Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #428
-- 3/24/06
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- FEATURE:
DESPITE
SUPREME
COURT
RULING
THROWING
OUT
FEDERAL
SENTENCING
GUIDELINES,
FEDERAL
DRUG
SENTENCES
KEEP
GETTING
LONGER
Fourteen
months
ago,
the
US
Supreme
Court
upset
the
federal
sentencing
apple
cart
with
a
ruling
finding
the
sentencing
guidelines
unconstitutional.
But
a
Sentencing
Commission
study
has
now
found
that
not
much
has
changed.
- FEATURE:
ZOGBY
POLL
SAYS
BOTH
COASTS
FAVOR
LETTING
STATES
LEGALIZE
MARIJUANA
--
WHAT
IS
IT
GOING
TO
TAKE?
Advocates
of
ending
marijuana
prohibition
have
been
wandering
the
desert
of
American
politics
for
forty
years
and
have
yet
to
find
the
Promised
Land.
Now
a
new
poll
shows
that
in
at
least
some
parts
of
the
country,
the
public
is
ready
to
say
"legalize
it."
- FEATURE:
TEXAS
LEAGUE
OF
WOMEN
VOTERS
ADOPTS
DRUG
POLICY
POSITIONS
--
SUPPORTS
NEEDLE
EXCHANGE,
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
The
Texas
League
of
Women
Voters
has
become
the
latest
state
chapter
of
the
venerable
civic
action
organization
to
adopt
a
position
on
drug
law
reform,
if
for
now
a
limited
one.
- FEEDBACK:
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YOU
READ
DRUG
WAR
CHRONICLE?
Do
you
read
Drug
War
Chronicle?
If
so,
we
need
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feedback
to
evaluate
our
work
and
make
the
case
for
Drug
War
Chronicle
to
funders.
We
need
donations
too.
- LAW
ENFORCEMENT:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
Cops
as
drug
dealers,
cops
preying
on
drug
dealers,
cops
helping
drug
dealers,
and
of
course,
the
requisite
miscreant
prison
guard
or
two.
- LAWSUIT:
ACLU
AND
STUDENTS
SUE
FEDS
OVER
COLLEGE
AID
BAN
FOR
DRUG
OFFENDERS
In
a
lawsuit
filed
by
the
ACLU
this
week,
students
losing
financial
aid
eligibility
because
of
drug
convictions
are
taking
on
the
infamous
Higher
Education
Act
drug
provision.
- SEARCH
AND
SEIZURE:
SUPREME
COURT
REJECTS
SEARCHES
WHEN
ONE
OCCUPANT
CONSENTS,
BUT
ANOTHER
DOES
NOT
On
a
5-3
vote,
the
US
Supreme
Court
ruled
Wednesday
that
police
cannot
enter
a
home
and
seize
evidence
without
a
warrant
if
one
occupant
refuses
to
consent
--
even
if
another
occupant
gives
permission.
- MARIJUANA:
POLL
FINDS
ALASKANS
JUST
SAY
NO
TO
RECRIMINALIZATION
Alaska
legislators
have
for
two
years
declined
to
help
Gov.
Frank
Murkowski
get
the
state
Supreme
Court
to
undo
rulings
upholding
the
constitutional
right
of
citizens
to
possess
up
to
a
quarter-pound
of
marijuana
at
home.
A
new
poll
gives
them
another
reason
to
say
no
to
Murkowski's
anti-marijuana
mission.
- SENTENCING:
DRUG-FREE
ZONE
LAWS
DON'T
WORK
AND
RESULT
IN
RACIAL
DISPARITIES,
NEW
REPORT
SAYS
Laws
that
create
heightened
penalties
for
drug
offenses
near
schools,
public
housing,
and
other
designated
places
were
ostensibly
designed
to
protect
young
people
from
drug-related
activity.
But
they
fail
to
do
so,
and
non-whites
are
disproportionately
targeted
by
them,
according
to
a
report
by
the
Justice
Policy
Institute.
- FREE
SPEECH:
GIANT
MARIJUANA
LEAVES
PAINTED
ON
HOUSE
OKAY,
CONNECTICUT
TOWN
SAYS
A
Winsted,
Connecticut,
resident
who
was
busted
for
marijuana
growing
will
at
least
get
to
keep
a
mural
he
painted
on
his
home
in
protest.
- SOUTHWEST
ASIA:
STATE
DEPARTMENT
SEEKS
AFGHAN
OPIUM
VICTORY
THROUGH
PUBLIC
RELATIONS
With
Afghanistan's
opium
crop
expected
to
increase
this
year
despite
efforts
to
suppress
it,
the
US
State
Department
has
a
plan
to
convince
the
American
and
international
public
the
policy
nevertheless
works.
- SOUTH
ASIA:
INDIAN
STATE
GOVERNMENT
SELLS
CANNABIS
Bhang,
or
marijuana,
is
commonly
used
in
certain
Hindu
religious
festivals,
and
the
government
of
the
Indian
state
of
Punjab
is
now
selling
it
wholesale.
- WEB
SCAN
Slate
on
Student
Drug
Testing,
Stats
Truths
of
the
Drug
War
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- JOB
OPENING
Communications
Assistant,
Marijuana
Policy
Project,
Washington,
DC
- WEEKLY:
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!
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