Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Chicago police disbanding corrupt Special Operations Section The SOS unit in Chicago covered dealt with drug and gang busts, and like so many of these "special" task forces, became a law unto themselves, not only violating the Constitutional rights of the citizens, but extending their lawbreaking into robbery, kidnapping, and even murder for hire. Check out the Chicago Tribune video, where the SOS was caught on camera illegally raiding a bar and searching all the patrons without a warrant There's a certain inevitability of this kind of result from drug task forces due to both the nature of the enforcement tactics that a prohibition regime tends to demand, and the type of officer drawn to such enforcement tactics (and the good officers may not stay. That's not to say that a drug task force can't avoid corruption, but to do so it must actively work to counter its own nature. [Thanks, Ben] 8:56:21 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Mitt Romney on medical marijuana 9:01:07 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Open Thread Stupid OpEd of the week in Human Events. Robert J. Caldwell fellates the Drug Czar in a piece that is both intentionally deceitful, and historically revisionist in terms of prohibition and "the historical examples of Turkey, Southeast Asia and Colombia." Naturally, the Drug Czar got off on it. Another, much more sane conservative view can be found at the corner by Andrew Stuttaford. The drug warriors are, it seems, continuing in their efforts to sabotage the war against Islamic extremism in Afghanistan. [...] Of course it's 'crazy', Matt, it's the drug war. This is from last week, but in case you missed it... The Drug Czar actually tried to take on Milton Friedman regarding the drug war. (Friedman bitch-slapped him from the grave.) In the New Haven Independent, there's a fascinating discussion about corruption in a narcotics unit and whether even the idea of a narcotics unit makes sense. Not all the players are up to speed on the big picture, but the fact that such a conversation is taking place, is positive. In an effort to separate drug users from the black market, The Czech Republic is considering decriminalizing the growing of marijuana for your own use. Via Transform. At Alternet: "New York City has the most marijuana arrests in the world (but don't worry, white people, it won't be you)" by Ezekiel Edwards From Alas, a blog: A Sentence to Prison Is A Sentence To Be Tortured In the Nation, Prison Reformers Finally Set Free Is the nearly 40-year-old, bipartisan "let's get tough on crime" mantra getting old-- even for politicians? 8:57:18 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []