Another year, and another report showing racial profiling by Illinois law enforcement. Now, civil rights groups want the governor to end the policy of allowing consent searches by state troopers.
A pair of Iranian physicians who are internationally known harm reduction practitioners have been arrested by Iranian authorities. No reason has been given, they are being held incommunicado, and there is a petition drive underway to secure their release.
An initiative that would make adult marijuana possession offenses the lowest law enforcement priority is in the signature-gathering phase in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Bolivian government announced late last week that it would fund its own anti-drug units in a bid to reduce foreign (read: US) influence over its coca and cocaine policies.
A study released this week shows a dramatic increase in "fatal medical errors" related to self-administered prescription drugs, especially when other drugs and/or alcohol are involved. But the study is raising as many questions as answers.
Although Washington state has a medical marijuana law and the city of Seattle has a lowest law enforcement priority ordinance, Seattle police two weeks ago raided a medical marijuana co-op, seizing patient records and 12 ounces of medicine. The co-op got the records back, but now the DEA has seized the marijuana.
County police near Washington brought marijuana to a local mayor's home, then sent a SWAT team in because of the marijuana. Now the family's two dogs are dead. Another day in the drug war.
El año pasado, profesores hawaianos estuvieron de acuerdo con un contracto laboral que incluÃa los exámenes toxicológicos aleatorios. Ahora, con miras en los costes y en la Constitución, están creando obstáculos y la gobernadora republicana no está nada satisfecha.
If we had a sensible marijuana policy in America, things like this wouldn't happen:
A routine marijuana check in Cass County, Michigan, turns deadly.
Michigan State Police say 51-year-old Niles Wilson shot himself when he realized he had been caught growing nearly 130 marijuana plants on his property. [wndu.com]
Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, a young father was shot and killed (questionably) by police after fleeing during a traffic stop. It appears he fled because he had a joint of marijuana:
I don't think either of these people made smart choices. But the reason their judgment was clouded has everything to do with the frightening consequences of our drug laws. People are terrified of the drug war and sometimes make unfortunate decisions. Sure, they could refrain from using if they're afraid of jail, but that's no excuse for marijuana laws that hurt people worse than marijuana. Events like these are not the sign of a healthy society with a healthy drug policy.
If our laws cause suicides and police chases, they are quite clearly not making us safer.
The mayor of Berwyn Heights, MD is the latest botched drug raid victim:
A police SWAT team raided the home of the mayor in the Prince George's County town of Berwyn Heights on Tuesday, shooting and killing his two dogs, after he brought in a 32-pound package of marijuana that had been delivered to his doorstep, police said. â¦
"My government blew through my doors and killed my dogs," Calvo said. "They thought we were drug dealers, and we were treated as such. I don't think they really ever considered that we weren't." [Washington Post]
Nothing about this guy says "drug dealer," and while anything is possible, I think the most likely explanation is that the package was meant to be intercepted by its intended recipient prior to ending up in the possession of the mayor. A neighbor or someone at the post office was probably keeping an eye out for it, which seems not to have occurred to police.
Since this happened in the D.C. area, I got to hear callers discuss the incident on a popular NPR call-in show. It was frustrating to hear multiple people complain that this should have been dealt with more delicately because the suspect was the mayor. It's bullshit. Almost any drug raid can be handled better than this, regardless of who the suspect is. You can't flush 32 pounds of marijuana down the toilet. There was no risk of flight or destruction of evidence and no reason why a simple knock on the door wouldn't have sufficed.
This is big news in Washington, D.C. today. Everyone seems to be very shocked by what has taken place, except for those of us who've been following the drug war and know that this type of thing (hell, this exact thing) happens to innocent people and their pets all over the country all the time. Ladies and gentlemen of the nation's capital, welcome to the war on drugs.
A Montgomery County man was arrested after a researcher tracking a radio-equipped turtle in Rock Creek Park found the animal standing in a garden of marijuana plants in a remote area of the park, police said today. â¦
The researcher notified authorities after finding the plants -- about a pound and a half of marijuana worth roughly $6,500 when sold in smaller amounts on the street, police said. Lachance said investigators covertly watched the marijuana garden until a man showed up to tend to the plants.
Although the turtle wasn't trained to sniff out marijuana, it's fairly obvious that's what happened. This is Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., a short distance from where I grew up. Trust me, those woods aren't crawling with clandestine cannabis cultivators. The turtle found what may have been the only outdoor marijuana growing in the whole city and I refuse to believe it was a coincidence.
Hypothesis: turtles are hippies. I assume the researcher has taken copious notes to that effect.