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Hmm, maybe the reason so many people still support the war on drugs isn’t because they’re stupid jerks. Perhaps they just haven’t yet had the pleasure of getting spontaneously framed, arrested, and jailed for made-up cocaine crimes concocted by dirty drug cops.
Now seems as good a time as any to bring to a close my semi-unplanned and entirely unannounced blogging hiatus and get back to hating the drug war with as much vigor as my MacBook can process and my schedule permits.
Support for marijuana legalization in the US continues to climb, with the Gallup Poll reporting Monday that a record high 50% of Americans now approve of freeing the weed.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy London presents No Justice, No Peace: Drugs, Race and Growing Up.
California's largest doctors' group is calling for marijuana legalization.
In North Aurora, Illinois, man arrested by Chicago Police on drug charges Wednesday night died after apparently swallowing the drugs while in custody. Kevin Davis, 47, becomes the 40th person to die in US domestic drug law operations so far this year. Chronicle story here.
The DEA raided medical marijuana operations in California and Colorado last week, including the respected and carefully state-compliant Northstone Organics. Chronicle article here.
An ex-NYPD narcotics officer testifying for the government as part of a bargain in his own corruption case says that cops routinely planted drugs on innocent people. Chronicle article here.
(Democratic consultant David Krute tells President Obama why the medical marijuana crackdown is a bad idea.)
Drug Policy Alliance
For Immediate Release: October 13, 2011
Contact: Tony Newman or Anthony Papa
Former NYPD Detective Testifies that Police Regularly Plant Drugs on Innocent People to Meet Arrest Quota
DPA Statement: Drug War Corrupts Police, Ruins Lives, Destroys Trust Between Law Enforcement and Community
Stephen Anderson, a former NYPD narcotics detective, testified yesterday that he regularly saw police plant drugs on innocent people as a way to meet arrest quotas. Mr. Anderson is testifying under cooperation with prosecutors after he was busted for planting cocaine on four men in a bar in Queens. "It was something I was seeing a lot of, whether it was from supervisors or undercovers and even investigators," said Anderson.
"One of the consequences of the war on drugs is that police officers are pressured to make large numbers of arrests, and it's easy for some of the less honest cops to plant evidence on innocent people," said gabriel sayegh of the Drug Policy Alliance. "The drug war inevitably leads to crooked policing – and quotas further incentivize such practices."
The NYPD has also come under heat recently for arresting more than 50,000 people last year for low-level marijuana offenses – 86% of whom are black and Latino – making marijuana possession the number one offense in the City. Most of these arrests are the result of illegal searches by the NYPD, as part of its controversial stop-and-frisk practices. Marijuana was decriminalized in New York State in 1977 – and that law is still on the books. Smoking marijuana in public or having marijuana visible in public, however, remains a crime. Most people arrested for marijuana possession are not smoking in public, but simply have a small amount in their pocket, purse or bag. Often when police stop and question a person, they say "empty your pockets" or "open your bag." Many people comply, even though they’re not legally required to do so. If a person pulls marijuana from their pocket or bag, it is then "open to public view." The police then arrest the person.
Last month, in a rare admission of NYPD wrongdoing, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly ordered all officers to stop charging people with misdemeanor marijuana violations based on improper searches. The new policy directive comes on the heels of a 2011 report released by DPA highlighting the enormous costs of marijuana arrests in New York and a public pressure campaign by advocacy groups and elected officials.
"Whether the issue is planting drugs (like this instance) or falsely charging people for having marijuana in public view (as is the case with the majority of marijuana arrests in NYC) the drug war corrupts police, ruins lives, and destroys trust between law enforcement and the communities that they serve," said sayegh.
