Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Barthwell surfaces in a bizarre article from Williamsburg In today's Virginia Gazette: Drug Forum Draws National Interest by editor Rusty Carter. Well, it drew my interest as well, for a couple of reasons... Drug prevention is so high on the radar screen that the White House is watching how a local initiative plays out. The Historic Triangle Substance Abuse Coalition is hosting a town hall Wednesday night about the pros and cons of testing student athletes. A press conference has been scheduled to draw more attention, and a dozen students were planning a pro-testing picket. That's right. Students were planning on protesting with picket signs demanding that they be required to pee in a cup. Times have changed since I went to High School. I remember there were things that upset us, but the lack of a requirement to get drug tested to be an athlete wasn't one of them. Of course, you may say to these picketers, "Go ahead. Get tested. Nobody's stopping you." Ah, but that's not really what they want. They want everyone else to be tested, too. Further in the article, this paragraph jumped out and smacked me in the face: More promotion came from Dr. Andrea Barthwell, herself a former deputy drug czar who now works on the local level in Chicago against marijuana usage. She helped defeat an Illinois bill to legalize marijuana. ??? Other than the fact that there hasn't been a bill to legalize marijuana in Illinois, that Andrea was exposed as a liar, and that now she's actually working selling marijuana... well, she was a former deputy drug car -- that part's true. Here's my letter to Rusty: Dear Mr. Carter, I was... surprised by a couple of things in your article today. First: you said: " More promotion came from Dr. Andrea Barthwell ... She helped defeat an Illinois bill to legalize marijuana. " There was no bill to legalize marijuana in Illinois. There was a bill to stop arresting specific categories of sick people who use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, but that's a far cry from marijuana legalization. And to say that Andrea helped defeat the bill is generous at best. She created a series of programs with which she tried to influence legislation, but those fell apart when it turned out she had lied about her sponsors. She refused to debate the Congressman who sponsored the legislation, and didn't even show up for the hearing. Instead, at taxpayer expense, the Drug Czar himself came to interfere with the Illinois legislature. You also say that she "now works on the local level in Chicago against marijuana usage." On the contrary. She has been hired by GW Pharmaceuticals to lobby for the approval of liquid marijuana (Sativex) in the United States. Obviously the issue of drug testing is one that you have to deal with at your local level. Maybe drug testing is right for you, but you're going to need to seriously analyze the costs -- in terms of dollars, trust, and respect. Do you test athletes? All those in extra-curricular activities? What about those borderline kids who will be deterred by the notion of drug tests from participating in positive activities that could actually help them avoid drugs? Are you actually driving them further to drugs by having a testing program? What about the fact that the most comprehensive study of drug testing in schools shows that it doesn't work? All of these things I urge you to consider and analyze for yourselves. But before you get excited about national attention -- be aware that one reason that issue is on the radar at the national level is that the drug testing industry is becoming a huge business. Many of these people don't care about your kids at all. Only the business of the drug war. Sincerely, Pete Guither, Drug WarRant References: Lies Cloud Marijuana Debate (Representative McKeon's letter in the Chicago Sun Times about Andrea Barthwell's efforts) Andrea Barthwell, caught red-handed (My expose about Andrea Barthwell's lies about sponsorship) Andrea Barthwell, snake oil salesman (Report on Andrea's new job selling marijuana) "Experience, Research Show Testing Doesn't Work" by Marsha Rosenbaum Drug Testing Fails Our Youth If I left anything out, please feel free to write your own letter to editorATvagazette.com. As always, be polite. UPDATE! In the article, it noted that Andrea Barthwell... enlisted the help of John Pastuovic, whose Chicago public relations firm specializes in issues promotion. He's sent alerts to local and national media about Wednesday's press conference, including to the networks, cable news and major newspapers. Turns out that John Pastuovic is also the U.S. Public Relations contact for... [drum roll] ...GW Pharmaceuticals (makers of the liquid marijuana called Sativex). [Thanks to Tim Meehan and Dan Forbes for the heads up] So what's really going on here? 11:09:39 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

A Must Read: Arrested Development A very powerful article by Gary Fields in the Wall Street Journal: Arrested Development. The article shows that prison is only part of the societal destruction caused by the war on drugs. Once these non-violent prisoners are finally released, there are so many barriers set in front of them to obtain basic services and jobs that we're practially encouraging them to return to a life of crime and more prison at our expense. Just read it. 8:24:10 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Hamid Karzai comes to Washington, does stand-up routine Link Afghan President Hamid Karzai has denied the US State Department predictions that Afghanistan is on the verge of becoming a 'narco-state'. He said the country could be free of opium in 5-6 years. Man, that guy is funny! With President George W Bush at his side after a meeting on Monday, Karzai said he is hopeful that poppy production will be down 20 per cent to 30 per cent this year. ... and he's got his own straight man! Karzai then continued, "My sister is so fat..." "How fat is she?" prompted Bush, to gales of laughter from the Washington crowd Well, you get the idea. Note: two months ago, a State Department report said the area in Afghanistan devoted to poppy cultivation last year set a record of more than 510,000 acres. 8:04:22 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Lessons from a Seat Belt stop Via Radley Balko, comes this gem. Here's the story in brief: Officer pulls over Estrela (age 19) who is not wearing a seat belt as part of the "click-it or ticket" seat belt campaign, targeting those who are under 18 and not wearing a seatbelt (officer thought he was younger). While investigating his age, the smell of marijuana is noticed and back seat passenger appears to be clutching something. Officer asks her to show him and it's a $10 bag of pot. Officer then gets consent to search the car and finds 101 tablets of Oxycontin and $3,980 in cash. Seat-belt violation now turns into felony drug bust with multiple charges and forfeiture of Estrela's car. Now there are some basic lessons to be learned from this story; Don't smoke pot in the car. In particular, don't smoke pot in the car when you're carrying a bunch of illegal drugs and cash. If you're smoking pot in the car and carrying a bunch of illegal drugs and cash (see #1 and #2 above), wear your seat belt. When pulled over, don't hold your marijuana tightly in your fist. Never, never consent to a search. They may end up searching anyway, but you should never consent, even if you have nothing. You never know what someone else might have left in your car. If you carry lots of cash with you, be prepared to make a large donation to your local police agency (the police also seized the $353 Estrala had in his wallet). Big Brother is keeping an eye on you. 7:57:44 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []