Friday, February 9, 2007

Crime or Disease? TV 10 in San Diego has a story out Who is Winning the War On Drugs?. It's pretty standard TV journalism fare -- a mention of LEAP and alcohol prohibition, some good points, some ignorant points. Overall, a reasonable balance for such a source. But then they decide to do a poll. An actual, four question SurveyUSA News Poll of San Diegans' view on drugs, the drug war, and prohibition. Only a sample of 500 adults, but still, potentially interesting. The results of Question 3 (Would you say it is fair? Or unfair? To compare the war on drugs with the Prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s and 30's?) are pretty depressing. But then you come to Question 4. Here is the actual survey question that a news entity asked of 500 San Diego residents: In general, do you think drug use should be treated more like a crime? Or more like a disease? Yep. Those were the options. "Crime" or "Disease" (or you could answer "Not Sure") So I'd like to ask the imbeciles at KGTV in San Diego a couple of questions: In general, do you think eating steak should be treated more like a crime? Or more like a disease? In general, do you think that driving a motorcycle should be treated more like a crime? Or more like a disease? In general, do you think that having wine with dinner should be treated more like a crime? Or more like a disease? In general, do you think that taking aspirin for a headache should be treated more like a crime? Or more like a disease? In general, do you think that watching KGTV TV-10 should be treated more like a crime? Or more like a disease? 11:27:36 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Target America dying a slow, agonizing death Today, the DEA unveiled the next tour stop of their offensive "Target America" exhibit. From what I can tell, it's pretty pathetic -- a small part of the exhibit that was at the Museum of Science and Industry, moved to the hallway in the lower level of Navy Pier in Chicago, next to the escalators, near the stained glass exhibit. As far as I can tell so far, the media has had very little interest in even mentioning it (as of this moment, a TV station clear across the state in Moline, Illinois is the only one besides the DEA reporting it). It seems likely that our efforts to protest the exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry have had an effect -- and alerted the media that this is biased propaganda. Our website responding to the DEA exhibit -- DEA Targets America -- has gotten quite a bit of visibility. This partial exhibit will be at Navy Pier until September. It seems unlikely that there will be another exhibit after this one. 10:20:51 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Tucker Carlson vs. Mark Souder And Carlson wins in a knockout. Watch this video all the way through and see how Tucker continually sets up Souder and lets him hang himself. The end of it is classic! [Thanks, Jay] Here's a rough transcript of the last part: Carlson: ... and how many people died from marijuana overdoses last year? Souder: Uh, if you count the, uh, uh, amount of crime associated with marijuana... Carlson: No, no, just marijuana overdoses. Just the drug itself, which you said is like cocaine now. How many people died from it? Souder: Uh, I don't, I don't, uh. 65 percent of emergency room admissions for drug abuse are marijuana. Carlson: Huh. OK. But did anyone die that you know of? Souder: Uh, presumably so, thousands have died, the only question is, you said "overdose" --that isn't even most of the deaths related to prescription drug or to cocaine or heroin -- there's a whole range of drug crimes and so on. I don't know the number of overdose. Marijuana is often managed ah, with meth -- no drug user is a single drug user so marijuana is often in the mix of most deaths so it would be very hard to separate what's what. A marijuana user is very seldom just a casual marijuana user, ah, except in the early stages, they're often gonna polydrug. Carlson: Yeah. OK. I'm not endorsing drugs, but I know a lot of casual marijuana users, so, that's wrong. But I appreciate you coming on. Thanks a lot, Congressman. Souder: Thank you, Tucker. 7:36:35 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

The DEA is... like cool, man The DEA sends out a "Biweekly E-mail Informant" where they brag about their recent arrests, and sometimes it's just embarrassing when they try to be hip, fly, phat, groovy and happenin' Here are the headlines for the current issue: Operation Polar Express Puts the Chill on Boston Ecstasy Traffickers NYC Heroin Trafficker Trades in Bling and Classic Cars for Jail Time Sour Grapes for the Vineland Boys: San Fernando Valley Gangsters get Decades-Long Prison Terms Here's another odd moment in one of the pieces: "This group marketed their Ecstasy by using images such as superman, a bat, a kangaroo, and even the Statue of Liberty. It's ironic that a group of traffickers who chose to use our symbol of liberty now face losing theirs," said DEA Special Agent in Charge of the New England Field Division, June Stansbury. There is, in fact, more irony in Stansbury's statement -- representing, as she does, an agency that works to take away Americans' freedom -- than there is in the Ecstasy images. 9:29:31 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Open Thread and Drug War Chronicle Here's this week's issue. Vote Hemp's press release does a nice job of nailing the DEA. 8:46:21 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

American Idol controversy I've never really had much interest in American Idol and haven't followed it at all, but this item caught my attention. Apparently Akron Watson has been disqualified from the Hollywood Round, and speculation is that it may be for a previous marijuana bust. However, I'm skeptical about that reported reason, given: Watson told Fox about the bust up front Fox stood behind Bo Bice in season 4 (despite previous cocaine and marijuana arrest records) Paula Abdul Fox has said they will never reveal the reason for Watson's disqualification. The controversy did bring back memories for me of the 1998 Winter Olympics when Ross Rebagliati almost lost his snowboarding gold medal for testing positive for trace amounts of marijuana. Or when World Flying Disc Federation decided to start disqualifying ultimate frisbee players for testing positive for marijuana. I ask you. What kind of a horrible world is this, if snowboarders, ultimate frisbee players and musicians can't smoke pot? 8:38:52 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []