Drug War Chronicle #627 - April 9, 2010

Feature: The Clock is Ticking on Canadian "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery's Extradition

Canadian "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery's battle to avoid being extradited to the US to serve a five-year federal prison sentence for selling pot seeds over the Internet continues as the clock ticks down toward May 10 -- the date by which Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is to decide whether to okay his extradition or not. Emery and his supporters are fighting to the bitter end, and they're picking up some significant support along the way.

Last month, members of all three major English speaking political parties, including the ruling Conservatives, handed in 12,000 signatures on petitions to parliament demanding he not be extradited and addressed the House of Commons on the issue. Shortly thereafter, the French speaking Bloc Quebecois announced it, too, was joining the cause of keeping Emery in Canada.

Emery was Canada's best known marijuana legalization advocate and a leading funder of marijuana reform groups there and in other countries when he was arrested in Vancouver on a US warrant for marijuana seed-selling after being indicted by a federal grand jury in Seattle. He faced up to life in prison under the US charges.

Emery, his supporters, and other marijuana reformers have argued that he was arrested for political reasons -- for his support of the legalization cause -- and the gleeful words of then DEA administrator Karen Tandy provided valuable ammunition for the claim. Emery's arrest was "a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the US and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement," Tandy said in a statement the day of the bust.

"His marijuana trade and propagandist marijuana magazine have generated nearly $5 million a year in profits that bolstered his trafficking efforts, but those have gone up in smoke today. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on," Tandy gloated.

For four years, he and his employees and fellow indictees, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams, negotiated with federal prosecutors, before Rainey and Williams struck plea deals that allowed them to simply remain in Canada. Then, last September, Emery himself agreed to a plea bargain that would see him serve five years in US prison.

Emery was detained in Canada on September 28 and was jailed until mid-November before he was released pending the justice minister's decision on whether to approve his removal to the United States. Since then, the campaign to block his extradition has gone all out. Even in prison, Emery did podcasts -- "potcasts," the magazine calls them -- and since his release, he has been as media-friendly as ever. He has used his Cannabis Culture magazine as a bully pulpit and established a No Extradition! web site to further the cause.

The high point of the campaign so far came on March 12 when three members of parliament, Conservative MP Scott Reid, New Democratic MP Libby Davies, and Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh stood before parliament in Ottawa to deliver the petitions. All three told the Commons that extraditing Emery for what is considered a non-serious offense in Canada was unfair.

MP Reid, a Conservative leader in the House, reminded the Commons that the Extradition Act specifies that the justice minister "shall refuse to surrender a person when that surrender could involve unjust or undue or oppressive actions by the country to which he is being extradited."

Reid pointed out that Health Canada used to refer medical marijuana patients to Emery's seed bank. He also noted that Canadian courts had found that $200 fines were appropriate for seed sellers, while Emery faced up to life for the same offense in the US.

"It appears to me that we have assisted a foreign government arresting a man for doing something that we wouldn't arrest him for doing in Canada," said MP Dosanjh. "As a former premier and a former attorney-general, I sense a certain degree of unfairness in the process. Countries don't usually extradite people to countries where they could face inordinate penalties."

"Many dedicated individuals have collected approximately 12,000 petitions reflecting a strong belief that Mr. Emery or any Canadian should not face harsh punishment in the US for selling cannabis seeds on the Internet when it is not worthy of prosecution in Canada," said MP Davies. "The petitioners call on Parliament to make it clear to the Minister of Justice that such an extradition should be opposed. I am very pleased to present this; I think it is a very strong reflection of Canadians' views on this matter and we hope that the Parliament of Canada will act on this, and certainly the Minister of Justice will take this into account."

"My prospects are getting better," said an ever optimistic Emery. "There have been more than 50,000 communications -- phone calls, letters, emails -- to the justice minister, and we have members of all four major political parties, including the governing party, presenting petitions urging the minister not to extradite. We also have the last three mayors of Vancouver agreeing to sign a statement urging the government not to extradite."

Support is palpable in his adopted hometown, Emery said. "I can't go 50 feet in this city without people stopping me on the street," he said from his downtown Vancouver building. "I have lots of support in this province and throughout the country. I enjoy a lot of positive affirmation. For me, this has been excellent -- I've been giving interviews all over the world, and the movie 'Prince of Pot' is being translated into Mongolian! The national TV network there has permission to do two documentaries on pot, and I'm in both of them."

Now, all eyes turn toward Justice Minister Nicholson. A month from now, he will decide whether to extradite Emery or not -- or he may punt. The minister has the option of applying for an extension on his decision.

There is precedent for the minister to seek an extension, said attorney Kirk Tousaw, who has worked on Emery's case. "Renee Boje was committed for extradition, and the decision sat on the desk of three different justice ministers for five years," he pointed out. "Renee was a US citizen who committed offenses in America, so she seemed like a much more reasonable prospect for extradition than Marc, who has never gone to America or committed any crimes there."

In the meantime, the campaign to keep Emery in Canada continues to gather support and argue the position that his was a politically motivated prosecution. "If the minister believes the prosecution to be politically motivated, he is prohibited from extraditing," said attorney Kirk Tousaw, who has worked on Emery's case. "I don't know if he will take that position. The minister may need a lot of time to consider his options."

The calculations may be as much political as legal, Tousaw said. "This is a minority Conservative government that is attempting to pass unpopular mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes, and there will be an election sometime this year or early next year," he argued. "I think that extraditing Marc Emery will be politically costly to the Conservative Party. I'm not sure they can afford to do it if they want to form a majority government."

"The government does want to extradite me," said Emery, "but the public pressure not to do it is substantial. There is nothing to be gaining by extraditing me, and it will piss off a couple of million voters in the next election."

A month from now, we will know whether the Conservative government is willing to sacrifice the gadfly Emery on the altar of the drug war, or whether it is too concerned about the potential backlash to either reject extradition or postpone the decision.

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Feature: Philadelphia to Not Quite Decriminalize Marijuana

People caught with 30 grams (a bit more than an ounce) or less of marijuana in Philadelphia will no longer be charged with criminal misdemeanors, but with summary offenses under a new policy that will go into effect later this month. Fines are expected to be in the $200 to $300 range.

But while pot smokers won't face criminal charges, they will still be arrested, handcuffed, searched, detained, and fingerprinted. Then, their cases will be heard by a special "quality of life" court that is already in use for things like dealing with unruly Eagles fans and public drinking.

"We're not going to stop locking people up," Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, told the Philadelphia Inquirer Monday. Marijuana possession remained illegal, he said. "We're going to stop people for it... Our officers are trained to do that. Whether or not they make it through the charging process, that's up to the DA. We can't control that. Until they legalize it, we're not going to stop."

After the Inquirer ran its story Monday, emphasizing that the policy change would "all but decriminalize" marijuana possession, District Attorney Seth Williams had to issue a statement of clarification:

"We are not decriminalizing marijuana -- any effort like that would be one for the legislature to undertake. The penalty available for these minimal amount offenses remains exactly the same. What we are doing is properly dealing with cases involving minimal amounts of marijuana in the most efficient and cost effective process possible. Those arrested for these offenses will still be restrained, identified and processed by police in police custody. They will still have to answer to the charges, but they will be doing so in a speedier and more efficient process. We want to use valuable court resources in the best way possible and we believe that means giving minor drug offenders the option of getting into diversionary programs, get drug education or enter drug treatment centers. Again we are NOT decriminalizing marijuana, and the penalty for these offenses remains the same."

"It will be charged as a summary offense, but you will still get arrested, booked, and fingerprinted," confirmed Tasha Jamerson, media director for the district attorney's office. "But instead of getting processed as a misdemeanor, it is processed as a summary offense, and you face only one court appearance."

"They are making a policy out of what is the common practice," said Chris Goldstein of Philadelphia NORML, which has been lobbying local officials for reforms. "People arrested for a Class A marijuana possession misdemeanor for less than 30 grams typically pleaded down to disorderly conduct, but it took a court hearing to make that happen. Prosecutors are making a pragmatic choice here; this will save them a lot of time and money."

The policy shift is the result of a collaboration between new District Attorney Seth Williams and a pair of Pennsylvania Supreme Court judges. It is part of an effort to unclog the city's overwhelmed court dockets.

Under Williams' predecessor, former DA Lynne Abraham, police arrested an average of 3,000 people a year for small-time pot possession, about 75% of them black. Last year, the arrest figure jumped to more than 4,700. That figure represents roughly 5% of the city's criminal caseload.

About another 2,000 are arrested for marijuana distribution and 2,500 more are arrested for possession of more than 30 grams. Overall, enforcing drug prohibition has resulted in about 18,000 arrests a year in Philadelphia, or nearly one-third of the entire criminal caseload.

"We have to be smart on crime," Williams told the Inquirer. "We can't declare a war on drugs by going after the kid who's smoking a joint on 55th Street. We have to go after the large traffickers."

Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Castille, one of the two justices who worked with Williams on the policy shift, said summary prosecution was "appropriate" for such a small-time offense. "It's a minor crime when you're faced with major drug crimes." Removing such cases from the criminal courts, he said, "unclogs the system."

"The marijuana consumers of Philadelphia welcome this," said Goldstein. "This is a very progressive thing to do on the part of the city," Goldstein said of the new policy. "I couldn't be happier about this."

Goldstein was much less enthused by the continued arrests policy. "It is completely absurd," he said. "It's harsh. For minor marijuana possession, it's very harsh treatment."

Nor was he convinced that the policy shift would do anything to reduce racially-biased marijuana law enforcement. "If we're paying attention to pot arrests in Philadelphia, we have to note that most are black. There hasn't been a single month when more than 10 white women have been arrested for less than 30 grams. Just go to a Phillies game parking lot. They could arrest a hundred white women in an hour out there," he said.

