Drug Policy Debate with James C. Bettencourt
Why children & adults use illegal drugs & alcohol. Americaâs best kept secret
www.drugpreventioned.com
No Marijuana Smoking at the Dog-Sled Races
Apparently, there's no climate so inhospitable that the drug testers won't show up to collect everyone's urine:
The funny part is they've already been drug testing the dogs for several years. I just assumed that the mushers were wasted the whole time. I mean, you're racing a dog-sled through arctic conditions for 1,000 miles with no sleep. According to the comments on the article, some guy once won the thing completely jacked on coke.
It'll be embarrassing next year when no one finishes the Iditarod.
FAIRBANKS -- The Iditarod plans to test mushers for drugs and alcohol in March, a change many mushers have no problem with -- but one that three-time champion Lance Mackey scoffs at.
"I think it's a little bit ridiculous," Mackey said Wednesday night from his home near Fairbanks after a training run. "It is a dog race, not a human race. It (using a drug) doesn't affect the outcome of the race."
Mackey, a throat cancer survivor who has a medical marijuana card, admits to using marijuana on the trail and thinks his success has made some of his competitors jealous. [ADN]
The funny part is they've already been drug testing the dogs for several years. I just assumed that the mushers were wasted the whole time. I mean, you're racing a dog-sled through arctic conditions for 1,000 miles with no sleep. According to the comments on the article, some guy once won the thing completely jacked on coke.
It'll be embarrassing next year when no one finishes the Iditarod.
Europe: Mayor of Amsterdam Says Cities Need Different Coffee Shop Policy From Border Towns
As the Dutch federal government ponders its next moves in its campaign against the countryâs famous cannabis coffee shops, the mayor of Amsterdam is advising against a one-size-fits-all policy. The needs of major cities are different from those of border towns, and policy needs to reflect those differences, Mayor Job Cohen said.
Cohenâs remarks came in a letter sent Friday to Interior Minister Guusje ter Horst. In it, Cohen argued that Amsterdam differs markedly from border towns, which are tightening up on coffee shops in the face of an influx of drug tourists from more repressive neighboring countries. Tourists in Amsterdam behave differently than the border town shoppers, he said.
"Tourists in Amsterdam usually visit the capital for several days and, in addition to many other activities, sometimes also go to a coffee shop," Cohen wrote.
Cohen also staked out a position against requiring membership to be able to buy marijuana at a coffee shop. That has been a proposal floated by the national government.
And Cohen rejected as ineffective a ban on coffee shops with 250 yards of schools. Underage age youth are already barred from entering coffee shops, he noted, adding that most teens usually have third parties procure their drugs for them.
A Magical Day in Mexico
This is what passes for good news in the Mexican drug war:
The next day, 9 people were shot. Does anyone still believe that the drug war reduces violence? If so, I've got a condo in Ciudad Juarez I'd love to sell you.
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) -- ''Not one person murdered yesterday,'' Ciudad Juarez's leading newspaper proclaimed in a banner headline. It was big news in this border city, ground zero in the drug war -- the first time in 10 months that a day had passed without a killing.
The next day, 9 people were shot. Does anyone still believe that the drug war reduces violence? If so, I've got a condo in Ciudad Juarez I'd love to sell you.
No Drug Bust is Worth the Life of a Good Cop
Peter Moskos at the LEAP blog discusses the anniversary of the murder of police officer Marcellus Ward:
25 years later, the same counterproductive approaches that took Ward's life are still in effect, more so now than ever. Baltimore is widely recognized as ground zero for urban drug warfare in America and you could throw many more lives into the fire without even denting the drugs and violence for which Baltimore has tragically come to be known. Sadly, that is exactly what will happen.
Nevertheless, Ward will be remembered -- as he should be â for giving his life trying to make his city a better place. And, were it not for his sacrifice, powerful voices for drug policy reform, such as Kurt Schmoke, Neill Franklin and Peter Moskos might never have emerged from Baltimore.
Ward was killed 25 years ago. His assassination and last dying breaths were caught on tape and haunted the memory of many Baltimore police officers.
At a memorial, held where Ward was killed, Commissioner Bealefeld said that it is "not for us to judge the results of his sacrifice." And certainly a memorial to a slain officer is not the time and place for that.
But at some point we need to ask. Why are we risking our lives? What are we getting in return? If we don't ask these questions, more good men and women will die.
25 years later, the same counterproductive approaches that took Ward's life are still in effect, more so now than ever. Baltimore is widely recognized as ground zero for urban drug warfare in America and you could throw many more lives into the fire without even denting the drugs and violence for which Baltimore has tragically come to be known. Sadly, that is exactly what will happen.
Nevertheless, Ward will be remembered -- as he should be â for giving his life trying to make his city a better place. And, were it not for his sacrifice, powerful voices for drug policy reform, such as Kurt Schmoke, Neill Franklin and Peter Moskos might never have emerged from Baltimore.