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In The Trenches

Drug Truth Update 05/22/08

The Unvarnished Truth About the Drug War From the Drug Truth Network: (To downlad these 29:00 files, click on links below. To simply listen, go to www.drugtruth.net and select the arrow below the shows description.) Cultural Baggage for 05/21/08 Dr. Mitch Earleywine discusses his new book Parents Guide to Marijuana + Report from Doug McVay of Common Sense for Drug Policy MP3 LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1896/FDBCB_052108.mp3 TRANSCRIPT: (To be posted by Friday) Century of Lies for 05/20/08 4:20 Drug War NEWS reports selected from Feb 2007 to Jan 2008 MP3 Link: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1895/COL_052008.mp3 TRANSCRIPT: (No Transcript will be provided for this one show) Chief Clarence Bradford: "We can't possibly hire enough officers to effectively deal with the drug problem in Houston, Harris County...". - Cultural Baggage 050708 PLEASE NOTE: We now have transcripts, potcasts, searchability, CMS, XML, sorts by guest name and by organization. Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed, listen online at www.kpft.org: - Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD - Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US and Canada. Programs produced at Pacifica Radio Station KPFT in Houston. www.kpft.org Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker: More than 55 Drug Policy Videos online) 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
In The Trenches

Help decriminalize marijuana in Massachusetts

[Courtesy of Marijuana Policy Project]

The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP) has just begun the second and final stage of the signature drive to place a marijuana decriminalization initiative on the Massachusetts ballot ... giving voters the chance to decriminalize the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use in the state.

Last November, after two months of petitioning, CSMP turned in more than 105,000 signatures to qualify the initiative for the November 2008 ballot. State law then required the state legislature to consider the initiative between January 2 and May 6. That period is now over, and CSMP began the second stage of the signature drive, which requires another 11,099 valid signatures by June 18. To ensure a place on the ballot, the campaign must collect approximately 20,000 raw signatures — at a cost of about $65,000.

Would you please consider making a contribution to the campaign to ensure that voters have the chance to decriminalize marijuana this fall?

This is the first time in history that an initiative to decriminalize marijuana will be placed on any statewide ballot. And winning in Massachusetts could dramatically advance marijuana policy reform elsewhere in the country.

So far, the campaign has done everything right, including successfully completing the first part of the signature drive and lobbying the legislature not to take any actions that would harm the campaign.

But now the campaign must raise the money that's needed to complete the second phase of the signature drive. Will you please visit www.SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org/donate to donate $10 or more today?

Thank you,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)

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

In The Trenches

The Pain Relief Network: Update 5-19-08 -- Schneider Defense Calls DOJ Prosecution Unconstitutional

Schneider Defense Calls DOJ Prosecution Unconstitutional: Read the Briefs



kansas
As always, we ask that you help PRN fight to protect the rights of patients and the doctors who treat them. Please click the link below.

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Schneider defense calls DOJ prosecution Unconstitutional

This case is an effort by the federal government to define and regulate the practice of medicine masquarading as a criminal prosecution. This case should not be about whether Dr. Schneider fell short of the standard of care for certain patients, but whether he engaged in the legitimate practice of medicine [...]

Memorandum of points and authorities in support of the defendants' joint motion for absention

The federal government has usurped the authority of the State of Kansas to regulate medicine within the State by bringing a halt to its regulatory process, and assuming that authority, impermissibly, through the federal criminal process. If any part of the Indictment is not dismissed as unconstitutional or otherwise defective, this Court should abstain, allowing the State process to run its course [...]

Competetive Enterprise Institute Joins Pain Relief Network in the battle against untreated pain

May 16, 2008
Cei.org
Today, millions of Americans live in chronic pain, without adequate access to prescription pain medications, because their doctors are too afraid of being harassed or even arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe sufficient doses. Everyone agrees that doctors should not be using their positions to supply addicts with narcotics or feed the illicit drug market. Many doctors, however, have been arrested or threatened with loss of their medical licenses simply for prescribing opiate-based pain medications in doses that federal drug authorities believe are too high [...]

In The Trenches

LEAP on the Hill: Stories from the week of May 16, 2008

Am I that easy to read? After every conference I attend, I send a short note to each person I talked to & remind them of LEAP. From Dr. George (Jorge) a doctor employed by a federal agency (I wrote to him in Spanish) he wrote:‘estoy alegre que estas vivo y coleando.’ Coleando? I had no clue. Translation = I am glad you are still alive and nagging = must be Spanish for ‘Troublemaker.’ LOL Moment to remember: On Saturday I joined about 400 law enforcement members on a motorcycle run to the Police Officer’s Memorial in DC. My original intention was to politic but as soon as I saw the two walls with the names of 18,000 fallen officers, I never even started. The ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms…a federal agency) had made nice 6 X 9 inch (15cm x 25cm) cards of their fallen agents. I was struck by how many had died a LODD (Line of Duty Death) between 1919 and 1933. After 10 minutes I realized I knew one name on the wall. I moved over to section 33W row 22: Gary Priess. We had worked in adjoining townships and had a friendly rivalry of who made the most traffic stops each year. While on a traffic stop in 2000, he was struck by a tractor-trailer. He was 44. I squatted there for many minutes, touching his name, remembering the good times. A hand touched my shoulder and squeezed. Such was the day. Privacy Rights Anyone? On Wednesday I attended all day and was the last speaker at the GOAL conference (Gay, Lesbian, Trans-gender law enforcement professionals). I listened for two hours as these officers told their difficult story of coming out in the open as a gay man, etc. I should not have been surprised by how similar it is for officers to ‘come out’ against the Drug War/Drug Prohibition. Both are potential problems for the officer. LEAP allows members to ‘stay in the closet’ with our ‘stealth’ membership. The response was about the same as a Rotary/Kiwanis club…most agreed & some could not wrap their minds around allowing an adult to buy a few grams of cocaine at the same place they buy their whiskey.
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Drug user group in chennai changes its name

History of IVDU : The Junkies union was founded in Chennai on 2007 May 1st by the drug users as community based drug users group and changed its name to IVDU : INNER VOICE OF DRUG USERS as many member
Blog

Legalized theft inc.

In an article in Wednesday's Province newspaper the government bragged about the $293,200 piece of property they'd just "confiscated"from two men that were growing marijuana on the property.The articl
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The Obama Campaign Responds to My Criticism of His Position on Marijuana Decriminalization

Last week I discussed what I called The Obama Campaign's Poor Handling of the Marijuana Decriminalization Issue. The post argued that Obama's recent back pedal on the issue of decriminalization was a mistake since marijuana decriminalization enjoys majority support in the polls and because he's getting accused of being pro-marijuana anyway.

A reader, William Aiken, forwarded the post to the Obama Campaign and got the following response:
Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting Obama for America to inquire about the Senator's position on allowing severely ill patients to use marijuana for medical purposes.

Many states have laws that condone medical marijuana, but the Bush Administration is using federal drug enforcement agents to raid these facilities and arrest seriously ill people. Focusing scarce law enforcement resources on these patients who pose no threat while many violent and highly dangerous drug traffickers are at large makes no sense. Senator Obama will not continue the Bush policy when he is president.

Thank you again for contacting us.

Sincerely,

Obama for America

Hilariously, the campaign staff responded to my criticism of Obama's vague position on marijuana decriminalization by restating the Senator's position on medical marijuana. The fact that they apparently have a form letter prepared addressing medical marijuana, but not marijuana decriminalization, goes directly to my point that Obama has failed to adequately define himself when it comes to decriminalization.

As I explained previously, Obama is widely believed to support marijuana reform, and will be attacked for that regardless of any statements he's made to the contrary. Thus, he is much better off defending whatever reforms he does in fact support, rather than distancing himself from the issue and allowing McCain to have the only clear position. At this point, Obama cannot say he supports "decriminalization" because he's backed away from that term, but he can still support reforming our failed laws, which would offer contrast to McCain's position, and maintain majority support from voters.

Finally, I'd like to thank William Aiken for sending the piece to the Obama Campaign and sharing their response. It's not like my post landed in Obama's lap or anything, but I've seen other examples in which bloggers were able to initiate important dialogues with public officials and/or mainstream media simply because many readers sent the same post to the same place at the same time. I tremendously appreciate this type of participation from readers.

(This blog post was published by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also shares the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)

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Chronicle

Sureste Asiático: Vietnam pondera despenalización de las drogas

La Asamblea Nacional vietnamita está pensando en despenalizar la tenencia de drogas. Pero como la mayoría de los consumidores de drogas fue reducida a campamentos de desintoxicación bajo reglas administrativas en vez de cargos criminales, puede no causar mucho impacto en el mundo real.
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Chronicle
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Chronicle

Embarazo: Corte Suprema de Carolina del Sur anula condenación de mujer por asesinato por muerte fetal tras consumo de cocaína

Regina McKnight fue la primera mujer en Carolina del Sur acusada de asesinato por tener un hijo nonato tras consumir drogas mientras estaba embarazada. Ahora, después de casi una década entre rejas, la Corte Suprema estadual ha anulado su veredicto de culpabilidad diciendo que contó con una mala representación jurídica y que fue víctima de ciencia de mala calidad.
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