Tuesday, July 1, 2008

What kind of birthday present do you give to one who should never have been born? DEA Marks 35th Anniversary The Drug Enforcement Administration was created 35 years ago on this date by President Richard Nixon, who through an Executive Order established a single unified command to combat "an all-out global war on the drug menace." At its outset, the DEA had 1,470 Special Agents, a budget of less than $75 million, and a presence in 31 countries. Today, the DEA has 5,235 Special Agents, a budget of more than $2.4 billion and 87 foreign offices in 63 countries. I was about to become a Sophomore in college in July 1973. Since then, we have experienced 35 years of increasing lawlessness, corruption, global criminal drug enterprises, and drug-war-related terror, along with decreased individual rights. Thanks, DEA, for making this world a more miserable place. 4:46:21 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Open Thread Los Angeles Times Editorial compares our efforts on the drug war to taking on "The Incredible Hulk" In the grand scheme of hit movie plotting, it makes sense that the Hulk isn't easy to kill -- his indestructibility sets up Parts II and III. But Washington is now on Revenge of the Drug War Parts VIII and IX. Why not rethink our strategy and opt out of a sequel? Drug War on Moms. This is horrible. Awakened by late-night pounding and his doorbell ringing, Palmdale resident Jesus Bejarano found a social worker and two sheriff's deputies demanding he turn over his 20-month-old daughter, Kelly. The social worker said Bejarano's 29-year-old wife, Cheila Herrera, had tested positive for amphetamines and PCP at Antelope Valley Hospital after giving birth to the couple's son a week earlier. Their son, Jesse, who was born prematurely and was still at the hospital, had already been placed in protective custody. "It was terrible," Herrera said of the Feb. 14 ordeal. "It was pretty shocking to us. We didn't know what to do or say. We called my mom, saying, 'They are taking our baby away.' "We started calling friends, but no one we know has gone through something like this. We were crying. We thought, oh my God, they took our baby." Last month, the couple sued Los Angeles County government for unspecified damages, saying Herrera had never used drugs and the social worker ignored a battery of expensive tests that proved the initial drug-test results were wrong. Experts say the case highlights widespread problems with California's system of drug-testing pregnant mothers, using urine-screening tests that produce false-positives up to 70 percent of the time, and inconsistent compliance by hospitals with a state law designed to regulate the process. See how bad it is: False Positives Are Common in Drug Tests on New Moms United States Has Highest Level Of Illegal Cocaine And Cannabis Use. A survey of 17 countries has found that despite its punitive drug policies the United States has the highest levels of illegal cocaine and cannabis use. I'm not sure what that means, other than the obvious -- the whole notion of a drug-free society is ridiculous, and no amount of prohibition is going to eliminate drug use. The survey itself is based on lifetime use (not current use, not abuse), so it's useless for drawing any conclusions as to people harmed by drugs, or current status of prohibition efforts. It does make me wonder, though, why we can't get such an apparently large portion of the population who have tried drugs to join more actively in the fight against prohibition. 9:04:58 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []