Latin America: Mexico Drug War Update
Here's the latest on the prohibition-related carnage wracking Mexico.
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Canada: In Marijuana Grow Case, Alberta's Top Court Rules Police Use of Power Recording Device Violates Privacy Rights
The cops need to get a warrant before asking power companies to record electricity usage, an Alberta court says.
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Feature: Prince of Pot Marc Emery on Farewell Tour As US Prison Term Looms
Canadian cannabis entrepreneur and legalization advocate Marc Emery is just weeks away from a US federal prison term. But if US and Canadian authorities think they can shut him and his supporters up, they are in for a surprise.
Chronicle
Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
We have a Deep South trio of dirty cops this week.
Chronicle
Students: Intern at StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) and Help Stop the Drug War!
Apply for an internship at DRCNet and you could spend a semester fighting the good fight!
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Future Wealth
I believe future wealth will be generated in the medical marijuana field. It's going to be very lucrative in the near future.
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A Heroin User in Stockholm
Another video from the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, this time in partnership with the Swedish Drug Users Union. Sweden's government is one of the world's most prohibitionist, but nevertheless has moved toward harm reduction in recent years by expanding needle exchange into a national policy. Previously needle exchange was happening only in two cities in the nation's south.
Well, there's still no needle exchange in Stockholm, according to HCLU, it's even hard to get into a methadone maintenance program, and those who do often face negative attitudes from the program's staff. Check out the video below, or here.
In The Trenches
Stopping Medical Marijuana Raids
You Can Make a Difference |
Dear friends,
Congress has heard the evidence about the medicinal benefits of marijuana, but legislators still havenât changed federal law to reflect scientific fact. Tell them to end the federal medical marijuana ban now! While Congress ignores the science, patients like Eugene Davidovich, who operates a medical marijuana collective in San Diego, are criminalized. He complies with state law and the California attorney general's medical marijuana guidelines, but the San Diego district attorney is threatening to throw him in prison anyway. Bolstered by the federal ban on medical marijuana, the San Diego DA is systematically harassing patients, and Eugene now faces four felony charges. This is outrageous! Will you join me in asking Congress to end the federal medical marijuana ban? Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, has introduced legislation to make marijuana legal for medical use, but opponents are organizing to defeat it. Our message to Congress is simple: Federal law enforcement should stop harassing and arresting people for medical marijuana. Itâs cruel. Itâs capricious. And itâs a waste of precious taxpayer dollars. Enough is enough! Just like you and me, lawmakers know the truth about medical marijuana. Only you can hold your member of Congress accountable. Tell your representative to face the facts. Sincerely, Bill Piper |
In The Trenches
Press Release: Seton Hall Center for Health & Pharm Law Supports NJ Medical Marijuana Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 27, 2009
CONTACT: Ken @ (609) 394-2137
Seton Hall Center for Health & Pharm Law Supports NJ Medical Marijuana Act
WHO: Seton Hall University School of Law Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy
WHAT: Published support for the âNew Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Actâ
WHEN: August 26, 2009
WHERE: A Position Paper in HEALTH REFORM WATCH available at: http://www.healthreformwatch.com/2009/08/26/position-paper-in-support-of-the-new-jersey-compassionate-use-medical-marijuana-act/
WHY: Because the legislation has been carefully drafted to allow New Jersey residents with debilitating medical conditions access to marijuana to ease their suffering without creating an undue risk of abuse or diversion.
The Seton Hall University Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy published a Position Paper today that supports the passage of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. The Center said that the legislation has been carefully drafted to allow New Jersey residents with debilitating medical conditions access to marijuana to ease their suffering without creating an undue risk of abuse or diversion. The Center cited available medical evidence that supports the use of marijuana to treat each of the debilitating medical conditions set forth in the Act: AIDS/HIV; cachexia (wasting syndrome); cancer; glaucoma; severe and persistent muscle spasms; severe nausea; severe or chronic pain; and seizures.
The Center also addressed the issues of abuse and diversion. The Center noted that no state that has passed a medical marijuana law has subsequently experienced an increase in recreational marijuana use among its children and youth. The Actâs multiple safeguards against abuse and diversion of medical marijuana provide further reassurance, it noted. If passed, the Act would be among the most restrictive of all the statesâ medical marijuana laws. Thirteen states, covering about 25% of the U.S. population, currently have medical marijuana programs.
On February 23, the New Jersey Senate voted 22-16 to pass S119, the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. The Assembly health committee voted 8-1 to pass an amended version of the bill on June 4. The bill must now pass the full Assembly. If the amended bill clears the Assembly, it would return to the Senate for a second vote because of the changes before it goes to Gov. Jon Corzine (D), who has said that he will sign the bill if it makes it to his desk.
The mission of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, a 501(c)(3) public charity, is to educate the public about the benefits of safe and legal access to medical marijuana. The Coalition is grateful for this well-researched and well-written Position Paper. For more info, contact:
Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Executive Director
Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc. www.cmmnj.org
844 Spruce St., Trenton, NJ 08648
609.394.2137
[email protected]
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So many resources wasted on drug users, thereâs no money to extradite real criminals
We waist so many law enforcement resources fighting drugs, from outside our borders; we donât have the resources to extradite wanted criminals within our borders.
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Canada: In Marijuana Grow Case, Alberta's Top Court Rules Police Use of Power Recording Device Violates Privacy Rights
In a 2-1 decision last Friday, the Alberta Court of Appeals ruled that Calgary police violated Canadian privacy protections when they persuaded a utility company to attach a device to create a record of electricity usage in a home where they suspected marijuana was being grown. The case is Crown vs. Gomboc.
Daniel James Gomboc was arrested and convicted of marijuana cultivation after Calgary police on another call noticed his home showed signs that a marijuana grow was taking place. After spotting suggestive evidence, Calgary police then went to the utility provider Enmax without a warrant and persuaded it to attach a digital recording amp-meter (DRA) to Gomboc's home. The meter monitored Gomboc's power usage for five days, and police used the results to obtain the search warrant that resulted in his arrest and subsequent conviction.
Gomboc appealed his conviction, arguing that the warrantless use of the DRA violated his privacy rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Alberta appeals court agreed, overturning his conviction and ordering a new trial. That new trial will take place without any of the evidence seized under the search warrant based on the DRA information.
"It has been famously said that 'the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation,'" wrote Justice Peter Martin. "The actual prohibition is much broader: in our society, absent exigent circumstances, the state has no business in the homes of the nation without invitation or judicial authorization."
Martin added that the expectation of privacy extends beyond the simple information-gathering on the timing and amount of electricity used to the behavior of utility companies. "It is also objectively reasonable to expect that the utility would not be co-opted by the police to gather additional information of interest only to police," wrote Martin. "Indeed, I expect that the reasonable, informed citizen would be gravely concerned, and
would object to the state being allowed to use a utility to spy on a homeowner in this way."
The decision could be a precedent that will lead to more reversals, Gomboc's attorney, Charlie Stewart, told the Calgary Herald. "It's interesting to think of all the people who have pleaded guilty or been convicted under these circumstances," said Stewart. "It's a question of the legitimacy of the search."