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In The Trenches

Drug Truth 05/21/09

The Unvarnished Truth From the Drug Truth Network Cultural Baggage for 05/20/09, 29:00 Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Drug Policy Alliance + Afghan Army use of hashish estimated at 75% per Guardian report LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2426 TRANSCRIPT: 05/21/09 PM Century of Lies for 05/17/09, 29:00 Francisco Santos Calderon, Vice President of Colombia at the 39th Conference of the Americas, courtesy of Americas Society LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2418 TRANSCRIPT: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2418#comments Programs produced at Pacifica Radio Station KPFT in Houston, 90.1 FM. You can Listen Live Online at www.kpft.org - Century of Lies, SUN, 8 PM ET, 7 PM CT, 6 PM MT & 5 PM PT: NEXT: Jeffrey Miron, Author: "Drug War Crimes" - Cultural Baggage WED, 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 CT, 10:30 MT & 9:30 AM PT: NEXT: David Rosenbloom, new Pres. of CASA Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org We have potcasts, searchability, CMS, XML, sorts by guest name and by organization. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US, Canada and Australia! We now feature TRANSCRIPTS of most of our programs again! Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, DTN Producer, 713-849-6869, www.drugtruth.net
In The Trenches

Watch Me on the Colbert Report

You Can Make a Difference

 

Dear Friends,

I recently appeared on the Colbert Report, Comedy Central’s popular political satire news show. You can watch the interview here.

This appearance is part of our ongoing campaign to open the debate about drug policy in this country -- you might have also seen me recently on CNN and Fox.

You know as well as I do that real change won't come until there's an open and honest public debate about drug policy in the United States.You also know that real lives in real communities are on the line. I hope you'll join me in making sure this debate is opened now.

Will you donate $50.00 or more to help expand the public debate on drug policy?

Your efforts to change the conversation about drugs are making a difference. Congressional leaders and the president are close to eliminating the unfair sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine.

Now is the time to push our issues to the forefront. We are well positioned to capitalize on this new energy and cannot miss this major opportunity to dismantle the drug war!

Give today to keep us moving forward in this fight.

Very truly yours,


Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Drug Policy Alliance Network

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Semanal: Blogueando en el Bar Clandestino

“Aumento de potencia de la marihuana es un argumento en pro de la legalización, no en contra suya”, “Wall Street Journal cree que a estadounidenses todavía les encanta la lucha contra la droga”, “Nuevo fiscal de la droga dice que se acabó mentalidad de ‘guerra contra las drogas’”, “CNBC ataca a Schwarzenegger por apoyar la legalización de la marihuana”, “Incriminan a agente de la DEA por tenderles una trampa a 17 inocentes”, “¿Quién puso a Stephen Baldwin a cargo de la oposición a la legalización de la marihuana”, “Ex presidente mexicano pide debate sobre legalización de las drogas”, “Obama dice ser a favor de cambio de jeringas al paso que le pide al Congreso que lo prohíba”, “Los estados no necesitan autorización federal para legalizar la marihuana” y “¿Cuánto dinero vale la legalización de la marihuana?”.
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Pedido: Ya es hora de CAMBIAR lo mismo de siempre en las políticas de drogas

¡Gracias a su ayuda, nuestra campaña “Cambiando Mentes, Leyes y Vidas” del 2009 ha empezado estupendamente bien! Su apoyo sigue siendo necesario – dos nuevos polos fascinantes sobre la prohibición de las drogas están entre los regalos que nos gustaría enviarle como nuestro agradecimiento.
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Latinoamérica: Presidente colombiano quiere encarcelar a cocaleros

El presidente colombiano Álvaro Uribe ya ha presidido durante años la guerra a las drogas dirigida contra su propio país, está intentando repenalizar afanosamente la tenencia de drogas y ahora quiere reducir a los campesinos cocaleros a prisión. Es un hombre en desacuerdo con su región.
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Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Last week was one of those remarkably rare occasions when we came across no corrupt cops stories. Not to worry! They're back this week with a vengeance. Another border sheriff goes down, a North Carolina police department goes out of business, an Arizona cop gets greedy, and another pair of entrepreneurial jail guards get caught.
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Marijuana is Illegal, But it Doesn’t Have to be

The Amethyst Initiative is a coalition of college presidents who believe we should consider lowering the drinking age to help address the harms of underground drinking. It's great that they understand how the law creates unintended consequences, but listen to what they have to say about the idea of equalizing penalties for marijuana and alcohol:

The leader of the Amethyst Initiative, John McCardell Jr., president emeritus of Vermont's Middlebury College, says there's a big difference between the two debates.

"The fact is marijuana is prohibited across the board. It's not a matter of age discrimination, as where alcohol is concerned," he said. [AP]

Huh? Underage drinking is illegal just like marijuana. What's the difference between reforming alcohol laws vs. marijuana laws? The fact that marijuana isn't legal for anyone serves only to illustrate how marijuana laws are even stupider and more incoherent than the arbitrary drinking age of 21.

I understand that these folks might prefer to avoid getting caught up debating a separate issue, but if they don't wanna talk about it, they don't have to. He could have declined to comment instead of trying to draw ridiculous distinctions. The bottom line is that our marijuana laws are a constant source of insanity and injustice on college campuses and it's bizarre that these college presidents would have the courage to question the drinking age while failing to confront the extremely similar problems posed by marijuana prohibition.

Anyone who thinks 18-year-olds should be able to buy liquor ought to be open to some kind of marijuana reform. Seriously.
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Mexican Jailbreak Proves the Cartels Can Do Whatever They Want

Prohibition has made the drug lords so powerful that the jails won't hold them:

Mexico City - A convoy of cars carrying more than two dozen suspected drug cartel members disguised as Mexican police officers arrives at the Zacatécas state prison before dawn. Their helicopter hovers overhead. Minutes later, the men help more than 50 inmates – many of them suspected drug traffickers – flee the prison. A countrywide manhunt ensues.

No, this is not a script for a B movie. It's just another day in Mexico's high-stakes war on drug trafficking – Saturday, in fact. [Christian Science Monitor]

Nothing works in the Mexican drug war. Nothing at all. Anyone who thinks we're on pace towards addressing any dimension of this problem will be proven wrong over and over again.

Calderon and Obama think their bloody war sends a message to the cartels, but the drug lords are just laughing their asses off:

Rather than hiding in remote mountain redoubts, Mexico's most wanted traffickers — some with prices of 30 million pesos ($2.1 million) on their heads — are partying openly. In April, police arrested the alleged top recruiter of another cartel, La Familia, at another baptism party held by capos at a resort in the western state of Michoacan.

"This indicates, along with another famous wedding that happened, that they don't have any fear at all of the authorities, none at all," said Samuel Gonzalez, Mexico's former top anti-drug prosecutor. "They are sending a message that they aren't afraid." [AP]

Maybe the reason they aren't afraid of getting caught is that they can just break out of jail anytime they want.