Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #431
-- 4/14/06
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- FEATURE:
ACLU
SEEKS
DISMISSAL
OF
"OPERATION
METH
MERCHANT"
CASES
FOR
RACIAL
BIAS
A
series
of
controversial
prosecutions
from
busts
of
South-Asian
convenience
stores
in
Georgia
have
come
under
fire.
- FEATURE:
MARCHERS
TAKE
TO
THE
STREETS
TO
DEMAND
LEGAL
NEEDLE
EXCHANGES
IN
NORTH
CAROLINA
Bills
to
allow
for
legal
needle
exchange
programs
in
North
Carolina
have
languished
since
1997,
but
this
year
the
push
is
on
to
get
one
through
the
legislature.
- GUEST
EDITORIAL:
INJUSTICE
IN
MASSACHUSETTS
--
TWO
YEARS
IN
JAIL
FOR
ONE
JOINT
Anthony
Papa
of
"15
Years
to
Life"
criticizes
the
Bay
State's
draconian
"school
zone"
law.
- OFFER:
IMPORTANT
NEW
LEGALIZATION
VIDEO
AVAILABLE
Get
your
copy
of
the
Law
Enforcement
Against
Prohibition
video
that
Walter
Cronkite
called
a
"must-see
for
any
journalist
or
public
official
dealing
with
[the
drug]
issue."
- FEEDBACK:
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YOU
READ
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WAR
CHRONICLE?
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Chronicle?
If
so,
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need
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feedback
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We
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donations
too.
- LAW
ENFORCEMENT:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
A
busy
week:
A
pair
of
big
city
narcs
and
a
small-town
drug
task
force
commander
go
down
hard,
an
FBI
secretary
is
accused
of
aiding
meth
dealers,
a
cop
in
Florida
grows
pot
and
one
in
Indiana
slings
crack,
evidence
walks
out
of
two
small-town
departments,
another
prison
guard
goes
down
and
so
does
an
associate
warden.
- MARIJUANA:
ALASKA
GOVERNOR'S
EFFORT
TO
RECRIMINALIZE
MARIJUANA
PASSES
ONE
MORE
HURDLE
Alaska
is
the
only
state
in
the
union
where
it
is
legal
to
possess
marijuana
--
up
to
a
quarter-pound
in
the
privacy
of
one's
home
--
and
that
is
driving
Gov.
Frank
Murkowski
crazy.
- LAW
ENFORCEMENT:
IN
WIDELY
CRITICIZED
STING,
UNDERCOVER
BLONDE
COP
SNARES
MASSACHUSETTS
HIGH
SCHOOL
BOYS
In
a
sting
drawing
widespread
condemnation
even
from
law
enforcement
and
educators,
police
in
Falmouth,
Massachusetts,
sent
a
young,
blonde,
female
cop
into
the
high
school
undercover
with
a
sob
story
about
a
dead
mother,
an
absent
father,
and
a
need
to
get
high
to
ease
the
pain.
Friday
police
arrested
nine
teenage
boys
for
selling
her
small
quantities
of
marijuana
and
ecstasy.
- TREATMENT
NOT
JAIL:
CALIFORNIA
SAVING
HUNDREDS
OF
MILLIONS
OF
DOLLARS
THANKS
TO
PROPOSITION
36,
REPORTS
SAY
The
six-year-old
California
program
that
mandates
treatment
instead
of
prison
for
drug
offenders
is
saving
taxpayers
hundreds
of
millions
of
dollars
while
dramatically
decreasing
the
number
of
drug
offenders
in
prison
in
the
state,
according
to
new
studies
from
the
Justice
Policy
Institute
and
UCLA.
- EUROPE:
SCOTTISH
COPS
SAY
LEGALIZE
IT
ALL
Scotland's
Strathclyde
Police
Federation,
the
county's
largest
police
union
representing
some
7,700
Scottish
police
officers,
is
calling
for
the
legalization
of
all
drugs.
- LAW
ENFORCEMENT:
AGENT
WHO
SHOT
HIMSELF
IN
FOOT
SUES
DEA
FOR
MAKING
HIM
LOOK
SILLY
A
DEA
agent
whose
videotaped,
self-inflicted
gunshot
wound
before
a
class
full
of
school
children
has
become
the
stuff
of
Internet
legend
is
suing
the
agency
for
releasing
the
tape.
- MARIJUANA:
NEVADA
INITIATIVE
FACES
UPHILL
BATTLE,
POLL
SAYS
The
Las
Vegas
Review-Journal
reported
Tuesday
that
an
initiative
that
would
allow
adult
Nevadans
to
possess
up
to
an
ounce
of
marijuana
without
fear
of
criminal
penalty
is
not
finding
strong
voter
support.
But
the
group
backing
the
initiative
said
its
own
polls
tell
a
different
story.
- DRUGGED
DRIVING:
BRITISH
STUDY
FINDS
ONE-THIRD
OF
DRIVERS
WHO
TEST
POSITIVE
FOR
DRUGS
PASS
ROADSIDE
IMPAIRMENT
TESTS
A
study
released
by
the
British
Department
for
Transportation
found
that
one-third
of
drivers
who
tested
positive
for
illegal
drugs
drove
well
enough
to
pass
roadside
impairment
tests.
- ASSET
FORFEITURE:
FEDS
TRY
TO
SEIZE
DRUG
SUSPECTS'
DENTAL
WORK
Stories
of
drug
fighters
seizing
cars,
homes,
cash,
and
other
assets
from
drug
defendants
are
nothing
new,
but
in
Tacoma,
Washington,
federal
prosecutors
tried
to
seize
the
--
expensive,
fancy
dental
work
--
literally
out
of
the
mouths
of
two
alleged
drug
dealers.
- LATIN
AMERICA:
COCA-FRIENDLY
CANDIDATE
WINS
FIRST
ROUND
OF
PERU
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
A
former
army
officer
turned
populist
and
indigenist,
who
says
he
wants
to
legalize
the
coca
crop,
has
won
the
first
round
of
Peru's
presidential
election
with
a
plurality.
Next
is
the
run-off
vote.
- WEB
SCAN
Delaware's
Former
Top
Cop
Asks
the
Legalization
Question,
Cato's
Radley
Balko
on
SWAT
Dog
Killings
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- JOB
OPPORTUNITY
Field
Director
for
Students
for
Sensible
Drug
Policy,
Washington,
DC
- WEEKLY:
THE
REFORMER'S
CALENDAR
Showing
up
at
an
event
can
be
the
best
way
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get
involved!
Check
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