Issue #452 – 9/8/06
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
subscribe now | make a donation | search1. Editorial: Call It What You Want
Each day that passes, Louisiana's Heroin Lifers languish behind bars, unjustly denied their freedom.2. Appeal: Please Support DRCNet's New Web Campaign!
We believe you'll be excited and impressed when you see our new web site and what it can do. But it needs your help.3. Feature: Afghan Opium Crop Hits Record as Violence Increases
The West faces a crisis in Afghanistan, as opium cultivation rises to all-time record levels and a reinvigorated Taliban insurgency takes on NATO and the US.4. Feature: Vancouver's Safe Injection Site Gets Only Limited Continuing Exemption
Insite, Vancouver's pioneering safe injection site, has won a temporary reprieve from the Canadian government, but now the government wants more research and is refusing to pay for it.5. Feature: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Stirs the Waters in Ireland
LEAP member former Florida police chief Jerry Cameron went to Ireland and managed to really roil the waters.6. Callout: Please Submit Blog Posts, News and Events on New DRCNet Web Site!
Our new web site has many new interactive features...7. Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
The temptations of the border tarnish another Texas lawman's badge, a Tulsa cop is convicted of being too helpful to a drug dealer, and a pair of Newark's finest plea to a pill-pushing scheme.8. Pain Medicine: DEA Set to Ease Restrictions on Schedule II Prescriptions
The DEA has issued new "proposed rules" to again allow doctors to prescribe Schedule II pain relieving drugs for up to 90 days on one prescription instead of the current 30 days.9. Harm Reduction: Pittsburgh Needle Exchange Wins Health Board Approval for Continued Operation
Pittsburgh's sole needle exchange program is one step closer to being formalized after its legality was challenged earlier this year.10. Marijuana: In Annual Harvest Roundup, 98% of All Marijuana Seizures Are Ditchweed
Law enforcement authorities seized a whopping 233 million marijuana plants last year under a DEA program. Too bad 98% of them were ditchweed.11. Europe: Scottish Police Move Toward Warnings for Simple Marijuana Possession
Scottish police have embarked on a pilot program where people caught with small amounts of marijuana are warned, not arrested.12. Southeast Asia: Australian Foreign Minister "Grateful" for Indonesia's Tough Drug Stance After Four Australians Sentenced to Death for Smuggling
With six young Australians now facing the death penalty for drug smuggling in Indonesia, Australia's foreign minister pronounces himself "grateful" for the Indonesians' tough stance.13. South Asia: India Rebels Threaten to Kill Drug Traffickers, Tobacco Dealers
Separatist rebels in the Indian state of Manipur are threatening to execute drug traffickers and have already done so.14. Weekly: This Week in History
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.15. Job Opportunies: Drug Policy Alliance, NYC & Sacramento
DPA is hiring a public affairs director in New York and a director for their California state capital office.16. Announcement: New Format for the Reformer's Calendar
Visit our new web site each day to see a running countdown to the events coming up the soonest, and more.
1. Editorial: Call It What You Want
David BordenOne group of Louisianans who had mostly been forgotten since long before the hurricane hit are a group of prisoners, mostly low-level offenders, convicted of selling heroin or of possession with intent to sell. The "Heroin Lifers," as they are known to the small number of people paying attention, were sentenced under a draconian law passed in 1973 that mandates a life-without-parole sentence for any such offense. Neither the quantity of heroin involved nor any details of the actual circumstances are allowed to be considered under this particularly harsh mandatory minimum statute.
Our editor stumbled across the Lifers last week while talking to experts about the post-Katrina New Orleans jail scandal, and is currently researching the issue. We don't yet know how many of them there are, though author Sasha Abramsky wrote in Legal Times 2 ½ years ago that the legislature was considering granting parole to Heroin Lifers who had served at least 40 years of their sentences and there were about 250 such people. If sources can be reached this week we'll have a full story in the Chronicle next issue.
It's good -- a little -- that Louisiana's powers-that-be were willing to help out those 250 people. Even if the motivation was the money they could save by not having to provide prison-based geriatric care for no reason (I speculate, perhaps there were other reasons too), it's better -- slightly -- than nothing.
But what about the merely 30-year prisoners? Or the 20-years? Five?
The idea of a lifetime behind bars, with no possibility of redemption, has an air of unreality to it -- most of us cannot really conceive of what such a life would be like, or what it would be like to have the knowledge that that was to be one's life. Sentencing like that for any but the worst of the worst of all criminals must be the work of people who have lost perspective on what incarceration truly means. Imagine that you are to spend a single year in jail. Doesn't it seem like a long time? Just one year of incarceration is intrinsically a pretty harsh punishment, if the measure of harshness is the actual effect a punishment has on the individual punished. Even if one stop short of advocating outright legalization of drugs (I advocate legalization, for many reasons), the Louisiana law, and many similar ones passed by other states and by Congress, still defy reason.
So what should we call such the act of dealing a lengthy, mandatory minimum prison term to a minor drug offender, let alone a life-without-parole term? Should we call it injustice? Cruelty? Tyranny? Violative of human rights? Evil? Take your pick of those or other descriptors -- at a minimum let us all agree it is senseless and must cease as soon as possible.
Each day that passes is another day the Heroin Lifers languish behind bars, denied the most essential, natural right to which they are entitled: the right to freedom.
2. Appeal: Please Support DRCNet's New Web Campaign!
If you haven't been to the DRCNet web site the last ten days, you haven't seen... our new look, new content, new functionality, new ways to participate... you haven't seen this major upgrade to our critical educational program. When you do, we believe you'll be excited and impressed.
Our site traffic has already more than doubled -- and it's only just gotten started -- more is coming soon.
Please visit http://stopthedrugwar.org/donate to make a generous donation to help us continue to take DRCNet onward and upward to greater heights of visibility and impact. When you're done, click on the "Home" link and explore.
Thank you in advance for your support. Stay tuned for further news...
Sincerely,
David Borden
Executive DirectorP.S. DRCNet accepts donations by mail too. Our address is P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20009. Tax-deductible donations to support our educational work should be made payable to DRCNet Foundation. Non-deductible donations supporting our lobbying programs should be payable to Drug Reform Coordination Network, same address. Contact us for information on how to contribute stocks.
3. Feature: Afghan Opium Crop Hits Record as Violence Increases
Things are not going well in Afghanistan. In a stunning admission that the hundreds of millions of dollars spent trying to eradicate the country's opium crop had accomplished little, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced Saturday that this year's Afghan opium crop is up a "staggering" 60% over last year and will yield a record 6,100 tons this year, leading to a global surplus in black market heroin.
Opium is the backbone of the Afghan economy, accounting for somewhere between 35% and 50% of gross national product, and Afghan opium is the backbone of the global traffic in narcotics, now accounting for 92% of total illicit global production, according to UNODC.
opium eradication team (photo from the Senlis Council report, photo library section)Meanwhile, US soldiers and NATO forces, who took over operations in the restive south of the country earlier this year, are being killed at a record pace as Taliban and Al Qaeda rebels reinvigorated by profits from the opium trade are taking the battle to the foreigners and the government they prop up. And in a reflection of the increased NATO role, for the first time, NATO casualties are keeping pace with American casualties. In what is turning into the bloodiest year so far for Afghanistan's occupiers, 73 NATO troops and 74 American soldiers have been killed so far. Last year, the second bloodiest since the US invasion nearly five years ago, 99 US and 31 NATO troops were killed in fighting.
"The news is very bad. On the opium front today in some of the provinces of Afghanistan, we face a state of emergency," UNODC head Antonio Maria Costa told a Kabul news conference after presenting results of its crop survey to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "In the southern provinces, the situation is out of control."
In southern Helmand province, now a hotbed of Taliban activity, cultivation rose by a whopping 162% and accounts for 42% of total Afghan opium cultivation, the UNODC said. Costa told the Kabul news conference that NATO must step up its role in fighting the opium trade, especially in the south, where it is helping to fuel the Taliban insurgency.
"We need much stronger, forceful measures to improve security or otherwise I'm afraid we are going to face a dramatic situation of failed regions, districts and even perhaps even provinces in the near future," Costa said.
But while NATO commanders late this week called urgently for more troops on the ground in the south, they have little interest in fighting the drug war. NATO's official position is that its mandate is for stability and peace-keeping, not counternarcotics.
Still, there is pressure from the Americans and the British to try to wage both the war on terror and the war on drugs simultaneously. The top American anti-drug official in Afghanistan, Doug Wankel, told the press conference the need was urgent. "This country could be taken down by this whole drugs problem," he told reporters. "We have seen what can come from Afghanistan, if you go back to 9/11. Obviously the US does not want to see that again."
But analysts consulted by Drug War Chronicle warned that attempting to quash the opium economy and fight the Taliban at the same time is a recipe for disaster. "Paradoxically, the more they go after opium production, the more they strengthen the bond between the Taliban and the population and the traffickers," said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a research fellow at the Brookings Institution and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government Affairs. "It is a difficult conundrum. There can be no fundamental progress on either the narcotics problem or stabilization in general unless we deal with the insurgency," she told the Chronicle.
"The Taliban have now once again become integrated into production in the south," Felbab-Brown explained. "After 2001, they were pretty much forced out of the drug trade because they were fleeing and because the US and coalition forces were not going after drug trafficking. But now, the traffickers need someone to protect them, to scare off the eradication teams and the state presence, and the Taliban is providing this protection. It is also exploiting the eradication effort," the expert on illicit drugs and military conflict said. "They are handing out leaflets saying things like 'We are the Taliban. Isn't it awful that Karzai under the pressure of the foreign infidels is trying to destroy our crops. Here's our cell phone number. Give us a call.' So now, the Taliban is not only profiting financially, it is also gaining the allegiance of the population by providing protection."
"Things are a bit out of control because so many things happening in Iraq and the Middle East keep the superpowers' eyes off of Afghanistan, so the intruders have more opportunities to accelerate their destruction and illegal activities," said Raheem Yaseer, assistant director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. "At the same time, the coalition and the Karzai government are too busy fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda to concentrate on eradication," he told the Chronicle.
"The Taliban is moving into the areas where there is drug cultivation, and they receive support from farmers who have had their crops destroyed or threatened," Yaseer continued. "Thus, the traffickers and growers have a bit more freedom than usual. That's why business is booming for the drug dealers. There are too many fronts to deal with, and eradication is just one front."
Solutions are hard to come by. "Nobody knows what the answer is," Yaseer conceded. "Out of those billions of dollars they are spending, they need to use some to compensate farmers and create other jobs and projects. People in the provinces are unemployed and hungry, and the terrorists offer them money to join them. People turn to the Taliban and the terrorists and the drug dealers because that's where the money is. The government and the coalition cannot compete with the money drug dealers offer. It doesn't help that there is such nepotism and involvement of high level officials in the trade. That only makes it all the more difficult to enforce the drug laws. Many government officials are supporting the trade, not fighting it."
the opium trader's wares (photo by Chronicle editor Phil Smith during September 2005 visit to Afghanistan)"There is no doubt lots of government officials are complicit in the trade, but focusing on individuals is a mistake," noted Felbab-Brown. "This isn't about individuals, but about deep structural factors like the lack of stability, security, and economic development. Whoever is in power, whether honest or corrupt, will have to contend with these issues. The honest ones will confront the fact that there is nothing but poppy-growing for much of the population. The only way they can do eradication now is at gunpoint, and that is not the way to carry out a legitimate, widely-embraced policy. Forced eradication generates instability and opposition from the people, and ambitious politicians in the south will link up with the Taliban."
For Felbab-Brown, it comes down to doing counterinsurgency right. "It is critical to increase the number of forces, to increase the troop presence and the delivery of aid," she said. "It's difficult to deliver aid during an active insurgency, but it is vital. But we also need patience, especially on the narcotics issue. The big pressure for premature eradication coming from Washington and international organizations needs to be resisted. We need more money, more troops, more development. Is this international community willing to provide these resources?"
Being patient with the opium economy is getting closer to the correct approach, said Ted Galen Carpenter, a foreign affairs and drug policy analyst with the libertarian leaning Cato Institute. "The only solution is one that no one in any position of influence in Washington or the NATO capitals will consider -- drug legalization," he told Drug War Chronicle. "That would take the black market profits out of the drug trade. It is the ultimate solution. If they won't consider legalization, the very least they can do is look the other way with regard to the drug trade. That worked in Peru in the 1980s, when the Peruvian generals figured out that leaving the coca crop alone dried up support for the Shining Path. Something similar needs to occur in Afghanistan, whether they admit it or not. If they are serious about preventing a further rebound of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, they need to lay off the drug war."
Trying to wage both the war on terror and the war on drugs undermines US policy in the country, Carpenter argued. "There is a fundamental inconsistency in the US nation-building strategy in Afghanistan. The primary goal remains to undermine the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but the problem is if they go after the drug trade, they alienate a major portion of the population and strengthen support for the Taliban. Even trying to prosecute the war on drugs there undermines the primary US goal in Afghanistan."
One European defense and development group, the Senlis Council, has proposed for nearly a year now that the Afghan opium crop be licensed, legalized, and diverted to the legitimate medicinal market. Senlis was harshly critical of Western policy this week.
"Huge amounts of money have been spent on large and costly military operations, but after five years southern Afghanistan is once more a battlefield for the control of the country," said Senlis executive director Emmanuel Reinert as he announced the publication of a new report on the rebirth of the Taliban. "At the same time Afghans are starving. The US has lost control in Afghanistan and has in many ways undercut the new democracy in Afghanistan. I think we can call that a failure, and one with dire consequences which should concern us all. The US policies in Afghanistan have re-created the safe-haven for terrorism that the 2001 invasion aimed to destroy."
But the Senlis licensing proposal is getting little respect or traction and is unlikely to prevail, said Yaseer. "I don't think the Senlis Council proposal will get very far," said Yaseer. "There is all kinds of opposition to any legalization. The religious groups will not support it, the legislators will not support it. There are also serious questions about whether it would just open up more venues for growing and trafficking."
Questions, questions. There are lots of questions in Afghanistan, but few good answers.
4. Feature: Vancouver's Safe Injection Site Gets Only Limited Continuing Exemption
Insite, Vancouver's pioneering safe injection site, won a reprieve from the Conservative government of Prime Minister Steven Harper last Friday -- but only a limited one. The site's three-year exemption from Canada's drug laws was set to expire next week, and the Harper government had dallied for months on whether it would re-approve the controversial harm reduction experiment. Supporters, including the city of Vancouver, the current and two former mayors, local activists, researchers from around the world, and Canadian politicians had sought a renewal of the three-year exemption, but the Harper government instead announced it would renew the exemption only through December 2007.
InSite (courtesy Vancouver Coastal Health)In an announcement last Friday afternoon -- seemingly timed to make the story vanish during a three-day holiday weekend news dump -- Health Minister Tony Clement said the results of the first three years of Insite's operation raised new questions that must be answered before the Harper government would make a decision about the long-term future of Insite or approve any other safe injection sites in Canada.
"Do safe injection sites contribute to lowering drug use and fighting addiction? Right now the only thing the research to date has proven conclusively is that drug addicts need more help to get off drugs," Minister Clement said. "Given the need for more facts, I am unable to approve the current request to extend the Vancouver site for another three and a half years."
Clement's remarks reflected the Harper government's ideological antagonism toward harm reduction practices in general and any form of dealing with drug users that does not involve abstinence in particular. "We believe the best form of harm reduction is to help addicts to break the cycle of dependency," Clement said, "We also need better education and prevention to ensure Canadians don't get addicted to drugs in the first place."
Although Insite and Vancouver Coastal Health, the government entity charged with operating the site, have produced reams of research showing that the site has reduced drug overdoses, attracted users at risk to HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, increased the number of users seeking treatment or counseling, and reduced needle sharing -- all without leading to increases in crime or drug use -- the Health Ministry insists it wants more.
"We looked at research put out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and others," Health Ministry spokesman Erik Waddell told Drug War Chronicle. "We want more research done to show that this form of harm reduction will actually help addicts get off drugs."
While Minister Clement and the Harper government are calling for more research on the efficacy of Insite, they aren't willing to pay for it. The federal government had been sponsoring research at Insite to the tune of $500,000 a year, but Waddell said that had come to an end. "We will not be providing any additional funding for research," he said.
That was news to Vancouver Coastal Health and supporters of Insite. "We hadn't heard that," said Viviana Zanocco, spokeswoman for Vancouver Coastal Health. "We're still trying to get in touch with them and waiting for details," she told Drug War Chronicle. "Still, we are pleased the extension has been granted, even though it's not for the 3 ½ years we requested."
"It's good news that the exemption has been extended and they didn't close it down," said Gillian Maxwell of Insite for Community Safety, a coalition created to help ensure the site's continued existence. "Insite is staying open because of the broad support for it and the depth of research carried out that shows what is has already achieved," she told the Chronicle.
But Maxwell also complained that the Harper government is moving the goalposts. "They have raised the bar on us," she said. "We have a harm reduction program that helps people get into treatment, but now the Harper government wants it to show it helps people stop taking drugs. We can never get everyone to stop taking drugs. This means we have a lot of work to do to protect Insite."
Maxwell said she was shocked but not surprised by the Health Ministry's refusal to fund the additional research it calls for. "They are ideologically opposed to this, so they try to make it as difficult as possible. They may think things should be a certain way, but reality and the research say otherwise."
While the short term extension of the exemption is better than shutting down the facility, said Maxwell, it could well signal that the Harper government will try to shut it down permanently later on. "They didn't feel confident enough to try to close it down now, but they have already made it clear they favor a three-pillar, not a four-pillar, approach. They have little use for harm reduction, and I think they believe that 16 months from now there will have been another election and they will have a majority and then they can shut it down."
Representatives of Insite and the Vancouver city drug policy office were on vacation this week and unavailable to comment.
Ann Livingston of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) predicted months ago that the Harper government would seek an interim solution. "I guess I was right," she told Drug War Chronicle. "I know these guys, and they don't want to let us mount a campaign. If they had said no outright, that would have been great, we could have really mobilized."
But Livingston and VANDU are not just sitting back and waiting for December 2007. The group filed a lawsuit late last month seeking an injunction to keep the site open and charging the Harper government with discriminating against people with diagnosable illnesses like drug addiction. "Criminalizing a group of people who are addicted to drugs is blocking them from health care, and that's a Charter right," she said. "The lawsuit will continue."
The lawsuit also charged that Insite does not need an exemption from the Canadian drug laws and even if it does, the government has provided no application process. "The staff at Insite doesn't handle drugs, so they shouldn't need an exemption," Livingston argued. "If they are going to argue that they do need a permit, they have to tell us how to do that. Right now there is no application process; it's all at the whim of a minister."
The safe injection site has survived one execution date, but the would-be executioners in Ottawa are still sharpening their axes. Fortunately for Insite, it has a lot of friends and a proven track record. This battle is going to continue for awhile.
5. Feature: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Stirs the Waters in Ireland
Retired Florida police chief and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) spokesman Jerry Cameron managed to put the drug debate squarely on the front burner with his appearance in Ireland last week. Cameron's address at the "Rethinking the War on Drugs" conference in Dublin, sponsored by a trio of Irish groups working on prison, drug policy and youth issues sparked numerous newspaper editorials and opinion pieces, filled the airwaves with talk about legalization, and forced the Irish government to respond.
Organized by the Irish Penal Reform Trust, the drug charity Merchant's Quay, and the Union for Improved Services, Communication, and Education (UISCE), a group combining sports and Gaelic language learning, "Rethinking the War on Drugs" brought more than one hundred Irish politicians, government workers, reformers, and activists together on August 28. With Cameron as the keynote speaker, the conference certainly inspired Irish reflection on national drug policy.
Jerry Cameron at the Dublin conference (courtesy IPRT)That's just what the IPRT wanted, said executive director Rick Lines. "The IPRT doesn't have any formal policy supporting legalization or decriminalization," he told Drug War Chronicle. "However, we do work from an analysis that drug criminalization is a main driver of growing prison populations in Ireland, and is a main cause of high rates of HIV and Hep C infection in prisons. Therefore, examining alternatives to drug criminalization, and alternatives to prison for people who use drugs, must be a central part of the work done by penal reform organizations. I understand that this might make us a bit unusual among our sister organizations internationally. I am often told by people at harm reduction conferences that the prison reform organizations in their countries don't talk about drug laws at all. Whether this is true or not, I am not sure, but I hope it isn't."
For Lines, the conference and the attention it drew were a huge success. "The event was successful beyond all our expectations," he said. "The crowd was much bigger than anticipated -- standing room only -- as was the press coverage. We counted 26 separate TV, radio, and print outlets covering the event, and we may have missed some. As such, the event was a very successful beginning to reframing the debate on this issue, which was all we really hoped to accomplish."
"This was one of the better conferences I've been to," LEAP's Cameron told DRCNet. "The folks from the Irish Penal Reform Trust did a wonderful job of organizing it, and among those attending were a member of parliament and a member of the European Parliament, the immediate past Irish drug minister, several members of the probation system, a representative from the Garda [Irish police] -- it was a real cross-section of people interested in these issues. I have to say that the people from the Irish government were a lot more open-minded than the politicians I run into in the US."
The media attention was tremendous, Cameron said. "We were in every Irish newspaper the day after the conference. I also did a lot of work with Irish radio and TV stations," he explained. "I even appeared on a radio talk show where the woman arguing me was so crazed we had caller after caller calling in to reject her positions and argue for fundamental reform."
Indeed, the media response was intense and mostly favorable. The Irish Examiner covered the conference and Cameron's remarks the same day with a story titled "US Police Chief's Warning Over Doomed Drug Policy", while the Irish Times published a reaction piece, "Government Considered Legalizing Heroin", and the Examiner came back the next day with another reaction piece, "Legalizing Cannabis 'Would Result in State Being Sued'". But even those reaction pieces featuring government figures explaining why drugs could not possibly ever be legalized kept the discussion of drug prohibition in front of the Irish public.
By the end of last week, the Irish government was forced to respond directly. The man in charge of Irish drug treatment, Minister of State at the Department of Community Noel Ahern, called in reporters to tell them the government was rejecting calls for drug legalization. "We are not going in that direction," he said in remarks reported by Irish wire services. "And if there are moves in the future it would have to be dealt with on a worldwide basis. One country on its own cannot move. Holland tried for a few years ago and they're backing off big time because they realized they were bringing in drug tourism," Ahern added, misrepresenting current Dutch drug policies as he did.
"We wouldn't have expected anything else from the government response," said IPRT's Lines. "But again our main objective was really just to raise debate, and in that sense we were remarkably successful. To paraphrase one of the speakers at the event, if we had held a public forum 20 years ago talking about needle exchange, people would have thought it was a crazy idea, but now it is well established policy."
"The media storm is still going on," Cameron said Tuesday with a mixture of surprise and pleasure. "There have been a couple more columns in the last few days, one of which quoted me extensively. The tack I took went over quite well. I told them I was not there to tell Ireland how to conduct its business, but to tell them US drug policy has been a total failure and ask them to profit from our mistakes. They have a lot of talented people who can come up with Irish solutions for Irish problems. What we've done in the US sure hasn't worked," he said.
An op-ed in the Irish Independent last Sunday titled "The War Isn't Working So Is It Now Time to Consider the Unthinkable and Legalize All Drugs?" was typical of Irish press commentary. "Currently, there is more crime, disease, death and addiction than ever before," wrote the columnist. "He [Cameron] believes, and I share his view, that not one objective or goal of the 'war on drugs' has been met, and that the 'relegalization of drugs' is 'the only way to stop drugs falling
into the hands of our children, to make room for violent offenders to serve their full terms in our prisons, and to return law enforcement to its legitimate function of protecting our citizens.'"A columnist in the Irish Examiner opined similarly the day before in a piece titled "We Are Losing the War on Drugs and Policy Should Be Stood On Its Head". In that piece, columnist Ryle Dwyer summarized Cameron's argument, added some of his own, and concluded thusly: "Using tried and tested tactics that have failed so dramatically is a cause of, not the answer to, our problems."
"The first step in any effort to promote policy change is to mainstream your perspective, and move it beyond being a 'crazy idea' and make it into a legitimate part of the public discourse," said IPRT's Lines. "One event won't accomplish this, but it is a start. The story continued on in the press in the days after the event, and I think this bodes well for continuing work on this issue, as perhaps we have helped open up safe space for others to make similar arguments themselves."
Conference by conference, op-ed by op-ed, radio show by radio show, the anti-prohibitionist message is spreading, and with the help of groups like LEAP and the IPRT, it is spreading into the mainstream.
Click here to watch the LEAP video online or donate $15 or more to DRCNet to order a copy of the DVD.
6. Callout: Please Submit Blog Posts, News and Events on New DRCNet Web Site!
Among the features available on DRCNet's new web site are interactive possibilities for you to be a part of the web team. First and foremost are Reader Blogs, a section of the new "Stop the Drug War Speakeasy" blogosphere project. Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy/reader to check it out and start posting! (If you tried already and had trouble, please try again -- we have worked out some of the initial technical issues, though probably not yet all.) We will be devoting an increasing amount of attention over time to the Reader Blogs -- this is just the beginning!
You can now let us know about important or interesting news items of relevance by submitting them directly to our new Latest News section -- visit http://stopthedrugwar.org/node/add/content-recent_news to send your suggested news links to our moderators.
DRCNet continues to publish listings of events large and small that relate to the cause, but now we feature them in a listing that appears on most of the pages on our site and which links to a full calendar. If you are involved with or know of a relevant event, you can post it directly -- not just a short description as we have done previously, but the full announcement -- at our add event page at http://stopthedrugwar.org/node/add/event online.
Drug War Chronicle articles now have comments sections at the bottom of them, another way you can join in the discussion.
Coming soon: syndication feeds you can post on your web site, a substantial drug policy links database, and geographically-targeted content for your personalized web site view. To get that geographically-targeted content, though, you'll need to be logged to our new user accounts (same e-mail address you gave us previously, if you're a subscriber) and provide us with your location if you haven't already. Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org/user to log in or register or update your information. (Please let us know if you experience any error messages or problems with the user accounts -- we have gotten some of the issues fixed but we want to get it as close to perfect as we can.)
7. Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
The temptations of the border tarnish another Texas lawman's badge, a Tulsa cop is convicted of being too helpful to a drug dealer, and a pair of Newark's finest plea to a pill-pushing scheme. Let's get to it:
In McAllen, Texas, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas issued a press release announcing the August 29 indictment of a former South Texas police officer for allegedly taking a bribe to protect what he thought was a cocaine shipment. Former Elsa City Police Officer Herman Carr, 45, is accused of taking a $5,000 payment from an undercover FBI agent to use his position as a law enforcement officer to protect a vehicle he was told contained five kilos of cocaine. He is charged with bribery and faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a federal jury last Friday found a former Tulsa police officer guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and providing unlawful notice of a search warrant. Former Officer Rico Yarbrough was convicted of informing a suspected drug dealer that a search warrant was about to be served at his residence, the Tulsa World reported. In February, Yarbrough called a Tulsa man and asked him to inform the suspected dealer of the impending raid. Unfortunately for Yarbrough, the conversation was being recorded. Federal investigators who had wiretapped the suspected dealer's phone overheard references to Yarbrough, then fed him information to see if he would leak it. He did. Yarbrough was found not guilty on two related counts, but still faces significant prison time when sentenced November 29.
In Newark, two Newark police officers pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to charges they bought thousands of Oxycontin pills from a doctor and resold them, the Associated Press reported. Patrolmen John Hernandez and Ronald Pomponio face up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines when sentenced in December for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, the active ingredient in Oxycontin. The pair admitted in court that Hernandez purchased Oxycontin tablets valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, while Pomponio took prescriptions for the pills to pharmacies across the state. The doctor from whom they allegedly purchased the drugs has pleaded not guilty.
8. Pain Medicine: DEA Set to Ease Restrictions on Schedule II Prescriptions
Under a proposed rule unveiled Wednesday, the Drug Enforcement Administation would allow doctors prescribing Schedule II drugs, such as morphine or Oxycontin, to fill prescriptions for 90 days instead of 30 days. Currently, pain patients can only get 30-day non-refillable prescriptions, requiring them to make additional visits to the doctor's office just to get a new prescription written. Doctors and patients have complained that the DEA's strict regulation of Schedule II drugs has forced doctors to limit their prescriptions, with patients going untreated as a result.
At a Wednesday press conference in Washington, DEA administrator Karen Tandy attempted to signal that the agency was hearing those concerns. "Today's policy statement reaffirms that DEA wants doctors to treat pain as is appropriate under accepted medical community standards," said Tandy in remarks reported by the Associated Press. "Physicians acting in accordance with accepted medical practice should be confident that they will not be criminally charged."
While the number of doctors who faced federal charges over their prescribing practices is relatively small, it is increasing -- from 38 in 2003 to 67 last year. Other pain management physicians have faced state criminal charges of administrative sanctions, and pain patient and physician advocacy groups complain that the agency is interfering with and having a chilling effect on the practice of pain medicine.
The move was welcomed by the American Medical Association, with AMA board member Dr. Rebecca Patchin telling the AP it was a step toward improving the care of pain patients. "Relieving suffering while doing everything we can to prevent the abuse of controlled substances reflects appropriate patient care, a standard which is easier to achieve when a strong patient-physician relationship exists," said Dr. Patchin. "We need to provide access to pain relief for patients with legitimate needs, and the DEA proposal would help in doing this."
Others were less sanguine. "Ms. Tandy states here, as she has on many occasions, that doctors need not fear criminal prosecution as long as they practice medicine in conformity with what these drug cops think is 'appropriate,'" said Siobhan Reynolds, president of the Pain Relief Network. "If that isn't a threat, it will certainly pass for one within the thoroughly intimidated medical community."
9. Harm Reduction: Pittsburgh Needle Exchange Wins Health Board Approval for Continued Operation
Prevention Point Pittsburgh, the sole needle exchange provider in the Pittsburgh area, is one step closer to being allowed to continue to operate after the Allegheny County Board of Health Wednesday approved regulations formalizing its operation. The exchange program had come under attack in April, when county council members questioned its legality in what was in large part a bureaucratic spat between the council and the health board.
"We're incredibly pleased," Renee Cox, executive director of Prevention Point Pittsburgh, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Thursday. "All in all, it's worked out well. It does grant us a little more permanency now that we have formal regulations."
It was a bumpy ride, though. After county council members complained in April, the health board in May drafted regulations that would have required people exchanging needles to give their names and other identifying information and would have banned "secondary exchanges," where people pick up needles and then distribute them to others not in the program. The board heard those complaints.
"They restored anonymity of exchangers, which is absolutely fundamental to the operation of the needle exchange," Cox said. "They also allowed for secondary exchange, which will expand the reach of this small program."
The new regulations must still be approved by the county council.
10. Marijuana: In Annual Harvest Roundup, 98% of All Marijuana Seizures Are Ditchweed
The fact may get lost in the hype about multi-million dollar outdoor marijuana garden seizures at this time of year, but the vast majority of all marijuana plants seized by law enforcement are ditchweed. For those who didn't grow up in the Midwest, ditchweed is feral marijuana descended from the hemp plants farmers produced as part of the war effort in World War II.
National Guard marijuana (or more likely ditchweed) eradication team, Dodge County, MinnesotaLike the hemp plants whence it came, ditchweed has negligible levels of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana. An old saying in the Midwest is that you could smoke a joint of it the size of a telephone pole and all you would get is a headache.
According to official DEA figures, police seized an estimated 223 million marijuana plants last year. But 219 million of them, or 98%, were ditchweed. That figure is in line with previous years. And a whopping 212 million plants came from Indiana alone. Missouri came in second with 4.5 million plants, Kansas third with 1.1 million, and Wisconsin fourth with 272,000. Most states reported no ditchweed seizures.
The DEA pays for the ditchweed eradication boondoggle, something for which National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws executive director criticized it in a statement noting the annual seizure figures. "The irony, of course, is that industrial hemp is grown legally throughout most of the Western world as a commercial crop for its fiber content," he said. "Yet the US government is spending taxpayers' money to target and eradicate this same agricultural commodity."
Your tax dollars at work.
11. Europe: Scottish Police Move Toward Warnings for Simple Marijuana Possession
Police in two Scottish police districts have begun a pilot program where people caught in possession of small amounts of marijuana are given warnings instead of being arrested and prosecuted. Police reported already issuing 23 warnings in the West Lothian area. The other district where the program is underway is Fife, where some 40 warnings had already been issued.
The newspaper The Scotsman quoted a spokesman for the Lothian and Borders police as saying, "West Lothian is the only division where they use adult warnings. There is a pilot project agreed with procurators fiscal."
After Scottish police were criticized by some anti-drug campaigners for "sending the wrong message," the Association of Chief Police Officers, the grouping of Britain's top cops, moved to assure the nervous that police weren't going soft. "The police service in Scotland continues to take a robust stance on anybody caught in possession of drugs. The projects in place in Fife and Lothian and Borders are in agreement with local procurators fiscal and in the spirit of the criminal justice reform process," the group said.
The pilot program comes on the heels of a decision by all Scottish police forces to move to warnings instead of arrests for a variety of minor offenses -- such as public urination or low-level disturbing the peace -- for first-time offenders. The moves are part of an effort to reduce the burden of a heavy caseload on courts and prosecutors.
But Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell is grumbling. While telling reporters he would not dictate to police or prosecutors, he added that he was "very keen" that people with pot be prosecuted. "Cannabis is illegal and nobody in Scotland should ever get the impression otherwise," he said.
