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Feds: Watch out for drivers high on drugs

As you idled at that busy intersection Saturday night, there's a pretty good chance another driver waiting for the light to change was high on illegal drugs.

About 11 percent of motorists are high on the weekend, and the number creeps up past 16 percent once night falls on Friday and Saturday, according to federal drug czar Gil Kerlikowske and a national roadside survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The problem is, that's simply not what the drug czar or the survey said. The data reported on percentages of drivers who tested positive for having drugs in their system, which does not mean they were impaired behind the wheel. The NHTSA carefully explained this in their report:

The reader is cautioned that drug presence does not necessarily imply impairment. For many drug types, drug presence can be detected long after any impairment that might affect driving has passed. For example, traces of marijuana can be detected in blood samples several weeks after chronic users stop ingestion. Also, whereas the impairment effects for various concentration levels of alcohol is well understood, little evidence is available to link concentrations of other drug types to driver performance.

Now, in fairness to Halsey, it was almost certainly the drug czar's intention to blur that distinction and ONDCP shares the blame when their devious press releases lead to factual distortions in the press. Nevertheless, when Pete Guither sent an email correcting the error, Halsey jettisoned all credibility by getting pissed and spewing insults:

Your arrogance and ignorance are impressive.

Behold the unmatched maturity and professionalism of a staff writer at the venerable Washington Post. Confronted with a transparent and embarrassing error, he spits venom instead of attempting to correct or qualify his poor reporting. Halsey speaks of arrogance and ignorance even though he's the one refusing to admit mistakes and reporting on studies he hasnât read and doesnât understand.

As someone who's emailed corrections to a good number of journalists, I can honestly say I've never seen such a shameless and hostile response. Typically, a correction is made or not made and I get a "thanks for sharing" or I'm ignored. This, on the other hand, is so nasty that it would warrant managerial intervention even if Pete's suggestion weren't clearly correct. Seriously, whoever signs the checks at The Post should tell Ashley III Halsey not to act like this.

Other than that, the whole episode reminds me of basically every drug-related news story ever published prior to 2009. Maybe Halsey just missed the memo about drug reporting having to be accurate from now on.

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Congressional Budget Deal Allows Federal Funding for Needle Exchange and Medical Marijuana in the Nation's Capital

US House and Senate negotiators in conference committee approved the finishing touches on the Fiscal Year 2010 budget Tuesday night, and they included a number of early Christmas presents for different drug reform constituencies. But it isnât quite a done deal yet--this negotiated version of the FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act must now win final approved in up-or-down, no-amendments-allowed floor votes in the House and the Senate. What the conference committee approved: * Ending the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs--without previous language that would have banned them from operating within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, and similar facilities. * Ending the ban on the use of federal funds for needle exchanges in the District of Columbia. * Allowing the District of Columbia to implement the medical marijuana initiative passed by voters in 1998 and blocked by congressional diktat ever since. * Cutting funding for the Office of National Drug Control Policyâs National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign from $70 million this year to $45 million next year. In a news release after agreement was reached, this is how the committee described the language on needle exchange:

Modifies a prohibition on the use of funds in the Act for needle exchange programs; the revised provision prohibits the use of funds in this Act for needle exchange programs in any location that local public health or law enforcement agencies determine to be inappropriate

Its description of the DC appropriations language:

Removing Special Restrictions on the District of Columbia:...Also allows the District to implement a referendum on use of marijuana for medical purposes as has been done in other states, allows use of Federal funds for needle exchange programs except in locations considered inappropriate by District authorities.

And its language on the youth media campaign:

National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign: $45 million, $25 million below 2009 and the budget request, for a national ad campaign providing anti-drug messages directed at youth. Reductions were made in this program because of evaluations questioning its effectiveness. Part of the savings was redirected to other ONDCP drug-abuse-reduction programs.

Citing both reforms in the states--from medical marijuana to sentencing reform--as well as the conference committeeâs actions, Drug Policy Alliance Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann stopped just short of declaring victory Wednesday. âItâs too soon to say that Americaâs long national nightmare â the war on drugs â is really over,â said Nadelmann. âBut yesterdayâs action on Capitol Hill provides unprecedented evidence that Congress is at last coming to its senses when it comes to national drug control policy.â But, as noted above, there are still two votes to go, and DPA is applying the pressure until it is a done deal. âHundreds of thousands of Americans will get HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C if Congress does not repeal the federal syringe funding ban,â said Bill Piper, DPA national affairs director. âThe science is overwhelming that syringe exchange programs reduce the spread of infectious diseases without increasing drug use. We will make sure the American people know which members of Congress stand in the way of repealing the ban and saving lives.â Washington, DC, residents got a two-fer from the committee when it approved ending the ban on the District funding needle exchanges and undoing the Barr Amendment, the work of erstwhile drug warrior turned reformer former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), which forbade the District from implementing the 1998 medical marijuana initiative, which won with 69% of the vote. âCongress is close to making good on President Obamaâs promise to stop the federal government from undermining local efforts to provide relief to cancer, HIV/AIDS and other patients who need medical marijuana,â said Naomi Long, the DC Metro director of the Drug Policy Alliance. âDC voters overwhelmingly voted to legalize marijuana for medical use and Congress should have never stood in the way of implementing the will of the people.â "The end of the Barr amendment is now in sight,â said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. âThis represents a huge victory not just for medical marijuana patients, but for all city residents who have every right to set their own policies in their own District without congressional meddling. DC residents overwhelmingly made the sensible, compassionate decision to pass a medical marijuana law, and now, more than 10 years later, suffering Washingtonians may finally be allowed to focus on treating their pain without fearing arrest." Medical marijuana in the shadow of the Capitol? Federal dollars being spent on proven harm reduction techniques? Congress not micromanaging DC affairs? What is the world, or at least Washington, coming to?

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Prosecution: No More Crack Pipe Felonies for Houston

Prosecution: No More Crack Pipe Felonies for Houston Beginning January 1, prosecutors in Harris County, Texas, will no longer file felony drug charges against people found with less than one one-hundreth of a gram of illegal drugs. Currently in Houston, people caught with trace amounts of drug or holding crack pipes with drug traces are routinely charged with felonies. But under a new policy promulgated by Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos, police are instructed to instead issue Class C misdemeanor tickets to people caught in possession of crack pipes or trace amounts of drugs. That means arrestees will face only a $500 fine, not the up to two years in state jail mandated by the felony charge. The cops are not happy. âIt ties the hands of the officers who are making crack pipe cases against burglars and thieves,â said Gary Blankinship, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union. âA crack pipe is not used for anything but smoking crack by a crack head. Crack heads, by and large, are also thieves and burglars. They're out there committing crimes,â he told the Houston Chronicle. But Lykos told the Chronicle there were good reasons to change the policy. Less than one-hundreth of a gram of a drug is not enough for more than one drug test, and defense attorneys often want to run their own tests, she said.

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Congress Poised to End Medical Marijuana Ban in Washington, D.C.

In The Trenches

Press Release: MPP of Nevada Announces Formation of Ballot Advocacy Group â Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws

MEDIA RELEASEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

DECEMBER 9, 2009

MPP of Nevada Announces Formation of Ballot Advocacy Group â Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws

Following unsuccessful ballot initiatives to tax and regulate marijuana in 2002 and 2006, group prepares for victory in November 2012

CONTACT: Dave Schwartz, MPP-NV Managerâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦702-727-1081

LAS VEGAS â Today, Dave Schwartz, manager of the Marijuana Policy Project of Nevada (MPP-NV), announced that he has filed documents with the Nevada Secretary of State establishing a Ballot Advocacy Group to support a ballot initiative to create a legal, regulated market for marijuana for persons 21 years of age or older.Â The name of the committee is Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws, and it has been organized with the goal of conducting a successful signature drive in 2010 that will place an initiative on the ballot in November 2012.Â The committee plans to file the language of the initiative with the state in January.

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â âAs a long-time resident of Nevada, I am excited to be a part of this campaign,â said Schwartz, who will serve as chairman of Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws.Â âOver the next three years, we will be meeting with and talking to voters all across the state about the harms caused by our current marijuana laws.Â We will talk about lost revenues, wasted law enforcement resources, and the fact that keeping marijuana illegal actually steers kids into an illicit market where they are exposed to far more dangerous drugs.Â Most of all, we will ask Nevadans to think about how we are actually steering adults toward a far more harmful substance â alcohol â by threatening to punish them if they choose to use marijuana instead.Â In so many ways, our current laws simply donât make sense.Â We need sensible marijuana laws, and that is what our initiative will produce.â

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â MPP of Nevada is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Nevadans about the true nature of marijuana and about the harms caused by marijuana prohibition in the state. For more information about MPP of Nevada, please visit http://www.mppnv.org.Â

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Former Presidents and Noted Experts Debate New Directions in Drug Policy

In The Trenches

Press Release: Congress Close to Ending Ban on Medical Marijuana in Washington, D.C.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
DECEMBER 9, 2009

Congress Close to Ending Ban on Medical Marijuana in Washington, D.C.

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦ 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205

WASHINGTON, D.C. â In a historic move, Congress is now poised to end the decade long ban on Washington, D.C. implementing the medical marijuana law District voters passed in 1998 with a 69 percent majority. Known as the Barr amendment, the provision â a rider attached to appropriations for the District -- has forbidden D.C. from extending legal protection to qualified medical marijuana patients and has been derided by advocates for years as an unconscionable intrusion by the federal government into the District's affairs.

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The omnibus spending bill that Democratic leaders will shortly be bringing to a vote in the House later this week removes this onerous provision. Once both chambers approve this final language and the president signs it, the Barr amendment will no longer block medical marijuana in D.C.

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â "The end of the Barr amendment is now in sight,â said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington. âThis represents a huge victory not just for medical marijuana patients, but for all city residents who have every right to set their own policies in their own District without congressional meddling. D.C. residents overwhelmingly made the sensible, compassionate decision to pass a medical marijuana law, and now, more than 10 years later, suffering Washingtonians may finally be allowed to focus on treating their pain without fearing arrest."

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Advocates noted that the welcome repeal will come too late to help Jonathan Magbie, a D.C. quadriplegic man who died in prison in 2004 from lack of medical care after being convicted for using marijuana to treat his pain.

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â "Jonathan Magbie would be alive today if the District been able to implement its medical marijuana law when it passed in 1998,â Houston said. "Perhaps now nobody in the District will ever have to suffer as he and his family did simply for using the medicine that works best for them."Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Recently, the American Medical Association called on the federal government to reconsider marijuanaâs classification as a Schedule I drug, which bars medical use.

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â With more than 29,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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10 Rules for Dealing With Police (Film Preview)

If you've ever wondered why I only blog at night, it's because I've been spending the daylight hours at Flex Your Rights helping write and produce what I believe will be the best know your rights resource ever made. Here's a peak at the new film 10 Rules for Dealing with Police, which we're releasing on January 25:

I have a cameo in the film where I get chased and tackled by a massive plainclothes narcotics officer. Mark your calendars.

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Deputy Drug Czar: "I hate this job"

The New York Times has a rather strange visit with Deputy Drug Czar Tom McClellan in which he says he only took the job because his son had recently died from a drug overdose and now admits that he hates working there:

In a recent interview in his office here — still sparsely decorated except for a photocopied picture of his family, including his surviving son and two young grandsons (or "grand felons," as he called them) — Dr. McLellan put his feet up on the coffee table and declared, "I hate this job."

"This is a job that needs scientific background," he went on. "But if you come to it with the kind of desires to turn everything into a scientific experiment, you will have your poor little heart broken."

I don't understand. Did Tom McClellan think they cared about science at the Office of National Drug Control Policy? Maybe if someone had shown him Stoners in the Mist, he could have figured out what he was getting himself into before it was too late.

Regardless, it's just weird to find the new deputy drug czar already hating on his own job in The New York Times. It strikes me as yet another indication of what a sickly and irrelevant institution the ONDCP has become. Sometimes, I feel like it's just a matter of time before the whole thing collapses in a poignant public spectacle:

Dr. McClellan might be our best candidate yet for bringing that beautiful sight to life.