Thursday, April 5, 2007

If at first you don't succeed... On March 24, I noted that Arianna Huffington had a very powerful piece in the Los Angeles Times -- "The War on Drugs' War on Minorities." On March 28, when pointing out that the piece had been reprinted in Alternet, I was rather disturbed that nobody seemed to be picking up on it. Well, finally today, the piece was reprinted in the Huffington Post, and now everybody seems to be talking about it, including a number of blogs and diaries around the web, and some big guns ranging from TalkLeft to... Instapundit: ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: There is a major disconnect in the 2008 Democratic race for the White House. While all the top candidates are vying for the black and Latino vote, they are completely ignoring one of the most pressing issues affecting those constituencies: the failed War on Drugs, a war that has morphed into a war on people of color. The "Drug War" is a colossal disaster, and it's even undermining the real war. The unwillingness of candidates in both parties to oppose it is a disgrace. Gaining traction? Hmmm.... If only Drudge would pick it up so that the networks would know it's OK to talk about it. 11:30:55 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

The year's most stupid legislator I had to check the date of this article three times to be sure it wasn't April 1. JEFFERSON CITY -- First, the state said you must make a special trip to the pharmacy counter to buy certain cold medicines. That was to curb production of methamphetamine. Now, a St. Louis legislator wants you to do the same thing to buy an even more common household item -- baking soda -- because it's used to make crack cocaine. Sales of cold medications containing pseudoephedrine, such as Sudafed, are strictly regulated in Missouri. Customers must show a photo ID when they buy the medicine. Pharmacists must log the names and addresses of buyers, including how much they buy. People under 18 may not buy the medicines. The sponsor of the baking soda bill, Rep. Talibdin El-Amin, D-St. Louis, said the same approach was needed for baking soda because crack cocaine is often produced by dissolving powdered cocaine in a mixture of water and baking soda. Baking soda. That's what happens. You let these idiot legislators start making one thing illegal because it's connected to something else, and the next thing you know, everything is illegal. Even the DEA's Tom Murphy thinks that this is unworkable. "When you generate a list of people who use baking soda, it pretty much includes everyone. It's a common household item," said Tom Murphy, a special agent with the St. Louis division of the Drug Enforcement Administration. The baking soda bill is HB1189. Representative Talibdin El-Amin represents District 57. If only we could outlaw legislators. They do more harm to this country than criminals, drugs, guns, locusts, asbestos, and trans-fat combined. [Thanks, Bill from LEAP] Update: Winning comment from Hit and Run regarding this story: If baking is outlawed, only outlaws will be baked. 4:12:04 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Northeast Regional SSDP conference The Northeast Regional SSDP conference will be held April 13-15 at Brown University: Confronting the Drug War, Envisioning Alternatives with speakers including: Lincoln Chaffee, Former U.S. Senator Ethan Nadelmann, Drug Policy Alliance Glenn Loury, Brown University, Professor of Economics Daniel Pinchbeck, Author While I unfortunately won't be able to be there in person, I'll be involved peripherally. 9:08:38 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []