Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Happy Flag Day This is only peripherally a drug war post, but I thought it was worth mentioning that this is flag day, and of course, Congress is once again considering a flag burning amendment as a dangerous distraction. Julian Sanchez at Hit and Run has done a pretty decent job of explaining why that's stupid. Let me give you my take. If some idiot decides to burn a piece of red, white, and blue cloth in order to protest a government policy, my freedom is not endangered in any way, nor is my country. However, every day that Congress goes to work, my freedom is in jeopardy, through their continued destruction of the Constitution. And now they want to damage the Constitution further to promote a purely political agenda. I can't even remember the last flag burning episode in the United States. The only ones who have been desecrating any flags are the politicians standing in front of them. Celebrate your freedom today by fighting the politicians who would take it away. 9:50:30 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Barry McCaffrey returns to stink up the joint. Former drug czar Barry McCaffrey says the darndest things. What is it about drug czars and former drug czars? They're so used to making stuff up that it doesn't even phase them anymore. Here's an article published in the Monterey County Herald on June 10 and re-printed in Therapeutics Daily (free registration required). Drug addiction is a medical problem that should be treated as a chronic disease, according to experts gathered Friday at the Hyatt Regency Monterey for a national forum on drug and alcohol dependency. OK so far, but McCaffrey hasn't been quoted yet... Illegal drug use in the United States "has by and large already been decriminalized," said former U.S. drug czar and retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey. The problem, he said, isn't that drugs are illegal, but that they cause mental, medical, legal and social problems. What??? There are a whole lot of people in jail, and who have been denied financial aid, and who have lost their families, (and even who are dead), who would be surprised to learn that drugs are essentially decriminalized. Perhaps Barry would be willing to give them a note to give to their arresting officer or judge. And, you know, if drugs are causing legal problems, wouldn't at least part of those legal problems have something to do with the fact that the drugs are illegal? And finally, drugs can't actually cause any of those problems. It's possible that abusing drugs could lead to some of those problems. But not drugs themselves. McCaffrey served as director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Clinton administration and now teaches national security affairs at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He and Barry W. Karlin, chairman and CEO of CRC Health Groups Inc., addressed the Western U.S. Summit for Clinical Excellence on Tuesday, which drew 250 health professionals -- social workers, psychologists, addiction counselors, researchers and doctors -- under the aegis of the Ben Franklin Institute of Scottsdale, Ariz. And McCaffrey was the best they could do? McCaffrey has recently returned from Afghanistan, where the new government has been waging an opium-eradication campaign. Such work has been successful in other countries, he said. In the past five years, Pakistan and Thailand have essentially ended large-scale opium poppy farming, and Peru and Bolivia have halted coca farming, though "there is nothing more lucrative than growing coca or opium." [emphasis added] Peru and Bolivia have halted coca farming??? In whose reality? Numbers in this area are extremely unreliable (usually understated), but according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime most recent statistics, Bolivia had 27,700 hectares of coca in cultivation in 2004, while Peru had 50,300. Hardly halted. And while I haven't taken the time to look up the Pakistan and Thailand figures, as countries they are hardly analogous to Afghanistan. Success demands a three-pronged approach, McCaffrey said: help from the government to establish legitimate crops by teaching farmers how to grow them, supplying them with seed, tools and other materials and building road networks to get them to market; eradicating illegal crops; and having a nation's leadership publicly denounce drug cultivation as harmful to the country. Yes. That's what we tried in Colombia. Didn't work. In Afghanistan's case, he said, opium use "is non-Islamic, not in accord with their traditions," and its continued presence generates massive drug abuse, addiction, graft, violence and corruption. The fact that it is illegal causes the problems. The fact that it is present is simply an unalterable function of supply and demand. Afghanistan is now the world's No. 1 heroin supplier, he said. Proceeds from drugs fund terrorist campaigns by al-Qaida and warlords, and destabilizes the democracy the U.S. hopes to see built there, he said. Well, when you make it profitable by putting the control in the hands of criminals... McCaffrey said he has been supportive of efforts to "create conditions of law and order" on the U.S.-Mexican border, but said that 95 percent of illegal immigrants who cross into the United States have nothing to do with crime or drugs. True. Canada, he said, is one of the largest producers of marijuana, and the Netherlands is one of the top suppliers of mood-enhancing drugs such as Ecstasy. Well, U.S. customs agents say that the amount of marijuana entering the U.S. through Canada "is dwarfed by that from Mexico." McCaffrey and Karlin said educating young people from middle school through high school is key. A youth who can reach age 21 without abusing drugs or alcohol, Karlin said, stands a better than 90 percent chance of having no substance abuse problems as an adult. Actually, the critical time is the younger years, and we could reduce abuse in younger children by legalizing and regulating drugs. Drug and alcohol addiction can't be cured with a few weeks of treatment at a detox center, he said. It has to be treated "as a chronic condition, with long-term care, like diabetes, hypertension or asthma." And yes, it helps that you can get asthma treatment without getting thrown in jail. McCaffrey said there have been victories in the war on drugs domestically. In the past three years, U.S. "current use" -- use of any drug within the past 30 days -- has declined nationwide 11 percent, he said. During the past 20 years, drug abuse has fallen 50 percent, and crime and teenage pregnancy are in decline. What??? Drug abuse has fallen 50 percent? Where? And teenage pregnancy decline is a drug war victory? Did McCaffrey actually believe those ads? The nation faces a problem with rising use of methamphetamines, pharmaceutical painkillers and artificial opiates, "the new heroin," McCaffrey said. Ah yes. The new heroin, the new crack. The same old story. Drugs and alcohol, he said, are involved in most cases where people are arrested and incarcerated for crimes, or hospitalized for traumatic injuries, and cost billions of dollars in lost productivity, health care, material loss and damage. Did you know that police are involved in most cases where people are arrested and incarcerated for crimes? and that hospitals are involved in most traumatic injuries, and the drug czars cost us billions of dollars in lost productivity, health care, material loss and damage? Go back to West Point, General. [Thanks, Tom] 6:28:06 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

U.S. Conference of Mayors against mandatory minimums for drug crimes I'm still getting caught up -- this was quite an interesting tidbit from last week. The U.S. Conference of Mayors, representing 1,183 cities with a population over 30,000, passed a resolution, sponsored by Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson, opposing mandatory minimum drug sentencing at both the federal and state level. Here's the text (pdf): OPPOSING MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES WHEREAS, fair and effective criminal justice policies are in the interest of the citizens of every U.S. city and town; and WHEREAS, 2006 marks the 20th anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1986 which established federal mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses; and WHEREAS, twenty years of mandatory minimum sentencing has resulted in a tremendous increase in the U.S. prison population, particularly of drug offenders; and WHEREAS, people incarcerated for drug offenses return to their communities facing barriers to employment, housing, public assistance, and education opportunities; and WHEREAS, the cost of providing services to returning prisoners is borne primarily by local governments; and WHEREAS, almost two-thirds of prisoners have dependent children, and their prolonged absence destabilizes families and threatens the economic and social vitality of communities; and WHEREAS, mandatory minimum sentencing reflects a "one-size fits all" approach to administering justice that does not allow courts to impose sentences appropriate to the crime that take into account the offender's role in the crime, and the characteristics of the offender, and WHEREAS, mandatory minimum sentencing has been ineffective at achieving its purported goals: reducing the level of substance abuse and crime and increasing penalties for the most serious offenders; and WHEREAS, mandatory minimum sentencing has exacerbated racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and, particularly when used to punish drug offenses, has resulted in the disproportionate incarceration of African American offenders, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The United State Conference of Mayors states its opposition to mandatory minimum sentencing on both the federal and state levels, and urges the creation of fair and effective sentencing policies that permit judges to determine appropriate sentences based on the specific circumstances of the crime and the perpetrator's individual situation; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that states should review the effects of both federal and state mandatory minimum sentencing and then move forward. This is good stuff -- the Conference of Mayors is a pretty important voice for urban policy. [Thanks, Beth at MAP] Update: Corrected size of cities to read 30,000. 4:13:51 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Karzai the comedian If it wasn't all so sad, it would be funny. The situation in Afghanistan is so absurd, since nobody in power is allowed to actually talk about any solutions to the illegal drug trafficking that would really work. So every now and then, President Hamid Karzai comes out with a statement about his resolve against opium and asks for more assistance in eliminating it in Afghanistan: Afghanistan wanted better cooperation with its neighbours and the international community against drugs, the president said. "We have always said that Afghanistan wanted to release itself from this evil plant. Help us in this struggle and take our hand," he said. "...release itself from this evil plant." What magnificent hyperbole! Yep. Another public statement to show that he's serious about it. Just like the various eradication efforts. The problem is that the crop substitution efforts are not working at all, since none are even close to being as lucrative as opium, and it appears at present that Afghanistan's entire economy is based on two things: Foreign aid, mostly tied to efforts to eradicate the illegal drug trade, and... The illegal drug trade. So Karzai continues to perform his comedy routine to show the world he's serious. 9:47:44 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

An Editorial Against Prohibition What an outstanding editorial this weekend in the Charleston (WV) Gazette: THIS week's mass murder in a drug-infested St. Albans suburb raises a troubling thought: Much of America's criminality and gun violence among addicts and illegal drug dealers apparently is spawned by the nation's harsh prohibition of narcotics. Almost a century ago, the United States plunged into Prohibition, the criminalization of alcohol. Immediately, illicit dealers began supplying bootleg booze in the shadows. Gun battles erupted between rival rum-runners. Prisons were crammed with alcohol offenders. Police and judges were bribed to overlook "speakeasy" bars. Street gangs and the Mafia grew in that grotesque time. After Prohibition was repealed, alcohol became legal under state regulation -- and the wave of alcohol crimes faded. Today history is repeating itself, via criminalization of disapproved drugs. Illicit dealers supply banned substances in the shadows. Gun battles erupt between rival operators. Prisons are crammed with narcotics offenders. Police and judges sometimes are bribed to look the other way. Street gangs and the Mafia profit from the lucrative trade. So do Muslim terrorists who control Afghanistan's opium poppies, and Latin American cartels in control of cocaine production. Local American peddlers carry guns, so they won't be robbed of their cash or stash. They sell to children or anyone able to buy. Addicts commit robberies to get money for daily fixes. Impure mixes by amateur suppliers cause overdose deaths. Wow! To see a newspaper editorial so clearly understand the parallels between drug prohibition and alcohol prohibition is just downright... intelligent (a factor that seems too often to be missing). The editorial goes on to talk about and quote from LEAP -- which obviously had an impact on the editorial board -- and concludes with: Legalizing alcohol again in 1933 gradually took gunfire out of the booze business. If America likewise legalized narcotics and regulated them through health agencies, would today's drug murders, police cost and prison expense similarly be eliminated? This newspaper long has called for legalization of marijuana, which is no more harmful than beer. LEAP advocates that step for all narcotics. Congress and West Virginia's Legislature should study this question -- but don't hold your breath while you wait for change, because nearly all politicians brag about being "tough on drugs." Thus they guarantee that the narcotics trade will remain in the hands of criminals. This is a pretty good one to send to friends. 8:15:50 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []