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Drug WarRant
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Saturday, November 1, 2003 |
Some weekend reading
Helping Justice Overcome a Flawed Policy - a nice little piece on Senator Durbin's efforts to introduce the Truth in Trials bill.
Sen. Durbin's bill is in line with the history and purpose of the American criminal jury system, which has been likened to the "fourth branch of government" and the "final check and balance." His measure would allow jurors to know whether the verdict they are asked to return would be a just one. If not, jurors could refuse to convict -- nullify the law -- on their own initiative. Durbin's bill will merely allow the jury system -- the conscience of the community -- to dispense, as Judge Hoyt so well put, "acts of mercy ... where the facts dictate morally and ethically that mercy is appropriate."
An interesting piece by Moby, of all people, in the New York Times.
Recreational drug use has been, and continues to be, an integral part of our culture. Recreational drug use is practiced in bars and in churches, in Dumpsters and in penthouses, so with all of our technological resources, why can't we make it as safe as it is fun?
This week's Drug War Chronicle, including Decriminalization Comes to Britain: House of Commons Passes Cannabis Rescheduling Bill (one step closer to a reasonble half-measure). You can still donate to Stop the Drug War and receive a copy of the video "Busted."
This week's issue of Drug Sense Weekly including an update on the case of the death Clayton Helriggle (one of the drug war victims). You can still donate to Drug Sense/MAP and have your contribution matched.
Last One Speaks is always a great read (check out her take on the prison industrial complex). I also got a real kick out of her halloween slogan (to go with a Cheech and Chong costume):
Bongs don't hurt people, John Walters' do
She'll be off attending the Drug Policy Alliance Conference this week. I look forward to her reports with great anticipation.
2:22:22 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Friday, October 31, 2003 |
Drugstore Cowboys
An excellent article in the American Prospect:
"Drugstore Cowboys -
How America's wrongheaded war on drugs brought down Bolivia's president"
by Christopher Hayes
...imagine, for a moment, how Paris would have reacted if, during Prohibition, Calvin Coolidge had begun paying the French government huge sums of money to burn its country's vineyards. It seems a safe assumption that the hypothetical French prime minister who collaborated with such a policy wouldn't have lasted long in office.
Burning Prohibition-era French vineyards may seem like a ludicrous scenario, but it's more or less analogous to the current U.S. policy of coca eradication in Latin America. So it should come as little surprise that Bolivian President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada resigned earlier this month amid growing popular opposition to his support of American eradication efforts in his country.
For Bolivia's indigenous majority, coca is not just another plant. People have been chewing coca leaves on the altiplano -- the windswept Andean plateau that stretches through the eastern third of Bolivia and parts of Peru -- for about 4,000 years, and to this day coca occupies an incredibly central role in indigenous culture. "Coca leaves are used in everyday interactions in Aymara and Quechua culture as gestures of friendship, like exchanging a cigarette or a cup of coffee," says University of Illinois anthropologist Andrew Orta, who studies the region. Aside from being chewed, the coca leaf is used in tea, rubbed on cuts and employed during ritual offerings to local deities. Because coca is grown and chewed mostly by the country's indigenous majority, it has also become an expression of identity. Across Bolivia, graffiti, signs and T-shirts proclaim, "The Coca Leaf is Not A Drug!"
The entire article is worth reading. It shows just how out of touch our foreign policy is related to the drug war. Our drug eradication policies destroy the economies of countries and increase violence and instability, and despite all that, the net flow of drugs to the United States is not significantly reduced.
Update: Another good article on the subject in the Miami Herald by Jeffrey D. Sachs, professor of economics and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University: Another U.S. Foreign-Policy Failure.
When the preceding Bolivian government faced U.S. demands to destroy the coca crop, I advised it to insist on adequate aid to finance economic development benefiting the hundreds of thousands of displaced peasant farmers and their dependents. Desperate for any assistance at all, Bolivia's government ultimately uprooted thousands of hectares of peasant crops -- and got almost nothing in return but phony slogans about alternative development.
8:50:48 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Thursday, October 30, 2003 |
La Anti Droga
Wednesday release from the Drug Czar's office: White House Drug Czar, Surgeon General, and Partner Organizations to Address Drug Use Among Hispanic Youth
"Marijuana use is a serious problem for all young people, but we are particularly concerned about the high usage rates among Hispanic eighth graders, who are using this harmful drug at a crucial time in their lives," said Director Walters. "Together with our partners, we are reaching out to the Hispanic community and providing bilingual resources designed to reverse these trends."
Research shows that among eighth graders, Hispanics tend to have the highest rates of past-year drug use for most illegal drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. One in 10 Hispanic youth ages 12-17 reports using illicit drugs in the past month. Because Hispanics represent the largest, fastest-growing, and youngest ethnic group in the United States -- one in three Hispanics is under age 18 -- the need for tailored youth drug prevention efforts is critical.
Whoa - better watch out for those drugged up Hispanics! But wait - this is from the Drug Czar. Could it, in fact, be a crock? For the second day in a row, I'm wading through tables at SAMHSA, and low and behold...
Table 1.32B - Marijuana use Past Month among Persons Aged 12 to 17
| White | Hispanic |
| All | 9.1% | 6.8% |
| Males | 9.7% | 8.6% |
| Females | 8.5% | 4.9% |
Table 1.27B - Any Illicit Drug use Past Month among Persons Aged 12 to 17
| White | Hispanic |
| All | 12.6% | 10.7% |
| Males | 13.1% | 12.4% |
| Females | 12.0% | 8.8% |
Table 1.27B - Any Illicit Drug use Past Year among Persons Aged 12 to 17
| White | Hispanic |
| All | 24.0% | 20.8% |
| Males | 24.2% | 21.1% |
| Females | 23.8% | 20.4% |
So, it turns out that White kids use drugs more than Hispanics (and we already knew the Drug Czar was a crock). Go back to the release:
...Because Hispanics represent the largest, fastest-growing, and youngest ethnic group in the United States...
That's an ...interesting... statement in this context.
Of course, this is not the first time there's been concern about growing Hispanic population and the use of Marijuana. Witness this letter to Anslinger from editor of the Alamosa, Colo, Daily Courier in 1936:
Is there any assistance your Bureau can give us in handling this drug? Can you suggest campaigns? Can you enlarge your Department to deal with marihuana? Can you do anything to help us?
I wish I could show you what a small marihuana cigarette can do to one of our degenerate Spanish speaking residents. That's why our problem is so great; the greatest percentage of our population is composed of Spanish speaking persons, most of whom are low mentally, because of social and racial conditions.
While marihuana has figured in the greatest number of crimes in the past few years, officials fear it, not for what it had done, but for what it is capable of doing. They want to check it before an outbreak does occur.
In fact...
The anti-marihuana law of 1937 was largely the federal government's response to political pressure from enforcement agencies and other alarmed groups who feared the use and spread of marihuana by "Mexicans."
Yep, that's, in part, how it all started.
Who the hell is Richard Carmona?
Included in the release is this statement:
"Young marijuana users take on serious mental and physical risks, including potential brain and lung damage," said Surgeon General Carmona.
 This one threw me. I must admit that I hadn't followed the current Surgeon General. (In fact, I don't remember much of anything about him, particularly related to the War on Drugs -- Walters' office always pretended to be the "experts.")
So why is Carmona suddenly showing up spouting completely discredited statements? Even Walters has avoided the "brain damage" nonsense. I'm going to try to contact Carmona's office sometime in the next week or so (busy time for me right now). I'll let you know if I find anything out.
Oh, and by the way, you'll be pleased to know that there is now La Anti Droga site, complete with tons of useful information for recruiting Hispanics in the drug war.
1:22:24 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Wednesday, October 29, 2003 |
Winning the War on Drugs
I realized today that I missed something from the government's most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Of course, they distributed the results they wanted known widely through press releases -- lots of statistics about various changes in drug use patterns, and some play on the fact that there were 19 million current illicit drug users.
However, I had not seen any reports that showed lifetime illicit drug use, but I knew it had to be in the report. Sure enough, in Table C.13 we discover:
| Lifetime Any Illicit Drug % | 46.04% | | Lifetime Any Illicit Drug # | 108,250,000 | | Lifetime Marijuana % | 40.38% | | Lifetime Marijuana # | 94,946,000 |
That's right. Over 100 million people have used some illicit drugs in their lifetime and almost that many have used marijuana. Practically 1/2 of the population.
So what does this tell us? (of course these are things that most of us in the drug policy reform field already know)
- Over 80% of people who have used drugs are not current drug users, let alone abusers (so much for the certain enslavement properties of drugs).
- Arresting drug users is futile, since you'd have to arrest half of all U.S. citizens.
This inspired my latest design for the Drug WarRant merchandise at CafePress:
Of course, if we actually put all those who have used illegal drugs in jail, it would cost over two trillion dollars a year to do so (just imagine the tax rates for the remaining population!)
2:17:41 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Help reduce the number of those !#^$%#* TV Commercials!
In my in-box today from the Drug Policy Alliance:
If you could slash the amount of your tax money being spent on absurd TV ads comparing marijuana smokers to terrorists, would you act right now?
Is the pope catholic? Does a bear shit in the woods? Is the Drug Czar an unethical taxpayer-funded lobbyist?
You have an opportunity today to cut those ads and save taxpayers $50 million a year. Right now Congress is debating how much of your money should be spent on the anti-drug ads next year. The House wants to spend $150 million, but the Senate only wants to spend $100 million. Your Senator, Richard Durbin, is on the committee that will make the final decision.
And I can pretty much count on him doing the right thing, but I'd like to follow up anyway. What do I do?
1) Call Senator Durbin's office TODAY. Call the Capitol Switchboard for free at 1-800-839-5276 and ask for Senator Richard Durbin. Tell him you strongly oppose wasting taxpayer money to support government advertising campaigns that are ineffective and can be produced privately. Tell his office, "I want Senator Durbin to save taxpayers $50 million by only spending $100 million on the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, part of the Transportation-Treasury appropriation bill. In a time of war and deficit spending he should go with the Senate spending level, not the $150 million the House wants to spend".
Actually, he should go with the spending level of $0, but I guess you gotta take what you can get.
For more on this, visit the Drug Policy Alliance.
Oh, and by the way, the new anti-marijuana ads produced by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Partnership for a Drug- Free America, will utilize sarcasm. Right.
The effort launches with a pair of 30-second spots. In "Pool," a toddler carries an inflatable raft to a swimming pool and places it in the water. As she teeters on the edge, a voiceover says: "Just tell her parents you weren't watching her because you were getting stoned. They'll understand."
The other ad, "Pick Up," shows a group of young boys leaving a baseball field. One sits on the curb, waiting to be picked up, as day turns to dusk. The voiceover says, "Just tell your little brother that you forgot to pick him up because you were getting stoned. He'll understand."
I can't wait. Thankfully they'll be out in time for Thanksgiving. (via TalkLeft)
What's that phone number to call my Senator again?
1:46:05 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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You look nervous...
Again, via TalkLeft (as always on top of everything and incredibly prolific), the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that nervousness alone cannot support a vehicle search when police stop the car for a traffic violation. The court invalidated a consent to search that was obtained during the stop.
Noting that innocent people are frequently nervous when confronted by a law enforcement officer -- a phenomenon Judge Rosemary Barkett said is shared by lawyers presenting cases to appellate judges -- the court said more is necessary to change a traffic stop into a drug search.
1:22:01 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Sigh...
Via TalkLeft and NORML:
Pot Smokers Arrested In America At A Rate Of One Every 45 Seconds
Washington, DC: Police arrested an estimated 697,082 persons for marijuana violations in 2002, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, released yesterday afternoon. The total is among the highest ever recorded by the FBI, and comprised nearly half of all drug arrests in the United States.
If only we could convince Osama to smoke some pot...
1:16:34 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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What are they smoking?
Via Vice Squad, this article by Deroy Murdock at NRO
All seriousness aside, as funnyman Steve Allen often said, federal drug warriors keep embarrassing themselves by enforcing pointless, oppressive policies that merely ignite tax dollars as if with a Zippo lighter. Like every White House since Nixon's, the Bush administration continues the collective, bipartisan hallucination that Uncle Sam's heavy hand can crush the desire of millions of Americans to alter their states of consciousness. Fortunately, some judges, states and cities have soured on the costly and cruel war on drugs as it grinds through its 30th futile year.
1:07:44 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Tuesday, October 28, 2003 |
Drug WarRant Merchandise now available!
I decided to open up a store at CafeShops with Drug WarRant T-shirts, mugs, underwear, and more.
Here's a few of the designs available on Drug WarRant products:
A tribute to the pharmaceutical industry.
My own response to the Drug Czar's annoying commercials!
OK, I really don't know who will want to walk around with a picture of a cup of pee on their shirt, but it's bound to be an attention-getter.
There's more there, and more will be coming eventually. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
12:45:50 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Monday, October 27, 2003 |
Odds and Ends
Welcome to the folks from Matthew's Are You Outraged? blog. It's always great when another blogger opposed to the drug war stops by. You can get a feel for his posts by checking out The evil of Ashcroft and the DEA knows no boundsCaring is a very long way down the list of the things the DEA does.
Yep.
DRCNet is offering a new instructional
video, "BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police
Encounters," as their new premium gift to members donating at the
$35 level or above. Produced by the Flex Your Rights Foundation
and narrated by retired ACLU executive director Ira Glasser,
BUSTED realistically depicts the pressure and confusion of
common police encounters.
Kate Scannell in the Oakland Tribune:
As a doctor, I am stunned by the intensity of the Bush administration's obsession with medical marijuana. It boggles my mind to think that our government officials are spending so much time and money to obstruct the use of a medication that might actually help cancer patients tolerate their chemotherapy, AIDS patients gain a little weight, glaucoma patients suffer less.
Via TalkLeft: Anyone wishing to write to Tommy Chong may do so through this address:
Thomas Kin Chong
07798-068
Taft CI
UNIT A, #4B
PO Box 7001
1500 Cadet Road
Taft, CA 93268
Clearly at the Odd end:
Cops in Bogota, Colombia, are accustomed to finding drugs stashed on planes bound for the United States, but were surprised to find a cache of cocaine on a jet inbound from Miami.
11:53:07 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Sunday, October 26, 2003 |
U.S.A. Track and Field runs the wrong direction...
In USATF announces "Zero Tolerance" anti-doping plan, the organization is looking to step up efforts to stop athlete cheating and the use of performance enhancing drugs. But...
 ... they've proposed a summit of major U.S. sports leagues be hosted by the Drug Czar's office! Big mistake. Get John Walters involved and you can bet that the sports leagues will be encouraged to stop worrying about steroids and go after the horrible menace of marijuana use in sports. (You think I'm kidding? Let's wait and see.)
To top it off, they're looking for ONDCP expertise in another area in which the Drug Czar's office has demonstrated abject failure.
In addition to expanding the reach and regularity of our anti-drug messaging, we need to seek the help of experts to make sure that we maximize the impact of these opportunities. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP - The Drug Czar) has spent considerable resources to figure out what kind of anti-drug messaging works and we should solicit their assistance in crafting the content of our publications and curricula.
The future of track and field is looking shaky.
3:07:19 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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New Cars Shipped with Hemp Stash in the Door
That's right - if you have a new Chrysler Sebring or a number of other new cars, they may have come complete with a supply of hemp.
Of course, hemp is the industrial version of the marijuana plant, and before you start ripping apart the door panels looking for the stash, the hemp is likely to be part of the material of the door panel itself.
For some years, the use of hemp in cars has been developing in a number of ways (there's even a car that is fueled by hemp).
An article in the Ottawa Citizen -- High on Hemp talks about the value of hemp in auto parts:
"The reason they're looking at natural fibres like hemp and flax is that they're cost-effective and they perform well," he says. "Compared to glass fibre, the cost of production is lower but the strength and ratio is roughly comparable so we can get excellent mechanical properties at a much lower price."
Hemp is typically less than half the price of glass and its light weight is also a benefit. To a smaller extent, manufacturers are drawn to the environmental benefits, a plus that played a much bigger role in Europe where, by 2005, every vehicle part has to be capable of being completely recycled.
Ford specialist Ellen Lee says this is "potentially a billion-dollar industry." Good news for Canadian farmers, who supply the industrial hemp for the auto industry. It's illegal to grow it in the U.S.
Canada profits from the illegal version of the plant as well.
In the upcoming issue of Forbes Magazine:
THE ESTIMATED VALUE OF Canada's marijuana production-up to $7 billion-exceeds its farm receipts of both cattle ($5.63 billion) and wheat ($1.73 billion), or the $4.3 billion taken in by forestry and logging. Only oil and gas extraction, worth $15.8 billion, is worth more.
CANADA'S LEGAL farm operators have net margins of 5.5%. An economist in Vancouver's Simon Fraser University figures pot growers have a 72% annual rate of return, after discounting for costs, labor, thefts and arrests.
It's not a bad series of articles at Forbes, although I felt the depth and extent of reporting was a little thin for a cover story.
The Chong sidebar has a great line:
Chong plans to use his jail time to work on new material. "This is career-enhancing," he says. "Still, I wish my character was going to jail, instead of me."
Finally, while we hear how drug sales fund terrorism (although only because of prohibition), it's interesting to see the importance of this illegal industry in the general economy:
"I know at least a hundred [marijuana growers], 20 years old to 70," says Robert Smith, who isn't part of the trade but indirectly profits from it at the furniture store he owns in Grand Forks, B.C., 110 miles north of Spokane, Wash. "Of the money coming through my door, 15% to 20% comes from cannabis--we'd be on welfare without it."
11:05:46 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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