drug
 use should be a medical issue, not a crime."
===
(17) SWIMMER PHELPS UNINVITED FROM SPEECHES IN CANADA
Pubdate: Wed, 25 Feb 2009
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2009 The Globe and Mail Company
Author: Dawn Walton
CALGARY -- A promoter has flip-flopped on plans to bring U.S.
swimmer Michael Phelps to events in Calgary and Vancouver in light
of a photograph that surfaced of the Olympic gold medalist using a
bong associated with smoking marijuana. Power Within Inc., a
Toronto-based company that organizes motivational speaking events
and initially stood by the superstar's involvement in next week's
engagements in Western Canada, has suddenly pulled the plug.
"Due to widely publicized alleged use of marijuana by Michael
Phelps, the decision has been made to present the program without
Mr. Phelps' participation," the company said in statement released
to a local newspaper.
Both nonrefundable events were well on their way to selling out.
Tickets for next Tuesday's event in Calgary cost $229 and will now
feature actor Martin Sheen as its keynote speaker.
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n226.a01.html
===
(18) COLOMBIA'S WORRY: LOOSER U.S. TIES
Pubdate: Wed, 25 Feb 2009
Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)
Copyright: 2009 The Christian Science Publishing Society
Author: Howard LaFranchi, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Officials Visiting This Week Press for Continued Funding of an
Antidrug Strategy and Passage of a Free-Trade Agreement.
Washington - Colombian officials are mounting a full-court
diplomatic press in the United States this week as they seek to
stave off a fall from the high-flying status their country achieved
in Washington as a favored ally of the Bush administration.
 [snip]
Colombian officials are responding to the negative publicity with a
mix of economic optimism and warnings about the consequences of cuts
in counternarcotics assistance.
In wire-service interviews before leaving Colombia for Washington,
Defense Minister Santos equated any cut in what is now about $500
million in annual aid to "pulling the rug out" from under Colombia
just as it is "winning" its decades-old fight with a drug-financed
guerrilla. At the same time, he said, any cut would have a direct
impact in the US.
"A reduction means more cocaine ends up on the streets of U.S.
cities," he said.
Colombian officials are caught between the consequences of claiming
too much progress and the need to demonstrate that the country's
human rights situation in particular has improved, says Mr. Shifter
of the Inter-American Dialogue. "It's a tricky case to make, because
they have to show progress," he says. "But if you claim too much
progress, the question becomes, 'Why do you need such significant
assistance?' "
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n224.a02.html
===
(19) COCAINE PRICE FALLS AS GANGS SWITCH ROUTES
Pubdate: Thu, 19 Feb 2009
Source: Times, The (UK)
Copyright: 2009 Times Newspapers Ltd
Author: Richard Ford
Cocaine prices will fall as traffickers exploit new routes to
Britain through West Africa and Eastern Europe, a United Nations
agency warns today.
The new routes have emerged as anti-smuggling operations have forced
South American drugs cartels to abandon the trail through the
Caribbean and north Atlantic.
Stockpiles of drugs are building in West African states, from where
they are shipped to Britain and the rest of Europe via the Balkans,
according to a report by the UN's International Narcotics Control
Board.
Traffickers load commercial flights with "large numbers" of drug
mules, swallowing as much as a kilogram of cocaine each, the report
says.
Almost 30 per cent of cocaine used in Europe now arrives through
countries such as Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra
Leone.
 [snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n208.a03.html
===
(20) MUM DOESN'T KNOW BEST
Pubdate: Wed, 18 Feb 2009
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited
Author: Zoe Williams, The Guardian
The Effect of an Ad That Overstates the Dangers of Cannabis Is to
Discredit All Public Health Advice
A new UKP 2.2m ad campaign about cannabis targets 11- to
18-year-olds. Before you decide that's a waste of money, imagine how
much more it would have cost before the collapse of ad revenues. I
think the government should take advantage of this to advertise the
dangers of all drugs. Indeed, so what if ecstasy is only about as
dangerous as horse riding? Why not have an ad about how dangerous
horse riding is?
There is some sense in the ads. Cannabis was reclassified last year,
from a class C drug to class B, and what's the point in making it
more dangerous without a public health warning? Nevertheless, this
raised questions - compounded by the government's refusal to
downgrade ecstasy from class A - about why ministers commission
reports from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, only to
ignore them.
 [snip]
Naturally, there is some very banal motivation at play, which is
that nobody ever won votes campaigning for laxity on drugs. But, to
give the health minister Dawn Primarolo and her ilk the benefit of
the doubt, they would not overstate the dangers of drugs if they did
not regard overstatement as a neutral, benign policy, beneficial to
some hoodlums and harmful to none.
I disagree profoundly with this: public health messages have to
chime with experience. When they do they have an incredible impact,
but when they don't, they are not simply a bit less effective: they
discredit the promulgating authority. An individual who hears from
Primarolo that cannabis causes "serious and long-term health
problems" but finds little empirical evidence for the same, stops
listening to the government - not on those drugs alone, but
altogether.
We don't need to see things with our own eyes to believe them; we're
not Neanderthals. But we do need to be assured that advice is
evidence-based, that the authorities haven't just ignored the
evidence and gone ahead anyway. I contend that the negative
consequences of this mummy-knows-best approach have already gone
beyond the world of class C drugs. I bet this is why so many young
people have stopped using condoms and are getting syphilis.
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n212.a07.html
===
(21) IT JUST MAKES SENSE TO END THE WAR ON DRUGS
Pubdate: Mon, 23 Feb 2009
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 The Vancouver Sun
Author: Ian Mulgrew
Marijuana and drug trafficking are the central catalysts in the
current Lower Mainland gang war, yet we are discussing everything
except the obvious solution -- an end to the continental prohibition
on illicit drugs.
 [snip]
Those who continue to offer the hoary shibboleth that Canada can't
consider legalization without offending Uncle Sam haven't kept up to
date.
Massachusetts voters last year passed a statewide initiative to
decriminalize marijuana. Thirteen states already have laws
permitting medicinal use of pot.
New Mexico, the most recent to liberalize its laws in 2007, is
trying to figure out how to supply the roughly 200 patients it has
licensed to possess up to six ounces of marijuana.
 [snip]
Let's face it. The current drug laws are not working. Too many lives
have been lost, too many families shattered and too many futures
ruined by the War on Drugs. It is too expensive and it is socially
corrosive. It is time to end it.
With its own mounting sanguinary gang problem, Mexico already is
debating sweeping drug-law reform at a national level.
Just as we ended the alcohol prohibition in the face of gang
violence and mounting social costs, we need to end the drug
prohibition. Drug use should be a medical issue, not a crime.
 [snip]
The shootings and the deaths of the last few weeks underscore the
need to reform our drug laws. Let's "officially" start to talk about
it.
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n218.a08.html
***********************************************************************
HOT OFF THE 'NET
-------------------------------
AREN'T DRUG WARRIORS FUNNY?
By Pete Guither at DrugWarrant.com
"Smoking marijuana causes people to wear the same trench coat for 20
years. That's why it's illegal!"
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/2009/02/24.html#a3314
===
WILL LEGALIZING POT SAVE CALIFORNIA FROM ITS CASH CRUNCH?
By Bruce Mirken, Marijuana Policy Project
A new bill could make marijuana California's newest cash crop.
http://drugsense.org/url/1QZh5vXn
===
PLAN MEXICO IS BACK IN CONGRESS
By Kristin Bricker
Yesterday the House Passed 2009 Plan Mexico Funding Despite Mexico's
Failure to Comply with the 2008 Funding's Human Rights Conditions.
http://drugsense.org/url/mO7j8qhE
===
DRUG TRUTH NETWORK
Century of Lies - 02/24/09 - Richard Lee
Oaksterdam I - Richard Lee, founder of Oaksterdam University, Dale
Gieringer of California NORML, Roger LaChance of Medical Cannabis
Safety Commission, Chris Conrad, publisher and Court Qualified
Marijuana Expert, Atty. James Anthony, Atty. Robert Raich.
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2310
Cultural Baggage Radio Show - 02/25/09 - Richard Lee
Oaksterdam II - Founder Richard Lee, anonymous instructor, Keith
Stevenson of Purple Heart Dispensary, Atty. James Anthony of LEAP,
Atty. Robert Raich
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2311
===
ROB KAMPIA INTERVIEWED ON GLENN BECK SHOW
Rob Kampia, executive director of MPP, is interviewed by Glenn Beck
about the California bill introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano to tax
and regulate marijuana like alcohol.
http://tv.mpp.org/news/rob-kampia-interviewed-on-glenn-beck-show-22509/
===
STATE CONSIDERS MARIJUANA TAX
A California bill to regulate recreational use could spark
confrontation with federal government. CNN's Casey Wian reports.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/02/24/wian.pot.tax.cnn
===
MEDICAL CANNABIS AN "AMERICAN POLICY".
By Steph Sherer
I wish everyone were here to see it. As many of you know by now, on
Wednesday U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters at a press
conference, while standing next to Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) Administrator Michele Leonhart that ending federal raids on
medical cannabis dispensaries "is now American policy."
http://safeaccessnow.org/blog/?p=217
===
DRUG POLICY REFORM: CUTTING THE GORDIAN KNOT
Sanho Tree, a drug policy analyst from the Washington based Institute
for Policy Studies, has contributed a chapter on drug policy reform
to a new book titled Mandate for Change, published this month and
presented to the White House last week.
http://drugsense.org/url/Qamf89MV
***********************************************************************
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK
--------------------------------------------------
WRITE A LETTER
The Drug War South Of The Border. A DrugSense Focus Alert
http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0397.html
***********************************************************************
LETTER OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------
PROHIBITION PROBLEM
By John Chase
You offered two recent opinion pieces about the drug war. One would
continue this war; the other would treat drugs as a public health
problem. In effect, the issue is whether to stop all use or to stop
problem use. History teaches that the latter is more effective.
