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Drug WarRant
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Saturday, January 17, 2004 |
Outstanding Article on Hemp!
The Demonized Seed by Lee Green in tomorrow's Los Angeles Times.
As a Recreational Drug, Industrial Hemp Packs the Same Wallop as Zucchini. So Why Does the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Continue to Deny America This Potent Resource? Call It Reefer Madness.
This article is not only one of the best overviews on Hemp I've seen for some time, but it's an incredible indictment of the DEA. I've included some snippets from the article below, but you really should read all of it.
The article talks a little about Jack Herer, author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes: The Authoritative Historical Record of Cannabis and the Conspiracy Against Marijuana, which is where I learned tons about Hemp before I even got involved in the drug policy reform advocacy.
"How can they make the one thing that can save the world illegal?" he asks, no less astonished by this paradox now than he was three decades ago.
...snip...
If all or even most of the oft-cited claims for hemp are true, the substance may know no earthly equal among nontoxic renewable resources. If only half the claims are true, hemp's potential as a commercial wellspring and a salve to creeping eco-damage is still immense. At worst it is more useful and diverse than most agricultural crops. Yet from the 1930s through the 1980s, many countries, influenced by U.S. policies and persuasion, banished cannabis from their farmlands. Not just marijuana, but all cannabis -- the baby, the bath water, all of it.
...snip...
If an American farmer were to fill a field with this drugless crop, the government would consider him a felon. For selling his harvest he would be guilty of trafficking and would face a fine of as much as $4 million and a prison sentence of 10 years to life. Provided, of course, it is his first offense. This for a crop as harmless as rutabaga.
...snip...
The government's motives for its attack on marijuana remain unclear. Researchers have proffered theories ranging from collusion with corporations threatened by hemp's commercial potential to moralistic fervor and bureaucratic thirst for domain once Prohibition ended in 1933. Regardless of motives, the ensuing stigmatization, red tape, state and federal controls, punitive taxes and misconceptions about marijuana's nature and its relationship to hemp doomed any chance that hemp would be resurrected as an agricultural crop.
...snip...
Unmoved by logic, accepted nomenclature or the realities of plant genetics, the DEA insists that all cannabis is marijuana. Does the agency also consider industrial hemp grown legally outside the U.S. to be marijuana? "Yes, we do," says Frank Sapienza, the agency's chief of drug and chemical evaluation. Since more than 30 other countries manage to distinguish between marijuana and industrial hemp and allow their farmers to grow hemp, one wonders what they know that the U.S. doesn't. "I'm not going to comment on what other countries do," Sapienza says.
...snip...
If you want to apply for a license to grow commercial hemp, you must solicit the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. The DEA consistently claims that no prohibition on hemp farming exists in this country, as if to suggest that all one need do is file the proper paperwork and make a reasonable case...
Nonetheless, the agency has rejected every application it has ever received. How many? There's no telling--literally. The agency will say only that "the DEA does not have records of the number of applications received for such activities"--an extraordinary claim from an organization that documents every marijuana plant that it and cooperating law enforcement agencies uproot from U.S. soil.
Be sure to read it all. (Article mirrored at Freedom to Exhale).
9:15:05 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Good stuff around the web
 Last One Speaks gives us a Guardian Unlimited article which concludes that persecuting marijuana users may be un-Christian:
Jesus was almost certainly a cannabis user and an early proponent of the medicinal properties of the drug, according to a study of scriptural texts published this month. The study suggests that Jesus and his disciples used the drug to carry out miraculous healings.
Walter in Denver has more on Clayton Helriggle (one of our Drug War Victims)
Greene County Prosecutor Bill Schenck said he intends to meet with investigators Feb. 2 to discuss possibly reconvening a Preble County grand jury to revisit the Sept. 27, 2002, shooting death of Clayton Helriggle by a police officer.
Left Flank Shooters has a couple of interesting posts including this one with links to articles about heroin assisted treatment in Switzerland and Vancouver's safer injection site, plus this one on Drug Enforcement and Crime, an excellent draft report that concludes from empirical data that drug enforcement efforts actually increase crime rather than reducing it.
It is well documented that many within government and the criminal justice system believe drug enforcement to be an effective crime control measure.[38] The empirical findings from this study stand in stark contrast to the traditional view. The results suggest that once you control for the effects of other determinants of crime, drug enforcement is positively (and significantly) associated with higher levels of both violent and property crime...
At a minimum, the empirical findings should raise serious questions about the effectiveness of drug enforcement as a crime control measure, and they suggest that significant social costs arise from existing approaches to drug control.
NORML provides this easy opportunity to tell CBS you don't want them to run drug czar propaganda during the Super Bowl (particularly since they've already claimed they won't run "controversial issue" ads).
8:11:17 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Thursday, January 15, 2004 |
1/4 of AIDS patients use medical marijuana
Via NORML:
San Mateo, CA: Approximately one out of four patients suffering from
HIV has smoked marijuana within the past month to relieve symptoms of the
disease, according to clinical findings published in this month's issue of
the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
Twenty-three percent of the 252 participants in the study responded
that they had smoked medicinal marijuana within the previous month.
"Reported benefits included relief from anxiety and/or depression (57%),
improved appetite (53%), increased pleasure (33%), and relief of pain
(28%)," authors stated.
A similar survey conducted in Canada and presented last November at
the Ontario HIV Treatment Network research conference concluded that 29
percent of HIV-positive Ontarians used marijuana therapeutically.
Presently, clinical trials examining the therapeutic potential of
cannabinoids in HIV patient populations are ongoing at the University of
California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research.
According to a recently published study in the journal Annals of
Internal Medicine, use of inhaled marijuana demonstrates "no major,
short-term harmful effects and possibly some beneficial effects ... in
HIV-infected patients taking protease inhibitors."
Yep, this is the stuff that our drug czar calls a "fraud."
6:55:52 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Update on Feds stepping on California's laws
More details on the story I mentioned yesterday are available from Americans for Safe Access.
In a stunning display of duplicitous double dealing, federal agents yesterday seized two medical marijuana patients from a California state courtroom after the local prosecutor lured the couple's defense counsel into the judge's chambers to dismiss the state charges filed against them.
6:42:13 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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New Drug Tests, Same Old Stupidity
Via TalkLeft:
Here we go....the federal government is overhauling the way it drug tests employees. It is moving from urine tests to saliva, hair testing and sweat tests. Major corporations are expected to follow suit. Here's what's planned:
Saliva testing, done using a swab that looks much like a toothbrush but with a pad instead of bristles, is best at detecting drug use within the past one or two days.
Hair testing, in which a sample about the thickness of a shoelace is clipped at the root from the back of the head, allows detection of many drugs used as far back as 3 months.
Sweat testing, in which workers are fitted with a patch that is worn for two weeks, is used to screen people who have returned to work after drug treatment.
Note that none of these intrusions test for the most important thing: impairment at the time of testing.
Now I've worked in quite a few jobs, and I've almost always been a supervisor -- of everyone from casual day laborers to factory workers to student interns to professional government employees.
I've never used or needed urine, saliva, hair, or sweat drug tests for my employees. I had a very simple method that worked every time. If an employee didn't do their job, I fired them. The amazing thing is -- I apparently have some kind of magical ability that allows me to determine if someone is doing their job without making them pee in a cup. And my method worked for a whole range of problems, including drugs, alcohol, lack of sleep, apathy, and incompetence.
If only I could teach the government how to do that.
Have you peed in a cup for your government today?
5:59:05 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Venezuela Decriminalizes Drug Possession
Via Al Giordano's BigLeftOutside:
The latest: a reform of the penal code that, while increasing penalties for drug traffickers like every other country, has just decriminalized possession. According to the oligarch's daily El Universal, which leads its report in a panic over the reform's simultaneous legalization of abortion and euthanasia, here's what the new law does for drug users:
"As personal dose for consumption, the (allowable) quantity of the drug substance is extended to that which is necessary for average individual consumption for no more than five days; and as a provisional dose, the quantity of the substance that is employed for average individual consumption (according to forensics experts) for no more than ten days."
In sum, the drug addict or user no longer faces prison or penalty in Venezuela if he possesses small amounts of his drug of choice (specifically mentioned by the law are marijuana, hashish, cocaine and its derivatives, opium and its derivatives, and synthetic drugs).
Giordano also notes:
Venezuela's action, because of the size and influence of the country and its economy, and the context of its role in the current American drama, now provides cover for Brazil, Argentina, and the rest of the continent to do the same.
Be sure to watch for the re-birth of the fabulous Narco News, which will resume publishing shortly.
Note that Venezuela has not been particularly thrilled with the U.S. drug war or our Czar.
Also be sure to check out Last One Speaks for excellent coverage on this and other drug war issues (and a belated birthday wish to Libby, one week late).
Update:According to Drug War Chronicle, this reform is not yet finalized.
5:04:16 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Wednesday, January 14, 2004 |
More smart on crime - this time from the west wing
Tonight's episode of The West Wing dealt with mandatory minimums and judicial discretion, with some very powerful moments. The episode included a scene with a fictional character from a real, and important organization: Families Against Mandatory Minimums.
At one point, President Bartlet said
If we're going to be tough on crime, we must first learn to be smart on crime.
Ah, if only the real President would say that!
8:59:22 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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More stupid Fed tricks?
This tale of Feds stepping in on medical marijuana cases in California again comes from Hilary McQuie of Americans for Safe Access:
Today [Tuesday] in Sacramento, two medical marijuana patients in their 50's were sitting in a California state court for cultivation charges: David Davidson and Cynthis Blake. Their attorneys, Omar Figueroa and Shari Greenberger of Pier 5, were filing motions for dismissal on the basis of their legal medical status, which the prosector had agreed to, and were called into judge's chambers to work some details. Once there, the prosecutor (Lynn Strom, Tehama Co) told them she was agreeing to a dismissal of state charges ONLY because federal marshalls were at that minute arresting the defendants! This was an egregious misdirection by the prosecution, and an unacceptable handing over of a case to the feds by state officials.
Their attorneys are rightfully shocked and dismayed by this outrage, and our support is needed.
Americans for Safe Access is calling for emergency action response in front of Federal buildings this Friday, along with continuing to promote a national day of action at congressional district offices during Medical Marijuana Week (2-15 to 2-22) on Tuesday, Feb. 17 to demand that Congress change the law to protect patients.
8:46:19 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Monday, January 12, 2004 |
Drug Warriors Try to Censor their Opponents
Via Hit and Run comes this disturbing article by Ted Galen Carpenter at the Cato Institute.
He starts by talking about recent drug war censorship developments in the U.S. (such as Istook's folly), and then moves to a more global perspective.
The most ominous proposal for repressing pro-drug reform speech comes (not surprisingly) from the United Nations. The UN's International Narcotics Control Board has issued a report implicitly calling on member states to criminalize opposition to the war on drugs. Citing the 1988 UN Convention Against Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, the INCB asserts that all governments are obligated to enact laws that prohibit "inciting" or "inducing" people to use illegal drugs and to punish such violations as criminal offenses.
If such a vague and chilling restriction on freedom of expression were not odious enough, the UN board contends that any portrayal that shows illicit drug use "in a favourable light" constitutes incitement and therefore should be banned as well. Since the report also repeatedly denounces medical marijuana initiatives as well as decriminalization or legalization proposals, even the most sedate advocacy of changing prohibitionist drug laws might run afoul of the censorship regime being pushed by the United Nations.
[Aside:] Here's the actual referenced text from the 1988 UN Convention:
Article 3.1) Each Party shall adopt such measures as may be necessary to establish as criminal offences under its domestic law, when committed intentionally:....
c) Subject to its constitutional principles and the basic concepts of its legal system:...
iii) Publicly inciting or inducing others, by any means, to commit any of the offences established in accordance with this article or to use narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances illicitly;
iv) Participation in, association or conspiracy to commit, attempts to commit and aiding, abetting, facilitating and counselling the commission of any of the offences established in accordance with this article.
Back to the Cato article:
It is not reassuring that the U.S. government has pledged to cooperate with the UN group's global anti-drug efforts. Although Washington has not explicitly endorsed the censorship recommendations, neither has it stated that the United States rejects such proposals -- even though it certainly could have added that caveat. Indeed, one official pledged "absolute cooperation" with the UN's drug control programs.
This brings up something that I haven't talked about too much at Drug WarRant: As we work to reform the drug laws in our countries, we must also work to do so internationally. If George Bush today directed the DEA to remove marijuana from the schedule of controlled substances and make its use legal (don't hold your breath), we would immediately run afoul of international treaties. It is, in fact, international pressure that has created the bizarre situation in the Netherlands, where it is "legal" to use marijuana, but still illegal to sell it.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Narcotics Control Board (an "independent, quasi-judicial control organ for the implementation of the United Nations drug conventions" - whatever that means) have been extremely gung-ho on the side of the drug warrriors - their membership has been controlled by appointments from high profile drug warrior countries.
