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Policial: Oficial de la SWAT de Ohío que mató a joven madre en redada antidroga es acusado de delitos leves y puede recibir ocho meses como máximo

La comunidad negra en Lima, Ohío, clamó por justicia después que un integrante del equipo de la SWAT mató a Tarika Wilson e hirió a su bebe durante un allanamiento en enero. Esos clamores probablemente no serán silenciados ya que las autoridades municipales acusaron al disparador de la policía de dos delitos leves por el asesinato. Él puede recibir como máximo ocho meses de cárcel.
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Reseña de la Crónica de la Guerra Contra las Drogas: "Over the Influence: The Harm Reduction Guide to Managing Drugs and Alcohol", de Patt Denning, Jeanne Little y Adina Glickman (2004, Guilford Press, 328 págs., $16.95, edición en rústica)

Solemos reservar este espacio para libros nuevos, pero en el caso de "<em>Over the Influence</em>" hacemos una excepción. Este libro es suficientemente especial para que lo volvamos una prima para nuestros contribuidores y, considerando que publicamos un artículo esta semana sobre el número rápidamente creciente de las sobredosis de drogas, creemos que su importancia es evidente en sí.
Chronicle

En vez de arrestos masivos y tácticas de intimidación, estados cambian para abordaje de los “Cuatro Pilares” para hacer frente a la metanfetamina

Los abordajes actuales al consumo de metanfetamina en los EE.UU. han fracasado sobre todo y deberían ser reemplazados por un abordaje de los “Cuatro Pilares” que adopte la prevención, el tratamiento, la reducción de daños y la represión legal, de acuerdo con un informe lanzado el martes. Algunos estados ya han tomado esa dirección.
Chronicle

Muertes por sobredosis de drogas suben a las nubes - ¿Hay alguien viendo?

Mientras EE.UU. se preocupa por jugadores de béisbol que toman esteróides y adolescentes que fuman marihuana, una epidemia de sobredosis de drogas azota al país. Hay métodos para reducir el saldo, pero también hay muchos obstáculos, el menor de los cuales no es la indiferencia pública y oficial.
Blog

Netherlands Rated More Stable and Prosperous Than U.S.

A new global study ranks the Netherlands 9th in the world in stability and prosperity. The U.S. follows at a distant 22nd. I'll give you one guess where I'm going with this. Ok, times up. If you said, "Scott will argue that superior quality of life in the Netherlands proves that an enlightened marijuana policy won't destroy society," you win a cookie.

Indeed, superior quality of life in the Netherlands proves that an enlightened marijuana policy won’t destroy society, and there are no complications which ought to prevent anyone from understanding this. A bunch of white Europeans have been prancing around for decades allowing one another to sell and smoke marijuana openly, culminating in their designation as the 9th best nation in the world. Not to mention their progressive policies on psychedelic mushrooms, safe injection sites, drug sentencing, and criminal justice spending, none of which have produced outcomes resembling those we've been told to expect should we abandon our obscenely harsh approach to these matters here in the U.S. The numbers speak for themselves.

If you ask a drug warrior about this, they will change the subject, but it is just a fact that you can allow adults to manufacture, distribute, and consume marijuana and everything will be fine.
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High Expectations: Are We Winning the War on Drugs?

The War on Drugs has been marching on since well before Richard Nixon coined the phrase in 1971, and it continues to be a battle – and a debate – for governments and policy makers around the world. The complexities surrounding the prohibition of drugs include a mixture of economic, health and wellness, and social and human rights issues. The argument is further fueled by morality, religion, race, law enforcement, and money. What has the War on Drugs accomplished in the thirty-seven years after Nixon’s declaration? Are there alternatives to the current drug laws and policies? Is this a war that has an end?
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Poisoning the Drug Policy Debate in 8 Simple Steps

One of the primary facts worth knowing about the modern drug war debate is that it has been contaminated for decades. Anyone endeavoring to advance this conversation must navigate a dense fog of false dichotomies, red herrings, racist demagoguery, and McCarthian fear-mongering that serves to amplify the absurd while obscuring even the most simple truths.

