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Oriente Medio: Florecen las adormideras en Irak

Presos en medio de la violencia caldeada de Irak, los granjeros iraquíes se vuelven hacia la adormidera para sustentarse. Milicias y caudillos están detrás de ello, dice el periodista británico Patrick Cockburn.
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Chronicle
Chronicle
Chronicle
Chronicle

Salvia divinorum: Cámara virginiana aprueba prohibición

Sumándose a un puñado de otros estados, Illinois ilegalizó la <em>Salvia divinorum</em> el 01 de enero. Ahora Virginia quiere ser la próxima. Un proyecto de ley para prohibirla ya ha sido aprobado por la Cámara de los Diputados y se dirige hacia el Senado estadual.
Chronicle
Chronicle

Canadá: Marc Emery acatará pena de prisión canadiense bajo acusaciones de EE.UU.

Esta semana, Marc Emery, el “Príncipe de la Marihuana” de Canadá, anunció que ha aceptado un acuerdo de confesión de culpabilidad junto a fiscales federales estadounidenses que escatimará a sus socios de pena de prisión, pero que hará que cumpla por lo menos cinco años de prisión – la mayor parte en Canadá – por vender semillas de marihuana a clientes en los EE.UU. El trío había podido recibir condenas mínimas obligatorias de 10 años y cadena perpetua.
Chronicle
Chronicle

Semanal: Blogueando en el Bar Clandestino

“Agentes de la DEA demandan a NBC Universal por la película American Gangster”, “La cobertura mediática de la guerra a las drogas es tan defectuosa que en realidad incentiva a la gente a vender marihuana”, “Prohibir objetos cilíndricos no va a impedir que la gente fume crack”, “Policía de Filadelfia dice que marihuana cuesta $100 por porro”, “La verdad sobre manejar cuando se está flipado con marihuana”, “Por eso ‘entraron disparando’ – Equipo de la SWAT tenía animación violenta en página web antes de matar a Tarika Wilson”, “Una suma total de cinco policías murieron trabando la guerra a las drogas el año pasado”.
Chronicle
Chronicle

Reportaje: Es más seguro ser policía que granjero

Las muertes de policías en el cumplimiento del deber sufrieron un alza el año pasado, así como la cifra de policías muertos por herida de bala. Pero apenas un puñado murió imponiendo las leyes contra las drogas y ser policía continúa siendo más seguro que un bueno número de otras profesiones.
Chronicle
Event

Marijuana Policy Project's Party at the Playboy Mansion

You're invited to MPP's third annual party at the Playboy Mansion! Our 2007 party was a resounding success, and the 2008 party promises to be even more exciting! Last year's party was hosted by Joe Rogan and dj Pooh played music that kept the crowd dancing all night. Bill Maher accepted MPP's Public Face of Reform Award and Blues Traveler performed atop the famed grotto. Other celebrity guests in attendance included VH1's "My Fair Brady" stars Adrianne Curry and Christopher Knight; "Miami Ink" tattoo artist Kat Von D; musicians Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland from The Crystal Method; and "The Boondocks" creator Aaron McGruder.
In The Trenches

ASA's Medical Marijuana in the News: 1/18/08

NEW MEXICO: Patient Suing Sheriff, County over Federal Raid

Within weeks of New Mexico implementing its medical cannabis law, federal agents, with the help of local sheriff’s deputies, raided the home of a paraplegic and seized his medicine. The raid outraged the state’s governor Bill Richardson, who sent an angry letter to Washington demanding that the federal government stop interfering in New Mexico’s efforts to care for its citizens. Now the man who was victimized is suing the county and local officers for their part in subverting the state law.

Lawsuit says deputies targeted man for medical marijuana
Associated Press
A paraplegic man from Malaga has sued Eddy County sheriff's deputies. Leonard French alleges they seized marijuana plants and equipment to grow them last summer despite the fact he has a license under New Mexico's medical marijuana law.

N.M. man sues deputies over pot seizure
KOB TV 4 (NM)
A wheelchair-bound man is suing Eddy County deputies for seizing marijuana that he says he was using for medical purposes.

ACLU files suit over raid
by Tom Moody, Current-Argus (NM)
A paraplegic Malaga man who holds a medical marijuana permit from the state of New Mexico filed a lawsuit Thursday against Eddy County and several county law officers for their part in a drug raid that seized his marijuana plants and growing equipment, attorneys announced.

COLORADO: Police Pursued for Damaged Cannabis

The landmark court order for the return of medical marijuana to a Colorado couple got them their plants back, but in unusable condition. With the help of attorney Brian Vicente, director of the Colorado Campaign for Safe Access, the couple is now pursuing damages based on federal estimates of the plants’ value. State law has a provision that requires law enforcement to return wrongfully seized medical marijuana in good condition.

Couple seeks compensation for pot
by Trevor Hughes, The Coloradoan
In what is believed to be a first-of-its-kind request for Colorado, a Fort Collins couple is demanding police pay them more than $200,000 for improperly confiscating and destroying 39 marijuana plants.

Couple to ask police to pay for dead marijuana
by Jeffrey Wolf, KUSA 9News TV (CO)
A couple plans to file for compensation after they say police destroyed their medical marijuana.

Fort Collins couple to ask city for reimbursement for dead marijuana plants
The Coloradoan
The attorney for James and Lisa Masters, whose 39 medical marijuana plants were seized by Fort Collins police and later destroyed, plans to file a motion this afternoon asking the city pay the couple for the destroyed plants.

Couple Wants Police To Pay For Damaged Marijuana Plants
by Lance Hernandez, KMGH TV News7 - Denver
James and Lisa Masters said they want to send a message to police departments all across Colorado. The couple and one of their attorneys filed a motion late Thursday seeking compensation for 39 damaged medical marijuana plants.

Medical Marijuana Users Seek $200K For Lost Stash
by Emil Steiner, Columnist, Washington Post
Today in Fort Collins, Colo., a lawyer will walk into a court house and ask the city to pay his clients for destroying their marijuana. The motion for compensation asks Fort Collins to fork over $202,800, the most money ever sought for the destruction of a drug.

In The Trenches

Justice Policy Institute Press Release: Data Shows Substance Abuse Treatment Reduces Crime

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, January 22, 2008 Contact: LaWanda Johnson (202) 558-7974 x308 WASHINGTON - Community-based substance abuse treatment reduces crime rates and helps states reduce corrections costs, according to a new policy brief released today by the Justice Policy Institute (JPI). The Substance Abuse Treatment and Public Safety brief found that the sooner substance abuse is treated, the bigger the long-term cost savings and increases in public safety. At a time when some have raised concerns about the release of people convicted of drug offenses from federal prison due to U.S. Sentencing Commission reforms, the research shows that substance abuse treatment helps individuals transition successfully from the criminal justice system to the community. "This new report confirms that investing in drug and alcohol treatment is both socially responsible and fiscally prudent and should be a top public policy priority," said Maryland Delegate Bill Bronrott, chair of the House Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse. "The report documents the tangible results of treatment, such as cutting crime, reclaiming lives, and making healthier families and safer communities. More investments in these lifesaving and cost-effective services are needed now to expand the benefits of treatment that this report so clearly demonstrates." The policy brief--the last in a series that examines the impact of positive social investments on public safety--found that: Increases in admissions to substance abuse treatment are associated with reductions in crime rates. Admissions to drug treatment increased 37.4 percent and federal spending on drug treatment increased 14.6 percent from 1995 to 2005. During the same period, violent crime fell 31.5 percent. In California, where Proposition 36 diverted thousands of people from prison and jail to treatment, violent crime fell at a rate that exceeded the national average. In Maryland, where policymakers have been working to implement various approaches to diverting prison-bound people to treatment, the counties that relied on drug treatment were more likely to achieve significant crime rate reductions than those that relied on drug imprisonment. Increased admissions to drug treatment are associated with reduced incarceration rates. States with a higher drug treatment admission rate than the national average send, on average, 100 fewer people to prison per 100,000 in the population than states that have lower than average drug treatment admissions. California, in particular, experienced decreases in incarceration rates when jurisdictions increased the number of people sent to drug treatment. Substance abuse treatment prior to contact with the justice system yields public safety benefits early on. Research has shown that drug treatment programs improve life outcomes for individuals and decreases the likelihood that a drug-involved person will be involved in the criminal justice system. Substance abuse treatment helps individuals transition successfully from the criminal justice system to the community. Community-based drug treatment programs reduce the chance that a person will become involved in the criminal justice system after release from prison. Substance abuse treatment is more cost-effective than prison or other punitive measures. The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) found that community-based drug treatment is extremely beneficial in terms of cost, especially compared to prison. Every dollar spent on drug treatment in the community is estimated to return $18.52 in benefits to society in terms of reduced incarceration rates and associated crime costs to taxpayers. "If lawmakers invest in community-based substance abuse treatment--instead of prison beds--for people living with addiction, our communities will reap tremendous benefits," says JPI Executive Director Sheila Bedi. "Crime rates will decrease, families will remain intact and since treatment is less expensive than incarceration, state budget dollars can be redeployed to meet education, housing, infrastructure and other pressing needs. " For more information on this or other research, contact LaWanda Johnson at 202-558-7974 ext. 308.
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