Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Supreme Court rules in favor of religious use of hoasca tea Via TalkLeft (and thanks, Daksya) In a unanimous decision (without Alito participating), the judges ruled that the government could not prevent the Uniao do Vegetal (UDV) church from utilizing ayahoasca (which contains the hallucinogenic substance DMT). In their first religious freedom decision under Chief Justice John Roberts, the justices moved decisively to keep the government out of a church's religious practice. In the decision, Roberts wrote that federal drug agents should have been barred from confiscating the hoasca tea of the Brazil-based church and that the Bush administration had failed to meet its burden under a federal religious freedom law to show that it should be allowed to ban "the sect's sincere religious practice." [Link] The case was ALBERTO R. GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. O CENTRO ESPIRITA BENEFICENTE UNIAO DO VEGETAL ET AL. 2:48:58 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

A time bomb on our border Link From Mexican voters, in a poll for The Dallas Morning News, Al Dia and El Universal: 93 percent say drug trafficking is a serious problem in Mexico, spreading from border cities to other parts of the country. 81 percent say the United States contributes to the drug-trafficking problems. 64 percent say Mexican federal police have done little or nothing to help. With a Presidential election coming in July... "All the candidates are going to seize on" narco-trafficking, Lund said. But, he predicted, they all will propose the same solution: "an expanded role for the military" because, he said, it is the one government institution that is not considered deeply corrupt. Increased use of the military to fight the drug war within the borders of Mexico will just turn Mexico into another Colombia. And still, nothing will have been done to reduce the profitability of the black market. 8:32:59 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

US and Bolivia's Morales reach an agreement This is a bit of a surprise: Morales and his vice president, Alvaro Garcia Linera, held a long meeting over the weekend in Government House with U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia David Greenlee to discuss the anti-drug policy to be implemented by Bolivia's new government. President Morales whose political background is closely linked to the union representing coca farmers in Bolivia's central jungle region, said peasants would have to eradicate excess coca crops "either voluntarily or with the help of anti-drug forces"[...] President Morales now said the surplus coca crops would be defined as those that exceeded an area 40 meters by 40 meters.[...] Ambassador Greenlee told reporters that the Bolivian government was committed to "continue with an effective policy" of destroying coca crops, and how the goal would be met would be decided in the next few days. Last week, Morales said he would not expel U.S. drug-enforcement agents, as demanded by coca farmers who helped propel him to power, but he warned foreign officials operating in Bolivia to respect the nation's sovereignty and dignity. What I'd really love to know is what else is in that deal. 8:13:42 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

More overkill at The Agitator Radley's got the story and partial video of a bizarre 70-90 officer SWAT drug raid conducted on the Rack n' Roll Billiards Club under the guise of an Alcohol Beverage Control inspection (therefore warrantless). Three were arrested for drug charges: one, and undercover cop, was released; the other two were apparently police informants. This one will hurt. Radley's been investigating the tendency of law enforcement in some areas to shoot the dogs at the slightest provocation. In the course of it, he found this incident of the Smoak family's dog Patton from 2003. The video is disturbing. 8:07:31 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []