Monday, May 9, 2005

Governor Frank Murkowski loses to pot again Pot Bill is Out of Time JUNEAU -- The governor's attempt to outlaw at-home marijuana appears dead for this legislative session. With the Legislature scheduled to adjourn for the year on Tuesday, lawmakers said Saturday the bill is out of time. The news came just two days after Gov. Frank Murkowski declared it one of his "must have" bills. Perhaps the legislature realizes that the bill is embarrassing? [Thanks, Scott] P.S. If someone can get me a working password to Anchorage Daily News (www.adn.com), I'd appreciate it. Despite multiple attempts at registering and several emails back and forth with their staff, they appear to be technically incompetent to deal with my choice of operating system and browser, and I refuse to change for them (and I couldn't find a working one at bugmenot). Problem is I sometimes need to read articles there. 11:58:21 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

A Wrench in the ONDCP's Drug Testing Machine The Drug Czar's office has been hosting a series of Drug Testing Summits in select cities to push its profitable random drug testing regime in schools. Fortunately, despite constant claims of success (May 9 entry), their propaganda has not been given without opposition. For those who don't know, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is a fabulous organization of committed students, and they've been on the case. Tom Angell and Ross Wilson of the SSDP attended the Summit in Pittsburgh on Thursday. Our objective was simple: prevent the ONDCP from being able to present itself as all-knowing and authoritative on the topic of student drug testing in front of an audience of open-minded educators and school officials who are rightly concerned with preventing substance abuse among their students. They brought handouts that countered the propaganda and got involved in the discussions. Here's some more of Tom's report: Reformers should be aware that the ONDCP has fully adopted rhetoric about drug abuse as a public health problem. Since it is a pediatric onset communicable disease (like tuberculosis), they say, we must test young people. They claim that testing is nonpunitive and confidential and that they just want to be able to identify those that need help. But testing students who want to participate in extracurricular activities only deters students who do use drugs from joining the activities in the first place because they don't want to be tested. In this way, the stated aim of drug testing is undermined because the very students who ONDCP says they want to help won't be identified since they aren't putting themselves in the position of being tested. Ross asked a question to this effect and got a complete nonanswer from a researcher at Ball St. University (who conducted one of the three studies commonly cited by ONDCP). The educators in the audience must have noticed. Earlier in the day, when deputy drug czar Mary Ann Solberg finished her opening remarks, I followed members of the media (who were following her) into the ONDCP's press room. Before she began taking questions, I announced to the room that if any members of the press wanted to hear from opponents of drug testing they could talk with me to learn SSDP's perspective. All of them immediately raised their hands and expressed interest in talking to me after the depty drug czar finished. So I sat down, interested to hear how she was going to answer reporters' questions. But as soon as I did, two gentlemen from the ONDCP asked me to leave the room because, apparently, only credentialed reporters were allowed there. So I left and waited in the hallway. As journalists trickled out of the ONDCP's interview room, each came up to me, very interested in what I had to say about the topic. I ended up doing interviews with two television network affiliates, the two largest papers in Pittsburgh, a smaller community paper, a college paper, and a radio news broadcast that is syndicated on 13 stations. Read this article and imagine how it would have been reported had Tom not been there to provide counter info. Great job, Tom! At the conclusion of the summit, an official from the Department of Education asked how many folks were thinking of taking advantage of the federal grant money that's been made available for student drug testing. Only five or six people in the room raised their hands. If anyone's available, or already planning on attending the summit in Portland on Wednesday, please get in touch with Tom to strategize. 8:17:27 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

AP reports notion of legalization as a possible cure for the drug war failures A must read: Backing for Colombia Drug War Criticized, by Andrew Selsky, Associated Press Writer (in New York Newsday). Fascinating article -- even more so because it's AP, which is often likely to follow the government line in drug war issues. Are the cracks starting to show? First, note how Andrew describes the location of the U.S. Ambassador in reporting his comments (emphasis added): In a conversation at his guarded residence, U.S. Ambassador William Wood said the efforts must persist if Colombia's rebels, who have been at war in Colombia for 40 years, are ever to be defeated. "In Colombia, terrorism without narcotics is a much more vulnerable target," Wood told reporters from The Associated Press and another news agency. "If you take away drugs, you reduce incentive, the power to corrupt, the ability to buy weapons." But criticism of the costly effort is mounting. The reporter, in this case, hardly needed to point out the absurdity of the U.S. Ambassador's actual words. The notion that we can actually take away the drugs is as unrealistic as overturning the law of gravity. And unless we can actually take them all away (impossible), our efforts just fuel the black market profits. Andrew lets others make the point, starting with... In an editorial this week, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Colombia "has turned into a sinkhole of money and military resources over the past five years." "The Congress should scrap Plan Colombia now, rather than throw more good money after bad," the newspaper said, pointing out that availability of Colombian cocaine and heroin on U.S. streets appears undiminished. John Walsh, a senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America think tank, said recently that "the drug war is failing to achieve its most basic objectives." Andrew then lists several embarrassments to the efforts in Colombia (corruption, etc.) and goes on to allow the normally unspeakable to be spoken: One foreign drug agent recently stationed here said he personally believed the solution was to legalize drugs, so trafficking would not be so hugely profitable. The FARC and their paramilitary foes control much of the drug trade in Colombia, which produces most of the world's cocaine and much of its heroin. "We should recognize that by criminalizing drugs, we are allowing outlawed groups in Colombia to earn a vast amount of money," said the agent, who did not want to be further identified. The Monitor, a daily in McAllen, Texas, said in a recent editorial that the drug war is "a demonstrated failure," and argued for legalization. Of course, it's a shame that the fear is so strong that the former drug agent had to be unidentified, but still, this to me is a huge step in reporting. And finally, Andrew notes that the administration is not likely to be part of reality (emphasis added)... "There is no sign that in FY 2006 that we're going to take a cut," Wood said, relaxing near a crackling fire in the mansion that serves as his official residence. Thank you, Andrew Selsky Update: Looks like this AP story is getting some circulation. Libby had already covered it on Saturday, based on its appearance in another source. 7:22:21 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []