Marijuana doesn't cause mental health problems, but keeping track of the British drug policy debate just might.

Less than two weeks after increasing penalties for marijuana, we learn that the British have selected a new drug czar who wants to reduce penalties for ecstasy.

The man appointed head of the advisory council for the misuse of drugs once called for ecstasy to be downgraded to a class B drug, politics.co.uk can exclusively reveal.

Professor David Nutt, who replaces Sir Michael Rawlins as chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) this afternoon, made the comments at a science and technology committee hearing in 2006.

"I think the evidence base for classification producing deterrence is not strong and we see that with a number of drugs," he said. [politics.co.uk]

By that logic, Nutt presumably also opposes the recent upgrade in marijuana's criminal status. Unfortunately, as we learned in that instance, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown couldn’t care less what his own experts think about drug policy.

Action Alert: March 31, 2008

On Friday, the Senate passed a bill to make the second-time possession of ecstasy (MDMA) a felony in the state of Kansas by a vote of 40-0. This bill passed the House earlier by a vote of 117-2. The bill has been sent to the governor for her signature.

Currently, a conviction for possession of ecstasy is a misdemeanor, no matter the number of convictions. Ecstasy now joins marijuana as a second-conviction felony, meaning the person will be sentenced under SB 123 to mandatory treatment - whether they need it or not - fines and possible jail time.

Implementing this bill is expected to cost between $700,000 and $1,300,000 this year alone. Money that could be used for re-entry programs in the state. More information on HB 2545 can be found here, http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-bills/searchBillNumber.do

It is fully expected that the KBI will ask next year to add LSD and mushrooms to this list - further criminalizing drug use, while not expending any additional tax-dollars on effective drug education. (Kansas school children in the majority of districts are still subjected to the research-proven ineffective DARE program.)

In other drug policy-related legislation, Salvia divinorum or salvinorum, and Datura stramonium, commonly known as gypsum weed or jimson weed was moved to Schedule 1, thereby criminalizing the possession and sale of the drug.

Read more about these new laws and all the drug control policy-related legislation on our website, http://www.dpfks.org/KSLeg.html.

Sincerely,

Laura A. Green, Executiver Director

Please help us promote innovative drug policies by sending your tax-deductible donation today.

Become a member: Add yourself to our mailing list by going to our web site www.dpfks.org. To unsubscribe, reply to this message with the word unsubscribe.

Our mailing address is DPFKS, PO Box 357, Lawrence, Kansas 66044

[Courtesy of Drug Policy Forum of Kansas]

Action Alert

March 10, 2008

On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider a bill to make the second possession of ecstasy a FELONY in Kansas even if the first offense was under a city ordinance - such as they have in Wichita. This bill passed the House 117-2.

Not only will this bill not deter drug abuse in Kansas, it is expensive and was put forward by legislators who only seek more people in our prisons - to allow the private prison industry to start building in Kansas.

Implementing this bill is expected to cost between $700,000 and $1,300,000 this year alone. Money that could be used for re-entry programs in the state. More information on HB 2545 can be found here, http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-bills/searchBillNumber.do 

Would you please take one minute to call or write a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and tell them to oppose the HB 2545 which makes possession of Ecstacy a felony in Kansas? 

Click here to send an email to all the members at one time, or call --

Committee Chair, Senator John Vraitl, R-Overland Park, 785-296-7361

Vice Chair, Senator Terry Bruce,  R-Hutchinson, 785-296-7300

Senator Barbara Allen,  R-Overland Park,  785-296-7353

Senator Les Donovan,  R-Wichita, 785-296-7385 

Senator Phil Journey, R-Wichita, 785-296-7367

Senator Julia Lynn, R-Olathe, 785-296-7382

Senator Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, 785-296-2497

Senator Duane Umbarger, R-Thayer, 785-296-7389

Senator Greta Goodwin,R-Winfield, 785-296-7381

Senator Donald Betts, R-Wichita, 785-296-7387

Senator David Haley, D- Kansas City, 785-296-7376     

Sample letter or phone call:

Dear Senator, I am opposed to HB 2545, a bill to make the second-time possession of ecstasy a felony in Kansas.

This bill will not reduce drug abuse in Kansas in will only put more drug offenders in our prisons.

Reducing drug abuse can only be accomplished through some of the following; spending more on drug treatment programs in our prisons, providing effective drug education in our schools and early childhood education programs.

According to the governor's budget director, this bill will add an additional one million dollars to the corrections budget this year alone. This money could be better used to expand re-entry programs across the state.

Please support effective programs to reduce drug abuse in Kansas, not legislation designed to put more people in prison.

Please help us promote innovative drug policies by sending your tax-deductible donation today.

Become a member

Add yourself to our mailing list by going to our web site www.dpfks.org.

To unsubscribe, reply to this message with the word unsubscribe.

Our mailing address is DPFKS, PO Box 357,  Lawrence, Kansas  66044.

The parliament of Queensland passed a bill last week that will increase penalties for the possession, manufacture, or trafficking of Ecstasy (MDMA) and PMA (paramethoxyamphetamine or "Death") by re

Lawmakers in Kansas this week held a hearing on a bill that would make possession of ecstasy a felony. Under current Kansas law, simple possession is only a misdemeanor.

[Courtesy of DrugSense]

One of the U.S. government's most persistently dishonest appointed officials - John Walters, the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) - has been caught in yet another outright lie to the North American media.

His office's first major press release of 2008 made a disturbing announcement. According to Drug Czar Walters, there is a "dangerous new drug threat coming from Canada." The drug? - so called "Extreme Ecstasy."

In a news release distributed in the U.S. and Canada, Walters warned that the use of ecstasy is being fueled by Canadian producers smuggling the illegal designer drug -- which is increasingly laced with crystal meth -- into the U.S.

"Historic progress against ecstasy availability and use is in jeopardy of being rolled back by Canadian criminal organizations," Walters said in the release.

Scott Burns, the primary spokesperson for Walters' ONDCP office, echoed the alarming cry with "They are remarketing and packaging it and trying to glamorize it."

Certainly gives the guise of being important information for Americans - especially parents of teenagers, right? Unfortunately, it seems that John Walters and the ONDCP created "extreme ecstasy" out of their own imaginations.

The U.S. Drug Czar has been caught lying - again. And this time, the direct rebuttal of his lies comes from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Less than two weeks after the January 4th ONDCP press release, the head of the RCMP's national drug branch sternly rebuked the ONDCP claims.

Supt. Paul Nadeau said he doesn't know why Walters would make such fictional statements without checking facts with Canadian officials. He added that he himself has never heard of "extreme Ecstasy.... it would appear that it's a term that somebody came up with in a boardroom in Washington, D.C."

Please write a letter to newspapers that carry coverage of the false claims.

Let your local and state or provincial media know that the United States Drug Czar is a very unreliable and frankly dishonest source of accurate information.

The Drug Czar is warning everyone about an epidemic of meth-laced ecstasy tablets coming into the country from Canada:

Alarmingly, more than 55 percent of the Ecstasy samples seized in the United States last year contained methamphetamine. Cutting their product with less-expensive methamphetamine boosts profits for Canadian Ecstasy producers, likely increases the addictive potential of their product, and effectively gives a dangerous “face lift” to a designer drug that had fallen out of fashion with young American drug users. [Pushing Back]

I'll tell you whose fault this isn't: mine. See, I don't think ecstasy should even be illegal. I don't want it to be manufactured by drug gangs in Canada, or anyone else who might lace it with methamphetamine or other noxious crap. I think it should be manufactured by licensed professionals and sold to adults through regulated outlets. Many people have been saying this for a long time to no avail and now look what's happened.

So if meth-laced ecstasy isn’t my fault, whose fault is it? Ironically, but rather obviously, it is the fault of the exact people who now complain about all the bad ecstasy rolling across our northern border.

Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales, has created a firestorm with comments made to the BBC that d

The government of Queensland is preparing to try more of the same old-same old in its ongoing, futile effort to wipe out drug use and dealing.

Southeast Asia continues its macabre response to drug trafficking and manufacturing, with nine people

For Immediate Release: March 23, 2007
For More Info: Tony Newman, (646) 335-5384

New “Landmark” Study Finds Alcohol and Tobacco More Dangerous than Ecstasy and Marijuana

ONE YEAR LEFT

Dear delegates,

On behalf of the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, a platform of more than 150 citizens’ association from around Europe, we wish to ask your attention for the following.

Britain's drug classification scheme is out of whack and should be adjusted, said Dr.