Skip to main content

Latest

Chronicle
Chronicle
Chronicle

Canada: "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery Jailed, Ordered Extradited to US

Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson Monday signed the extradition for "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery to begin serving five years in a US federal prison for selling pot seeds over the Internet. He was jailed on the spot in Vancouver, and could be in the American gulag by the time you read this.
Chronicle
Chronicle
Chronicle

Weekly: Blogging @ the Speakeasy

"Drug Czar Admits Failure, Pledges to Continue It," "John Walters Still Thinks the Drug War is Awesome," "The Dog-Killing Drug Raid That Pissed Off America," "Do Cops Get Drunk at Anti-Pot Conferences?," "Utah Cops Create Website for Snitching on Marijuana Gardens," "Gary Johnson Talks Marijuana Legalization on the Colbert Report," "DEA Accidentally Argues for Marijuana Legalization."
Chronicle

Appeal: 2010 is Important in Drug Policy -- And So Are You

2010 is a critical year in the effort to end prohibition and the war on drugs. The StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) "Changing Minds, Changing Laws, Changing Lives" campaign is asking for you to pitch in -- your support is more important now than it has ever been before!
Chronicle
Blog

Drug Czar Admits Failure, Pledges to Continue It

Tell me something I don't know:

MEXICO CITY (AP) — After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread.

Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn't worked.

"In the grand scheme, it has not been successful," Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. "Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified."

Yes. Yes! Did I just hear a drug czar basically admit that the drug war completely sucks? Well then, what are you going to do about it?

Nevertheless, his administration has increased spending on interdiction and law enforcement to record levels both in dollars and in percentage terms; this year, they account for $10 billion of his $15.5 billion drug-control budget.

Kerlikowske, who coordinates all federal anti-drug policies, says it will take time for the spending to match the rhetoric.

Really? Why? This isn't hard, dude. You just stop paying everybody to f@#king destroy everything. I mean, it's interesting that he admits their rhetoric is nonsense, but that was already super obvious. We're in the middle of an economic crisis, and here's the drug czar telling us we can't stop funding programs that even he himself admits are a complete waste. What the hell is going on here?

It's easy to call the Obama Administration out on their hypocrisy, and we should. But it's also worth contemplating why they're doing such a miserable job of defending their own drug strategy. I think the difference between Kerlikowske and his predecessor is that John Walters actually bought into his own hype. His ego won't let him understand the destruction he oversaw. I don't believe Kerlikowske is even loyal to the war in the first place. I think he's just trying to do his job while pissing off as few people as possible. He aims to placate the public by acknowledging the obvious, while simultaneously ensuring that the drug war industrial complex is still able to pay its bills.

So which is worse, a drug czar who won't learn from his mistakes, or one who continues to support policies he knows are wrong?
Blog

John Walters Still Thinks the Drug War is Awesome

This comment from the former drug czar perfectly explains why drug warriors are so incapable of ever admitting failure:

"To say that all the things that have been done in the war on drugs haven't made any difference is ridiculous," Walters said. "It destroys everything we've done. It's saying all the people involved in law enforcment, treatment and prevention have been wasting their time. It's saying all these people's work is misguided." [AP]

Well, yeah. If your idea of law enforcement is shoving guns in the faces of misdemeanor drug suspects, if your idea of treatment is forcing casual marijuana users into drug therapy, and if your idea of prevention is spending countless millions on anti-drug ads that are proven to increase drug use, then I would call you "misguided," to say the least.

This is what you've accomplished, sir, and instead of demanding gratitude, you should consider yourself lucky you haven't yet been paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue in tar and feathers.
Event

Drop The Rock Empowerment Day 2010

Teams of community members, young people, formerly incarcerated people, and families will come together in neighborhoods across the city and state that are heavily impacted by incarceration to educate
Event

Hemp Hoe Down 10

For ten years the Hemp Hoe Down has brought you the best party, the best music, and the only hemp advocacy celebration in South Dakota, right here in the Black Hills.
Event
Event

Free screening of Waiting to Inhale

(Optional vegan buffet dinner at 6:30 — $13)

Produced by Jed Riffe and funded in part by the Marijuana Policy Project, Waiting to Inhale examines the debate over marijuana’s medical efficacy and whether and how to make it available to seriously ill patients suffering from diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and multiple sclerosis. Among other awards, the film was named Best Documentary at the Eureka International Film Festival and the New Jersey Film Festival, and won the 2007 CINE Golden Eagle. You can check out a preview of the film here.

Following the film, MPP’s Karen O’Keefe will lead a discussion about the film and legislation recently considered in Maryland and passed in Washington D.C. As Director of State Policies, Karen was the lead drafter of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act and has actively lobbied for the passage of medical marijuana laws in state legislatures around the country.

For more, please visit waitingtoinhale.org or contact Cam MacQueen at [email protected].

In The Trenches

MPP Partners with Slightly Stoopid, Cypress Hill for Upcoming U.S. Tour

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

MAY 13, 2010

MPP Partners with Slightly Stoopid, Cypress Hill for Upcoming U.S. Tour

Activist Artists Kick Off ‘Cauzin Vapors … Legalize It’ Tour in July

CONTACT: Mike Meno, MPP director of communications …………… 202-905-2030 or [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the debate over ending marijuana prohibition heats up across the country, the Marijuana Policy Project is partnering with renowned San Diego-based band Slightly Stoopid for their upcoming U.S. tour, “Cauzin Vapors … Legalize It,” on which they’ll be accompanied by hip-hop superstars, Cypress Hill, The Expendables, Collie Buddz, and reggae legends Steel Pulse on select dates.

         Starting in mid-July, the tour will wind across the country, from California to New York, with stops at this year’s acclaimed Lollapalooza festival in Chicago and the Mile High Music Festival in Colorado. MPP will be tabling at performances and have representatives at each show to answer questions and provide information about the ongoing campaigns to end marijuana prohibition in the U.S.   

         “We are delighted to be included in this opportunity to expand awareness about the need to change our country’s marijuana policies,” said Mary Patton, Director of VIP Relations at the Marijuana Policy Project. “Slightly Stoopid, Cypress Hill and all the acts on this tour are vocal, well-known supporters of ending marijuana prohibition, and we look forward to joining them in this effort to change attitudes and inspire activism on marijuana-related issues across the U.S.”  

         For more information, and a complete list of tour dates, visit www.slightlystoopid.com.

         For videos of Slightly Stoopid from Amsterdam’s Cannabis Cup, visit:

                        This Joint:  http://vimeo.com/10595970

Babylon Is Falling: http://vimeo.com/10646744

                        Collie Man: http://vimeo.com/10658401

         For press inquiries about Slightly Stoopid, contact Solid PR at www.solidpr.com, [email protected], or [email protected].

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

[more]


LEGALIZE IT 2010 Tour Dates:

 

With Steel Pulse & The Expendables

6/18  Jacksonville, OR - Britt Pavilion

6/19  Seattle, WA - Marymoor Amphitheater

6/20  Spokane, WA - Riverfront Park Amphitheater

6/22  Missoula, MT - Ryan Creek Meadows

6/23  Boise, ID - Idaho Center Amphitheater

With The Expendables

6/24  Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot

6/25  Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Pool

6/26  Phoenix, AZ - Celebrity Theatre

With Cypress Hill

7/16  Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

7/17  San Diego, CA - Cricket Pavilion

With Cypress Hill & Collie Buddz

7/22  Boston, MA - Bank Of America Pavilion

7/23  Boston, MA - Bank Of America Pavilion

7/24  Danbury, CT - Ives Concert Park

7/25  Asbury Park, NJ - TBA

7/28  Raleigh, NC - Raleigh Amphitheatre

7/29  Baltimore, MD - Pier Six Pavilion

7/30  Portsmouth, VA - nTelos Pavilion

7/31  Philadelphia, PA - Penn's Landing

8/01  Buffalo, NY - Rocks The Harbor

8/04  Detroit, MI - Fillmore Detroit

8/06  Columbus, OH - LC Outdoor Pavilion

8/07  Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza

8/08  Minneapolis, MN - Cabooze Outdoors (no Cypress Hill)

8/12  Kansas City, MO - Crossroads

8/13  Omaha, NE - Anchor Inn

8/14  Commerce City, CO - Mile High Music Festival

8/18  Myrtle Beach, SC - House Of Blues

8/19  Atlanta, GA - The Tabernacle

8/20  Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live

8/21  West Boca Raton, FL - Sunset Cove Amphitheatre

####

Latest News
Latest News
Blog

Britain's New Prime Minister Thinks Drugs Should Be Legal

David Cameron
He probably won't admit it now, but Britain's new prime minister thinks drugs should be legal. David Cameron, whose Conservative Party (the Tories) ousted Labor in last week's election, told the UK paper The Independent that the United Nations should consider legalization. He also wanted Britain to revive its former practice of providing heroin maintenance for addicts, and to open safe injection sites too. According to The Independent, which did the interview in 2005 when Cameron was vying for the Conservative's leadership spot, Cameron favored "fresh thinking and a new approach" toward British drug policy, adding "we have to let 1,000 flowers bloom and look at all sorts of treatment models." Cameron started off well as a parliamentarian, initially backing the government's downgrading of cannabis (marijuana) penalties from schedule B to C. But as a tabloid-driven hysteria over marijuana in the UK unfolded, Cameron (and The Independent) did a foolish about face. Still, Cameron's past comments are on the record, and his personal instincts on the issue at least seem to be good ones. I am not going to hold my breath waiting for the Tories to roll out legalization proposals, Cameron's past statements notwithstanding. But Labor under Gordon Brown was abominable on the drug issue, so whatever left-leaning Britons may miss about the former Labor government, they likely won't miss the drug policy. If Cameron does want to do something about this, Britain's Transform Drug Policy Foundation has a "Blueprint for Regulation" report ready and waiting.
Latest News
Latest News