Friday, October 17, 2003

Numbers are tricky things... In this week's DrugSense Weekly Newsletter: While the dangers and horrible effects of prohibited drugs are given great play in the press, when government-paid "experts" are found to have exaggerated "facts" little attention is paid.  In New Zealand last week, a government scientist who promotes drug testing was forced to admit she had exaggerated by some 244% the number of drug users detected by random tests.  The government's "expert", Dr Susan Nolan, twice testified to court last week that drugs were found in 22 percent of samples collected from workers tested.  But when called on it, the government-hired expert conceded that only 9 percent contained drugs, not 22 percent as she had originally testified.  The 244% mistake (in the government's favor) was merely a "copying error," explained Nolan. You know, that happens to me all the time. I mean to type a "9" and end up hitting the "2" key twice instead. Easy mistake. 9:22:25 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Your tax dollars hard at work! University of Virginia: At a press conference last Friday, local authorities announced the indictment of 33 people on charges of drug distribution and sales... The arrests mark the conclusion of a 15-month undercover operation conducted by the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement (JADE) Task Force. The investigation, dubbed "Operation Spring Break Down," involved agents from the Charlottesville, University and Albemarle County police departments, the Virginia State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. These law enforcement officials were aided in the investigation by several University students and employees. Wow! What a massive operation! Look at all those agencies. Must have cost a fortune! But obviously a success, right? After all, 33 indictments, must have been a major drug ring... Nope. No drug ring. Just a bunch of students and staff at a university selling marijuana and other drugs (much as you would find at any university in the world, without needing 15 months of investigation). They weren't even connected. And what did they seize? $20,000-$22,000 worth of drugs. That's about $650 per person indicted. Each could face up to 10 years in prison. If so, the cost to taxpayers would be approximately seven million dollars, not counting the costs of trials and the 15 month investigation. So how do you like your drug war? See the articles on this bust from the Cavalier Daily here, here(!), here, and here. (Thanks to Michael on the discussion group of SSDP for the links.) 9:00:12 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Venezuala's Vice President Disses Drug Czar This Week's Drug War Chronicle also mentions that Venezuelan Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel gets as pissed off at John Walters as I do: "This is a lie, a calumny, a total infamy," retorted Rangel Yep. Note: By the way, DRCNet, who puts together this wonderful weekly newsletter, needs some help. If you can, give them a donation. I did today. 8:32:38 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Jerome Marks - a Justice for Justice This week's Drug War Chronicle from DRCNet has an interview with retired New York Supreme Court Justice Jerome Marks, who has spent most of his time since retirement fighting against the war on drugs, and helping the victims of the war. First, this from New York Newsday earlier this week: In his 22 years on the bench, State Supreme Court Justice Jerome Marks put plenty of men and women behind bars. "Now," he said, "I'm trying to get some of them out." It isn't that Marks, 88 and now retired, is soft on crime. It's just that he regards the Rockefeller drug laws enacted in September 1973, as the "most unjust enacted in my time." Marks says the draconian drug laws have snared the weak and the poor in its net, but few drug lords - who can afford expensive lawyers to keep them out of jail. And more from the DRCNet interview: I was doing civil court, but when I transferred over to the Supreme Court I started getting these drug cases. I would have these cases in front of me where if people had sold over two ounces of drugs or possessed over four ounces, they were looking at 15-25 years-to-life. That's the same sentence as murder, and it's the only nonviolent crime with that type of sentence.... I have never seen a law as bad as this. The punishment just doesn't fit the crime. And it doesn't make sense... I was a great admirer of our criminal justice system as a young man, and I still am, but not as much. Back then we were concerned with rehabilitating people, but now we are more concerned with incarcerating them. We need more programs to help people.... We've been going in the wrong direction, and I just hope it changes. On Monday, Marks will be honored by Mothers of the Disappeared whose members have seen their children locked up under the Rockefeller laws. 8:23:57 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Reviewed Thanks for the nice review today from The Weblog Review: ...If you are interested in how The Man is spending your money in "the war against drugs" then you will likely find this site to be a great resource. All in all the web site accomplishes what it is meant to in a clear format. The articles are well researched and there is usually many links within the blog entries to 'read more about' the topic. It is clear to me that some thought and work has gone into this web site. It's an pretty good review site and a great way to discover some interesting blogs. 8:12:42 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []