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Drug WarRant
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Saturday, January 31, 2009 |
The story of Payton and Chase
Deadly Force by April Witt in tomorrow's Washington Post.
This is the story of Cheye Calvo, his wife Trinity, Trinity's mother Georgia, and "the boys" - two black Labs named Payton and Chase. And a drug war gone insane.
It's the best telling of this story to date. Take the time to read it all the way through, but be warned -- it'll break your heart.
Thank you Washington Post and April Witt! Now millions of people will know the truth.
I've now added Payton and Chase to the Drug War Victims page.
4:26:36 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Obama's half brother arrested for marijuana possession
CNN
George Obama, the half brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, has been arrested by Kenyan police on a charge of possession of marijuana, police said Saturday. [...]
CNN Correspondent David McKenzie talked with George Obama at the jail where he is being held. Speaking from behind bars, Obama denied the allegations.
"They took me from my home," he said, "I don't know why they are charging me."
In a sane world, he wouldn't be arrested. In a sane world, the arrest of a barely known half-brother in a different country on something as minor as this wouldn't have any effect on drug policy here.
But this isn't a sane world. So I have no idea if this will be a non-story, or if it will be the media's new drug policy story.
It's already been breathlessly picked up by hundreds of media outlets, and yet when real, substantive drug policy stories come along, we sadly get excited when two of our long-time supporters in the press pick it up.
Certainly, there is a history of Presidential relatives getting in trouble. George W. Bush had Noelle, Bill Clinton had Roger, Ronald Reagan had Patti, Jimmy Carter had Billy. There's no reason to hold the Presidents in any way responsible for the actions of their relatives.
But here's the thing that worries me.
Right now, there's probably a political advisor whispering in Barack's ear: "Hey, I know it's no big deal, but with George's arrest, and you admitting to marijuana use when you were younger, the last thing you can afford to do politically right now is to get in a public fight with Michele at the DEA over medical marijuana. It'll look like you're doing it because you're pro-pot. So just stay out of it until a better time."
Again, I'm just guessing here. How do you think this will play out?
[Thanks, Dave]
10:55:18 AM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Friday, January 30, 2009 |
Open Thread
 Lee has completed his series on the Drug War at HA Seattle. Here's the recap:
Maia Szalavitz notes that progressive politicians are actually pushing Obama to make some good decisions regarding drug policy (at least in some areas)
with Bush holdovers trying to push the UN to drop support for needle exchange and other harm reduction programs in its document to set drug policy for the next ten years, I am beginning to lose hope.
Amazingly, however, progressives in Congress (!) are speaking out about the possible UN fiasco -- sending a letter to our new UN Ambassador Susan Rice to protest the actions of these officials. Reps. Henry Waxman, Jose Serrano and Barbara Lee write:
Unfortunately, we understand that the U.S. delegation in Vienna has been actively blocking the efforts of some of our closest allies -- including the European Union -- to incorporate into the declaration reference to harm reduction measures such as needle exchange. We find it hard to understand how the U.S. delegation could object to language which would not obligate any country to adopt particular policies with which it disagrees.
Jacob Sullum notes the absurdity of the paraphernalia laws with his helpful article You Can Put Your Weed in There -- What to do after the last head shop closes. Got any ideas to add?
The Last DEA Agent Leaves the United States Bolivia. Oh, well, I can dream. If Bolivia can do it, why can't we? Meanwhile, the DEA sends me an email telling me that in honor of their 35th year, they have published "The Drug Enforcement Administration, A Tradition of Excellence 1973-2008." The title is inspiring me to write an autobiography titled "Pete Guither, Millionaire Movie Star."
Grits for Breakfast: If Barack Obama wants bipartisanship, he should remove Byrne grants from the stimulus package
Hey, Man. Where Have You Guys Been? - the New York Times does a little feature on Cheech and Chong.
Bruce Schneier explains why the Supreme Court's weakening of the exclusionary rule in Herring v. U.S.
Increasingly, data accuracy is vital to our personal safety and security. And if errors made by police databases aren't held to the same legal standard as errors made by policemen, then more and more innocent Americans will find themselves the victims of incorrect data.
State Budget Deficit May Aid Marijuana Reform Effort. Note to the basement stoners who agreed to be videotaped in the accompanying video: you're not really helping.
Glenn Greenwald notes that we have a two-tiered justice system
Our political class has embraced mandatory minimum sentencing schemes as a way to eliminate mercy and sentencing flexibility for ordinary people who break the law (as opposed to Bush officials who do). [...]
But what makes it so much worse, so much more corrupted, is the fact that this "ignore-the-past-and-forget-retribution" rationale is invoked by our media elites only for a tiny, special class of people -- our political leaders -- while the exact opposite rationale ("ignore their lame excuses, lock them up and throw away the key") is applied to everyone else.
Editorial: Drugs Are Bad, But They're Good Enough
Maybe we're at a place where we can talk about the issue without shrillness or hyperbole, because everyone can admit something definitely isn't right. [...]
There's no easy or good answer, to this or most things in life. Alcohol probably has an overall degenerative effect on our society. But, prohibition's effect was worse, and we have rightly chosen the lesser evil, regulated and taxed it. Doing so hasn't made the country a utopia or solved all problems in the criminal justice system, but a modern Al Capone can't build an empire with alcohol, either.
DrugSense Weekly
7:46:06 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Thursday, January 29, 2009 |
What a difference a reporter's perspective makes...
On Sunday, I noted this Reuter's article quoting UNODC's Costa
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had found evidence that "interbank loans were funded by money that originated from drug trade and other illegal activities," Costa was quoted as saying. There were "signs that some banks were rescued in that way."
Now enter the AP reporting on the exact same issue.
The global financial crisis is making it easier for organized crime groups to launder profits from narcotics, human trafficking and other illegal activities, the U.N.'s anti-corruption chief said Thursday
The AP story says nothing about saving banks, merely that bank managers probably "were aware that what they were doing was wrong."
12:23:31 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Another wrong house
Here's a break-down-the-door raid in Georgia. When 25 agents with guns drawn suddenly show up in your living room, that requires more than just an apology.
Fortunately Jainet Rios and her family weren't killed.
Watch the video -- Rios has some strong things to say, and she even invokes the Kathryn Johnston shooting in Atlanta. People are starting to get better informed about the dangers of the tactics of the drug war, and they're not happy. Rios definitely wants more than an apology - she wants a change in policy.
9:57:26 AM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Calling SSDP
I think we need some edumacating in the Oak Park, Illinois area regarding drugs and the drug war.
Check out Teens discuss legalization of drugs.
This is the one that made my head explode:
Many teens think the drug war will only increase if drugs are legalized.
"It will probably become like the wild west," said Oscar, 17. "In my neighborhood, we don't even jump anymore when we hear a gun shot. If the dealers and the junkies get into something, then we all will have to hide."
Wow.
[Nicole:] "I've seen people get shot and beaten up badly over a drug deal gone badly," she said "If drugs become legal, then the people will really lose their minds." [...]
"If drugs become legal," Malia said, "then we would probably see people lying out in the streets blowed!"
Sigh.
12:01:15 AM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009 |
Just for fun
A blast from the past -- can't remember where I saw it recently. Enjoy.
Undercover Cop Never Knew Selling Drugs Was Such Hard Work
Rick Bastone, 31, an officer with Philadelphia's 23rd Precinct, has gained newfound respect for America's hard-working drug dealers ever since going undercover to sell narcotics.
"I had no idea how tough this was," said Bastone, standing on a dilapidated corner in 20-degree weather while awaiting a cocaine drop-off Monday. "I guess I imagined it being like in the movies: drinking champagne, hot-tubbing with honeys, and cruising in customized Escalades while watching the cash roll in. But here I am, freezing my ass off. I've got to say, these drug-dealing scumbags really earn their pay."
10:11:38 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Acting Drug Czar Update
Pat Rogers (who has a new blog) writes me to say that the temporary appointment of Ed Jurith as Acting Director of the ONDCP should be more concerning than Scott Morgan and I have indicated. He notes that Jurith has a history of being a drug warrior, and...
...many in the drug policy reform community like to think that the raid on a medical marijuana facility in California just after the inauguration was a last vestige of the Bush administration, but Jurith had already been appointed acting director of the ONDCP on the 20th of January so there is every reason to believe that the raid was actually sanctioned by the Obama administration.
Pat may be right -- I certainly have no inside ear to know who's been talking about what or making which decisions. I'm just speculating.
But my take doesn't change. Is Ed Jurith a drug warrior? Of course -- he's been with the ONDCP forever. Is he a Drug Czar? No way.
A drug czar (in the sense that Walters has been a drug czar and McCaffrey was before him) is not so much a developer of policy (as a member of the White House Office, the Director of the ONDCP serves at the pleasure of the President). The Drug Czar is, instead, a public figurehead -- a propaganda promoter, a policy apologist, a cunning liar whose job it is to convince the public that the government interest is theirs.
Take a look at the last time Jurith was Acting Drug Czar -- the extended period of time between McCaffrey and Walters. He was invisible. Hardly any public appearances except a couple of small-time required appearances before Congress. He was put there as an administrator to keep the office functioning while decisions were made about the office. In fact, prior to Walters' appointment, while Jurith was Acting Drug Czar, Bush was getting significant grief from Republican Congressmen (if I recall, Souder was one of them) about the fact that Bush had not yet appointed a drug czar!
I really expect Jurith to do the same job again. Be as invisible as possible.
Regarding the South Tahoe raid: it seems much less likely to me that Jurith somehow managed to get the ear of the President the day after inauguration, get an OK for the raid, bypass the not-yet-confirmed Attorney General to go to the DEA and have them do a raid the next day....
It seems infinitely more likely that Bush's DEA head Michele Leonhart had a raid already planned for South Tahoe, saw that there was a temporary void in the AG's office (due to the last minute hold put on Holder's nomination) and no directions were coming from above to prevent her from continuing as she always had in going after medical marijuana dispensaries.
On January 9, 1998, when U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi announced in a press conference that the government would take action against California medical marijuana clubs (arguably the start of the DEA's current war against the sick), Leonhart was standing at his side.
It's true that Obama has had nothing to say on the subject. As Pat notes:
Obama has not repudiated Mr. Jurith. Nor has the president used the raid as an opportunity to get up on a soap box in opposition to future raids.
In his first week, while attempting to pass a stimulus package, the President is going to publicly admonish his staff in order to support potheads (how it would be reported). Right. If he did anything right now, it would be a hand slap in a back room.
There was already a public explosion over Congress' inclusion of condoms in the stimulus package. Public action directly taken by the President about medical marijuana would be a public relations nightmare.
Anyway that's my take. Who knows?
Sure would be nice to be a fly on the wall, though.
8:45:38 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009 |
Joe Biden's War
Long-time Drug WarRant friend Lee Rosenberg has put together an extraordinary 6-part series called "Joe Biden's War." at HA Seattle. It's a history of the American Drug War and Vice President Joe Biden's involvement.
Update:
9:18:34 AM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Monday, January 26, 2009 |
The Fear Card - one year later
When we got a miniscule amount of sentencing reform regarding crack cocaine, the prohibitionists were all proclaiming doom and gloom, panic in the streets, and the end of the world.
Here's one example from one year ago:
The Bush administration announced yesterday that it is seeking $200 million to help cities fight violent crime, citing as one of its reasons, the U.S. Sentencing Commission's decision to give convicted crack cocaine offenders a chance for an earlier release.
Speaking before the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said that "a sudden influx of criminals from federal prison into your communities could lead to a surge in new victims as a tragic, but predictable, result."
So it's been a year. Have you seen a surge of new victims as a result of sentencing reform? No. You never see a surge of new victims as a result of sentencing reform. You only see a surge of new victims when you ratchet up the drug war (as in Mexico).
Douglas Berman, at Sentencing Law and Policy has been following this issue closely. Here's one example of how smooth it's going.
For the most part, the process has gone smoothly in the two federal courthouses that serve the Quad-Cities, officials said. Prosecutors and defense attorneys worked with probation officers to sift through applications to determine who was eligible and who was not. People with mandatory sentences and career offender status were out. A few people convicted of other types of crime attempted to ask for reductions, too.
In the Central District of Illinois, of which the Illinois Quad-Cities is a part, 307 cases were considered as of the beginning of December, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Of those 139 were granted, and 168 were denied. The average decrease was 28 months.
This is typical of the news (or lack thereof) related to this reform, despite attempts to paint all such drug offenders as scary and dangerous to the community if they're released after 16 years of prison instead of 20 years.
See also Alex at Drug Law Blog
6:51:01 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Sunday, January 25, 2009 |
UNODC chief Costa: Illegal drug trade saved banks
This is pretty strange. According to the UN's "drug czar," we can thank the liquidity of black market drug trade money for saving some banks and maybe even some countries' economic systems.
VIENNA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations' crime and drug watchdog has indications that money made in illicit drug trade has been used to keep banks afloat in the global financial crisis, its head was quoted as saying on Sunday. [...]
"In many instances, drug money is currently the only liquid investment capital," Costa was quoted as saying by Profil. "In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor."
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had found evidence that "interbank loans were funded by money that originated from drug trade and other illegal activities," Costa was quoted as saying. There were "signs that some banks were rescued in that way."
Well maybe we've finally found a bizarre and dysfunctional reason for keeping drugs illegal -- the banks need the unregulated cash flow.
Of course, if we weren't wasting all our money on an unproductive war on drugs and converted the black market to economic productivity, we wouldn't need the liquidity of black-market cash.
9:13:55 PM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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A Letter to the Editor that practically writes itself
Check out this news from Canada: Hemp Refiner Expected To Provide New Income For 200 Farmers
Stonehedge is now set to establish a bioprocessing facility in Eastern Ontario to serve North American markets. Some of the products and co-products are aimed at the automotive, energy, agriculture, construction material, and pulp and paper markets. This fibre separation facility ( decortication plant ) is expected to provide new farm income for about 200 farmers, putting more than 12,000 acres into cultivation, said John Baker, president and founder of Stonehedge.
So why are we denying our farmers the opportunity to compete in the global market? Why is the U.S. giving a government monopoly on hemp industry jobs to Canada?
10:25:01 AM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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Open Thread
Sito Negron does a wrap-up on El Paso coverage:
In the end, the debate was both greatly inspiring and gravely disappointing.
It was inspiring because with very little notice the City Council was able to air in public so many issues that need to be debated at the highest levels, and it was disappointing because the state and federal leadership failed to uphold what ought to be their first priority, the honest search for the best policy.
They bowed to fear.
The El Paso Times wraps up as well:
We are at the point where we have to do something. Frustration in El Paso and Juárez has reached such levels that taboo subjects are actually being given consideration by people who would not have thought of discussing them before.
Johann Hari: The Contradictions Facing a Black President of the American Empire. Interesting article about the real reasons for much of the conflict between the U.S. and Bolivia's Morales, and the resulting paradoxes facing Obama.
DrugSense Weekly
10:18:44 AM | drug policy | Related | permalink |
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