Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Bush says he can ignore Congress and send troops to Colombia There's a fascinating article in Sunday's Boston Globe that has been talked about extensively: President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution. Here's one of the examples that directly affects drug war policy: Dec. 23, 2004: Forbids US troops in Colombia from participating in any combat against rebels, except in cases of self-defense. Caps the number of US troops allowed in Colombia at 800. Bush's signing statement: Only the president, as commander in chief, can place restrictions on the use of US armed forces, so the executive branch will construe the law ''as advisory in nature." This sheds a little more light on the recent statement by the State Department that it was ready to "intervene" if asked by Uribe. 6:45:10 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Ignorant article on marijuana addiction in Wall Street Journal Wall Street Bureau Chief Kevin Helliker wins today's prize for drinking the drug war cool-aid with this ignorant screed on marijuana and addiction. He buys into the myth that mild psychological dependence with limited withdrawal symptoms is somehow equivalent to serious addiction. And he leaves out critical information... The researchers found that the overall rate of addiction among marijuana users is slightly lower than for imbibers of alcohol. But among people who use marijuana daily, the rate of addiction is significantly higher than among daily drinkers. Addiction is diagnosed when a person experiences at least three of seven indicators, such as failure to control usage, preoccupation with the drug and withdrawal symptoms. Do you think that it might have been relevant to mention that one of those seven indicators has to do with being in conflict with the law? So one of the three necessary indicators pretty much automatically kicks in for marijuana users simply because it's illegal? Kind of makes the comparison dishonest, doesn't it? But the kicker is this wild statement: Yet if marijuana addiction were benign, thousands of Americans wouldn't be seeking to kick the habit each year. Kevin, you moron -- yes they would -- if it's a choice between treatment and jail. Oh, but you can't be bothered to do even a rudimentary bit of research now, can you? Just assume. 6:34:56 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Un Fracaso Plan Colombia called a failure From Congress to the editorial page of Bogota's main newspaper, criticism of the U.S.-backed anti-drug effort known as Plan Colombia -- which has cost American taxpayers $4 billion since 2000 -- is growing. [...] In Colombia, President Alvaro Uribe's two main challengers in this month's elections have used the report's findings to reopen a debate over decriminalization of drug use. In a Sunday editorial, the generally pro-government newspaper, El Tiempo, called the war on drugs "un fracaso," a failure.[...] Even supporters of the government's reliance on aerial spraying acknowledge they were angered by the ONDCP's admission that it has long been underestimating Colombia's coca harvest. "If they tried to get a job as a pollster for Congress being off by that much, they'd never work again," said Marc Wheat, staff director of U.S. House of Representatives' subcommittee on drug policy. [...] A spokesman said Walters was unavailable for comment Tuesday. 5:38:52 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Open Thread Been too busy the past few days to do much posting (as well as being on the road to Iowa and Chicago). Keep the discussions going. If you haven't read it already, check out thehim's Drug War Roundup at Kos. It's huge. 1:42:51 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []