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Drug WarRant
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Saturday, December 10, 2005 |
Cory Maye
More on this later, but for now, you must read The Agitator's coverage of the Cory Maye story. Read this one and then this.
Cory had been slightly on my radar as part of a drug war victim story, but it appears the real story is even worse. We have a drug war victim that we are in the process even now. The way the story is shaping up:
- A man with no prior record, at home with his daughter in the middle of the night.
- Police serve a warrant to the other resident of the duplex, and an officer mistakes Cory's door as part of the other resident and busts in unannounced.
- Cory hears someone enter the house and gets his gun to protect himself and his daughter. In the darkness, shoots at the intruder and kills a cop.
- Cory is on death row in Mississippi.
Perhaps this is a drug war victim we can still save.
8:08:17 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Welcome M.A.S.H. visitors
Haven't had a chance to post in the past few days -- it's the last week of classes for the semester, and everything is happening at once at the university (I also did production photography for a dance concert and four theatre productions this week.) It'll be a couple more days before I can get back to speed.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak at Illinois State University's HempFest -- sponsored by Moblizing Activists and Students for Hemp (M.A.S.H.). It was a lot of fun.
So, for any new visitors from the HempFest, make yourself at home. Read some of the articles on the left, including Drug War Victims and "Why Is Marijuana Illegal" -- one that we discussed.
7:59:01 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Wednesday, December 7, 2005 |
Action Alert: Truth in Trials Act
I've mentioned this bill before, but now's a good time to act on this Alert from ASA.
California Congressman Sam Farr recently introduced H.R. 4272, appropriately dubbed the "Steve McWilliams Truth in Trials Act" which would permit patients an affirmative defense for the medical use of marijuana in accordance with state laws. Contact your Member of Congress today! Urge your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 4273, common sense legislation that lets patients tell the truth!
9:16:45 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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U.S. gov. challenges U.S. gov. on Colombia
Link
Bogota, Colombia -- A U.S. government report to be released next week raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the multibillion-dollar U.S. anti-drug campaign in Colombia, despite moves by the Bush administration to extend the program.
The 52-page report by the Government Accountability Office, an advance copy of which has been obtained by The Chronicle, challenges administration conclusions that the drug interdiction effort known as Plan Colombia -- a five-year program that ends this year -- has reduced the amount of cocaine available in the United States.
The report was skeptical of the statistics the government relied on for its upbeat assessments, calling its information on cocaine production and use problematic. It also said the Office of National Drug Control Policy had failed to fully address previous "recommendations for improving illicit drug data collection and analysis."
Nice to see the GAO recognize the obvious. This report was requested by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), and Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va). It'll be interesting to see how this affects future funding. The Bush Administration and Congress both are tripping over their own feet in their desire to pour more money down this drain, but now they'll have to address the concerns in this report to do so.
9:13:19 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Tuesday, December 6, 2005 |
The Drug War Inevitably Feeds Violence
We see the violence and corruption of the drug war everywhere we look these days. Here's Rio.
As they ducked for cover, fruit vendors and taxi drivers seemed more spooked by the cops than the criminals.
"Surely, someone will start shooting," said Alexandre Mello as he watched the hostilities unfold outside his Internet café. "In the crossfire, some innocent kid will wind up dead."
In their crusade against brutal cocaine and marijuana dealers who control many of Rio's shantytowns, or favelas, police often move in with guns blazing.
The operations have failed to dislodge the drug gangs or, analysts say, make the city safer. But the shock-and-awe tactics have produced a massive body count.
According to human rights organizations and government statistics, police in Rio and its suburbs -- home to a population of 11 million -- have taken the lives of more than 4,000 people in the past five years. In the first 10 months of this year, more than 900 died at the hands of police.
Can someone remind me again what's so dangerous about drugs that it justifies this?
In Rio, many of the victims of police violence have been hapless bystanders. Others have undoubtedly been dope dealers who, human rights group say, never saw the inside of a jail cell because of rogue cops who sometimes act as judge, jury and firing squad.
"A lot of these killings are quasi-executions, with shots to the head and the heart," said Sandra Carvalho of Global Justice, a Brazilian human rights group that monitors the police.
Lashing back, suspected drug runners killed 52 Rio police on the job last year. Dozens of other officers were slain while off duty.
Violence feeds violence.
In the worst massacre in Rio's history, police officers gunned down 29 men, women and children on the night of March 31.
According to Rio state officials, the rampage began in the crime-infested barrio of Queimados, where police randomly shot and killed residents hanging out at a park and a car wash. Next, they moved on to the Novo Iguacu neighborhood and unloaded their weapons into a cantina.
"My son wasn't into drugs," said a distraught Dulcinea Sipriano, whose 15-year-old son, Marco, was among the victims. "He was a high school student. Everyone liked him. They had no reason to kill him."
Throughout the world, we see the active prosecution of the drug war resulting in death, corruption, prison, destruction of family and society, and the waste of resources. What sane person can weigh all that against some unknown potential for the increased voluntary use of certain drugs if they were legal, and say that the drug war is worth fighting?
