Wednesday, January 2, 2008

What are we getting for all the money we'll be spending on Plan Mexico? They're not even trying to be optimistic about it. But U.S. law enforcement officials and analysts caution that even with the unprecedented level of anti-drug aid to Mexico, violence could actually rise as drug cartels respond forcefully to increased U.S. and Mexican pressure. One U.S. law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned that 2008 "may prove to be even deadlier. We expect drug traffickers to respond aggressively to combined U.S. and Mexican actions and pressure." Growing U.S.-Mexico cooperation will force "drug cartels to increase the political ante by increasing the level of violence," said Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, a political consultant with Washington-based Peschard-Sverdrup & Associates. [...] "When pressure on them [drug traffickers] increases or continues from law enforcement officials, the usual response is to kick up the violence, especially directed at government and law enforcement officials, which might explain why deaths of law enforcement officials are up," said a senior U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity. Good thing we're supporting an effective approach in Mexico. Still, Arturo Yañez, who trains detectives for the Mexico City government and has worked in federal law enforcement, questioned whether Mr. Calderón's counter-narcotics strategy is really working. "Where are the results, the numbers ... ? Information is thin," he said. The influence of organized crime "is growing across Mexico. How exactly are we winning?" Plan Mexico is a proposal developed in secret to spend billions of dollars ratcheting up the drug war in Mexico -- a proposal without the support of Congress, that generates strong misgivings in the people of Mexico regarding their sovereignty, and will probably increase the violence in Mexico without actually accomplishing anything. What's not to like? 9:58:22 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Your son died impossibly As you well know, it's physically impossible to overdose from marijuana use -- there are no legitimate recorded deaths as a direct result of smoking cannabis.* That hasn't stopped the occasional quack in the U.K. from attempting to assign deaths to cannabis use. (See here, here, and here.) Usually, these idiots are treated with some derision, but simply allowed to continue on, but Dr Louay Al-Alousi faced the wrath of the dead boy's parents -- who hired their own pathologist. A consultant pathologist who was found guilty of professional misconduct will discover whether he can practice without restrictions later this week. Dr Louay Al-Alousi admitted the charge when he appeared before a General Medical Council hearing in January last year. The doctor, who works for the University of Leicester and the University Hospital of Leicester NHS Trust, carried out flawed post-mortems on two teenagers. He wrongly attributed their death to cannabis use. His mistakes were exposed by the parents of 16-year-old James Burgess, of Leicester Forest East. James's parents, Paul and Joanne, enlisted their own pathologist, while a coroner had a third expert examine James. Both agreed his death was due to an unsuspected heart condition. At the inquest, cannabis was ruled out as a cause of death and the family's solicitor called for Dr Al-Alousi to be reported to the GMC. It's a shame that the parents had to do all that just to find out how their son died. Clearly they knew that it was a nonsensical post-mortem. It's also troubling that the panel is even considering lifting restrictions on this quack. Via Marijuana.com * (For that matter, even the indirect deaths (such as doing something stupid while stoned) are almost impossible to find. They invariably are anecdotal and involve multiple influences and only the presence of marijuana as proof of its contribution to the death.) 8:30:17 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []