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Forum -- Marijuana Legalization: Legal and Practical Issues in California

Please join us on for a forum addressing the legal and practical implications of the California initiatve to tax and regulate marijuana, which will be on the ballot this fall. If a state were to legalize cannabis, as California's Proposition 19, or A.B. 2254, the Ammiano bill, are attempting to do, what legal tools might the federal government use to block operation of such laws? Additional areas of law - employment law, family law, municipal law, insurance law, corrections policy - would be implicated. What are the issues?

Please join the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers and our panel of experts in addressing the legal and practical issues when a state legalizes cannabis. CD'S with comprehensive literature will be available for attendees.

Speakers:

Sheriff Thomas D. Allman - Mendocino County Sheriff

Tom Ammiano - Assemblymember, 13th District, California

Robert Hirshon, Esq. - Professor of Law, University of Michigan; former President, American Bar Association

Allen Hopper, Esq. - Legal Director, ACLU Drug Law Reform Project

Alex Kreit, Esq. - Associate Professor of Law; Director, Center for Law and Social Justice, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Theshia Naidoo, Esq. - Staff Attorney, Office of Legal Affairs, Drug Policy Alliance

Moderators:

Roger E. Goodman, Esq. - State Representative, 45th District, Washington State; Executive Director, Voluntary Committee of Lawyers

Eric E. Sterling, Esq. - President, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation; President, Voluntary Committee of Lawyers

The forum is open to the public, and is followed by a reception from 6-7pm to give you a chance to meet our guest speakers and to network with attorneys and others attending.

Problems found in DEA cleanups of clandestine labs

Prohibition of drugs has resulted in the proliferation of clandestine drug labs, commonly used for manufacturing methamphetamine, creating range of health and safety hazards as people make use of potentially dangerous chemicals without the training or resources needed to handle them properly. It turns out the DEA hasn't been handling them very well either.

Dubai the Drug Hub

The UAE's modern facilities, combined with its strategic location, have proven to be a draw for drug traffickers, and Dubai has seen a significant rise in it in recent years. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime hasn't figured out yet that prohibition doesn't work, and so they are working on creating a Gulf Centre for Criminal Intelligence, to involve law enforcement agencies from all six of the Gulf Cooperation Council states. But while they'll undoubtedly seize drugs and arrest traffickers, that won't reduce the availability of drugs, as <a href="http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/638/UNODC_peru_colombia_coca_cocaine">the UN's own reports keep finding</a>.

Criminals Aren’t the Only Ones Getting Killed in the Drug War

Via Pete Guither, here's another breathtaking example of the drug war's indiscriminate violence:

President Calderón has sought to make his drug war palatable by asserting that the country’s war dead—estimated at 23,000 since January 2006 for the country as a whole—deserved to die: their deaths implicate them in illegal activities.

When he first learned about what Juarenses have come to call the “massacre at Villas de Salvarcar,” Calderón hinted that the thirteen teenagers who died at the hands of professional executioners were common criminals and city low life. He could not have been more wrong. In fact they were honor students and athletes who had gathered to celebrate a friend’s seventeenth birthday. They had the misfortune of belonging to a football club whose initials, “AA,” were mistaken for the initials of the Sinaloa cartel’s local enforcers, the Artistic Assassins. And so, in the middle of the night, while the teens danced in a room cleared of furniture, they were gunned down. Seven hours later, when the first daylight photos were taken, the concrete floor where they died still glistened with their clotting blood. [Boston Review]

It's sickening that the Mexican President would dare insinuate that these innocent young victims somehow deserved their fate, but misplacing blame is an essential and instinctive defense mechanism when drug warriors are confronted with the consequences of their desperate crusade. None of this comes as a surprise, but it does bother me that this incident happened back in January and I overlooked it amidst the overwhelming number of bloody tragedies just like this one that take place every day in Mexico.

We couldn't ask for a more perfect exhibit in the complete failure of drug prohibition on every imaginable level. At this point, the only thing that still surprises me is that so many among us persist in failing to understand what the problem is.

How to Get Away with Growing 100,000 Marijuana Plants

Just plant them in the woods:

Nearly 100,000 marijuana plants were found growing at four illegal farms in the San Bernardino National Forest, authorities said Tuesday.
…
No arrests have been made, said officials with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Forest Service. [LA Times]

If we can't even catch the people who do this, do you think they're ever going to stop?

It should be obvious to anyone who's seen these same stories published every summer that the problem is just getting worse. These ridiculous pot wars in our national forests are profitable for both sides. The cops get to go hiking and collect their paychecks without even seeing an actual criminal, and the growers just plant more every year to ensure that the police never find it all. What fun.

That's why police and illegal growers are united in their opposition to the legalization of marijuana.

Press Release: Legislation Clarifying Law on Syringe Possession Heads to Gov. Paterson

Voices of Community Advocates and Leaders (VOCAL) | Drug Policy Alliance For Immediate Release: June 29, 2010 Contact: Sean Barry at (646) 373-3344 or Gabriel Sayegh at (646) 335-2264 Life-saving Legislation to Increase Access to Effective Public Health Programs Passes Legislature with Bi-partisan Support Bill Clarifies Confusion, States Clearly that People can Possess Syringes; New Law Should End Harassment by Police, Save Lives by Ensuring Clean Syringe Access and Safe Disposal Advocates Applaud Legislature, Await Governor Paterson’s Signature ALBANY -- Today, the New York State Legislature passed legislation clarifying conflict between the Penal Law and the Public Health Law. Senate Bill 5620-A (Duane) and it’s companion, Assembly Bill 8396-A (Gottfried) builds on 20 years of New York’s commitment to innovative and effective programs that have dramatically reduced the rates of HIV/AIDS and Viral Hepatitis transmission rates among people who inject drugs and their families. New York’s Public Health Law allows people that participate in Syringe Exchange Programs (SEP) and the Expanded Syringe Access Program (ESAP) – a law passed in 2000 that allowed for syringe sales for those over 18 at pharmacies without a prescription -- to possess clean syringes. However, the provision that allows for participants to possess syringes was never put into the Penal Code, which resulted in police harassment of participants, leading to a chilling effect that decreased access to clean syringes and prevented proper disposal of used ones. Since the police carry the Penal Law, and not the Public Health law, they often did not know that possession of syringes in New York was entirely legal. Thus cops would often arrest program participants, leading to a chilling effect around a syringe exchange and reducing participation. The evidence on syringe exchange programs is clear: In New York City, syringe exchange programs (SEPs) have expanded access to clean syringes, leading to a dramatic health benefits: HIV/AIDS transmissions amongst intravenous drug users dropped by 75% between 1990 and 2001. Along with access to clean syringes and safe disposal of used ones, exchanges offer HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C testing, condoms, counseling, and referrals to drug treatment. The clarification of the law—bringing the Penal Law into accordance with the Public Health law – will lead to increased access of these life-saving programs. Hiawatha Collins, a Leader of VOCAL NY-Users Union, a membership-led union of current and former drug users who create and advocate for policies that directly impact them, knows first hand how the police harassment has decreased access to clean syringes and proper disposal of used ones. “I want to thank Assemblymember Gottfried, Senator Duane and Governor Paterson for their leadership in passing this legislation,” Collins said. “They proved their commitment to under-served and diverse communities throughout New York City and State, and relied on the clear evidence that these programs save lives and enhance the health and safety of all New Yorkers. They looked into their hearts and chose to make a commitment to saving lives.” Governor Paterson submitted the same program bill last year that would place the Public Health Law language that allowed for syringe possession into the Penal Code, permit program participants to possess syringes for proper disposal, and create oversight by the Department of Criminal Justice Services to ensure that participants stop getting harassed. The bill passed the Assembly last year and was scheduled for a Senate vote before it was stalled by Senate coup last June. Last week, the Senate passed the legislation with strong bi-partisan support. The Governor’s signature is expected shortly. “This legislation is good for communities, good for cops, and good for New York,” said Evan Goldstein, policy associate at the Drug Policy Alliance. “By clarifying the law on syringe possession, there will be less confusion by cops and communities alike about accessing syringe exchanges, which save New Yorkers tens millions of dollars in health care costs each year while increasing the health of communities. We thank Assemblyman Gottfried, Senator Duane, and Governor Paterson for their leadership on this issue, and we thank the Legislature for their continued effort to address drugs as an issue of public health and safety.”
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