While discussing this matter yesterday with NORML's Paul Armentano, I learned of a marvelous ancient document which sets forth in basic terms the fundamental strategies that have long been employed to destroy the drug war debate. "Themes in Chemical Prohibition" by William L. White was published in 1979 by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It is easily the most insightful material ever produced by that agency:
THE PROHIBITIONIST THEMES

A review of chemical prohibitionist literature reveals eight themes which appear to emerge from the tactics of most such movements. The tactics utilized to produce these themes are as follows:

1. The drug is associated with a hated subgroup of the society or a foreign enemy.

2. The drug is identified as solely responsible for many problems in the culture, i.e., crime, violence, and insanity.

3. The survival of the culture is pictured as being dependent on the prohibition of the drug.

4. The concept of "controlled" usage is destroyed and replaced by a "domino theory" of chemical progression.

5. The drug is associated with the corruption of young children, particularly their sexual corruption.

6. Both the user and supplier of the drug are defined as fiends, always in search of new victims; usage of the drug is considered "contagious."

7. Policy options are presented as total prohibition or total access.

8. Anyone questioning any of the above assumptions is bitterly attacked and characterized as part of the problem that needs to be eliminated.

After almost 30 years, this remains a complete inventory of the instruments one can expect to find in any prohibitionist's tool belt. It reads like the Bill of Rights of drug prohibitionist rhetoric, a universal guide that could well be found folded up within the coat pockets of drug war generals from Washington, D.C. to Vienna.

Only through strict adherence to these principles is it possible to effectively defend a drug war that destroys all which it claims to defend. Only under these rules could the continuation of costly and catastrophic public policies be considered politically viable, while even partial reforms bear a burden of presumed political suicide. Only in this climate of perpetual hysteria can our leaders be intimidated and stripped of their will to lead, forced instead by perceived orthodoxy to reluctantly, yet willfully, march us further into the drug war abyss.

This post isn't about how to end the drug war. I don’t quite claim to know that, although I've got a few ideas. Rather, this is an introduction, for anyone who may need it, to the rules of mainstream drug policy debate. We must know each of these rules by heart, because it is our duty to break them at any and every opportunity.

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In The Trenches

DrugWarLog: March 26, 2008

www.HaRdCOREhARMREdUCER.be
HaRdCOREhARMREdUCER's Drug War Log

 


In The Trenches

Watch the video / 67% support for MPP's medical marijuana initiative in Michigan

[Courtesy of MPP] 

A new, independent poll published in a prominent Michigan political newsletter shows that 67% of Michigan voters favor the passage of MPP's medical marijuana initiative in the state. This is a significant increase in support from polls conducted in previous years. It also cuts across all demographics, which bodes very well for making Michigan the 13th medical marijuana state this November.

Momentum is clearly on our side, but we still need the resources to mount an effective campaign this year to ensure we win on November 4. Would you please make a donation to MPP's campaign committee, the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, today?

Shortly after our initiative was certified for the November ballot, local pundits on the public television talk show “Off the Record” spoke glowingly of MPP’s campaign. Host Tim Skubick praised MPP’s strategy of flying under the radar, and one of the guests noted, “This is the most organized of the ballot proposals that are out there right now.” Click here to watch these reporters gush over MPP.

Back to the poll: Conducted by the Lansing-based consulting firm Marketing Resource Group (MRG) and published in "Inside Michigan Politics," it found that 67% of Michiganders support the passage of the medical marijuana law, with 28% opposed and only 5% undecided.

Earlier this month, the nearly half-a-million signatures we had submitted to the state government came back with a whopping 80% validity rate. Now the medical marijuana initiative advances to the Michigan Legislature. If, as expected, the legislature chooses not to act on the initiative after 40 days, Michigan voters will decide the issue at the polls on November 4.

The overwhelming amount of support reflected in the local media coverage and this latest poll is not altogether surprising: Five Michigan cities — Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Flint, and Traverse City — passed local medical marijuana initiatives by wide margins from 2004 to 2007. And previous polling — such as a 2005 survey that found 61% in favor of protecting medical marijuana patients — has always indicated that a majority of Michiganders support reform.

But the MRG poll demonstrates that this support is surging statewide as voters hear more about the issue, and now two out of three Michigan residents are saying they’d vote to protect patients from the threat of arrest and jail.

Despite this encouraging poll, the fact remains that the campaign still has a long way to go, and we'll need substantial resources to maintain this momentum. Would you please consider donating to the campaign today to help ensure a victory in November? Thank you for supporting this important work.

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 $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2008. This means that your donation to the Michigan campaign today will be doubled.

In The Trenches

Drug Truth Update: 03/25/08

The Unvarnished Truth About the Drug War From the Drug Truth Network: (Please Note early release of Cultural Baggage, due to travel, posts will be out of sync for 2-3 weeks ) (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 03/26/08 Bruce Mirken of Marijuana Policy Project, Paul Armentano of National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, Chris Hermes of Americans for Safe Access & Teddy Woodards song: "I'm Not Criminal" MP3 LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1817/FDBCB_032608.mp3 TRANSCRIPT: (No Transcript) Century of Lies for 03/25/08 Eric Sterling, President of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation regarding violations of constitutional amendments by processes of the drug war + Doug McVay regarding drug reform in America MP3 Link: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1818/COL_032508.mp3 TRANSCRIPT: (Will be posted this weekend) "World War Infinity Squared" NEW DTN Tee Shirt Design at http://www.cultural-baggage.com/drugtruth/teeshirt.htm 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 50 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

Americans for Safe Access Introduces New Video Testimonials

Dear ASA Supporter,

As the National Field Coordinator for ASA I meet patients, medical professionals, caregivers, and people from all walks of life on a daily basis. When meeting people new to the movement I am regularly asked who supports medical cannabis and why should I get on board? In the past, I would then take several minutes to explain, but that is about to change today!

I am very excited to announce that ASA has developed a new type of outreach and education tool, which also happens to be rather entertaining! Today, we are releasing three video testimonials which at www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/VideoTestimonial to help spread the word about medical cannabis.

"I had to pack up all my belongings, sell the family home, and move across the country to California to be safe to be a patient."
- Steve from Oakland speaking about his move from Virginia to Oakland to become a legal medical cannabis patient. Watch Steve's whole story.

The video testimonial project has been designed to help educate people about medical cannabis by having patients and supporters share their stories. This project was also designed to help people like you educate your friends and family about medical cannabis by sharing these videos with your community.

"Even my 80-year-old mother approves of me being a patient. She says to people, 'If it helps her pain then it is okay.'"
- Carole from the Fremont talking about being out as a medical cannabis patient with her family. Watch Carole's whole story.

Over the next month, ASA will be releasing a new testimonial each week beginning next Monday. Be sure to visit www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/VideoTestimonial next Monday to view the next installment of ASA's video testimonials. We will be releasing a new video every Monday through the end of April. In the meantime, click here to view the first three videos today!

Thank you to Carson Higby-Flowers for volunteering to record, edit, and produce the testimonials. Also, thank you to all of the brave patients, supporters, and advocates who took the time to come in and participate in the video shoot.

Keep spreading the word about medical cannabis and forward this message on to your family, friends, and community members. Also, if you belong to an online social networking page like MySpace, Facebook, Tribe, and/or host your own personal blog, I strongly encourage you to link to the video testimonials.

Sincerely,

Sonnet Seeborg Gabbard
Field Coordinator
Americans for Safe Access

P.S. Let us know if you are interested in participating in the next video testimonial shoot at the ASA headquarters (date and time have yet to be determined). E-mail [email protected] if you are interested.

In The Trenches

2008 Presidential Candidates' Platforms on Criminal Justice

 [Courtesy of The Sentencing Project]

The Sentencing Project is pleased to publish a guide to the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Platforms on Criminal Justice. This guide provides information on a range of key criminal justice issues, including sentencing policy, reentry, felony disenfranchisement, and the death penalty.

 

The Sentencing Project is a nonpartisan public policy organization that does not support or oppose the candidacy of any candidate for public office.  This document is designed to make the public better aware of the candidates' positions on criminal justice policy, an issue that has received relatively little attention in the current political debate.  Voters should learn all they can about the candidates on a range of issues and should not rely on any single source of information before making their decision.

 

We hope you find this information useful.

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