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1. Highway Profiling: Washington State Court Finds Pretextual Traffic Stops Illegal, Connecticut Governor Signs Anti-Profiling Bill Into Law

By a narrow 5-4 decision, the Washington state Supreme Court has ruled that the state's constitution protects drivers against stops made on the pretext of minor traffic violations, when suspected criminal activity was the real motive for the stop. In the majority decision, Justice Richard Sanders wrote that "The ultimate teaching of our case law is that the police may not abuse their authority to conduct a warrantless search or seizure."

The case stems from a 1995 traffic stop in Thurston County of a car with expired plates by police who suspected the driver of drug dealing. The driver's passenger, Thomas Ladson, was searched and arrested on marijuana possession and illegal firearms charges. But Ladson filed a motion to have the evidence against him suppressed, because it had been found on a pretextual stop. The County Superior Court agreed, and the state Supreme Court's ruling upheld that decision.

Pretextual traffic stops that lead to searches and seizures are a common and generally accepted police practice, and the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld their legality in numerous decisions. But the Washington court said that the state's constitution affords its citizens greater protection.

For the dissent, Justice Barbara Madsen wrote that "the motive of a law-enforcement officer is irrelevant when assessing constitutionality of a stop for a minor traffic infraction."

And in Connecticut this week, Governor John G. Rowland signed a bill into law intended to prevent police from targeting Black and Latino motorists for traffic stops and searches. The law will require police to keep records of the race, gender, age, and ethnicity of each driver they stop, and establish a process by which drivers who feel they have been subject to racial profiling may seek redress. Police departments caught engaging in the practice may have their funding cut by the state. The law goes into effect on October 1.

Connecticut legislation can be read and monitored online at http://www.cga.state.ct.us.

2. Coverdell to Introduce Amendment to Ban Needle Exchange in District of Columbia

Taylor West, [email protected]

AIDS Action, a Washington, DC-based organization for AIDS advocacy, is reporting that Senator Paul Coverdell (R-GA) will introduce an amendment to the DC Appropriations bill (S.B. 1283) that bans both federal and local funding of needle exchange programs in the District. The Appropriations bill is scheduled to be debated on the floor of the Senate during the first few days of July. Following that report, President Clinton's office issued a strong statement threatening a possible veto of the Act if such an amendment is added.

Coverdell's potential amendment is a continuation of needle exchange restrictions placed on the District by Georgia Representative Bob Barr in last year's appropriations. These restrictions ban private organizations that receive federal or local government money from operating needle exchange, even if the exchange operations are funded by private money. Last year, the ban forced the closure of a DC needle exchange program operated by the Whitman-Walker clinic. Prevention Works!, the only remaining syringe exchange program in the District, operates on a relatively small budget, financed entirely by private contributions.

Jeff Jacobs, a spokesperson for AIDS Action, praised Prevention Works!, but explained the limitations created by the strict funding bans. "It is great that people from Prevention Works! can be out on the street, helping people and distributing clean needles. But we would like to see the city health department and Whitman-Walker be able to get involved, because of the extensive linkages they have to health services such as drug treatment and other HIV prevention programs."

According to a report released earlier this year by the Washington based group Drug Strategies, the District's death rate from AIDS is more than seven times the national average, and needle sharing accounts for as much as 36% of new HIV/AIDS infections.

Needle exchange supporters were heartened somewhat by the Clinton administration's statement of opposition to the Coverdell amendment, although it provides no guarantee of a presidential veto. "We're encouraged that the administration issued this strong rebuke to the amendment," Jacobs said. "We hope that they will follow through and take the appropriate action to remove this language from the appropriations legislation wherever it might be added."

3. New Mexico Update

Last week, DRCNet reported that New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, a Republican, had called for a dialogue on drug policy, including a consideration of legalization (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/096.html#governorspeaks).

The Albuquerque Journal reported yesterday (7/1) that Governor Johnson had told a Rotary Club meeting that e-mail to his office has been running 10-1 in favor of his suggestion. According to Steve Bunch, president of the New Mexico Drug Policy Foundation, KOAT TV7, the ABC affiliate, ran a story on the 6 pm news reporting on the Governor's drug policy e-mail, and has been reporting regularly about the Governor's call for discussions on the drug war and possible alternatives.

4. The New Cold War: A Guide for Citizen Action on U.S. International Drug Control Policy

Despite the end of the Cold War, U.S. support for Latin American militaries and police forces remains extraordinarily high. In fiscal year (FY) 1999 alone, the U.S. government spent more than $700 million on military and police assistance for Latin America and the Caribbean -- all in the name of the "war on drugs."

There is little reason to expect success. As a 1997 U.S. government report pointed out, "despite long-standing efforts and expenditure of billions of dollars, illegal drugs still flood the United States. The amount of cocaine and heroin seized between 1990 and 1995 made little impact on the availability of illegal drugs in the United States and on the amount needed to satisfy the estimated U.S. demand."

Furthermore, militarized anti-drug efforts threaten to strengthen abusive security forces just as fledgling civilian democracies seek to rein them in, put millions of dollars worth of equipment and training into the hands of human rights violators, and embroil our country in Colombia's brutal counterinsurgency war.

These and many more facts, as well as suggestions for citizen action, can be found in the latest publication of the Washington Office on Latin America, "U.S. International Drug Control Policy: A Guide for Citizen Action," by Laurie Freeman, online at http://www.wola.org/drugsguide.htm, or orderable in print through the WOLA web site. (Check out WOLA info at http://www.wola.org.)

Please join this important effort on behalf of drug policy reform, human rights & democracy, and peace!

(Those in the Washington, DC area may be interested in the Institute for Policy Studies' next brown bag lunch drug policy video and speaker event, Thursday, 7/8, "Addicted to Failure: the U.S. Drug War Overseas," featuring the video "America's War on Drugs," by the Center for Defense Information, and speakers Coletta Youngers (WOLA), and Peter Zirnite. See http://www.drcnet.org/wol/096.html#videoseries for the full summer listing.)

5. News in Brief

Jane Tseng, [email protected]

Jamaican Official Calls for Hemp Cultivation

Last Friday (6/25) the Jamaican national security justice minister encouraged farmers in his country to cultivate hemp in hopes it will help the Jamaican economy. Before the Parliament, K.D. Knight said that hemp cannot be used as a narcotic drug, and thus there is no law forbidding its cultivation. Though Knight made it clear that it is unacceptable to grow marijuana, the National Alliance for the Legalization of Ganja (marijuana) found Knight's statements to be encouraging. The organization says it will lobby for a referendum in which voters can decide whether or not the cultivation of marijuana should be legal. The Jamaican government currently allows researchers to study marijuana only with prior governmental approval.

China Executes 71 on U.N. Anti-Drug Day

Seventy-one people were executed for drug trafficking in China by firing squads on Saturday, June 26. The day marked the United Nations' "International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking." The Chinese press reported that at least 98 additional people were sentenced to death or executed for drug trafficking in the days prior to the holiday in provinces across China. The offenses of those executed ranged from manufacturing 2,085 pounds of amphetamines to selling 14 pounds of heroin. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has opposed the death penalty and called for an end to executions worldwide. Last year, officials in Iran called for an end to the death penalty for traffickers in that country, saying it had not solved the drug problem.

6. Minnesota to Apply for Federal Permits to Grow Hemp

(reprinted from the NORML Foundation, http://www.norml.org)

Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura has signed legislation into law mandating that state officials seek federal permission to cultivate hemp. The hemp provision, included in the House Omnibus State Government Finance Bill, also establishes a state registry for farmers seeking to grow the crop.

"It was an uphill battle, but in the end I was able to persuade my colleagues to include this provision in the bill," said Rep. Phyllis Kahn (D-Minneapolis), who authored the amendment. "Our farmers... need to be able to diversify, and adding hemp into their crop rotation is just
one option. The hemp bill we passed this session... is the first step toward [the] legalization of growing hemp."

The new law maintains that state officials must "submit an application... [by] September 30, 1999... for federal permits to authorize the growing of experimental and demonstration plots of industrial hemp." It also directs the state to "establish standards... for persons wishing to register for growing... industrial hemp."

In April, Hawaii passed similar legislation allowing state researchers registered with the federal government to grow test plots of industrial hemp. Earlier that month, North Dakota became the first state in more than 50 years to remove criminal penalties for hemp cultivation.

The text and progress of bills in the Minnesota legislature can be read at http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/legis.htm.

7. Job Opening at DPF

Seeking Executive Director: Preeminent Washington, DC drug policy reform nonprofit organization seeks an experienced executive to develop new initiatives, administer existing programs and oversee a $2.7 million budget. The successful candidate will have a proven ability to deal with the media, manage staff, expand programs and raise funds. The Drug Policy Foundation promotes alternatives to current drug policies, focusing on public health, education, and civil liberties. The organization offers a competitive salary and excellent benefits. Send letter, salary history and resume to: ED Search, Drug Policy Foundation, 4455 Connecticut Avenue NW, #B-500, Washington, DC 20008-2328. (DPF's web site is located at http://www.dpf.org.)

8. EDITORIAL: We Hold These Truths...

Adam J. Smith, Associate Director, [email protected]

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

-- Declaration of Independence, 1776

This weekend, people across the United States celebrate Independence Day. The day marks the courage and achievement of a group of people who felt the lash of tyranny and cried "no more!" It is an appropriate time, then, to look around at the state of freedom in the land of the free.

The United States is currently the world's leader in per capita incarceration. By the end of 1999, more than one million non-violent Americans will reside behind bars.

At the close of the twentieth century, the United States Government seizes billions of dollars per year worth of personal property. 85% of those whose property is seized by the government are never charged with a crime. Property that is seized under the civil asset forfeiture laws is presumed "guilty," its owner left with the unenviable task of proving that it is more likely than not that the property is "innocent."

Voters in Washington, DC, the nation's capitol, have been barred from learning the results of a scheduled election last November in which, according to exit polls, nearly 70% voted to allow for the palliative use of marijuana by severely and terminally ill citizens.

It is common in late twentieth-century America for the government to gain criminal convictions by offering money, leniency or freedom to one citizen in return for incriminating testimony against another citizen.

The government is currently subsidizing a program to make it affordable for small companies to test the chemical composition of their employees' urine as a condition of employment.

More than 11,000 U.S. children are currently incarcerated with adults.

U.S. citizens who suffer from severe, chronic pain are often unable to get sufficient medication. Doctors across the nation are unwilling to prescribe pain medication in adequate dosages for fear that their government will preempt their livelihood or imprison them. This despite repeated calls from chronic pain experts and the medical establishment for an end to such abusive regulation and enforcement.

More than one out of every four African American males born today will spend part of his lifetime in an American prison.

U.S. armed forces are now deployed domestically, patrolling our borders and working hand in hand with domestic law enforcement agencies.

All of these are the result, in whole or in part, of a single, liberty-stealing policy of the United States government: Prohibition. At its core, Prohibition is an attempt by the government, in the face of all evidence, to suppress the basic laws of supply and demand through criminal enforcement. It means that Americans are forbidden to grow and to use certain varieties of plants and certain chemical combinations, even in the privacy of their own homes, and whether or not that use harms anyone other than the user, or even the user himself.

Today, 223 years after a very brave and very principled group of men set their names to that radical document, the Declaration of Independence, it seems that the government that they would establish has lost sight of the very principles of its foundation. Governments are instituted to secure life, liberty and the right to pursue happiness for they who have given that government legitimacy by their consent. Nowhere did the founders express the idea that government ought to decide what kind of life, how much liberty, or by what means the governed should be allowed to pursue that happiness. To the extent that the United States government has overstepped its legitimate authority, it is our responsibility, as citizens of the nation whose birth we are now celebrating, to reign it in.

From all of us here at DRCNet, have a safe and happy Fourth!

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