Some of the drug war abuses are not even so much about drugs. They are the result of forces using the drug war as an excuse to further some other agenda (racism, political/judicial/budgetary power, etc.). That doesn't excuse the drug war in those cases -- it only makes the justification for the drug war more craven and despicable.
We must hold every drug war apologist's feet to the fire and ask them "Is this what you really want?"
10:20:16 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Monday, December 5, 2005 |
The Bizarre World of the Drug War
Here are a few of the more off-beat recent drug war stories. Some of these have already been posted by the other drug war blogs listed on the left, so I'm just catching up, but I thought you might find them interesting/strange/outrageous.
 Even cops can get ripped off. Link
Officers set up a sting with the help of an informant to buy a pound of marijuana for $3,200. Informant meets with dealer and gives him the money. Dealer leaves the car to go get the pot and... doesn't return. No pot. No money. The cops finally tracked him down and recovered the money and charged him with "theft by unlawful taking."
So essentially they're arresting and charging him with not delivering an illegal substance to them. Seems to me that the cops wanted to buy illegal drugs. The informant wanted to buy illegal drugs. The "thief" merely wanted to prevent the sale of illegal drugs by taking the drug money out of the black market and use it legitimately to buy stuff. He should be commended.
Question: If someone other than the cops lost money to someone who took their money without supplying drugs, would they be able to get the police to charge their thief with "unlawful taking"?
Trained Wasps! Link
An unusual device that uses trained wasps, rather than trained dogs, to detect specific chemical odors could one day be used to find hidden explosives, plant diseases, illegal drugs, cancer and even buried bodies, according to a joint study by researchers at the University of Georgia and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Crackheads Gone Wild Link
Billed as an Xtreeme documentary, this is a kind of real-life post-modern Reefer Madness for crack, that looks as if it had been created by Dave Chappelle.
Will he be charged as an adult? Link
PHILADELPHIA -- A 2-year-old boy was removed from his family and his mother could face charges after the child handed his daycare teacher two packets of crack cocaine, and a search of his jacket pocket turned up nine more, police said.
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The toddler talked about the drugs, but it wasn't clear how much he understood. According to police, he said he took the packets off a table at home.
I've got some killer parsley. Link
Two Flagler County elementary school pupils were arrested last week after pretending a plastic bag of parsley was marijuana.
An arrest report by Cpl. Don Apperson, a school resource deputy with the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, said the two girls, each 10-year-old pupils at Old Kings Elementary School, were showing classmates a plastic bag with a green leafy substance they said was marijuana.
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The girls were charged under a state law that makes it a crime to claim that a substance is a drug -- whether or not the item is intended for sale or distribution, according to Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debra Johnson.
How do they shoot movies or produce plays in Florida?
11:25:43 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Sunday, December 4, 2005 |
Politicians want to take Canada backward, Netherlands forward
In Canada, conservative Stephen Harper, if elected, promises to get tougher on drugs, including marijuana.
Asked why he would saddle a student who is caught with a small amount of the substance with a criminal record, Mr. Harper said "we believe we have to send a message" that these types of activities are unacceptable. In his talks with people who have become addicted to harder drugs, he said, they almost always say they started with marijuana.
Wow -- two top meaningless cliches in one statement -- "message" and "gateway." I would strongly and politely suggest that Canadian citizens not elect this wanker (fully aware that as a U.S. citizen I can't claim any kind of high ground in terms of the ability to elect non-wankers).
In the Netherlands:
A broad coalition of political parties unveiled a pilot program Friday to regulate marijuana farming on the model of tobacco, which opponents say would be tantamount to legalizing growing the drug.
Under the test program, to be conducted in the southern city of Maastricht, existing health and safety standards will apply to growers, but they would no longer be the target of police raids or prosecution.
Coffee shops permitted to sell marijuana would be required to provide consumers with information about the health hazards of smoking - similar to tobacco companies - and the chemical content of the marijuana. The shops would also have to say where they bought the marijuana they sell, which proponents say will deter growers from operating dangerous underground greenhouses.
This would finally end the strange contradiction where coffee shops can legally sell pot, but nobody can legally grow it or supply it to them.
Sounds like a good plan to me.
[Thanks to Tom and Bruce]
5:58:51 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Weeds
I spent some time this weekend house-sitting for a friend who has Showtime, and I got a chance to catch up with Showtime's series Weeds (first 10 episodes).
This is a really outstanding series. First-rate cast, writing and direction. Fascinating characters, and while the unique story line of a suburban housewife selling pot to support her family is the main emphasis, the quirky subplots are also delightful. Intelligent, off-beat comedy.
I may have to get Showtime just for this program.
4:51:48 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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Drug War in a Nutshell
John at High has been working on a drug war documentary. A five-minute segment of it -- Drug War in a Nutshell -- is a available as a torrent file download (if you know how to do that).
Good data and a fun format. Check it out.
4:26:47 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
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