12. Southeast Asia: Australian Foreign Minister "Grateful" for Indonesia's Tough Drug Stance After Four Australians Sentenced to Death for Smuggling
After the Indonesian Supreme Court sentenced four Australian citizens to death for trying to smuggle heroin from Bali to Australia, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told a press conference Tuesday night he was "grateful" for Indonesia's tough stance on drug policy. Downer held out little hope that the four, and two others already sentenced to death, would be spared.
Part of a group known as the "Bali Nine," the four Australians had originally been sentenced to lengthy prison terms, but prosecutors appealed the "lenient" sentences, and earlier this week the Supreme Court resentenced them to death. They join two other young members of the "Bali Nine" already sentenced to die in a case involving 18 pounds of heroin.
At the press conference called to confirm the imposition of the death sentences, Downer said the case would not harm relations between the two countries. "We actually urged the Indonesians to be tough on drug trafficking," he said. "The last thing we want is heroin brought into Australia from Indonesia. Don't make any mistake about that. We are grateful to the Indonesians for being tough on drugs. It's just that we don't support capital punishment. That they have arrested people who've been trafficking drugs means those drugs don't come into Australia and innocent Australians, or drug users in Australia innocent or not, aren't going to use those drugs, and that's a good thing."
Despite Downer's sanguine comments, Liberal Prime Minister John Howard, himself a staunch drug warrior, announced he would seek clemency, although he cautioned it would be unlikely. "I don't think people should entertain too many optimistic thoughts because it's difficult, but we will try hard and we will put the case against the death penalty," Howard said late on Wednesday.
Other Australian politicians have protested more loudly. "Judicial murder is what the Indonesian authorities have in mind here. It is a repugnant and barbaric practice," Green Senator Bob Brown told Reuters.
A group of Australian politicians who are members of Amnesty International said they would protest to the Indonesian government. "We should not sit back and say this is their laws and they can do what they want," said government MP Bruce Baird. Meanwhile, the six young Australians confront their imminent mortality.
One of the Australians sentenced to death, 20-year-old Scott Rush, said he was shocked by the ruling and pleaded for help. "This is making my head spin. I am sitting on death, am I?," he said. "At first I didn't want to appeal because of this sort of thing. I was scared and me and my parents were stressed. But everyone said no Australians would be put to death, and now I am on death row. If there is anything people can do to prevent this please make it happen because I need a second chance at life."
That's the way we do things in Indonesia, the country's top cop, General Sutanto said. "In Indonesia, drugs abuse is rampant because punishment has been too lenient. If we are not serious about tackling the problem, drug traffickers will not be deterred," Sutanto told reporters, according to Reuters.
Editor's Note: It's foolishly naive to think that the death penalty does or can deter drug trafficking. After all, many participants in the drug trade already risk death at the hands of their competitors routinely. A government adding a few more bodies to the pile does nothing to fundamentally alter that reality. Much more likely is that it will push the trade into the hands of the most dangerous kinds of criminals who are most comfortable taking the risk.
13. South Asia: India Rebels Threaten to Kill Drug Traffickers, Tobacco Dealers
A trio of armed separatist groups in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur are threatening to kill drug traffickers and tobacco dealers and shoot liquor sellers in the leg, the Indo-Asian News Service reported Thursday. The threat came in a joint statement from the outlawed United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), and the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK).
According to the statement, the sale and use of heroin, opium, something called "Spasmo Provyvon tablets," and tobacco products will be banned effective September 15. There is an exception for home-brewed liquor used for religious purposes.
"Drug traffickers would face capital punishment without any trial and anyone found guilty of selling liquor would get a bullet in the leg," the rebel statement warned. "Drug abuse has only compounded the problem of HIV/AIDS but also taken a heavy toll on the mental and physical health of the youths," the statement said.
The state of Manipur -- population 2.4 million -- borders Myanmar (Burma) and along with much of India's northeast, which abuts Southeast Asia's opium-producing "golden triangle," has a serious injection heroin problem, the news agency reported. Up to 100,000 intravenous drugs users live in Manipur, many of them believed to be HIV positive.
The three separatist groups want independent homelands for the majority Metei community who inhabit the central valley of Manipur, but who are engaged in endemic conflict with their highland neighbors the Naga. They are but three of at least 19 rebel groups in the state seeking everything from greater autonomy from the central government to outright secession. More than 10,000 people have been killed in the fighting in the past two decades, the news agency said.
While this statement marks the first formal campaign against drug traffickers by the rebel groups, at least a dozen have already been killed in Manipur and more have been shot in the legs for "failing to reform." The moralistic rebels are big on that. They also shot 10 people in the leg last year for helping students cheat on college exams.
14. Weekly: This Week in History
September 10, 2004: NewScientist.com news service releases an article entitled “Cannabis Truly Helps Multiple Sclerosis Sufferers,” reporting on new research confirming marijuana’s efficacy in treating pain and muscle spasms associated with sufferers of the disease.
September 12, 2002: In Petaluma, CA, the Genesis 1:29 medical marijuana dispensary is raided by the DEA, and Robert Schmidt, the owner, is arrested. Agents also raid a garden in Sebastopol, which supplied the Genesis dispensary.
September 13, 1994: President Clinton signs The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322), which includes provisions to enhance penalties for selected drug-related crimes and to fund new drug-related programs.
September 13, 1999: The US 9th Circuit Court rules that seriously ill patients should be allowed marijuana if the need is there.
September 13, 2000: Eleven-year-old Alberto Sepulveda of Modesto, California, is shot dead during a SWAT raid targeting his father, when an officer on the scene accidentally squeezes off a shot, killing the boy instantly. A year and a half later the family settles a federal lawsuit over the death.
September 14, 1995: The conservative, Reagan appointed judge described by American Lawyer magazine as “the most brilliant judge in the country,” Richard Posner, Chief Judge of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, is quoted in USA Today: “I am skeptical that a society that is so tolerant of alcohol and cigarettes should come down so hard on marijuana use and send people to prison for life without parole…We should not repeal all the drug laws overnight, but we should begin with marijuana and see whether the sky falls.”
15. Job Opportunies: Drug Policy Alliance, NYC & Sacramento
The Drug Policy Alliance is seeking applications for two positions, one in New York and one in Sacramento, California:
Director, Public Affairs, New York:
This new position will bear primary responsibility for design and execution of comprehensive communications, marketing, and brand-building strategies to promote DPA and its mission, communicate its policy agenda, and enhance the organization's visibility and image among internal and external stakeholders, including DPA supporters, the media, policymakers, and the public at large. The Director, Public Affairs will have supervisory authority for eight staff comprising all of DPA's communications functions, including: media relations, Internet advocacy and the DPA website, publications, and the Lindesmith Library. The Director will also serve on the DPA management team.
Primary responsibilities include: Ensure that DPA's drug policy reform agenda is persuasively framed for multiple and diverse audiences, advantageously positioned in the context of other social policy issues, and effectively communicated through a wide range of existing and emerging media channels; Ensure consistent messaging and communication of DPA's image and policy positions both internally and to DPA's external stakeholders; Oversee relationships with broadcast, electronic and print media, to build understanding of DPA's work and policy positions, encourage recognition of DPA spokespeople, and promote coverage of DPA activities; Manage the writing, design, and production of all print and electronic publications; maintain systems to process distribution of all publications; Supervise the design of issue-based and other advertisements and coordinate their placement in appropriate media; Coordinate DPA's representation at regional, national and international conferences, symposia and other events; Oversee the design and production of DPA merchandise; Manage and mentor program staff and oversee budgets for all DPA communications functions; Train agency staff on communications strategies, key messages and use of materials.
The ideal candidate will be a collegial, self-motivated advocate who thinks conceptually, creatively, and strategically. Specific qualifications include: Ten years progressively senior experience in advocacy-oriented communications; criminal justice and/or public health experience preferred; Proven track record of designing and implementing sophisticated communications and marketing strategies; Experience managing one or more departments, overseeing budgets, and motivating creative teams; Thorough understanding of drug policy reform issues; Advanced degree in journalism or communications preferred but not required; Strong analytic ability and superior communication skills, including writing and public speaking; Direct experience with drug policy preferred; commitment to harm reduction philosophy essential; Availability to work occasional evenings and weekends and to travel periodically.
Director, California Capital Office, Sacramento:
This position bears primary responsibility for DPA's California legislative advocacy, supervises a small professional office, and serves on the DPA management team.
Primary responsibilities include: Identify opportunities to promote DPA institutional priorities, and respond to policy issues that emerge in the California legislature; Develop and maintain relationships with key legislative allies; educate and lobby legislators and staffers on drug policy issues; Supervise professional lobbyists and manage lobbying contracts; Collaborate with coalition partners on legislative strategies and public messaging; Mobilize statewide grassroots support at key times to communicate with legislators; Serve as DPA spokesperson in the media, and at community events, conferences, and other forums; Contribute to DPA management, oversight, quality control and internal communications through participation in management team; Ensure that California Capital office's programs and practices are consistent with DPA's overall mission and philosophy, strategic approach, goals and objectives; Manage small office, including the supervision and mentoring of staff, student interns, and volunteers; Contribute to DPA fundraising activities, both locally and nationally.
The ideal candidate will be a collegial, self-motivated advocate who thinks conceptually, creatively, and strategically. Specific qualifications include: 7-10 years progressively senior experience in public policy, legislative and/or governmental affairs, political campaigns or ballot initiatives; criminal justice and/or public health experience preferred; Thorough understanding of California legislative and ballot initiative processes; Advanced degree in public policy/administration, public health, law or related field preferred but not required; Strong analytic ability and superior communication skills, including writing and public speaking; Direct experience with drug policy preferred; commitment to harm reduction philosophy essential; Availability to work occasional evenings and weekends and to travel periodically throughout the state and nationally.
These positions are open until filled. Send cover letter describing interest, résumé, and writing sample (unedited by others) to: Derek Hodel, Deputy Director, Drug Policy Alliance, 70 West 36th Street, 16th floor, New York, NY 10018, (212) 613-8021 fax, dhodel@drugpolicy.org. E-mail submissions are encouraged (please use the position title in the subject field) -- no phone calls, please.
DPA offers an excellent benefits package, including health, dental, vision, long-term disability and life insurance; a generous 403(b) plan; and four weeks paid vacation. Drug Policy Alliance is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, people of color, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Visit http://www.drugpolicy.org to learn more about DPA.
16. Announcement: New Format for the Reformer's Calendar
With the launch of our new web site, The Reformer's Calendar no longer appears as part of the Drug War Chronicle newsletter but is instead maintained as a section of our new web site:
- Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org each day and you'll see a listing of upcoming events in the page's righthand column with the number of days remaining until the next several events coming up and a link to more.
- Check our new online calendar section at to view all of them by month, week or a range of different views.
- We request and invite you to submit your event listings directly on our web site. Note that our new system allows you to post not only a short description as we currently do, but also the entire text of your announcement.
The Reformer's Calendar publishes events large and small of interest to drug policy reformers around the world. Whether it's a major international conference, a demonstration bringing together people from around the region or a forum at the local college, we want to know so we can let others know, too.
But we need your help to keep the calendar current, so please make sure to contact us and don't assume that we already know about the event or that we'll hear about it from someone else, because that doesn't always happen.
We look forward to apprising you of more new features of our new web site as they become available.
