Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #370
-- 1/14/05
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- EDITORIAL:
MAKE
NO
MISTAKE
It
is
a
rare
day
when
an
establishment
institution
such
as
the
US
Supreme
Court
does
something
radical.
Yet
the
Court
has
intervened
in
federal
sentencing,
and
by
extension
probably
in
many
states'
sentencing,
in
a
dramatic
fashion.
Make
no
mistake,
the
fight
will
start
soon.
- SUPREME
COURT
ENDS
CURRENT
FEDERAL
SENTENCING
SYSTEM
For
nearly
20
years,
sentencing
guidelines
scheme
have
caused
the
federal
prison
population
to
swell
dramatically,
with
a
majority
of
those
prisoners
being
drug
offenders.
A
Wednesday
ruling
by
the
Supreme
Court
has
brought
that
system
to
a
sudden
halt.
- COURSE
REVERSAL:
POLAND
MOVING
FROM
"ZERO
TOLERANCE"
TOWARD
EASED
DRUG
LAWS
After
five
years
of
tough
new
laws
aimed
at
reducing
drug
use
in
Poland,
the
Polish
government
appears
headed
for
a
change
of
course.
- THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
Bad
apples
just
keep
popping
up
in
this
dirty
little
war
on
drugs.
This
week
we
have
examples
from
Passaic,
New
Jersey
and
from
the
Mexican
border,
plus
justice
finally
coming
around
for
an
infamous
cop
from
Tulia.
- BLOGGING:
JACKSON,
MISSISSIPPI
COCAINE
RING
TAKEN
DOWN,
OUR
SIDE
COMMENTS
ON
LEGALIZATION
FOR
BBC
This
week
"Prohibition
and
the
Media"
predicts
futility
for
a
massive
inter-agency
cocaine
bust
in
Mississippi,
and
highlights
a
commentary
on
BBC
by
one
of
DRCNet's
allies.
- NEWSBRIEF:
CLASHES
AND
CONFLICT
AS
AFGHAN
"JIHAD"
AGAINST
OPIUM
GETS
UNDER
WAY
Prodded
by
the
United
States,
Afghan
president
Hamid
Karzai
has
begun
his
promised
"jihad"
against
the
nation's
mainstay
opium
crop.
Early
indications
are
that
there
is
lots
of
rough
road
ahead.
- NEWSBRIEF:
SOUTH
DAKOTA
LEGISLATORS
READY
TO
REDUCE
ADMINISTRATIVE
PENALTIES
AGAINST
STUDENTS
CAUGHT
WITH
DRUGS
With
the
state's
prison
system
eating
into
the
budget,
the
South
Dakota
legislature
convened
a
Criminal
Code
Revision
Commission
to
examine
changes
in
the
laws.
That
commission
has
recommended
that
the
student
drug
law
be
revised
downward,
so
that
students
face
only
a
60
day
suspension
--
if
they
complete
drug
counseling
or
treatment.
- NEWSBRIEF:
US
TROOPS
GO
FROM
IRAQ
COMBAT
TO
SCOTTISH
DRUG
TREATMENT
A
Scottish
hospital
famed
for
its
drug
and
alcohol
treatment
of
patients
from
the
British
National
Health
Service
is
now
treating
US
service
men
and
women
traumatized
by
their
deployments
in
Iraq.
- NEWSBRIEF:
MARINES
CLAIM
FALLUJAH
FOES
WERE
HOPPED
UP
ON
DOPE
US
Marines
who
fought
in
the
November
assault
on
the
insurgent
stronghold
of
Fallujah
have
reported
finding
numerous
stockpiles
of
stimulant
drugs
such
as
amphetamines
and
adrenaline.
Bizarrely,
they
also
claimed
to
have
found
crack
pipes,
which
would
presumably
be
quite
rare
in
a
country
never
known
for
having
a
cocaine-using
population.
- NEWSBRIEF:
VIOLENT
CONSOLIDATION
UNDERWAY
AMONG
MEXICAN
DRUG
TRAFFICKING
GROUPS
Amidst
horrendous
and
high
profile
violence,
the
number
of
major
drug
trafficking
organizations
in
Mexico
has
shrunk
from
seven
down
to
two.
- NEWSBRIEF:
BLACK
MARKET
MARIJUANA
FINANCES
MAOIST
REBELLION,
INDIAN
OFFICIALS
SAY
Authorities
in
the
eastern
Indian
state
of
Orissa
are
complaining
that
"huge
tracts"
of
marijuana
are
being
grown
to
finance
the
activities
of
Maoist
rebels
in
the
state
and
neighboring
territories.
Police
have
reported
discoveries
of
"massive
cultivation"
in
at
least
eight
villages.
- NEWSBRIEF:
CRACKDOWN
ON
ECSTASY
IN
MALAYSIA
It
was
a
less
than
happy
beginning
to
the
New
Year
for
patrons
of
the
Techno
Discotheque
in
Bandar
Sri
Damansara,
Malaysia,
last
week
as
police
enforcing
a
crackdown
on
the
popular
club
drug
Ecstasy
arrested
261
of
them.
- THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- THE
REFORMER'S
CALENDAR
Showing
up
at
an
event
can
be
the
best
way
to
get
involved!
Check
out
this
week's
listings
for
events
from
today
through
next
year,
across
the
US
and
around
the
world!
this issue, one-page printer version
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