National Prohibition (1920-1933) failed because it tried to stamp
out all drinking by prosecuting bootleggers. By the late 1920s the
public had begun to withdraw their support for Prohibition because
they saw 1 ) an alcohol-free America was not possible, 2 ) the
illegal wealth enabled by Prohibition fostered street violence and
official corruption, 3 ) it was costly to imprison bootleggers, and
4 ) there was a need for liquor tax revenue.
We ended Prohibition in 1933 and have learned to live with legal
alcohol by focusing on problem drinking. While many of us believe
alcohol regulation is still too soft, no responsible person has
proposed that we try again to stop all drinking.
John Chase
Palm Harbor
Pubdate: Sun, 22 Feb 2009
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n187/a07.html
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n185/a08.html
***********************************************************************
FEATURE ARTICLE
-------------------------------
Tearful Atlanta Cops Express Remorse For Shooting 92-year-old Kathryn
Johnston, Leaving Her To Bleed To Death In Her Own Home While They
Planted Drugs In Her Basement, Then Threatening an Informant So He
Would Lie To Cover It All Up
By Radley Balko
Sorry, but I'm having a hard time conjuring up any sympathy for
these guys. They were sentenced earlier this week: U.S. District
Judge Julie Carnes sentenced former officer Gregg Junnier to six
years in prison, Jason Smith to 10 years in prison and Arthur Tesler
to 5 years in prison.
To put it into perspective, all three are expected to receive about
the same sentence as Ryan Frederick (who shot a police officer to
death during a drug raid that Frederick believed was a home
invasion). That ain't justice.
I will say, however, that evil and inexcusable as these bastards
are, there's some truth in this excerpt:
Tesler said when he joined the narcotics unit, he was told to "sit,
watch and learn" from superiors who cut corners to meet performance
quotas for arrests and warrants. "I was a new part and plugged into
a broken system," Tesler said.
Tesler said when he saw Smith about to plant baggies of marijuana
inside Johnston's home to make it look like a drug house, he shook
his head in disapproval. Tesler said he falsified the police report
and later lied about the raid because Smith told him to follow the
cover-up script. Tesler said he wasn't about to "rat" on a senior
officer.
His father, Jack Tesler, said his son was "being vilified and
over-prosecuted."
Smith said his moral compass failed when he began to think "drug
dealers were no longer human."
"I saw myself above them," he said.
This is what happens when you declare "war" on American citizens.
You dehumanize them. And you instill an ends-justifies-the-means,
win at all costs mindset in your "warriors." This mindset infected
the entire narcotics unit at Atlanta PD. You'd have to be awfully
naive to believe the problem is limited to Atlanta.
Officers Junnier, Smith, and Tesler are going to prison. But you
could make a good case that they were only responding to incentives.
A lot of other people have Kathryn Johnston's blood on their hands
too, people with names like Bennett, Gates, Walters, Souder, Tandy,
and Meese. They've been ratcheting up the war rhetoric of drug
prohibition for 30 years. It boggles my mind that I'm "known" for
this issue. For this to even be an issue, we had to have reached the
point where most of America is now accustomed to the notion that
state agents dressed in battle garb can and will tear down the doors
of private homes in the middle of the night for nothing more than
mere possession of psychoactive substances. And most of the time,
they do it under the full color of law.
It shouldn't be at all surprising that this particular war's boots
on the ground might start to take all of that war imagery to heart,
and take shortcuts around whatever largely ritualistic Fourth
Amendment procedures we have left to "protect" against whatever it
is we still might call "unreasonable" searches (if a violent,
terrifying, paramilitary-style raid in the middle of the night on
someone suspected of a nonviolent, consensual crime isn't
"unreasonable," I don't know what would be).
Kathryn Johnston's death is tragic. But the real tragedy here is
that had the cops found a stash of marijuana in her basement that
actually did belong to her-say for pain treatment or nausea-her
death would have faded quickly from the national news, these tactics
would have been deemed by most to be wholly legitimate, and we
probably wouldn't still be talking about her today.
These cops were evil. But they worked within an evil system that's
not only immoral on its face, but is rife with bad incentives and
plays to the worst instincts in human nature.
Radley Balko is a senior editor for Reason magazine. For additional
information and to view his blog, please visit his website,
http://www.theagitator.com/ - where this piece first appeared.
***********************************************************************
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------
"For every prohibition you create you also create an underground."
- Jello Biafra
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