"At the same time, about 60 black women and 350 black men are getting arrested for it each month," Goldstein continued. "This points to bias in enforcement, and it costs a lot of money. We actually treat marijuana offenders here more harshly than anywhere else in the state, and it costs money. That's why the DA and the Supreme Court can initiate this change -- they're just bringing Philadelphia in line with the rest of the state and the region."

Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey office director Roseanne Scotti, who lives in Philadelphia, had another concern about the policy shift. "My concern is that there could be an incentive to arrest more people, because it will cost the city less to process them," she said. "And the city will make money on fines. We could see net-widening, with even more people getting arrested. If that's the case, are we better off at the end of the day? This will be a time and money saver for the city, but is this really a good thing for people who use marijuana?"

Time will tell.

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Latin America: Mexico Drug War Update

by Bernd Debusmann, Jr.

Mexican drug trafficking organizations make billions each year smuggling drugs into the United States, profiting enormously from the prohibitionist drug policies of the US government. Since Mexican president Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006 and called the armed forces into the fight against the so-called cartels, prohibition-related violence has killed over 19,000 people, with a death toll of nearly 8,000 in 2009 and over 2,000 so far in 2010. The increasing militarization of the drug war and the arrest of several high-profile drug traffickers have failed to stem the flow of drugs -- or the violence -- whatsoever. The Merida initiative, which provides $1.4 billion over three years for the US to assist the Mexican government with training, equipment and intelligence, has so far failed to make a difference. Here are a few of the latest developments in Mexico's drug war:

Saturday, April 3

In Tamaulipas, at least 17 people were killed in several incidents in the cities of Reynosa and Tampico. In Reynosa, five gunmen were killed after a gun battle with the army. Another gunman was killed several hours later after shooting at an army patrol in a nearby part of the city. In Tampico, a shootout between rival groups of suspected drug traffickers in a night club left five men and two women dead. Tamaulipas has seen a drastic increase in violence in the last few weeks at the Zetas Organization battles their former employers, the Gulf Cartel.

In Sinaloa, at least nine people were killed in Navolato, Culiacan, Guasave and Mazatlan. One of the dead was a 19-year old prison inmate who was killed in his cell, where he was serving a sentence for murder. At least five young men were killed in drug-related violence in Guerrero, three in Mexico City, and three in Tijuana. In Chihuahua, police found three men shot dead execution style near the town of La Junta. In Ciudad Juarez, five young men were shot dead and the decapitated head of a woman was discovered. Additionally, three people were murdered in Michoacán, and gunmen stormed a house and killed a man in Durango.

In Torreon, Coahuila, gunmen shot six men dead in the Moderna neighborhood. A seventh man was seriously wounded and remains in intensive care. The men were discovered dead after police received reports of bodies lying in the street.

Sunday, April 4

In Reynosa, Tamaulipas, armed men stormed a prison and freed 13 inmates. This is the second major jailbreak in the state of Tamaulipas in less than two weeks. Three prisoners were also killed in the incident, although the circumstances are unclear. At least 31 prison guards and employees were detained for questioning. According to the Tamaulipas state government, the gunmen arrived in a ten-vehicle convoy and exchanged fire with the guards before freeing the prisoners.

Monday, April 5

In Monterrey, Nuevo Leon 105 police officers were fired for misconduct. The charges against the officers included extortion, robbery, and mistreating civilians. Several were also fired for disobeying superiors. The firings are part of a new "zero-tolerance" policy being instituted in Nuevo Leon, where local police are widely thought to be corrupt and, in many cases, in league with drug trafficking organizations.

In Nuevo Laredo two children were killed and five of their relatives were wounded after the vehicle in which they were traveling came under fire during a gun battle between gunmen and soldiers. At least two gunmen were also killed in the incident.

Tuesday, April 6

The Mexican newspaper Proceso published an extremely rare interview with one of Mexico's most notorious drug lords. In the interview, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, one of the heads of the Sinaloa Cartel, said that Mexico's drug war was bound to fail. Notably, Zambada told his interviewer, Mexican journalist Julio Scherer, that the capture of high-ranking cartel bosses would have little long term effect. "For all the bosses jailed, dead, or extradited, their replacements are already there," he said. He added that "at the end of the day we will all know that nothing has changed."

Wednesday, April 7

In the state of Nayarit, police discovered the bodies of 12 people who had been murdered. At least eight of the victims were partially burned. The eight burned bodies were discovered in the bed of a pickup truck, and the other four were found nearby. Police also discovered at least 10 abandoned vehicles with weapons inside. The bodies were found near the town of Xalisco, which is well known to Mexican and US law enforcement as being a center for the production of black tar heroin.

In the town of Frontera Comalapa, on the Guatemalan-Mexican border, an innocent bystander was killed during a firefight between gunmen and federal police after the gunmen attacked a building owned by the federal government.

Total Body Count for the Week: 275

Total Body Count for the Year: 2,721

Total Body Count for 2009: 7,724

Total Body Count since Calderon took office: 19,032

Read the last Mexico Drug War Update here.

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Medical Marijuana: Maine Legislature Approves Dispensaries

A bill to set up a medical marijuana dispensary and distribution system in Maine passed both houses of the legislature this week and is expected to be signed by the governor. The measure passed the House 126-17 Monday and the Senate 32-3 later the same day.

Maine enacted a medical marijuana law in 1998, but it failed to provide a way for patients to legally obtain their medicine. Once this measure, SP 0719, is enacted, patients will be able to go to dispensaries or grow their own.

Last November, Maine voters approved a referendum directing the legislature to set up a dispensary system. Now it has. The measure envisions up to eight dispensaries and creates a process to set fees for patients, caregivers, and dispensaries.

"Today, Maine becomes the latest state in the country to set up a legal distribution system for medical marijuana, and is now a leader in providing patients with a legal and dignified way to obtain their medicine," said Jill Harris, managing director of public policy at the Drug Policy Alliance, which supported the referendum and the legislation. "The legislature has followed the will of the voters in Maine who overwhelmingly voted for such a system last November."

Maine now joins New Mexico and New Jersey as states with state-authorized dispensary systems. California and Colorado also have dispensary systems, but those are more loosely regulated. An initiative trying to make the November ballot in Oregon would bring a dispensary system there if passed.

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Medical Marijuana: Maryland Bill Passes Senate Committee, But Is Bottled Up in House

A bill, SB 627, that would legalize the use of medical marijuana in Maryland passed out of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Monday, but appears stalled in the House, where there is talk of postponing consideration of it until "working groups" hammer out concerns between now and next year.

Introduced by Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery County), the bill would allow physicians to recommend marijuana to patients suffering from a number of specified conditions, including wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, severe muscle spasms, and "any other condition that is severe and resistant to conventional medicine." The bill also envisions a system of "authorized growers" who would be licensed by the state to provide medical marijuana to registered pharmacies.

Advocates lauded the Senate committee victory, which came on a 7-4 vote. "This vote represents the biggest victory to date for supporters of an effective medical marijuana law in Maryland," said Dan Riffle, a legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project. "I look forward to a productive discussion on the Senate floor, and I sincerely hope Maryland legislators do all in their power to get this bill passed and ensure Maryland's most vulnerable citizens don't have to spend another year living without effective medicine or in fear of arrest."

But with the legislative session set to end next week, companion legislation in the House, HB 712, is all but dead for now. So many concerns were raised by House members that supporters agreed to establish a working group to address them and that working group has recommended putting off any action until next year.

"We worked through, I think, all the issues. There are just some legislators who have an uncomfortable feeling and they can't really define it," said Del. Dan Morhaim (D-Baltimore County). "Bills like this sometimes take two years. I hope not, because every year that goes by, there's another set of Marylanders who are going to be suffering needlessly," Morhaim said.

One roadblock is House Judiciary Committee Chair Del. Joe Vallario. "The manufacturing and production are something that we're going to really have to look at," he said.

Another roadblock is cost and a tight state budget. Del. James Hubbard (D-Prince Georges), who headed the House working group, said the proposed medical marijuana program's start-up costs were an issue. "We don't pass bills without funding sources," Hubbard said, referring to costs that analysts believe would take to get the program off the ground. "And in this budget year, it's tough trying to find $40, much less $400,000."

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Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

A meth dealing Texas deputy and a pill-peddling Missouri jail guard head for the big house. Let's get to it:

In Lubbock, Texas, a former Hockley County chief deputy sheriff was sentenced last Friday to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy. Gordon Bohannon, 53, had pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of meth. A second deputy, Jose Jesus Quintanilla, was sentenced to three years in prison in the same case, which involved interstate meth trafficking by a motorcycle gang.

In Chillicothe, Missouri, a former jail guard was sentenced March 31 to one year in prison for bringing drugs into the jail. Former Ross County Corrections Officer Adam Jones, 26, had pleaded guilty to four counts of illegal conveyance into a detention center. Jones went down after the inmate for whom he had been smuggling Xanax and Oxycontin snitched him out in a bid to cut his own deal. Jones will be eligible for parole after 30 days.

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Marijuana: Another Colorado Town Votes to Legalize It

Voters in the Rocky Mountain town of Nederland, Colorado, voted Tuesday to remove all local penalties for adult marijuana possession. The measure passed with 54% of the vote in an election that also saw voters oust incumbent Mayor Martin Cheshes, who had opposed the ballot measure.

"It's a foolish thing to put on the ballot," Cheshes told the Daily Camera in nearby Boulder before the election. "If it passes, it enhances the reputation of Nederland as a kooky place, which I don't think we need, and if you're a marijuana advocate, it leaves the only penalties in place the state penalties, which are harsher."

Nederland becomes the third Colorado community to vote to legalize marijuana in the past five years. Denver voters did so in 2005, and the ski resort town of Breckenridge followed suit last year.

Under Colorado law small-time marijuana possession is decriminalized. Officials in Denver ignored the will of the voters there and continue to prosecute marijuana possession offenses under state law. But Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett may respond differently.

"I'll pay attention if it passes," he told the Daily Camera before the vote. "Marijuana enforcement is a sensitive issue, and it's important to gauge public sentiment."

"It's time for Colorado's elected officials to recognize that many -- and in some cases most -- of their constituents support an end to marijuana prohibition. Those who fail to do so are the 'foolish' ones, and in some areas it could result in them losing votes," said SAFER executive Mason Tvert.

"Nederland is not the first Colorado locality to express its opinion that marijuana should be legal for adults, and it certainly won't be the last," Tvert said. "More and more Coloradans are beginning to recognize the fact that marijuana is far safer than alcohol for the user and for society, and it's only a matter of time before they decide to stand up against irrational laws that drive people to drink by prohibiting them from making the safer choice."

The southwestern Colorado town of Durango could be the next to vote to legalize it, with organizers working to get an initiative on the local ballot. These votes are laying the groundwork for a probable statewide legalization initiative in 2012. A similar initiative got 44% of the vote in 2006, but recent polls show 50% of Colorado voters now supporting legalization.

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Medical Marijuana: Alabama Bill Wins House Committee Vote, But Unlikely to Pass This Year

For the first time ever, a medical marijuana bill in Alabama has won a legislative committee vote. HB 207, the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act, was approved Wednesday by the House Judiciary Committee. But even the bill's sponsor, Rep. Patricia Todd (D-Birmingham) has said the bill is unlikely to pass this year. The legislative session ends next week.

The bill is named after an Alabama man with a brain tumor that caused frequent seizures who fought to legalize medical marijuana. Phillips died at age 38 while attending the Drug Policy Alliance conference in New Orleans in 2007.

Under the bill, patients suffering from cancer and other serious ailments could, with a doctor's recommendation, possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and could grow their own medicine if they so chose. The bill would also allow for licensed dispensaries where patients could obtain their medicine. Patients would have to obtain a state-issued identification card.

Rep. Todd told the Montgomery Advertiser that with only five days left in the session, the bill was unlikely to move further this year. "I know this is not an easy bill to vote for," she said. "My intent is to help people who are hurting."

Alabama most likely won't see a medical marijuana law this year, but with the winning of the House committee vote, the movement has advanced further than ever in the Heart of Dixie.

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Europe: More British Drug Policy Experts Resign in Protest from Government Advisory Board

Two more members of the British government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) have resigned in the last week, citing the Labor government's emphasis on politics over evidence-based policy making. That brings to seven the number of ACMD members who have resigned since former ACMD head Professor David Nutt was sacked last fall.

Home Minister Alan Johnson fired Nutt after Nutt repeatedly criticized the government's decision to ignore the ACMD's advice and reschedule marijuana as a more dangerous drug. Johnson also took umbrage at Nutt's assertion that taking ecstasy was less dangerous than horse riding.

Nutt's firing provoked the immediate resignation of two other members of the committee, Dr. Les King and Marion Walker, followed a week later by three more: Dr. Simon Campbell, Dr. Ian Ragan and Dr. John Marsden. A seventh member, Dr. Polly Taylor, the veterinary specialist on the panel, resigned two weeks ago, ahead of the council's crucial meeting on mephedrone last week, in protest of new guidelines that said scientific advisors could be fired if they "undermined" the government.

Mephedrone, a so far legal stimulant derived from cathinone, which users say has similar effects to cocaine or ecstasy, has been the object of a media frenzy in Great Britain in recent weeks, with press reports breathlessly linking it to a number of deaths. Those reports are so far unsubstantiated, but that didn't stop the government from announcing it would move to ban it this month.

It was the mephedrone issue that finally drove ACMD member Dr Eric Carlin to add his name to the list of now former ACMD members. In his resignation letter to Home Minister Johnson, Carlin lambasted the government and the ACMD for bowing to political and media pressure on scheduling mephedrone.

Real ACMD business got pushed aside because of "the haste with which we were being pushed to make a decision about classifying Mephedrone; this so that the chair could come to meet with you later in the day and you could do a round of press announcements," Carlin wrote. "We had little or no discussion about how our recommendation to classify this drug would be likely to impact on young people's behavior. Our decision was unduly based on media and political pressure. The report was tabled to the whole council for the first time on Monday; the chair came to brief you before the whole council had even discussed all of the report. In fact, I still haven't seen the final version," Carlin complained.

Saying that "we need to review our whole approach to drugs," Carlin argued that legally sanctioned punishments should not be the "main part of the armory" in addressing drug problems. He added that he had decided not to resign over the sacking of Nutt last fall, "preferring instead to see how things panned out and to hope that the ACMD could develop a work program which would help prevent and reduce harm, particularly to young people. I have no confidence that this will now happen, largely though not totally due to the lack of logic of the context within which the council is constrained to operate by the Misuse of Drugs Act," he wrote. "I am not prepared to continue to be part of a body which, as its main activity, works to facilitate the potential criminalization of increasing numbers of young people."

The dispute between dissident ACMD members and the Labor government has highlighted a deeper argument over the nature of the relationship between the government and the scientists who advise it. Colin Blakemore, professor of neuroscience at Oxford, told The Independent that the furor over mephedrone pointed to "a crisis in the government's use of evidence potentially as serious as that produced by mad cow disease 20 years ago."

In the case of mad cow, British ministers offered false assurances on the safety of beef which went beyond the available evidence. When it emerged that some people had contracted mad cow disease from infected beef, trust in the government collapsed.

"I think there's been terrible pressure to come to a resolution about mephedrone -- inappropriate pressure," Professor Nutt told the Independent. "The meeting this week was rushed through so that the chairman could leave to do a press conference when the Home Secretary wanted to do one. It's a travesty of a proper discussion, of the proper way in which you should deal with an important issue like mephedrone."

The Home Office said that Carlin's resignation was "regrettable," but that "it does not impact our plans to ban mephedrone as soon as parliamentary time allows."

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India: Maoist Rebels Find Funding Source in Poppies, Pot Plants

India's Maoist insurgents, also known as Naxalites, are partially funding their long-running rebellion with profits from illicit opium poppy and cannabis crops, according to a new report from the Institute for Conflict Management. The groups also fund themselves through taxation of major corporations, farmers, and small businesses in areas they control.

Known officially as the Communist Party of India-Maoist, the Naxalites emerged in 1967 after splitting from the Communist Party of India-Marxist, and have been engaged in an on-again, off-again rebellion against the Indian state ever since. Originally centered in West Bengal, the Naxalites now operate in 20 of India's 28 states in districts comprising about 40% of the national territory. They are especially strong in rural eastern India, where they control 92,000 square kilometers in the so-called "Red Corridor" running through Chhattisgarh and Andra Pradesh states.

The Naxalites are estimated to have between 10,000 and 20,000 men under arms, tens of thousands more organized into local militias, and sympathizers numbering in the millions. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called them the single greatest internal threat to Indian security.

On Tuesday, in their toughest blow against Indian security forces since the rebellion began, Naxalites ambushed and killed 75 paramilitary police in Chhattisgarh state. Of a paramilitary expedition of 82 persons, only seven survived, and they were all wounded.

While India is one of a handful of countries licensed to produce opium for the legal medical market, it is also the home of substantial illicit poppy cultivation and, according to the report, the Naxalites are profiting from unlicensed opium fields in Jharkhand and Bihar states. Indian authorities report they destroyed opium crops worth $270 million on the black market in 2007. What is unknown is how much was harvested, with the profits ending up in Naxalite war chests.

The Maoists are also making money off cannabis. According to the 2008 Mohanty Commission of Inquiry, the CPI-Maoist and its front groups were behind extensive cannabis cultivation in Orissa state. One group, People's War, which later merged with the CPI-Maoist, was allegedly in charge of between 7,500 and 10,000 acres sown with cannabis.

Indian government officials have been urged to undertake opium eradication campaigns to undercut the Naxalites. They believe the Naxalites are not only benefitting from the illicit trade, but that cultivation of thousands of acres is taking place under their supervision.

In addition to buying guns, including heavy weapons, with the profits, the Naxalites are also spending on vehicles, including motorbikes with special tires to navigate the forests, supplies, communications equipment, and salaries for unemployed rural youth who join the armed struggle, the report said.

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Drug War Chronicle Video Review: "10 Rules for Dealing With Police," from Flex Your Rights

(We reprint Phil's review of this important new release.)

Phillip S. Smith, Writer/Editor

In 2008, the latest year tallied in the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, more than 14 million people were arrested in the United States, and uncounted millions more were subject to "stop and frisk" searches either on the streets or after being stopped for an alleged traffic violations. Of all those arrests in 2008, more than 1.7 million were for drug offenses, and about half of those were for marijuana offenses. For both pot busts in particular and drug arrests in general, nearly 90% of those arrested were for simple possession.

10 Rules is available with a donation to StoptheDrugWar.org now!

"10 Rules" will help the both the entirely innocent and those guilty of nothing more of possessing drugs in violation of our contemptible drug laws reduce the harm of their run-ins with police. Not that it encourages the violation of any laws -- it doesn't -- but it does clearly, concisely, and effectively explain what people can do to exercise their constitutional rights while keeping their cool, in the process protecting themselves from police who may not have their best interests in mind.

Those stops and those arrests mentioned above, of course, were not random or evenly distributed among the population. If you're young, or non-white, or an identifiable member of some sub-culture fairly or unfairly associated with drug use, you are much more likely to be stopped, hassled, and perhaps arrested. The writers of "10 Rules," Scott Morgan and Steve Silverman of Flex Your Rights understand that.

Building on the foundation of their 2003 video, "Busted: A Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters," which featured mainly young, white people involved in police encounters, Morgan and Silverman have expanded their target audience. In three of the four scenarios used in the video -- a traffic stop and search, a street stop-and-frisk search, and a knock-and-talk home search -- the protagonists are a young black man, a young Latino man, and a black grandmother, respectively. In only one scene, two young men apparently doing a dope deal on the street, are the citizen protagonists white.

That's not to say that "10 Rules" is intended only for the communities most targeted by police, just that the writers understand just who is being targeted by police. The lessons and wisdom of "10 Rules" are universally relevant in the United States, and all of us can benefit from knowing what our rights are and how to exercise them effectively. "10 Rules" does precisely that, and it does so in a street-smart way that understands cops sometimes don't want to play by the rules.

"10 Rules" build upon the earlier "Busted" in more than one sense. While "10 Rules" is expanding the terrain covered by "Busted," it has taken the cinematic quality to the next level, too. While "Busted" was made using a beta cam, this flick is shot in High Definition video, and that makes for some great production values, which are evident from the opening scene. "10 Rules" was shot on a bigger budget that "Busted," it has more actors (including some drug reform faces you might recognize), and more professional actors, and it has more of the feel of a movie than most video documentaries.

And it has legendary defense attorney William "Billy" Murphy, who plays the role of socratic interlocuter in the video. (You may remember him from appearances on HBO's "The Wire.") Appearing in a courtroom-like setting before a multi-ethnic group of very interested questioners, the pony-tailed lawyer begins with a basic discussion of the rights granted us by the US Constitution, especially the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth amendments dealing with the right to be free of unwarranted searches, the right to stay silent, and the right to legal counsel. His performance, folksy, yet forceful; scholarly, yet street-savvy, sparkles throughout; his natural charisma shines through.

From there, we alternate between Williams and his audience and the scenarios mentioned above. We see the young black man, Darren, get pulled over in traffic, produce a bit of bad attitude, and suffer mightily for his efforts. He gets handcuffed, manhandled, and consents to a search of his vehicle, after which the cop leaves his belongings strewn in the wet road and gives him a traffic ticket.

Then it's back to the courtroom, where Darren, angry and feeling disrespected, tells his tale. Murphy is sympathetic, but explains that Darren broke rule #1.

"Rule #1, always be calm and collected," the veteran attorney intones. "A police encounter is absolutely the worst time and place to vent your frustrations about getting stopped by the police. As soon as you opened your mouth, you failed the attitude test. Don't ever talk back, don't raise your voice, don't use profanity. Being hostile to police is stupid and dangerous."

Such advice may be frustrating, but it's smart, and it's street-smart. Murphy noted that things could have turned out even worse, as the video showed in an alternate take on the scene with Darren twitching on the ground after getting tasered for his efforts. He also threw in some good advice about pulling over immediately, turning off the car, keeping your hands on the wheel, and turning on an interior light just to reduce police officers' nervousness level.

Murphy uses the same scenario with Darren to get through rule #2 ("You always have the right to remain silent"), rule #3 ("You have the right to refuse searches"), rule #4 ("Don't get fooled" -- the police can and will lie to you or tell you you'll get off easier if you do what they ask), and rule #5 ("Ask if you are free to go"). This time, the cop still has a bad attitude and Darren still gets a ticket, but he doesn't counterproductively antagonize the cop, he doesn't get rousted and handcuffed, he doesn't allow the cop to search his vehicle, he doesn't get intimated by the officers' threat to bring in a drug dog that will tear up his car, and he does ask if he's free to go. He is.

Which brings us to a discussion of probable cause and and rule #6: "Don't expose yourself" and give police probable cause to search you. The video shows a car with bumper stickers saying "Got Weed?" "Bad Cop, No Donut," and "My other gun is a Tech-9" -- probably not a smart idea unless you really enjoy getting pulled over and hassled. More generally, "don't expose yourself" means that if you are carrying items you really don't want the police to see (and arrest you for), don't leave them lying around in plain sight. That's instant probable cause.

I'm not going to tell you the rest of the rules because I want you to see the video for yourself. But I will tell you about the heart-rending scene where the black grandmother lets police search her home in the name of public safety -- there have been some gang gun crimes, they explain pleasantly -- and ends up getting busted for her granddaughter's pot stash, arrested, and is now facing eviction from her public housing. Under Murphy's guidance, we rewind and replay the scene, with grandma politely but firmly exercising her rights, keeping the cops out of her home, and not going to jail or being threatened with losing her home.

In a time when police are more aggressive than ever, "10 Rules" is an absolutely necessary corrective, full of folksy -- but accurate -- information. "10 Rules" is the kind of basic primer on your rights that every citizen needs to know, it's well-thought out and well-written, and it not only is it full of critically important information, it's entertaining.

Go watch it and learn how to flex your rights. Better yet, watch it together with your friends, your family, or your classmates, then practice putting the rules into effect. Sometimes it's as simple as saying a simple phrase -- "Officer, am I free to go?" Do some role-playing, practice saying the magic words, and "10 Rules" can help you survive any police encounter in better shape than otherwise. When you're done, watch it and practice again -- familiarity is the best help when facing an intimidating police officer staring down at you.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to people who feel strongly enough about the rule of law in this country to help others learn how the law protects them and how to protect themselves within the law. A big thank you to the guys at Flex Your Rights is in order. And they would be the first to tell you the best way to thank them is to learn and apply the "10 Rules."

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Weekly: This Week in History

April 14, 1989: A congressional subcommittee on Narcotics, Law Enforcement, and Foreign Policy, chaired by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), issues a report finding that US efforts to combat drug trafficking were undermined by the Reagan administration's fear of jeopardizing its objectives in the Nicaraguan civil war. The report concludes that the administration ignored evidence of drug trafficking by the Contras and continued to provide them with aid.

April 13, 1995: The US Sentencing Commission votes to equalize penalties for crack and powder cocaine quantities for trafficking and possession offenses, a proposal that would have become law on November 1 if Congress took no action. Attorney General Janet Reno urges Congress to reject it the next day.

April 11, 1997: Graham Boyd, an ACLU attorney representing a group of plaintiffs including eleven prominent cancer and AIDS physicians in San Francisco, presents to a federal judge the following statement: "The federal government has issued broad threats against physicians who might recommend marijuana to some of their seriously ill patients. These threats have gagged physicians and have impeded the responsible practice of medicine. We assert that doctors have the right to discuss medical marijuana with patients, and we are seeking clear guidelines for physicians who wish to do so."

April 15, 1998: California Superior Court Judge David Garcia orders Dennis Peron, author of Proposition 215, to cease operations of his Cannabis Cultivators' Club (CCC) in San Francisco. Judge Garcia writes, "The court finds uncontradicted evidence in this record that defendant Peron is currently engaging in illegal sales of marijuana." The illegal sales, the court said, were to "primary caregivers," not patients as defined by California's medical marijuana law. Peron agrees to resign as head of the CCC in an effort to keep the operation open.

April 9, 2002: NORML launches a $500,000 campaign featuring bus shelter signs and telephone booth posters carrying a quote from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who when asked whether he had ever tried marijuana said, "You bet I did. And I enjoyed it." NORML used Bloomberg as the centerpiece of its campaign to urge the city to stop arresting and jailing people for smoking marijuana. "Millions of people smoke marijuana today. They come from all walks of life, and that includes your own mayor," said NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup.

April 12, 2002: Canada's Toronto Sun reports that a recent report cites Ontario's indoor marijuana industry as the third largest agricultural sector in the province, a $1-billion industry surpassed only by dairy's $1.3 billion and beef cattle's $1.2 billion. Add to that the multi-millions being harvested from outdoor crops and marijuana cultivation in this province moves into the top spot on the list.

April 10, 2003: In the wake of the federal conviction of medical marijuana grower Ed Rosenthal, US Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) and 27 other members of Congress introduce H.R. 1717 (the "Truth in Trials Act").

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Feedback: Do You Read Drug War Chronicle?

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Weekly: Blogging @ the Speakeasy

Along with our weekly in-depth Chronicle reporting, DRCNet also provides daily content in the way of blogging in the Stop the Drug War Speakeasy -- huge numbers of people have been reading it recently -- as well as Latest News links (upper right-hand corner of most web pages), event listings (lower right-hand corner) and other info. Check out DRCNet every day to stay on top of the drug reform game! Check out the Speakeasy main page at http://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy.

Since last issue:

Scott Morgan writes: "Confusing Legalization With Prohibition," "Drug Cartels Are Terrified of Marijuana Legalization, Part 2," "Refusing a Search Doesn't Give Police the Right to Detain You," "Has Jay Leno Ever Heard of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries?," "Since When do Rockstars Know Anything About Drugs?"

Phil Smith posts early copies of Drug War Chronicle articles.

David Guard posts numerous press releases, action alerts and other organizational announcements in the In the Trenches blog.

Again, http://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy is the online place to stay in the loop for the fight to stop the war on drugs. Thanks for reading, and please join us on the comment boards.

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Students: Intern at StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) and Help Stop the Drug War!

Want to help end the "war on drugs," while earning college credit too? Apply for a StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) internship and you could come join the team and help us fight the fight!

StoptheDrugWar has a strong record of providing substantive work experience to our interns -- you won't spend the summer doing filing or running errands, you will play an integral role in one or more of our exciting programs. Options for work you can do with us include coalition outreach as part of the campaign to rein in the use of SWAT teams, to expand our work to repeal the drug provision of the Higher Education Act to encompass other bad drug laws like the similar provisions in welfare and public housing law; blogosphere/web outreach; media research and outreach; web site work (research, writing, technical); possibly other areas. If you are chosen for an internship, we will strive to match your interests and abilities to whichever area is the best fit for you.

While our internships are unpaid, we will reimburse you for metro fare, and DRCNet is a fun and rewarding place to work. To apply, please send your resume to David Guard at [email protected], and feel free to contact us at (202) 293-8340. We hope to hear from you! Check out our web site at http://stopthedrugwar.org to learn more about our organization.

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