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How Come the Dutch Smoke Less Marijuana Than Americans?

You don't have to look very hard to find drug war zealots insisting vociferously that Dutch drug policy is a raging trainwreck. But the truth is that rates of marijuana use in the Netherlands are far lower than ours, despite the fact that they sell awesome pot over the counter seven days a week to anyone over 18.

That's why Dr. Fredrick Polak, a Dutch psychiatrist and drug policy reformer, has spent years trying to get U.N. Drug Czar Antonio Maria Costa to acknowledge and address the success of Dutch marijuana policy. He's asked Costa about this on 4 separate occasions so far and each time the U.N. drug czar changed the subject. Here's an awesome video of Dr. Polak causing Costa to go a little nuts (seriously watch it, it rocks).

Anyway, Dr. Polak has teamed up with the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union on a campaign to continue confronting Costa until he actually gives an intelligent response (or admits he doesn’t have one). They're asking for our help and they've made a cool new site where everyone can participate. Check it out.
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California DMV Agrees to Let Medical Marijuana Patients Drive

Everywhere you look, the irrational persecution of medical marijuana patients is going out of style:

Oakland, CA -- The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) issued a new policy yesterday with regard to how it treats qualified medical marijuana patients. The DMV Driver Safety Procedure Manual was revised to include reference to medical marijuana, stating that "use of medicinal marijuana approved by a physician should be handled in the same manner as any other prescription medication which may affect safe driving." [Americans for Safe Access]

The policy change stemmed from a lawsuit brought by Americans for Safe Access on behalf of a patient who lost her license despite decades of perfect driving. ASA notes that several counties in California have been designating patients as "drug abusers" solely due to their medical use of marijuana.

The mind-bending stupidity of all this is staggering when you consider the plethora of popular perfectly-legal pharmaceuticals that won't affect your driving privileges despite turning you into a slobbering zombie for 8 hours. Fortunately, the idiots who've been playing doctor/cop at California's DMV can look forward to a shiny new memo telling them to cut the crap.
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Presupuesto federal: Proyecto de ley de presupuestos de Cámara de EE.UU. para 2009 contiene aún más incrementos en financiación de lucha contra la droga… y un ligero recorte en el Plan Colombia

Justo un par de semanas después de servir algunos miles de millones de dólares más a la lucha contra la droga en el proyecto de estímulo de emergencia, el Congreso de EE.UU. vuelve a hacer de las suyas con el proyecto de la ley general de presupuestos para el 2009. Más dinero para las subvenciones Byrne JAG, más dinero para el Plan México y sólo un poquito menos para el Plan Colombia.
In The Trenches

Marijuana Policy Reform: 10 signs of progress in the last 4 months

Dear friends:

After MPP passed the medical marijuana ballot initiative in Michigan and the marijuana decriminalization ballot initiative in Massachusetts — both on November 4 — I thought the MPP staff might get a little downtime to regroup for the 2009-2010 election cycle. Not so.

In the last four months, the MPP staff and our allies have been working almost nonstop to respond to — and take advantage of — the many opportunities that have been presenting themselves across the country. I've never seen so much evidence of positive change in such a short amount of time ...

1.  MARIJUANA THE BIGGEST ISSUE:  Two huge surveys of citizen activists across the country — one on Change.gov on December 12, and one on Change.org on January 15 — showed that the number-one issue on people's minds is ending the government's war on marijuana users.

2.  BONG HIT SEEN AROUND THE WORLD:  On February 1, the world learned that Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps had used marijuana a few months before, demonstrating yet again that using marijuana is compatible with being wildly successful in our society. When Kellogg's dropped its endorsement contract with Phelps — and MPP and other organizations responded by calling for a boycott of Kellogg's — the public's perception of Kellogg's took a nose dive.

3.  EL PASO RESPONDS TO MEXICAN VIOLENCE:  Responding to the prohibition-caused violence just over the border in Mexico, on January 6 the El Paso City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for "an honest, open national debate on ending the prohibition of narcotics," which drew the ire of some Texas politicians but also sparked a great deal of positive media coverage nationwide.

4.  NATIONAL POLLING HIGHEST EVER:  Between January 11 and February 14, three different national polls indicated that either 40%, 41%, or 44% of the American people now support ending marijuana prohibition.  This is the highest level of support since marijuana was first prohibited in 1937, with support having risen by 1% a year since 1995.

5.  REVOLT IN LATIN AMERICA:  On February 12, a commission led by three former presidents from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico released a long-awaited report that blasted the U.S. drug war and called for the decriminalization of marijuana.

6.  ENDING THE DEA's RAIDS IN CALIFORNIA:  On February 25, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the DEA would no longer be raiding medical marijuana clinics in California and the 12 other states where medical marijuana is legal.

7.  MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILLS MOVING:  MPP's medical marijuana bills are moving through the Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New York Legislatures, and the Drug Policy Alliance's similar legislation is moving in New Jersey. We have a real chance of making medical marijuana legal in four of these six states this year and — in the meantime — it's very possible that Montana and Rhode Island will expand their existing medical marijuana laws, too.

8.  BROADER MARIJUANA BILLS MOVING:  California shook the nation when a bill to tax and regulate marijuana was introduced on February 23. And even before that happened, the Hawaii, Montana, Vermont, and Washington Legislatures had already begun considering bills to decriminalize marijuana.

9.  MPP DOMINATING ON YOUTUBE:  As of today, MPP's channel on YouTube.com is the 10th most subscribed of all nonprofit channels, and MPP's videos are consistently in the top 10 most-viewed of all nonprofit videos in any given week. (And our 65,000 friends on MySpace.com places MPP among the top 10 most popular nonprofit organizations there, too.)

10.  ONGOING MEDIA EXPLOSION:  According to the weekly reports we get from Google, MPP has been getting its message into the news in the last month at 10 times the volume of previous months. And four different national TV specials are tentatively scheduled to look at marijuana over just a two-month span: CNBC looked at the marijuana industry in northern California on January 22, NBC's "Dateline" covered the Rachel Hoffman tragedy in Florida on January 23, ABC's "20/20" with John Stossel will be looking at medical marijuana on March 13, and MSNBC with Al Roker will be looking at the multi-billion-dollar marijuana industry on March 15.

Thank you for anything and everything you've done to help bring all this attention and success to our movement. If you'd like to help even more, please make a donation today so that we may continue with the onslaught of work that continues to pile up on our plates.

Sincerely,

Kampia signature (e-mail sized)

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $2.35 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2009. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

In The Trenches

Medical Marijuana Bill Faces Senate Committee Hearing Tuesday

Minnesota Cares logo

MEDIA ADVISORY

MARCH 2, 2009  

Medical Marijuana Bill Faces Senate Committee Hearing Tuesday

CONTACT: Former Rep. Chris DeLaForest (R-Andover)..........................................…………(763) 439-1178

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — Minnesota's medical marijuana bill faces its next crucial committee test in the Senate Judiciary Committee this Tuesday. If passed, the measure would make Minnesota the 14th state to permit medical use of marijuana by seriously ill patients with a physician's recommendation. The newest such law, in Michigan, was passed by voters in November with a record-setting 63 percent voting "yes."

    WHAT: Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and vote on medical marijuana legislation
    WHO: Sen. Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing) and committee members
    WHEN: Tuesday, March 3, 3 p.m.
    WHERE: Rm. 15, State Capitol, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul

In The Trenches

Press Release: NYS Assembly to Pass Rockefeller Reform Legislation this Week

For Immediate Release: March 2, 2009 For More Info: Tony Newman at (646) 335-5384 or Gabriel Sayegh at (646) 335-2264 New York State Assembly Preparing to Enact Real Reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws Vote this Week on Legislation that Would Restore Judicial Discretion, Expand Treatment, Improve Public Safety Advocates Applaud Speaker Silver and the Assembly's Commitment to Reforming Drug Laws, Call on Senate and Governor to Support Real Reform This week, the NY State Assembly is poised to pass A.6085-legislation that will, finally, enact real reform of the Rockefeller Drug laws. The bill, sponsored by Aubry, Silver and many more (multiple sponsors), represents a significant step forward in developing more rational, effective approaches to drug policy by taking a public health and safety approach. The general purpose of the bill is to reduce drug-related crime by addressing substance abuse that often lies at the core of criminal behavior. "With everyone from the Sentencing Commission to the Governor talking about reforming the Rockefeller Drug Laws, it's critical to examine any proposal and make sure it constitutes real reform," said Gabriel Sayegh, project director with the Drug Policy Alliance. "To be real, meaningful reform, any proposal must include restoration of judicial discretion in drug cases; expansion of alternative-to-incarceration programs and community based drug treatment; fair and equitable sentencing reforms; and retroactive sentencing relief for people serving unjust sentences under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The Assembly has included these provisions, and their proposal constitutes real reform." Enacted in 1973, the Rockefeller Drug Laws mandate extremely harsh prison terms for the possession or sale of relatively small amounts of drugs. Supposedly intended to target major dealers (kingpins), most of the people incarcerated under these laws are convicted of low-level, nonviolent offenses, and many of them have no prior criminal record. Approximately 12,000 people are locked up for drug offenses in New York State prisons, representing nearly 21 percent of the prison population, and costing New Yorkers hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Nearly 90% of those incarcerated are Black and Latino, representing some of the worst racial disparities in the nation. Despite modest reforms in 2004 and 2005, the Rockefeller Drug Laws continue to deny people serving under the more punitive sentences to apply for shorter terms, and does not increase the power of judges to place addicts into treatment programs. After the reforms of 2004, there were more people sent to prison under Rockefeller Drug Law offenses than in previous years. A.6085, introduced last week and expected to pass this week, includes the following provisions which balance safety and justice: * Returns discretion to sentencing judges to tailor the penalty to the facts and circumstances of each drug offense. * Allows a sentence of probation and treatment when appropriate. * Strengthens in-prison treatment and reentry services. * Expands the use of alternatives to incarceration, including community-based treatment, when appropriate. * Allows certain eligible individuals incarcerated for low-level drug offenses previous to the 2004/05 Drug Law Reform Act (DLRA) to apply for resentencing-these are people who did not receive relief in previous reforms. Individuals convicted of violent crimes are not eligible. * Expands use of drug courts throughout New York. * Increase penalties for sale of a controlled substance to a child. * Establishes a new kingpin crime for trafficking through a controlled substance organization. The Assembly's introduction of the bill comes just weeks after drug policy reform experts and stakeholders convened at the New York Academy of Medicine to develop a public health and safety approach to drug policy. The historic conference was attended by representatives of the Governor's office; the Speaker and members of the Assembly; leadership from the State Senate; members of the New York City Council; and hundreds of doctors, lawyers, advocates, people in recovery, drug treatment specialists, criminal justice experts and more. (www.newdirectionsnewyork.org) "New Yorkers simply cannot afford these failed laws any longer," said Sayegh. "Incarceration costs approximately $45,000 per year, while treatment and alternatives to incarceration can cost less than $10,000 and are far more effective at reducing recidivism and restoring community health. The Assembly, by proposing real reform, is taking the first step towards advancing a public health and safety approach to drug policy in our state. Now the Senate and the Governor need to weigh in. They've expressed their support for real reform in the past, and we are hopeful they'll support real reform now."
In The Trenches

420 Drug News + Dispensary Video

Today Marks 36,539 Days of DRUG WAR! Take a video tour of the Harborside Health Center, medical cannabis dispensary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHkoBDdQFZE 4:20 Drug War NEWS from 90.1 FM in Houston 60+ radio affiliates in the US, Canada and Australia & on the web at www.kpft.org. 4:20 Drug War NEWS 03/02/09 to 03/08/09 now online (3:00 ea:) Select online at www.drugtruth.net Sun - Steve DeAngelo, CEO of Harborside Health Center III Sat - Steve DeAngelo, CEO of Harborside Health Center II Fri - Steve DeAngelo, CEO of Harborside Health Center, a medical cannabis dispensary, gives us a tour of the facility, I Thu - Drug War Facts from Doug McVay + more from Ed Rosenthal Wed - Phil Smith of the Drug War Chronicles shares 4 Corrupt Cop stories from around the US Tue - Terry Nelson of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition "How are we protecting the children by destroying the family?" Mon - Ed Rosenthal, the Guru of Ganja re AG Holders statement regarding cannabis dispensaries Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed: - Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: Cannabis Dispensary Visits - Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT, 9:30 AM PT: Judge Michael McSpadden Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, and www.audioport.org 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, Drug Truth Network Producer Dean Becker 713-849-6869 www.drugtruth.net
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Policial: Las historias de policías corruptos de esta semana

Dos policías convertidos en gamberros en San Luis están poniendo en riesgo un montón de condenaciones por delitos de drogas, un policía convertido en gamberro en Dallas permanecerá entre rejas hasta el juicio, un funcionario de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza va preso y un municipio de Massachusetts todavía no puede encontrar la marihuana que desapareció de su comisaría hace una década – pero lo intenta.
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Introduction

My name is John Daniel. I don't believe prohibition of Marijuana works any more than prohibition of alcohol worked. It was a policy with its genesis in racism and a waste of time and money.
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In The Trenches

Press Advisory: Press Conference To Expose Faulty Drug Test Kits Used Widely by Law Enforcement

 
 
NEWS ADVISORY                                                       CONTACT:       Ryan Fletcher 202-641-0277
Feb. 24, 2009                                                                                           Adam Eidinger 202-744-2671
                                                                          
MARCH 3 PRESS CONFERENCE TO EXPOSE FAULTY DRUG TEST KITS USED WIDELY BY LAW ENFORCEMENT
Report Entitled ‘False Positives Equal False Justice’ to Be Released at National Press Club; Retired FBI Forensics Expert and Victims of False Arrests to Testify

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, March 3 at 1 p.m., the Marijuana Policy Project and Mintwood Media Collective will host a press conference at the National Press Club to release a new report that exposes faulty drug test kits used widely by law enforcement. The study, entitled "False Positives Equal False Justice," reveals that the NIK NarcoPouch 908/Duquenois-Levine Reagent field test kit, the most widely used field test for identifying marijuana, as well as the majority of other drug test kits used as the basis for arrest and prosecution by law enforcement have an unacceptably high rate of rendering false positives.
In addition to testimony by experts in the field, as well as those directly impacted by these faulty tests, experiments will be performed at the press conference that will demonstrate the unreliability of various drug tests and their capacity to render false positives. Natural soap, chocolate and newspaper, among other household items, all will test positive for marijuana and other drugs such as GHB in these drug tests, yet these kits continue to be used in both arrests and prosecutions nationwide. These faulty tests result in the unjust arrest, imprisonment and even prosecution of innocent citizens.

WHAT:  Press conference exposing faulty drug tests through the release of a new report entitled "False    
                Positives Equal False Justice"
WHEN:  Tuesday March 3 at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Zenger Room at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor - Washington, D.C., 20045
WHO:     Frederic Whitehurst is a retired FBI agent and forensics expert, whose findings are featured
                 extensively in the new report.
 
David Bronner is the president of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. In 2007, the results of a NarcoPouch® 928 field drug test of his company’s popular organic soap was used to jail Don Bolles - drummer for the legendary punk band, the Germs – for possession of the drug GHB (Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate). A crime lab confirmation using a more reliable test exonerated Bolles and Dr. Bronner’s soaps of the drug possession charges.
 
John Kelly is a researcher and author of "False Positives Equal False Justice." 
 
Dr. Omar Bagasra is a professor and the director of the South Carolina Center for Biotechnology at Claflin University. He contributed significantly to the report, including testing the specificity of the NIK NarcoPouch with 42 non-marijuana substances following the procedure prescribed by NIK.
 
Rob Kampia is executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project.
 
Ron Obadia and Nadine Artemis are co-owners of Living Libations Inc. They have been arrested twice because their raw chocolate tested positive for hashish with the Duquenois-Levine color chemical test. Upon their first arrest, they were placed in separate rooms and told they faced “life in prison.” Subsequent lab testing proved there was no hashish in the chocolate. Their arrests have resulted in extensive legal bills and other challenges. 
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Mexican President Surprised to Learn That the Drug War is Super Violent

Does Felipe Calderon even know what he's doing?

MEXICO CITY (AFP) — President Felipe Calderon Friday acknowledged the country's drug war is bloodier and tougher than he thought when he first took office in 2006, but vowed to eradicate the "cancer" that is consuming Mexico.

Really? That's odd because this has gone exactly as I expected and I haven’t been to Mexico in 20 years. He's the president. Why is he struggling to understand the basic dimensions of his own drug war?

If he admits that he didn't know it would get this bad, one wonders what else he doesn’t know. There were 6,000 people killed in Mexico's drug war last year alone and things appear to be getting worse, not better. Even Calderon's updated assessment may be proven horribly naïve.  

How much longer can the leaders of the drug war continue feigning surprise when their policies fail?