Monday, March 17, 2008

Cop who shot Tarika Wilson charged with two misdemeanors Lima, Ohio An Allen County grand jury today indicted a Lima police sergeant on two misdemeanors for shooting 26-year-old Tarika Wilson to death and injuring her 14-month-old son during a Jan. 4 drug raid at her home. The charges are negligent homicide (for Tarika's death) and negligent assault (for her son's injury). Reactions: Wilson's family and Lima's NAACP office said the misdemeanor charges against Chavalia should have been more severe. "When you take aim and shoot someone with your gun, I don't see how it's negligent," said Ivory Austin II, brother of Tarika Wilson One interesting bit about Tarika's boyfriend, who was the target of the raid... Terry, 31, was later indicted for three counts of trafficking in crack cocaine, six counts of permitting drug abuse, and four counts of trafficking in marijuana for incidents occurring between September 2007 and Jan. 4, the day of the raid. Permitting drug abuse? I hadn't heard of that before. Sounds positively... crimethink. Ah, but here it is. Note how in the law, any criminal drug offense is considered, by definition, a drug abuse offense. Remember, in Newspeak "use" = "abuse." Also, killing a mother holding her baby is a misdemeanor. Selling or growing marijuana is a felony. 11:58:11 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

U.N. Drug Czar refuses to answer a simple question Via -- Thanks, jackl I was at the small group Q & A when Costa was asked that same question and avoided it. Update: This really is a telling video. Kudos to Frederick Polak, who respectfully, yet firmly and persistently, tried to get an answer to a very basic question: "If prohibition is the only way to contain the drug problem, how do you explain that the prevalence of cannabis use is lower or similar in the Netherlands than in many neighboring countries?" Peter Sarosi reports that Some NGO representatives on the other end gave a standing ovation to Mr. Costa when he left the hall (you can see the same people applauding his anti-coffee shop statements in our video). The celebration was initiated by the lapdogs of the U.S. and Swedish governments of course, like the European Cities Against Drugs, an international organization funded by the Swedish government to promote its drug policy, praising "treatment" services in Russia notorious for chaining and humiliating drug users, or SUNDIAL, an "NGO" led by the former speechwriter of the American drug czar. Among them we found the representative of the Partnership for a Drug Free America as well, who advocates the idea that we can solve drug problems by forcing schoolchildren to piss to a flask, despite the growing evidence that school drug testing doesn't work at all. Pretty amazing when you watch the video and hear these people applauding Costa's obvious avoidance tactic. I mean, if you understand even the basics of English, it's obvious that Costa was purposely not answering the question and refusing to allow it to be considered. And for that they applauded? It's almost as though they were sitting there thinking "Uh, oh, that druggie guy got nailed us good on that one -- how will Costa respond? ... Oh, excellent technique! You simply dodged it! Bravo!" 10:19:58 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Open Thread A busy day for me -- I'll have more later. It's not just a war... Ahmadu Giade has assured Nigerians that the agency will continue its onslaught on illicit drug dealers. Idiot. We're going to have a little lesson on logic later today. Court Ruling Limits Employment Drug Testing - a rare moment of clarity. The LAPD conducts so many wrong-address raids that they've got a special unit just to fix all the doors. In Alabama, pregnant drug users getting jail, not help. Doggy Style - Border Patrol Checkpoints Near Yuma Nab Hordes of Pot Users Headed Back From the Beach -- a good, extended article about how border concerns have turned into a complete loss of Constitutional rights for many residents. [Thanks, jackl] 12:49:21 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []