BLOG
Barbara Kay Says Mean Things About Marijuana Users and the Reform Movement
Barbara Kay's latest column on marijuana policy at The National Post is a remarkable achievement. I've simply never seen an article that endorses marijuana decriminalization while simultaneously serving up such silly anti-pot propaganda. Kay maintains that she supports decrim, but opposes legalization, urging proponents to "inquire more deeply into recent scientific findings" about marijuana. After encouraging a science-based debate, Kay launches into a series of wildly unscientific generalizations:â¦because alcohol in moderation is culturally aligned with enhanced fellowship and animated human interaction, it is therefore a communal as well as an individual good. Conversely, the purpose of marijuana is the alteration of consciousness, an end achieved by a process that thrives in solitude and mental torpor.What!? Rather obviously, the "enhanced fellowship and animated human interaction" achieved through alcohol use is the direct result of the "alteration of consciousness." Kay is literally suggesting that marijuana users seek "alteration of consciousness" while alcohol users do not. That is just not true. What else can I say? People use alcohol and marijuana for the same reason. They like the way it makes them feel. Equally dishonest is her characterization of marijuana use as a "process that thrives in solitude and mental torpor." To whatever extent marijuana is consumed in more solitary settings than alcohol, mightn't that have something to do with the fact that one is illegal and can get you arrested, while the other is sold openly at bars, concerts, and sporting events? Here in the U.S., public use of marijuana at interracial jazz clubs was one of the reasons the drug became prohibited to begin with. Whenever one reads such silly arguments, it's only natural to wonder what the author wants. People don't just go around pretending alcohol doesnât alter consciousness because that's what they believe. No one actually believes that. Right?In this case, it seems Kay is motivated by animosity towards what she describes as "the nihilist agenda of cynical all-drug legalizers who are exploiting marijuanaâs relatively innocent image as their Trojan horse." If that's what she thinks drug policy reform is all about, I guess I shouldnât be surprised by anything else she says.
Another Ryan Frederick Update
Radley Balko has much more information from Ryan Frederick's preliminary hearing, which I mentioned yesterday.Of particular interest is the fact that special prosecutor Paul Ebert has threatened to file felony drug charges against Frederick, despite the fact that only a tiny amount of marijuana was recovered in the raid. The suspected marijuana grow that prompted the raid simply didnât exist, so any new drug charges at this point are almost certainly a trumped-up character assassination designed to smear Frederick in front of the jury. It's a critical move for Ebert, who clearly realizes that it will be hard to explain why Frederick would have shot a cop over a few flakes of pot. Unless Frederick can be painted as a hardened criminal, his persistent claim that he thought the police were burglars would likely prevail.It is just amazing the amount of effort being put into prosecuting an innocent man for a murder that wasn't his fault, all so that the real killer (the drug war) can remain on the loose.
McClellan: Bush Partied So Much, He Couldn't Remember Whether He Tried Cocaine
Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's new book is pissing off the Bush Administration for a dozen reasons, most of them irrelevant to this blog. This passage, however, ought to replace "I didn't inhale," as the most infamous pseudo-acknowledgement of drug use in presidential history:McClellan tracks Bush's penchant for self-deception back to an overheard incident on the campaign trail in 1999 when the then-governor was dogged by reports of possible cocaine use in his younger days.The book recounts an evening in a hotel suite "somewhere in the Midwest." Bush was on the phone with a supporter and motioned for McClellan to have a seat."'The media won't let go of these ridiculous cocaine rumors,' I heard Bush say. 'You know, the truth is I honestly don't remember whether I tried it or not. We had some pretty wild parties back in the day, and I just don't remember.'" [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]I'm almost prepared to give Bush the benefit of the doubt on this, seeing as he was speaking off the record with a supporter. It's not a context in which one would be inclined to lie. Nor is "I don't remember" a particularly flattering portrayal of one's own drug history. Really, one begins to wonder what else Bush doesnât remember doing at these "wild parties." Let's all just pause for a moment to picture George W. Bush on acid. Yikes, nevermind.Anyhow, in case you're wondering where I'm going with this, I'm not going to argue that you can do cocaine, party until you forget all about it, and then grow up to be just as smart and great as George Bush. A lot of people would find that argument unimpressive for a variety of reasons. My point, rather, is that as we inevitably subject future presidential hopefuls to the usual and predictable inquisitions over their past drug use, we now have a new bottom line against which to compare their answers. From now on, all we should ask is that candidates for the job of president be able to accurately and confidently tell us what drugs they did in college. As long as you have some vague idea what you put in your body and why, you can pass the newly revised presidential drug use questionnaire.
World Psychedelic Support Statistic
Another attempt to fight the good fight, http://www.project-sunspot.com is conducting the first world psychedelic support statistic, documenting the numbers in the public at large who support the furt
If the Drug War Reduces Violence, Please Explain What's Happening in Mexico
The debate should be over now. All you have to do is look south to learn that the drug war is worse than a failure; it causes massive violence, corruption, and death. From The New York Times:"When the commander, Commissioner Ãdgar Millán Gómez, the acting chief of the federal police, died with eight bullets in his chest on May 8, it sent chills through a force that had increasingly found itself a target.""Top security officials who were once thought untouchable have been gunned down in Mexico City, four in the last month alone.""Drug dealers killed another seven federal agents this year in retaliation for drug busts in border towns.""Drug traffickers have killed at least 170 local police officers as well, among them at least a score of municipal police commanders, since Mr. Calderón took office.""The violence between drug cartels that Mr. Calderón has sought to end has only worsened over the past year and a half. The death toll has jumped 47 percent to 1,378 this year, prosecutors say. All told, 4,125 people have been killed in drug violence since Mr. Calderón took office.""Several terrified local police chiefs have resigned, the most recent being Guillermo Prieto, the chief in Ciudad Juárez, who stepped down last week after his second in command was killed a few days earlier."So what does Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who instigated the massive increase in drug war violence, have to say about all this? The president has vowed to stay the course, portraying the violence among gangs and attacks on the police as a sign of success rather than failure.Wow. Well, I guess you've got it all figured then, Mr. President. That's good to hear, because for a second there, it sounded like everything was going to hell.
Japanese Customs Hid 5 oz. of Marijuana in Passenger's Bag, Now They Can't Find It
If you've flown through Japan recently, you might wanna double check your bags for an extra souvenir:TOKYO (AFP) â An unsuspecting passenger who flew to Tokyo is carrying one million yen's worth of cannabis compliments of customs authorities after a sniffer dog failed a test, officials said Monday.An officer at Narita International Airport on Sunday stuffed 142 grams (five ounces) of the drug into the side pocket of a randomly selected black suitcase coming off an overseas flight so that the animal could detect it."The dog couldn't find it and the officer also forgot which bag he put it in," a customs office spokeswoman said."If by some chance passengers find it in their suitcase, we're asking them to return it," she said.Seriously, if they wanted it returned, they should've refrained from announcing that it's worth a million yen. This whole fiasco reflects terribly on Japanese drug enforcement, but also on Japanese marijuana, which was valued at nearly $2,000 an ounce, but apparently didn't smell very interesting.
Ryan Frederick Formally Charged With First Degree Murder
Radley Balko reports:He was formally charged with first degree murder and with the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. So yeah. They really are going to go through with this.The misdemeanor marijuana possession charge was nolle prossed. Which means the reason the police tried to ram their way into Frederickâs house in the first place is now pretty much moot. They didnât even find enough marijuana to merit a charge. Now theyâre trying to make him pay for the consequences of their mistake.So to recap, police charged into Ryan Frederick's home looking for a marijuana grow that didnât exist. Mistaking the intruders for thieves, Ryan opened fire, killing a police officer. He's now charged with knowingly and deliberately killing a cop, even though that's the least plausible explanation for his actions.
Government Monopoly Enforced by Terror
I was reading an alert on the New Mexico MM law and it's troubles with production and distribution.It reminded me of Canada's MM law which has been in effect for quite some time.Here,the government ha
They Don't Make Heros Like They Used To
If anyone watched America's most wanted on Saturday you saw them award the top hero of the year.This was a SWAT team leader who smashed the window in a 65 year old mentally unstable woman's home in a
UN Gang Leader arrested in Texas
The leader of what is supposed to be the most violent and aggressive gang in the Lower Mainland was picked up on a warrant in Texas,yesterday.There is supposed to be a warrant waiting in Seattle for t
prophetic Word is doom to drug warriors
Everybody that feels that lash wants to end the Drug War but nobody knows how to do it.
Rachel Hoffman's Family Issues an Urgent Call for Change
The mother of slain drug war victim Rachel Hoffman has started the Rachel Morningstar Foundation to advocate legislation requiring legal counsel for prospective drug informants as well as decriminalization of marijuana in Florida. You can make a donation here. For anyone still catching up on Hoffman's story, this heartbreaking video is a good starting point:Rachel was involved in NORML and SSDP. She was one of us, and while I wish she'd thought better than to become an informant, we still don't know what threats police used to coerce her into assisting in the operation that took her life. Rachel is someone we might have met at a conference someday. Someone who might have posted a comment on a drug policy blog or responded to an action alert. For whatever reason, that simple thought bothers me in an uncomfortable way that the drug war atrocities I cover daily often do not. It's a feeling I've had to shake off as I type, reminding myself that I've seen too much of this already to be rattled by the inevitable.Every drug war victim has a story, each of them upsetting and important in its own way. We know all too well the common thread that binds these tragedies together and we'll stand without hesitation behind the Hoffmans as they've so bravely stepped forward so that their loss can become something positive, something Rachel would be proud of.
If You Write Bad Pro-Drug War Editorials, We Will Find Them and Embarrass You
One of the many valuable services performed by Pete Guither at DrugWarRant is that of finding the most mind-numbingly absurd drug war editorials, reading them in their entirety, and illuminating the gratuitous logical fallacies upon which pro-drug war editorialists are so habitually reliant. Recent examples can be found here and here.Believe me, it ain't easy responding with any civility to the frightened and frustrated fulminations of these paranoid drug war cheerleaders, but Pete does so as gracefully as can be expected. I know from painful experience that it begins to feel like you're banging your head against a wall defending the most basic principles against attacks from scared and angry people. Still, there's value in demonstrating that incoherent pro-drug war rants will be picked apart and their authors identified unflatteringly. These people do google themselves, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if a few of them have taken a long pause after being eviscerated by Pete Guither and his readers.People with bad ideas about drug policy at least care enough about the issue to speak their minds. As long as they know the issue matters, there's a chance they'll come to reach the right conclusions. Bob Barr and the brave folks at LEAP are proof that our best allies don't always start out on our side.Update: I changed the title to say "Pro-drug war editorials" instead of "Anti-drug editorials." While our opposition likes to think of itself as "anti-drug" that's often not the effect of their policy preferences. I also reject the kneejerk "pro-drug" label often used to smear reformers, so I shouldn't be defining our opposition as "anti-drug" either.
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
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
(One of the reasons) why marijuana is still illegal
This nation smokes far more pot than uses any other illicit drugs.
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 AmericaHilariously, 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.)
Informant Identified in Fatal Maple Tree/Marijuana Mix-up
Radley Balko reports that we might now know the identity of the confidential informant who mistook Japanese maple trees for marijuana, leading to the death of a police officer and murder charges against an innocent man.The informant had a conflict with Ryan Frederick, so he broke into his house, misidentified his plants, and told police Frederick was growing marijuana. When police raided the home, Frederick mistook them for burglars and opened fire, killing a police officer. He's now sitting jail, awaiting trial for killing a cop.This utterly tragic and absurd situation is the natural and predictable byproduct of our mindless war on drugs, which allows incompetent idiots with ulterior motives to provide probable cause for violent police raids.Radley has some background on the case here.Update: From comments, "If a police officer ran into traffic and got killed, would the driver who hit the officer be charged with murder?" I think that analogy comes pretty close to being fair. Frederick wasn't growing marijuana. He had no reason to think the people bursting into his home were anything other than common criminals, so he defended himself in good faith. The officer was killed because he went somewhere he didn't belong. It's a tragedy, to be sure, but it's certainly not Frederick's fault. Not in the slightest.