|
|
|
Drug WarRant
 |
Saturday, April 28, 2007 |
The story of Kathryn Johnston's death
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which has been doing an excellent job of coverage, has the timeline of the actual events that led to the death of Kathryn Johnston
They fabricated all the right answers to persuade a magistrate to give them a no-knock search warrant.
By 6 p.m., they had the legal document they needed to break into Kathryn Johnston's house, and within 40 minutes they were prying off the burglar bars and using a ram to burst through the elderly woman's front door. It took about two minutes to get inside, which gave Johnston time to retrieve her rusty .38 revolver.
Tesler was at the back door when Junnier, Smith and the other narcotics officers crashed through the front.
Johnston got off one shot, the bullet missing her target and hitting a porch roof. The three narcotics officers answered with 39 bullets.
Five or six bullets hit the terrified woman. Authorities never figured out who fired the fatal bullet, the one that hit Johnston in the chest. Some pieces of the other bullets -- friendly fire -- hit Junnier and two other cops.
The officers handcuffed the mortally wounded woman and searched the house.
There was no Sam.
There were no drugs.
There were no cameras that the officers had claimed was the reason for the no-knock warrant.
Just Johnston, handcuffed and bleeding on her living room floor.
That is when the officers took it to another level. Three baggies of marijuana were retrieved from the trunk of the car and planted in Johnston's basement. The rest of the pot from the trunk was dropped down a sewage drain and disappeared.
The three began getting their stories straight. [...]
Read the whole thing. It's really quite horrifying.
8:29:57 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
|
Friday, April 27, 2007 |
A former political hack talks about medical marijuana
He's long been both a hateful drug war cheerleader and and embarrassment to Illinois (see this for some examples), and now former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has weighed in on the medical marijuana debate in Illinois with this letter in the Chicago Sun-Times
As a former schoolteacher and coach and father of two, I believe in giving our kids a drug-free future.
He's being modest. He forgot to mention his role as "Mark Foley enabler."
Illegal drugs are responsible for the loss of 17,000 American lives annually, and marijuana is by far the most used and abused of these drugs.
Don't you love it? The joys of juxtaposition. How many of those 17,000 deaths were caused by marijuana? None. Sounds like a good reason to me to get people to use it.
More kids use marijuana than cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and all other illicit drugs combined.
... and you'd prefer the reverse?
Legislation that allows, supports or recognizes marijuana as a medicine is irresponsible, shortsighted and sends the wrong message to our youth.
What message is that? That we care for our sick people? It's interesting that you care so much about messages to youth (Did I just say "messages to youth"? As in instant messages to youth?)
There is absolutely no sound scientific evidence that marijuana has any medicinal value. The Food and Drug Administration is the only agency that can designate a substance as a medicine and to date has not done so.
No sound scientific evidence, except of course the absolute piles and piles of sound scientific evidence. And the FDA is the lapdog of the pharmaceutical industry, which doesn't want medical marijuana interfering with profits.
Oh, did we mention that Hastert received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry, and that members of his family work as lobbyists for that industry?
Legalization of any kind will also have unintended consequences: each person injured in driving and work-related accidents committed by those under the influence, and unborn babies harmed by abusing mothers.
And what does that have to do with medical marijuana?
urge the General Assembly to think twice about supporting legislation that softens the stance that marijuana is dangerous, addictive and illegal. I would hope that everyone could agree that there is no legitimate place in our society for marijuana use.
No, I think we agreed that there was no legitimate place for a corrupt Speaker of the House, so we got rid of you from that position.
8:38:40 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
|
Thursday, April 26, 2007 |
An embarrassment for the Drug Czar
White House letter: U.S. cocaine prices drop despite billions spent on drug war
The street price of cocaine fell in the United States last year as purity rose, the White House drug czar said in a private letter to a key senator, seemingly contradicting U.S. claims that US$4 billion (euro2.9 billion) in aid to Colombia is stemming the flow.
The drug czar, John Walters, wrote that retail cocaine prices fell by 11 percent from February 2005 to October 2006, to about US$135 (euro99) per gram of pure cocaine. That's way below the US$600 a gram pure cocaine fetched in 1981, when the U.S. government began collecting data, and near the level it has been at since the early 1990s.
During the same period, analysis of data collected by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration showed that after a drop in 2005, levels of purity "have trended somewhat toward former levels," Walters said.
Walters made the disclosure in a January letter to Sen. Charles Grassley, the Republican co-chair of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. The Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank, obtained the letter and made it available to The Associated Press.
Oops.
... Grassley, in an e-mailed statement, said the letter is "all the proof that anybody needs" that the White House drug office "has gotten quite good at spinning the numbers, but cooking the books doesn't help our efforts to curb cocaine and heroin production and consumption."
The numbers cited by Walters contradict upbeat appraisals made by U.S. officials as recently in March _ two months after Walters' letter.
Wait a second. I think I just heard... Was that the sound of someone calling Walters a liar?
Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said despite the existence of the new estimates, senior U.S. Embassy officials provided him with older, more upbeat data during a March visit to Bogota.
More lying?
So far, this story has shown up in Taiwan and France. Wonder when it'll hit here? And what this will do to funding for the Colombian drug war?
Update: Huffington Post has it.
9:27:47 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
... and now for something completely different
I'm in a Terry Gilliam-drawn heaven.
I have just received a wonderful gift from my Amazon wish list -- the complete, 16 DVD megaset of Monty Python's Flying Circus, with every episode in the series history, plus two bonus discs: Monty Python Live!
Wow!
It'll be some great fuel, Phil. Thanks so much!
8:14:10 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
Some of Kathryn Johnston's murderers indicted
New York Times
A Fulton County grand jury has indicted three current and former police officers who were involved in botched drug raid that led to the death of an elderly Atlanta woman in November.
Officer Jason R. Smith, who is on administrative leave from the Atlanta Police Department and Gregg Junnier, who retired from the force in January, face the most serious charges.
Mr. Smith is charged with four counts of murder, two counts of making false statements, two counts of burglary, violation of oath by a public officer, criminal solicitation, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment under color of legal process and perjury.
Mr. Junnier is charged with three counts of murder, two counts of burglary, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, violation of oath by a public officer, criminal solicitation and making false statements.
Officer Arthur Tesler, who is also on administrative leave, is charged with violation of oath by a public officer, making false statements and false imprisonment under color of legal process.
No indictments, however, against the people who created the policies and procedures that set up the tragedy.
2:50:34 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
Marijuana Stories
Check out the following three stories about marijuana. Consider which ones are the most important, and then consider on which one the Drug Czar decided to focus.
 Studies Validate Smoke-Free Marijuana on the use of vaporizors.
Two new studies, one from the University of California, San Francisco, and the other from the University at Albany, State University of New York, provide strong evidence that technology now allows medical use of marijuana with the rapid action and easy dose adjustment of inhalation, but without the respiratory hazards associated with smoking.
Marijuana May Fight Lung Tumors
In lab and mouse studies, the compound, known as THC, cut lung tumor growth in half and helped prevent the cancer from spreading, says Anju Preet, PhD, a Harvard University researcher in Boston who tested the chemical.
While a lot more work needs to be done, "the results suggest THC has therapeutic potential," she tells WebMD.
Moreover, other early research suggests the cannabis compound could help fight brain, prostate, and skin cancers as well, Preet says.
U.S. marijuana even stronger than before: report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The marijuana being sold across the United States is stronger than ever, which could explain a growing number of medical emergencies that involve the drug, government drug experts on Wednesday.
OK, so maybe that was too easy. Obviously, the drug czar skipped one and two and went directly to three. Of course, as Scott Morgan notes, the ONDCP had to promote the massive dangers of pot that is, on average, twice as potent as the old pot, while somehow ignoring their earlier claims of it being 10, 20, or 30 times as potent.
And, of course, there are the two big points that make the drug czar's hysteria irrelevant:
- When it's more potent, people smoke less. (Nobody sits down with a six-pack of Bacardi 151 rum.)
- If you're concerned about potency levels, the best response is to legalize and regulate.
And then the Drug Czar lies:
John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy and President Bush's "Drug Czar" expressed serious concerns regarding this trend, "This new report serves as a wake-up call for parents who may still hold outdated notions about the harms of marijuana. Evidence now tells us that the higher-than-ever potency of today's marijuana translates into serious health consequences for teens. Among teens who are receiving treatment for drug abuse or dependence, more than 60% report marijuana as their primary drug of abuse. Additionally, we are now seeing more mentions of marijuana during visits to emergency rooms than ever before. A growing body of research now tells us that marijuana poses a serious threat to the health and futures of young people.
Oh, yes, it is a lie. Plain and simple. He'll tell you that it's not, but he's lying.
The definition of "lie"
- : to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive
- : to create a false or misleading impression
The drug czar knows that the information he gives about treatment and emergency room visits have nothing to do with potency, so by continually implying that they do, he is lying. (I've gone through the numbers before, you can see some of them here, or pick up a copy of Lies, Damed Lies, and Drug War Statistics).
I know that we come to expect as normal that our government (and particularly the ONDCP) is going to lie to us. But we should never get complacent about it. And the press should stop letting them get away with it.
9:13:01 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 |
Christopher Hitchens: Legalize it
An excerpt from his 21 Solutions to Save the World:
The largest single change for the better in U.S. foreign policy, and one that could be accomplished simply by an act of political will, would be the abandonment of the socalled War on Drugs. This last relic of the Nixon era has long been a laughingstock within the borders of the United States itself (where narcotics are freely available to anybody who wants them and where the only guarantee is that all the money goes straight into criminal hands). But the same diminishing returns are now having a deplorable effect on America's international efforts.
8:50:49 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
Only one year to go...
In 1998, countries around the world joined the United Nations International Drug Control Programme in their pledge that the world would be drug free by 2008.
Since this date is approaching so fast, I decided to have a conversation with drugs about the imminent end of drugs on earth. I talked with spokesperson Mary Jane.
Drug WarRant: So how does it feel knowing your days are numbered here?
Mary Jane: It's a strange feeling. We never really thought the day would come, but if nobody wants you, there's no point in sticking around. The first real hit we took was in 1986 when America gave us 9 years to get out so they could be drug free by 1995. We were scrambling, but managed to get out in time. We've been a little better prepared for this one, having done it before, but this move poses additional challenges. Leaving an entire world? Not easy.
Drug WarRant: Where will you go?
Mary Jane: We're thinking about Saturn. I hear the rings are really pretty. Caffeine was pushing for mercury, but we felt that was a bit extreme.
Drug WarRant: Caffeine is going, too?
Mary Jane: Of course. Caffeine, aspirin, adrenaline, viagra, penicillin... the whole family.
Drug WarRant: But...
Mary Jane: Wait... Oh, no you don't.... You're kidding, right? Doesn't anybody know the definition of the word "drugs"? [yells] HEY Poppy! Stop packing. We got us another communication problem. [walks away, muttering] Stupid humans... "we want you, we don't want you, we want you, we don't want you"
Drug free. What a monumentally stupid idea.
10:13:08 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 |
Act Now! A real possibility to change the financial aid law.
At the end of this week, or early next week, the U.S. Senate committee that handles education is considering repealing or scaling back the law that strips financial aid from college students with drug convictions.
SSDP'ers have been on top of this and the prospects for reform look very good. They also report "that the most effective thing we can do to help is to generate phone calls and e-mails from constituents."
So let's go.
Note: the most important states for phone calls from constituents are: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming
8:29:13 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
I Don't Care What the Judge Said
Take a moment and read this beautiful story over at The Conservative Voice by Joel Turtel about jury nullification. Quite inspiring.
[Thanks, Casey]
8:44:27 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
A masterpiece of chicanery
This is a work of art. Dick Morris and Eileen McGann have the slimiest piece of work I've seen in some time in today's New York Post: A Drug War Dilemma.
The piece is actually about the Colombia free trade agreement (which Morris and McGann support), but the authors have chosen to frame it as being about the drug war and placed it in the New York Post to apply specific pressure on New York's Charlie Rangel who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Now the free trade agreement is controversial. There are those who say that it's nothing more than a gift to large multi-national corporations who will be given advantages over local industries and hurt the people of Colombia. There are those who say the only reason Colombia is agreeing to it is to get drug war aid. There are those who say it will mean the loss of jobs here. And others say it will provide strong economic development to a poor country. I don't know all the details of the plan, so I can't say for sure what will happen (although I have my guesses given the brilliance of our foreign aid policies).
However, who would have guessed that opposing the free trade agreement means that black people will destroy their lives with drugs? That appears to be the argument Dick Morris and Eileen McGann are making.
First, they talk about how the war on drugs is working:
With the help of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Colombia has been making sensational progress in the war on drugs.
That's some dream world...
They also talk about the connection between having profitable alternative products and giving the farmers something else to grow besides coca. Now that's a reasonable point, but it's much more complicated than they're willing to discuss (as long as the drug trade is more profitable and controlled by criminals, the option to grow Dole™ fruits and flowers won't change the lives of the people very much), and it won't change the availability of drugs here in the United States.
But Morris and McGann aren't interested in discussing the finer points of free trade. No, they see an opening they can exploit -- hit Charlie Rangel with the drugs on the streets bit. See if you can see the pattern:
REP. Charlie Rangel (D-Harlem) faces a crucial choice: As chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, will he do what's needed to keep drugs off the streets? He's a key man in ratifying the free-trade agreement between the United States and Colombia - and that accord will have real consequences on 125th Street and across America. [...]
The administration's position leaves Rangel with a clear choice: Do the bidding of the AFL-CIO - or pass the treaty as-is and reduce the flow of drugs to his district. [...]
While the Bush administration is committed to fighting drugs, too, its concern is a bit more theoretical than that of the congressman from Harlem. [...]
The free-trade agreement with Colombia is of vital importance to all those who take the war on drugs seriously - most of all, one would think, Charlie Rangel. [emphasis added]
It really is impressive. The extremely subtle racism. The misdirection. The political calculations. Amazing.
8:30:19 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
|
Monday, April 23, 2007 |
Odds and Ends
Why are we so terrified of a psychotherapist who admits to having used hallucinogens that we won't allow him to enter the country to visit his family?
Clergy in Illinois Join Push to OK Medical Pot
"It comes down to, what do we think God is up to?" said Pastor Bob Hillenbrand of First Presbyterian Church of Rockford. He said his own belief was in "a God of compassion, and therefore also of healing."
Pastor Robert C. Morwell of Union United Methodist Church in Quincy said he had never used marijuana nor had any desire to. "But I think it's a little silly to say we can prescribe morphine ... and other drugs that are more addictive," but not marijuana, he said.
Cullerton dismissed concerns that legalizing medical marijuana would pave the way for recreational marijuana use. He said it was already relatively easy for recreational users to obtain pot illegally, without having to get a doctor involved.
Glenn Greenwald muses about the restrictions on prescription drugs
Adults have the right to do all sorts of things that other people, including experts in a particular field, think are stupid and self-destructive, even when the person's livelihood or even life are at stake. That is, more or less, a defining attribute of being an adult.
What is the difference between the attorney-client and doctor-patient relationship, where the former is purely advisory but the latter becomes parental? And other than consumption of medicine which can actually affect the public health (such as excessive consumption of antibiotics), why should an adult be deemed a criminal for using a particular medicine all because a doctor (for whatever reasons, including self-interest) will not give permission?
Fascinating.
Loretta Nall gets her marijuana charge dismissed.
8:28:58 AM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
|
Sunday, April 22, 2007 |
420 recap
Sorry I've been out of touch the past few days. It's a very busy time at the university, with only a couple of weeks left for the year. And each year in April, the students have a four-square marathon to raise money for scholarships. Four-square? Yes, the game you played in 5th grade, although our rules are a lot more interesting. This year, the students set a new record of 62 straight hours of keeping at least one four-square court active. We also had a student set a new individual record of 36 hours and 20 minutes non-stop. I did some playing, but also cooked a whole lot of sandwiches and really didn't sleep from Wednesday to Saturday. (For those who are interested, here are some pictures of the event, which always seems to include a lot more than just four-square.)
Of course, everyone was talking about 420 on Friday, and it made me realize just how much the Drug Czar has already lost the battle to demonize marijuana (PushingBack was even more pathetic than usual, dredging up that embarrassing FDA statement a year ago (which is even more absurd than I remembered)).
I listened to radio stations where DJs spent several minutes talking about the origins of 420 and what it means, without a lick of disapproval and a fairly heavy wink. These are the same stations that run the Coast Guard ads about how you can join the service and catch all those drug smuggling scum, but the stations are playing oldies and they know that they're not going to win any points with their listeners by demonizing pot. Everywhere I went, people were wishing each other a happy holiday. Of course, there were exceptions (like this bizarre article in the Illinois State Journal Register: Hitler's Birthday, a Date of Terror.
But ultimately, 420 was a date of celebration -- celebrating the ultimate failure of demonization.
11:58:35 PM | drug policy | Links | permalink |
|
|
|
|
|
|
