Brain Surgery
Putting the criminal justice system in charge of treating drug addiction is literally attempting to do brain surgery with a billy club. ==== My own idea. Pass it on.
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In The Trenches
The DEA is Out of Control: We Can Stop This!
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In The Trenches
Federal Drug Agency Bans Pro-Legalization Police Group From Conference (Press Release)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 22, 2010
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or [email protected]
Federal Drug Agency Bans Pro-Legalization Police Group From Conference
SAMHSA Doesn't Want Views Expressed at Treatment Event in Chicago
CHICAGO, IL -- A group of police officers, judges and prosecutors who support legalizing and regulating drugs is crying foul after a federal agency reneged on a contract that gave the law enforcers a booth to share their anti-prohibition views at a government-sponsored treatment conference in Chicago next week.
After accepting registration payment from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration initially told the police group that it was canceling its booth at the National Conference on Women, Addiction and Recovery because of overbooking and space concerns. However, Sharon Amatetti of SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment later informed LEAP that, in a decision rising all the way to SAMHSA Administrator Pamela Hyde's office, the group was actually being disinvited for its viewpoint.
"It's alarming that the federal government is trying to silence the voices of front-line police officers who just want to network and collaborate with treatment professionals to achieve our shared goal of preventing substance abuse through effective public policy," said Neill Franklin, a former narcotics cop with the Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police Department who is now executive director of LEAP. "Perhaps the administration was most concerned that LEAP's law enforcers planned to shine a spotlight on the fact that under President Obama, the White House's drug control budget maintains the same two-to-one funding ratio in favor of harsh enforcement tactics over effective public health approaches."
On a phone call with LEAP, Pamela Rodriguez of conference co-host TASC, Inc. of Illinois said that the police group wasn't welcome at the event because "our policy perspective and our policy objectives are different from you guys." She added, "It is the emphasis on prohibition vs. legalization that, for me at least, is the glaring dissonance with regard to our agenda."
SAMHSA has since refunded LEAP's money. The conference takes place July 26-28 at Chicago's Downtown Magnificent Mile Marriott Hotel.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and its 30,000 supporters represent police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. Info at www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.
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Latest News
Rutgers turns down Gov. Christie's offer to grow N.J. crop of medical marijuana
Federal drug prohibition often uses the power of the purse to control the drug policies of the various states. Rutgers University has declined a request from Gov. Chris Christieâs administration to be the lone grower of New Jerseyâs medical marijuana crop because the drugâs illegal status would jeopardize millions of dollars in federal funding. The governor was counting on Rutgers to be the sole grower and a number of teaching hospitals to be the only sellers as a counter proposal to the law that passed before he became governor that would allow up to six nonprofits to provide and distribute the drug.
Latest News
Psychedelic Medicine: Using Ecstasy to Treat PTSD
It looks like drug prohibition cost post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) sufferers more than a quarter century. After MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, over 80 percent of sufferers from PTSD no longer meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, as compared to only 25 percent in the control group. Before being criminalized 25 years ago, MDMA (Ecstasy) was used by a circle of therapists for a variety of purposes.
Latest News
Why our drug policy is 'inconsistent' with all available evidence
Ottawa Citizen columnist Dan Gardner reflects on the "Vienna Declaration", an official statement of the 18th International AIDS Conference which wraps up today in Vienna. The statement is quite critical of the war on drugs.
Latest News
Marijuana From Mom: Mother Says Drug Helps Son Cope with Severe OCD
After exhausting all of the other options available to help her son, Judy Mendoza turned to medical marijuana and found it worked wonders. Rather than smoke it, children who use medical marijuana consume the drug infused into butters or breads, or concentrated in liquid form, called a "tincture," that can be placed under the tongue for more rapid effect.
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drug reformer
Jane Hamsher Talks Marijuana Legalization on MSNBC
Hey, watch this unbelievable video of firedoglake's Jane Hamsher hurling marijuana legalization like a hand grenade into the middle of the immigration debate:
…and everyone just nods in stunned agreement. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I sure haven't seen much coverage of marijuana policy on MSNBC recently, if ever. Is it necessary to tell them you'll be discussing immigration in order to get some airtime for legalization on the most left-leaning cable news network?
It's time to stop labeling marijuana reform as a liberal issue when FOX News has two pundits talking about it constantly, and MSNBC's got nothing to say.
Chronicle
Do You Read Drug War Chronicle?
Do you read Drug War Chronicle? If so, we need your feedback to evaluate our work and make the case for Drug War Chronicle to funders. We need donations too.
Chronicle
Weekly: Blogging @ the Speakeasy
"Jane Hamsher Talks Marijuana Legalization on MSNBC," "Diane Feinstein Wants to Continue Arresting Marijuana Users, and Other News," "How to Get Arrested for Marijuana in One Easy Step," "The New Politics of Marijuana Reform," "DARE Attacks Marijuana Legalization While Praising Alcohol."
Chronicle
time is on our side
New National Poll Finds 52% Say Legalize Marijuana
A new poll finds majority support for pot legalization and a strong majority who believe the drug war has failed, but a lot of people who blame Mexico for America's drug problem.
Chronicle
Ciudad Juarez
Mexico Drug War Update
Last Friday, the Juarez Cartel unveiled a frightening tactical innovation: the car bomb. Meanwhile, the killing goes on...
Chronicle
orangesunshine_0.jpg
Review: "Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love"
In the late 1960s, a small group of California surf bums and teenage working-class troublemakers took LSD, found God, and set out to turn on the world. Nicholas Schou's "Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid to the World," from St. Martin's Press, is their story.
In The Trenches
D.A.R.E. to DONATE: Help SSDP fight anti-drug propaganda!
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Dear friends,
Today is the final day of D.A.R.E.'s annual conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Â And they are mad. Â They're losing the drug war, and they are grasping at anything to stop our progress.Â
As the only drug policy reform organization representing students and youth, SSDP is directly countering the propaganda machine at D.A.R.E. Â We're advocating for alternative drug education and prevention programs based on science and compassion, not a rabid ideology. Â
In order to keep fighting their propaganda, we need your support.  Can you help us bring more students to our 2011 SSDP International Conference by making a contribution now? Â
Unlike the D.A.R.E. conference, where attendees spend upwards of $800 on a single registration fee, we raise funds year-round for our conference scholarship fund, to help cover the travel and lodging costs of students from around the world. Â Will you D.A.R.E. to make a donation to SSDP's scholarship fund that will go directly to students? Â (Don't worry, we won't spend it on a custom painted Mustang sports cars or lion costumes, like D.A.R.E. does with your tax dollars.) Â
Help us make SSDP's 2011 International Conference bigger and better than D.A.R.E.'s by making a donation online RIGHT NOW!
Sincerely,
Jonathan Perri
Associate Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
In The Trenches
Call Congress Today to Tell Them to Vote YES for Crack Cocaine Sentencing Reform
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In The Trenches
MPP Insider Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 4
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The Marijuana Policy Project, along with a coalition of allies, has called for President Obama to withdraw the nomination of Michele Leonhart as DEA Administrator. Under Leonhart's leadership the DEA has staged medical marijuana raids in direct defiance of Attorney General Eric Holder's directive to respect state medical marijuana laws. 
Maine's medical marijuana law has taken a great stride in the right direction as the state issues the first licenses to dispensaries there. This is the implementation of a law passed last November when residents voted on an MPP-drafted initiative to add dispensaries to the state's existing medical marijuana legislation. 
The DEA, under Michele Leonhart, has once again thumbed its nose at the Obama administration's directive to not interfere with medical marijuana providers legally operating within state laws. Raids conducted in California last week on state-legal medical marijuana operations have yet to be explained by the DEA. 
University of Michigan researchers have come to the conclusion that marijuana use is associated with the lowest rate of drug-related emergency room visits. Though unlikely to change the minds of drug-warriors across America, this data is a valuable tool in countering their rhetoric. 
We do! Make sure you're following MPP on Twitter! It's fast, easy, and free to sign-up so what are you waiting for? MPP's Twitter page is a great way to get up-to-date stories related to marijuana prohibition, interact with other supporters, and stay current on all the latest in marijuana policy reform. 
Esequiel Hernandez, a U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by Marines patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border for drug smugglers.
Blog
Ecstasy found to Help Alleviate PTSD among Military Veterans
Researchers are gaining ground in the combat against posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in an unlikely way. Touted as “the party drug,” ecstasy, or MDMA, may just be the saving grace for hundreds of thousands of veterans suffering from PTSD.
According to a study by the Rand Corporation, in 2008 one in five soldiers returning home from Afghanistan or Iraq showed symptoms of PTSD. All in all, nearly 300,000 returning soldiers were affected. Letting individuals with PTSD go untreated is detrimental to both the individual and to society as a whole, as it has been linked to higher incidences of depression, health issues, violence, marital problems, drug use, unemployment, homelessness and suicide among veterans. And although each active military service member is provided with $400,000 in military life insurance coverage, that provides little comfort to families of a PTSD-afflicted veterans.
Chronicle
This Week in History
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.
In The Trenches
The DEA is going to kill someone
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Dear friends: The DEA has gone rogue. Despite clear guidance from the Department of Justice directing them to do otherwise, agents are conducting raids of homes and businesses where the occupants are acting in compliance with state medical marijuana laws. These agents are storming onto the property of law-abiding citizens with guns drawn, destroying marijuana plants being grown for patients, stealing computers and cash, and even leaving trash on the floor behind them when they are done. A recent raid in Mendocino County, California targeted a woman who had filed formal paperwork to grow medical marijuana, had paid a $1,050 application fee under the local ordinance, and whose operation had been inspected and approved by the local sheriff. When informed about this, the DEA agent in charge said, "I don't care what the sheriff says." It is only a matter of time before one of these raids ends tragically with someone seriously injured or killed. One woman is responsible for all of this. Her name is Michele Leonhart. She became the acting-administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration under George W. Bush and was shockingly nominated by President Obama to be the permanent head of the agency. She clearly has no respect for authority at the Department of Justice and is equally willing to use federal law enforcement power to trample on states' rights. Yesterday, MPP and its allies called on President Obama to withdraw this nomination. We are hoping you will join us. We have set up a page where you can send an e-mail to the White House, urging the President to withdraw the nomination. The pre-written e-mail we provide -- which you can modify -- also mentions that Leonhart has personally obstructed research into the therapeutic benefits of marijuana by denying an application from the University of Massachusetts to cultivate marijuana for this purpose. Michele Leonhart does not deserve to be DEA administrator. Please take action so that President Obama gets this message. Thank you,
Steve Fox | |
To contact MPP, please click here or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address is Marijuana Policy Project, 236 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20002. Any donations you make to MPP may be used for political purposes, such as supporting or opposing candidates for federal office. | |
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In The Trenches
Outraged
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