Thursday, November 17, 2005

Drug Czar's arbitrary victory claims getting some press skepticism A reported increase in cocaine prices has naturally caused the Drug Czar to step forward and claim victory in the war on drugs and in the Colombian fiasco in particular. But while this Knight-Ridder story, picked up by a ton of papers, repeats Walters' bragging, it also gives the other side, with an overall sense that it's too early to tell if this means anything. And the Reuters article quotes Ethan in response: One prominent critic said cocaine was still cheap and the rise in the price this year was insignificant. "It would be pure nonsense to point to this recent blip as evidence of success of U.S. international drug policies. The effective price is still just a small fraction of the price 10 and 20 years ago," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. If it wasn't for the increase in efforts by a wide range of drug policy reformers showing the failures of Plan Colombia, the press would now be reporting Walters words without a rebuttal. Little steps. 8:34:35 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Kids 'helping' Kids Radley Balko has a great couple of pieces (1, 2) on the new version of the horrendous Straight programs (see also our discussion about the Semblers last week) called Kids Helping Kids. The Agitator already has this list, but it's worth repeating. Check out these warning signs put out by the group (any four means your kid should be enrolled in a torture program): Has your child.... seemed depressed become rebellious and defiant had trouble with the law had a bad attitude avoided you upon arriving home become increasingly isolated had a drop in grades required extra sleep dropped out of favorite activities changed friends started looking unkempt or unhealthy changed image/clothes/personal style been caught lying possessed unexplained money threatened or attempted suicide frequently broken curfew been fired from work come home high or drunk destroyed car or property Do you... argue with your spouse about your child's behavior feel anger or dislike for your child fear you are a failure as a parent "bargain" with your child to change compromise your own values lower your expectations feel frustrated because nothing seems to change your child's behavior cover up for your child make excuses for your child feel relieved when your child leaves the house give money to your child fear your child might injure him/herself fear your child might injure others desire to spend less time at home fear your child is out of control How many of these signs applied to you? I was a preacher's kid who never got in a bit of trouble (and never even tried alcohol until college), and yet I bet that 12 of these applied to me when I was in high school. Update: The Onion understands. 6:26:16 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

The Reefer Madness Dogs are back! In the early history of marijuana prohibition, there were plenty of bizarre stories. There was government expert Dr. James Munch who testified in court, under oath, that marijuana had turned him into a bat (until even Anslinger was embarrassed by his testimony). Then there was the evidence presented to Congress about the dangers of marijuana: There were two pieces of medical evidence introduced with regard to the marijuana prohibition. The first came from a pharmacologist at Temple University who claimed that he had injected the active ingredient in marihuana into the brains of 300 dogs, and two of those dogs had died. When asked by the Congressmen, and I quote, "Doctor, did you choose dogs for the similarity of their reactions to that of humans?" The answer of the pharmacologist was, "I wouldn't know, I am not a dog psychologist." Well, the active ingredient in marijuana was first synthesized in a laboratory in Holland after World War II. So what it was this pharmacologist injected into these dogs we will never know, but it almost certainly was not the active ingredient in marijuana. [Whitebread] Surely, you say, that was in the dark ages. We don't think that way any more. Jump forward to yesterday: Pit Bulls to be Tested for Marijuana Toxicology tests are being done on the bodies of three pit bulls shot after they mauled two children and four adults to determine if the dogs ingested marijuana found inside their owner's home, authorities said Tuesday. [...] The dogs, which were killed by police, were sent to a veterinary laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where they are being tested for drugs, specifically marijuana, said Edin Mehanovic, the county's animal control administrator. If the dogs ate marijuana, police want to know if it may have contributed to their vicious behavior. Ah, yes, marijuana was found in the home. Nothing else could explain why pit bulls would attack people, so it must have been the marijuana. Marijuana eaten by the dogs causing violence. Right. (If anything, it would make them docile and sleepy.) I'm sure there were other things in that home as well. Bread, flowers, drain cleaner -- why not test to see if any of those caused the dogs to become violent? The level of ignorance involved here is astonishing. [Thanks to Tom] 5:47:26 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Marijuana users LESS depressed... ... or another one in your face, Drug Czar! Via Marijuana Policy Project: Largest-Ever Study of Marijuana, Depression Finds Fewer Depressive Symptoms, Better Mood: ALBANY, NEW YORK--In the largest-ever study of marijuana and depression, to be published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, daily or weekly marijuana users had fewer symptoms of depression than non-users. Marijuana users were also more likely to report positive moods and fewer somatic complaints such as sleeplessness. Noteworthy differences were also found between those using marijuana for medical purposes and non-medical or "recreational" users. The new research appears to contradict statements by some government officials suggesting that marijuana is a cause of depression. For example, in a May 3, 2005, press release from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, ONDCP Director John Walters said, "Marijuana use, particularly during the teen years, can lead to depression, thoughts of suicide and schizophrenia." "Not only does marijuana not cause depression, it looks like it may actually alleviate it," said Mitch Earleywine, co-author of the new study and associate professor of psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. So is this just a small effect that could be open to interpretation? Effects were generally large, with marijuana users approximately 30% less depressed than non-users. So how could the drug czar be so wrong? (other than the fact that they like to lie and manipulate data) It's the junk science approach that they use. If, for example they study a group of depressed people and find that many of them use marijuana, they'll link depression with marijuana use. However, it is more likely that depressed people are using marijuana as self-medication for their depression. This study is better, because is takes full populations and looks at the overall effect -- and overall, those who use marijuana (whether depressed or not) are less depressed than those who do not. Earlywine confirms this: "Those who use marijuana to battle the symptoms of illness may be depressed because of their illness, not because of marijuana," Earleywine said. "Studies that do not identify medical use might falsely implicate marijuana, rather than sickness, as the cause of depressed feelings." 5:24:51 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

I'm back... No, I wasn't at the Drug Policy Alliance convention -- I was in a kind of personal computer hell for a few days. Three disconnected events: 1. A separate website I run had its server and two backups fry at the hosting company and we lost everything from late October on. 2. A messageboard I manage (on a different server) for a theatre company was maliciously hacked with all messages deleted -- got that mostly restored. 3. On an external hard drive at work, over one Gig of original photographs of mine were mysteriously deleted. We're still working on trying to recover some of the data. Enough about that -- let's get back to talking about the drug war. I've got the best group of commenters in the world, who have been keeping discussion going here while I've been out of action. 5:14:22 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []