Saturday, September 30, 2006

SSDP continuing to come on strong Kris Krane, Executive Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, did a great job on Fox news debating the issue of home drug testing. SSDP's 2006 International Conference is being held at the Georgetown Law Center in D.C. -- should be a great weekend of activist training. I may be there as well. 8:12:21 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

The Drug War and Tarnished Badges In Fayetteville, NC: The widening investigation has revealed deputies stealing hundreds of- thousands of dollars from drug stops on Interstate 95, beating and robbing people in their homes, swindling money from county coffers and working with drug dealers to steal money and drugs from other dealers. Some deputies are accused of kidnapping drug dealers and holding them for ransom. One is accused of giving someone two trash bags full of marijuana to burn a pawnshop to settle a personal vendetta. The home of a man who was set to testify against that deputy was firebombed shortly before trial. Sinclair is accused of trying to extort money from a man he suspected of selling drugs by pouring lighter fluid on the man's arm and setting him on fire. Prosecutors say Sinclair had gone to the wrong house and terrorized the wrong man. Court records say the man was seriously injured. In Chicago, IL: Prosecutors have alleged the men stole hundreds of thousands of dollars and falsely arrested many people. Although the Police Department had been investigating numerous misconduct claims against the men for years, the criminal case against them did not gain traction until prosecutors became suspicious because the officers consistently failed to show up in court to testify on significant drug arrests they had made, officials said. Authorities said they now believe many of those arrests were bogus, and any cases the officers handled are suspect. The memo links Herrera to 67 cases. Finnigan, accused of being the ringleader of the schemes, is linked to 10 cases. Sherry is linked to 29 cases and Suchocki is linked to three cases. Some cases were linked to more than one of the officers. This is just one of the many destructive influences of the drug war. Just as it attracts criminals to the profits of drug trafficking, it attracts and feeds the corruptible in public service. And both prey upon the citizens whose hard-earned tax money pays for the war. 6:03:02 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Yawn Study Finds No [Causal] Link Between Marijuana Use And Depression Yeah, we knew that already. And yet, we must celebrate that another study has confirmed what we already know, because our opponents -- the drug warriors -- use every means at their disposal to mislead the public, and we need these moments to remind the public that they've been fed bullshit (although we, of course, do it more politely than that). Now this is the most comprehensive study to date, and should put the nail in the coffin on that little bit of ignorance, but I'm sure someone will still try to promote that discredited link. God, that depresses me. I'm waiting for someone to promote a link between marijuana use and ingrown toenails. And sure enough, NIDA will fund a study trying to find this link (denying possible research that could save people's lives), and years later the study will confirm that no, there is no link between marijuana and ingrown toenails, but we'll be on to the next manufactured scare. It's time for the people and the press to stand up and say: We're not going to listen to you anymore! You have no legitimate authority to tell us about the dangers of marijuana. For almost a century, you and your predecessors have lied and misled the public non-stop, from saying that it will turn you into a bat or cause you to cut up your family with a chainsaw, to the outrageous claims about marijuana addiction and potency today. You have no moral credibility left. Show us the bodies. Close to half the American population has tried marijuana with no ill effects. Marijuana has been used for thousands of years with no evidence of significant harm. If you've got something to say about the dangers of marijuana, then you're going to have to show us the bodies. No more implied statements. No more hypotheses. Incontrovertible, airtight, watertight, triple confirmed documented proof with bodies is all we'll believe from you. You no longer have the right to tell us of the dangers of marijuana. You must make your case now by talking about the real reasons for marijuana prohibition -- the political, racist, classist, corporate and government job-protecting, profit-protecting pressures that make marijuana your boogie man, not ours. We're not listening to you, any more. 10:10:34 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []