eats horse cum. 


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #540 -- 6/20/08
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, http://stopthedrugwar.org/user/psmith
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director,
http://stopthedrugwar.org/user/borden
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Students: Intern at StoptheDrugWar.org to stop the drug war now!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/drcnet_internships_to_stop_the_drug_war

Drug War Chronicle Seeking Cases of Informant Abuse
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/help_us_find_botched_drug_war_informant_cases

Table of Contents:

1. FEATURE: US DRUG POLICIES FLAWED AND FAILED, EXPERTS TELL
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE
In a historic US Congress Joint Economic Committee hearing
Thursday, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) opened up discussion on the Hill
of the economic costs of US drug policy.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/congress_joint_economic_committee_jim_webb_drug_policy_hearing

2. FEATURE: AMSTERDAM, CONNECTICUT? DRUG REFORMER WITH BOLD
VISION SEEKS STATE OFFICE, RADICAL CHANGE
A former Navy officer and drug fighter turned drug reformer is
running for the state House of Representatives in Connecticut.
He's calling for safe injection sites, opiate maintenance, and
taxed and regulated marijuana sales, and he could use your help.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/sylvester_salcedo_bridgeport_amsterdam

3. LAW ENFORCEMENT: SWAT RUN AMOK
A Chicago SWAT raid of a social club and the killing of a
homeowner in a Florida SWAT raid that netted less than an ounce
of marijuana are the latest incidents to put heavy-handed police
tactics in the spotlight.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/swat_chicago_pembroke_pines_florida_vincent_hodgkiss

4. STUDENTS: INTERN AT DRCNET AND HELP STOP THE DRUG WAR!
Apply for an internship at DRCNet for this fall (or spring), and
you could spend the semester fighting the good fight!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/drcnet_internships_to_stop_the_drug_war

5. HELP NEEDED: DRUG WAR CHRONICLE SEEKING CASES OF INFORMANT
ABUSE
Drug War Chronicle is seeking information on serious police
misconduct or misjudgments in the treatment of informants.
Confidentiality will be protected.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/help_us_find_botched_drug_war_informant_cases

6. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
Trouble in the Hoosier State this week, with some Indy cops
busted for ripping off pot dealers and selling their wares and a
Muncie drug task force being investigated over its asset
forfeiture practices. Also, a Wyoming jailer steals his cop
father's drug dog pot stash, and a Massachusetts cop cops a
plea.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/police_drug_corruption

7. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: BILL PASSES NEW YORK ASSEMBLY, SENATE MUST
ACT BY MONDAY
For the second year in a row, the New York Assembly has passed a
medical marijuana bill. But the state Senate must act by Monday,
when the legislature recesses, or the effort to enact a medical
marijuana law in the Empire State will be dead for this year.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/new_york_assembly_passes_medical_marijuana_bill

8. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: MASSACHUSETTS ENTREPRENEUR GETS MONOPOLY
DISTRIBUTION INITIATIVE ON MICHIGAN TOWN BALLOT -- OFFICIALS
SURPRISED AND CONFUSED
A Massachusetts man has gotten a medical marijuana distribution
initiative on the ballot in Ferndale, Michigan. Is he
positioning himself to cash in when (and if) voters approve a
statewide medical marijuana initiative in November?
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/ferndale_michigan_medical_marijuana_distribution_initiative_carl_swanson

9. PRESS RELEASE: NEW REPORT FINDS TEEN MARIJUANA USE DOWN IN
STATES WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS
Opponents of medical marijuana sometimes argue that allowing it
will encourage kids to smoke pot. But new report coauthored by
SUNY Albany researcher Dr. Mitch Earleywine has found that teen
marijuana use has actually declined in states that have medical
marijuana laws, and more markedly than national averages.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/teen_use_declines_in_medical_marijuana_states

10. EUROPE: AMSTERDAM'S COFFEE SHOPS BRACE FOR TOBACCO SMOKING
BAN
A Dutch ban on tobacco smoking in public venues has Amsterdam's
coffee shop owners worried. Smoking marijuana remains okay, but
those Euro-style tobacco-laced joints will be forbidden.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/dutch_tobacco_ban_affects_coffee_shops

11. LATIN AMERICA: COCA PRODUCTION UP LAST YEAR, UN REPORTS
Coca production in the Andes was up last year, the UN reported
this week. The biggest percentage increase was in Colombia,
where years of US-funded herbicide spraying have failed to stop
farmers.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/coca_cultivation_increases_2007_unodc

12. MIDDLE EAST: ISRAEL TO BAN BONG SALES?
The Law, Constitution, and Justice Committee of Israel's Knesset
(parliament) has approved a measure that would ban the sale of
bongs, or water pipes often used to smoke marijuana. It has two
more readings to go and then a floor vote to become law.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/israel_bong_ban

13. LATIN AMERICA: HUMAN RIGHTS A CASUALTY IN CHIHUAHUA'S DRUG
WAR
The Mexican army undertook Operation Join Together Chihuahua in
March, as thousands of troops poured into the Mexican border
state. As has been the case elsewhere in Mexico, the arrival of
the troops has been followed by a growing chorus of human rights
complaints.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/chihuahua_mexico_army_human_rights_drug_war

14. WEEKLY: THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of
years past.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/drug_war_history

15. WEEKLY: BLOGGING @ THE SPEAKEASY
"Dutch Smoking Ban Could Improve Marijuana Quality," "Drug Cops
Shouldn't be Paid With Confiscated Drug Money, But They Are,"
"Increased Pot Potency Just Proves That Marijuana Laws Have
Failed," "Why You Shouldn't Try to Eat Your Marijuana if You're
Pulled Over," "U.S. Government Stopped Research After Finding
That Marijuana Slowed Cancer Growth," "Mexican Drug War
Analysis: It's Not Going Well."
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/blogging_at_the_speakeasy

16. JOB OPPORTUNITY: DIRECTOR OF STATE POLICIES, MARIJUANA
POLICY PROJECT, WASHINGTON, DC
The Marijuana Policy Project is seeking a seasoned professional
to fill the position of Director of State Policies in MPP's
headquarters in Washington, DC. The Director of State Policies
manages MPP's grassroots and direct lobbying efforts in all
state legislatures.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/mpp_job_opportunity

17. FEEDBACK: DO YOU READ DRUG WAR CHRONICLE?
Do you read Drug War Chronicle? If so, we need your feedback to
evaluate our work and make the case for Drug War Chronicle to
funders. We need donations too.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/do_you_read_drug_war_chronicle

18. WEBMASTERS: HELP THE MOVEMENT BY RUNNING DRCNET SYNDICATION
FEEDS ON YOUR WEB SITE!
Support the cause by featuring automatically-updating Drug War
Chronicle and other DRCNet content links on your web site!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/drug_policy_content_syndication_feeds_now_available

19. RESOURCE: DRCNET WEB SITE OFFERS WIDE ARRAY OF RSS FEEDS FOR
YOUR READER
A new way for you to receive DRCNet articles -- Drug War
Chronicle and more -- is now available.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/drug_policy_RSS_feeds_now_available

20. RESOURCE: REFORMER'S CALENDAR ACCESSIBLE THROUGH DRCNET WEB
SITE
Visit our new web site each day to see a running countdown to
the events coming up the soonest, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/drug_reform_calendar

(Not subscribed? Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up
today!)

================

1. Feature: US Drug Policies Flawed and Failed, Experts Tell
Congressional Committee
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/congress_joint_economic_committee_jim_webb_drug_policy_hearing

The US Congress Joint Economic Committee yesterday held a
historic hearing on the economic costs of US drug policy. The
hearing, titled Illegal Drugs: Economic Impact, Societal Costs,
Policy Responses
(http://jec.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.HearingsCalendar&ContentRecord_id=9d0729b4-eefe-2b3e-7931-fb353bebe2a8),
was called at the request of Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), who in his
opening remarks described the all-too-familiar failure of US
drug policy to accomplish the goals it has set for itself. It
was the second hearing related to incarceration
(http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2007/10/senator-jim-webb-on-mass-incarceration.html)
that Webb has convened under the auspices of this committee.

"Our insatiable demand for drugs" drives the drug trade, Webb
pointed out. "We're spending enormous amounts of money to
interdict drug shipments, but supplies remain consistent. Some
86% of high schoolers report easy access to marijuana. Cocaine
prices have fallen by about 80% since the 1980s," the freshman
senator continued. "Efforts to curb illegal drug use have relied
heavily on enforcement. The number of people in custody on drug
charges has increased 13-fold in the past 25 years, yet the flow
of drugs remains undiminished. Drug convictions and collateral
punishments are devastating our minority communities," Webb
said.

"Our current policy mix is not working the way we want it to,"
Webb declared. "The ease with which drugs can be obtained, the
price, the number of people using drugs, the violence on the
border all show that. We need to rethink our responses to the
health effects, the economic impacts, the effect on crime. We
need to rethink our approach to the supply and demand of drugs."

Such sentiments coming from a sitting senator in the US in 2008
are bold if not remarkable, and it's not the first time that
Webb has uttered such words:

In March of last year, he told George Stephanopoulos on the ABC
News program "This Week": "One of the issues which never comes
up in campaigns but it's an issue that's tearing this country
apart is this whole notion of our criminal justice system, how
many people are in our criminal justice system more -- I think
we have two million people incarcerated in this country right
now and that's an issue that's going to take two or three years
to try to get to the bottom of and that's where I want to put my
energy"
(http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/477/quote_of_the_week_senator_jim_webb_on_incarceration_crisis).

In his recently-released book, "A Time to Fight," Webb wrote:
"The time has come to stop locking up people for mere possession
and use of marijuana," "It makes far more sense to take the
money that would be saved by such a policy and use it for
enforcement of gang-related activities" and "Either we are home
to the most evil population on earth, or we are locking up a lot
of people who really don't need to be in jail, for actions that
other countries seem to handle in more constructive ways"
(http://www.celebstoner.com/news/celebstoner-news/webb-for-weed.html).

 Still, drug reformers may be impatient with the level of
rethinking presented at the hearing. While witnesses including
University of Maryland criminologist Peter Reuter
(http://www.publicpolicy.umd.edu/facstaff/faculty/Reuter.htm),
author of "Drug War Heresies," and John Walsh, director of the
Washington Office on Latin America (http://www.wola.org) offered
strong and familiar critiques of various aspects of US drug
policy, neither of the words "prohibition" or "legalization"
were ever uttered, nor were the words "tax and regulate," and
radical alternatives to current policy were barely touched upon.
Instead, the emphasis seemed to be on adjusting the "mix" of
spending on law enforcement versus treatment and prevention.

The other two witnesses at the hearing, Kings County (Brooklyn),
New York, Assistant District Attorney Anne Swern and community
coordinator Norma Fernandes of the same office, were there to
talk up the success of drug court-style programs in their
community.

[The written testimony of all four witnesses is available at the
hearing web site linked above.]

"US drug policy is comprehensive, but unbalanced," said Reuter.
"As much as 75% of spending goes to enforcement, mainly to lock
up low-level drug dealers. Treatment is not very available. The
US has a larger drug problem than other Western countries, and
the policy measures to confront it have met with little
success," he told the committee.

Reuter said there were some indications policymakers and the
electorate are tiring of the drug war approach, citing
California's treatment-not-jail Proposition 36, but there was
little indication Congress was interested in serious analysis of
programs and policies.

"Congress has been content to accept rhetoric instead of
research," Reuter said, citing its lack of reaction to the
Office of National Drug Control Policy's refusal to release a
now three-year-old report on drug use levels during the Bush
administration. "It's hardly a secret that ONDCP has failed to
publish that report, but Congress has not bothered to do
anything," he complained. "We need more emphasis on the analytic
base for policy."

But even with the paltry evidence available to work with, Reuter
was able to summarize a bottom line: "The US imprisons too many
people and provides too little treatment," he said. "We need
more than marginal changes."

"US drug policies have been in place for some time without much
change except for intensification," said WOLA's Walsh, noting
that coca production levels are as high as they were 20 years
ago. "Since 1981, we have spent about $800 billion on drug
control, and $600 billion of that on supply reduction. We need
a stiff dose of historical reality as we contemplate what to do
now," he told the committee.

With the basic policies in place for so long, some conclusions
can now be drawn, Walsh said. "First, the balloon effect is real
and fully relevant today. We've seen it time and time again, not
just with crops, but also with drug smuggling routes. If we want
to talk about actually reducing illicit crops and we know
eradication only leads to renewed planting, we need to be
looking for alternatives," he said.

"Second, there is continuing strong availability of illicit
drugs and a long-term trend toward falling prices," Walsh said,
strongly suggesting that interdiction was a failed policy. "The
perennial goal is to drive up prices, but prices have fallen
sharply. There is evidence of disruptions in the US cocaine
market last year, but whether that endures is an open question
and quite doubtful given the historical record," he said.

"Third, finding drugs coming across the border is like finding a
needle in a haystack, or more like finding lots of needles in
lots of different moving haystacks," he said. "Our legal
commerce with Mexico is so huge that to think we can seal the
borders is delusional."

With respect to the anti-drug assistance package for Mexico
currently being debated in Congress, Walsh had a warning: "Even
with US assistance, any reduction in the flow of drugs from
Mexico is unlikely." Instead, Walsh said, lawmakers should
adjust their supply-control objectives and expectations to bring
them in line with that reality.

Changes in drug producing countries will require sustained
efforts to increase alternative livelihoods. That in turn will
require patience and a turn away from "the quick fix mentality
that hasn't fixed anything," Walsh said.

"We can't expect sudden improvements; there is no silver
bullet," Walsh concluded. "We need to switch to harm reduction
approaches and recognize drugs and drug use as perennial
problems that can't be eliminated, but can be managed better. We
need to minimize not only the harms associated with drug use,
but also those related to policies meant to control drugs."

"It is important to be able to discuss the realities of the
situation, it's not always a comfortable thing to talk about,"
Webb said after the oral testimony. "This is very much a demand
problem. I've been skeptical bout drug eradication programs;
they just don't work when you're supplying such an enormous
thirst on this end. We have to find ways to address demand other
than locking up more people. We have created an incredible
underground economic apparatus and we have to think hard about
how to address it."

"The way in which we focused attention on the supply side has
been very much mistaken," agreed Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY),
who along with Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar
(D-MN) were the only other solons attending the hearing. "All
this focus on supply hasn't really done anything of any value.
The real issue is demand, and prevention and dealing with people
getting out of prison is the way to deal with this."

Reuter suggested part of the solution was in increase in what he
called "coerced abstinence," or forced drug treatment. Citing
the work of UCLA drug policy researcher Mark Kleiman, Reuter
said that regimes of frequent testing with modest sanctions
imposed immediately and with certainty can result "in a real
decline in drug taking and criminal activity."

That got a nod of agreement from prosecutor Swern. "How long you
stay in treatment is the best predictor of staying out of
trouble or off drugs," she said. Swern is running a program with
deferring sentencing, with some flexibility she said. "The
beauty of our program is it allows us to give people many
chances. If they fail in treatment and want to try again, we do
that," she said.

As the hearing drew to an end, Webb had one last question:
"Justice Department statistics show that of all drug arrests in
2005, 42.6% were for marijuana offenses. What about the energy
expended arresting people for marijuana?" he asked, implicitly
begging for someone to respond, "It's a waste of resources."

But no one connected directly with the floating softball. "The
vast majority of those arrests are for simple possession," said
Reuter. "In Maryland, essentially no one is sentenced to jail
for marijuana possession, although about a third spend time in
jail pre-trial. It's not as bad as it looks," he said
sanguinely.

"There's violence around marijuana trafficking in Brooklyn,"
responded prosecutor Swern.

WOLA's Walsh came closest to a strong answer. "Your question
goes to setting priorities," he said. "We need to discriminate
among types of illicit drugs. Which do the most harm and deserve
the most emphasis? Also, given the sheer number of marijuana
users, what kind of dent can you make even with many more
arrests?"

And so ended the first joint congressional hearing to challenge
the dogmas of the drug war. For reformers that attended, there
were generally thumbs up for Webb and the committee, mixed with
a bit of disappointment that the hearings only went so far.

"It was extraordinary," said Sanho Tree, director of the Drug
Policy Project at the DC-based Institute for Policy Studies
(http://www.ips-dc.org). "They didn't cover some of the things I
hoped they would, but I have to give them props for addressing
the issue at all."

"Webb was looking for someone to say what he wanted to say with
the marijuana question, that perhaps we should deemphasize law
enforcement on that," said Doug McVay, policy analyst at Common
Sense for Drug Policy (http://www.csdp.org), who also attended
the hearing. "I don't think our witnesses quite caught what he
was aiming for, an answer that arresting all those people for
marijuana takes away resources that could be used to fight real
crime."

Sen. Webb came in for special praise from Tree. "Perhaps because
he's a possible vice presidential candidate, he had to tone
things down a bit, but he is clearly not afraid to talk about
over-incarceration, and using the Joint Economic Committee
instead of Judiciary or Foreign Affairs is a brilliant use of
that committee, because this is, after all, a policy with
enormous economic consequences," Tree said. "Webb is clearly
motivated by doing something about the high levels of
incarceration. He held a hearing on it last year, and got the
obvious answer that much of it is related to drug policy. Having
heard that kind of answer, most politicians would walk away
fast, but not Webb, so I have to give him credit."

Reversing the drug war juggernaut will not be easy. The
Congressional Joint Economic Committee hearing Thursday was
perhaps a small step toward that end, but it is a step in the
right direction.

================

	later
	bliss -- C  O C O A  Powered... (at california dot com)
-- 
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
 It is by the beans of cocoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
 the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
 It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
	--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.