It's likely that it will take partial reform in a lot of countries to start to influence international treaties, but it's also important to work toward reform in a number of different ways. Here's something you can do right now, in just a few seconds: Sign the international appeal for an Anti-prohibitionist Reform of Drug Laws.
Do it now. Whatever your views are of the United Nations in other areas, this particular area is one that is clearly in need of serious reform. Unfortunately, it's the one area that our government is enthusiasticlaly supporting, which speaks ill for our future.
Carpenter closes with:
Such examples suggest that some advocates of drug prohibition regard the "war" on drugs as more than a metaphor. Pervasive intolerance is also all too typical of a wartime mindset in which opponents are seen, not merely as people who hold a different point of view, but as traitors to a noble cause.
Regardless of one's position on drug legalization, Americans who believe in freedom of expression and in the importance of political debate ought to condemn Istook's measure and all other attempts to stifle the pro-legalization case. Otherwise, the First Amendment might become the most prominent example of "collateral damage" in the war on drugs.
10:28:23 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Sunday, January 11, 2004 |
Smart on Crime gains converts
I talked a while back about the notion of being "smart" on crime (rather than "tough" on crime), and hoped that more politicians would pursue that notion.
Well here's another one. Via SFGate:
Kamala Harris was sworn in Thursday as the first black woman in California history to serve as a district attorney, pledging to be "smart on crime'' as she assumes the role of San Francisco's top prosecutor.
She said she would not compromise on her resolve "to protect our loved ones who need medical marijuana. Those who need medical marijuana, I want you to know that I will defend your rights and vigorously oppose any encroachment on them by outside agencies.''
But Harris had words for the city's violent criminals, saying they will "be met with the most severe consequences."
Now that's an approach to crime that I can support.
7:19:05 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Former Judge takes on the Drug War
Check out a wonderful OpEd by Martin Haines, a retired Superior Court judge and a former State Bar Association president, published Thursday in the Asbury Park Press.
Some important stats, plus these comments:
The evidence is crystal clear: The drug war is a destructive failure. Every statistic underlines the fact that drug use over time has increased regularly despite the ever-widening war and its ever-increasing cost...
Yet our governments persist in escalating the war, unwilling to accept its failure. They have convinced the public, through years of misleading education, that drug use is so threatening to our society that harsh criminal laws, tough prosecutions and stiff penalties offer the only hope of keeping it in check. As a result, elected officials, fearful of looking soft on drugs and losing elections, refuse to consider alternatives.
In fact, only alternatives to the drug war can resolve our drug problems. Harsh laws, as the statistics show, make the problem worse, not better. Those laws must be changed. Treatment should become the first and best alternative to punishment. Penalties must be reduced to recognize marijuana as mostly harmless unless used in large quantities. Judges need sentencing discretion that permits them to deal with defendants constructively and individually, instead of subjecting them to the same punishment for the same offense, regardless of age, history and the nature and extent of drug use. Without that discretion, sentences depend entirely on the offense charged by prosecutors, who enjoy largely unreviewable control over charging decisions. Foreign countries are moving to adopt such changes. Holland, for example, has adopted law reforms that permit up to 30 grams of marijuana to be possessed and cultivated without risking arrest or prosecution. It has encouraged the growth of clubs, where marijuana can be purchased openly and safely....
Badly needed is an ongoing public discussion of the drug war and its alternatives. Public officials have resisted such discussions. Without them there can be little hope of convincing a badly educated public that the drug war is wrong, harmful, expensive and incorrect in its premises. The public needs to be redirected to that understanding. When it is, decent laws can be adopted to end the drug war.
It seems to me that we're seeing more of this kind of editorial these days, which I consider a hopeful sign. More people are willing to speak up, and more people will be forced to listen to the truth.
7:05:32 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Missed a few days..
Sorry to have missed posting for a few days. We just finished hosting a statewide Theatre Festival with about 4000 high school students for 3 days of workshops and performances. Quite a delightful event, including the Broadway Showtune Sing-along Friday night for which I played the piano.
On a sadder note, those of you who have known me through the university may remember my wonderful assistant Caroline Gordon. She passed away this week. She was an incredible friend and help to me and to a lot of students. She will be missed.
6:53:12 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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