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Roger Goodman Race
As of late last night but with only 36 out of 137 precincts reporting, Roger Goodman was leading with 55.7 percent in his race for state representative in Washington State -- despite his opponent quoting from DRCNet's interview in Drug War Chronicle with Roger published a few years ago in an attack mailing a short time before the election. For those of you who don't know who Roger is, he heads the King County Bar Association Drug Policy Project in Seattle, and the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers, a close ally of ours. Roger emceed our Perry Fund reception in Seattle in June of last year.
A Disappointing Night for Reform
The three most important drug reform initiatives have failed today. Question 7 to legalize marijuana in Nevada lost 56-44. Amendment 44 to legalize marijuana in Colorado lost 60-40. And Initiative 4 to protect medical marijuana patients in South Dakota lost 53-47.I was optimistic, particularly about South Dakota, but overall, tonightâs outcome is more disappointing than surprising. Legalizing marijuana by popular vote is a huge challenge, and while it hurts to lose, these are necessary steps in order to move the discussion forward. And itâs exciting to see so many votes for reform. Surely, marijuana prohibition is the only criminal law thatâs opposed by such a large segment of the population. Even in defeat, the results in Nevada and Colorado show that an eventual victory on this issue is clearly within striking distance.Onward.
Looking Bad for the Statewide Marijuana Initiatives
It's just after 1AM Eastern time, and it looks like the Colorado, Nevada, and South Dakota marijuana initiatives are all headed for defeat. It ain't over 'til it's over, of course, but it's almost over.
Big Loss for Ernest Istook
Rep. Earnest Istook (R-OK) went down hard tonight in the Oklahoma Governorâs race.Istook was the author of the ridiculous "Istook Amendment" which banned transit authorities from selling ad space to drug reformers and was quickly shot down by a federal judge in a no-brainer first amendment ruling.Istook vacated his seat in the House to run for Governor, so it looks like heâll now have plenty of time on his hands to re-familiarize himself with the Bill of Rights.
Last Minute Lies in Nevada and South Dakota
Opponents of MPPâs ballot initiatives have resorted to making stuff up out of thin air. Not that they were telling the truth before, but theyâve achieved a new level of dishonesty somehow.In Nevada, the ironically-named Committee to Keep Nevada Respectable has produced a radio ad saying that the law will prevent workplace drug-testing. Thatâs a great idea for a law, but Question 7 doesnât do anything like that.
Ted Haggard Scores Small Victory in the Meth War
Thereâs one less bag of meth on the street thanks to Rev. Ted Haggard, who apparently enjoys buying the drug and then throwing it away. Of course if Haggardâs partial confession is true, he at least helped fund the speed-dealing gay prostitute industry, and everyone knows those guys hate freedom.On Chris Matthews Sunday morning, Andrew Sullivan suggested that the evangelical community might want to take a step back from power politics and do some soul-searching. Thatâs one option, but for Coloradoâs most demoralized evangelicals, let me recommend legalizing marijuana. Hey, at least itâs not meth.
Let's Not Forget Massachusetts
In our list of drug policy-related ballot issues last Friday, we neglected to mention Massachusetts. Voters in one district there will be voting on whether to instruct their representative to favor marijuana decriminalization, while voters in two other districts will be voting on whether to instruct their representatives to support medical marijuana. These local questions continue a process that began with the 2000 elections and have so far resulted in more than 420,000 Bay State residents voting to support marijuana law reform. Here is the info on the Massachusetts races:
Draw Up Your Plant: get ready to dump prohibition!
Draw Up Your Plant is one of Encod's CannabisSocialClubs Antwerpen (Belgium), 4 November 2006 Dear members and supporters of Draw Up Your Plant, The self organization of cannabisconsumers 'Draw Up Your Plantâ is ready to end cannabisprohibition in Belgium as we know it. We have all elements at hand that are needed to go to the last fase in changing policy from prohibition to a regulated system.
Manufacturer Advertises Marinol as "Legal Marijuana"
Drug warriors such as Andrea Barthwell and David Murray have argued strenuously that cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals such as Marinol and Sativex are completely different from marijuana. Theyâve bristled at Rob Kampiaâs claims that Sativex is "liquid marijuana" and theyâve long used the availability of Marinol as an excuse to arrest patients who prefer cultivated marijuana instead.Whether extracted or synthesized, THC-based medicines donât include anything not present in the plant itself, so itâs ludicrous to argue that one can be medicinal and the other canât. Yet theyâve done exactly that. Afterall, if this stuff is medicine, it sure as hell isnât marijuana.Thus I was rather surprised to come across this Google ad:
Coming Down to the Wire in Nevada and Colorado
We're getting down to the final days of this election season, and we're waiting with bated breath for that first marijuana legalization victory in Colorado and/or Nevada. I'll be doing a feature story on these two races on Friday for the Chronicle. I have calls in to both campaigns, but for some reason, these folks appear to be pretty busy right now. Although I was hoping to have something to report today direct from SAFER Colorado and/or theCommittee to Regulate and Control Marijuana in Nevada, neither has gotten back to me yet.
What do They Know?
Tensions over Amendment 44 in Colorado have reached a fever pitch as self-appointed marijuana experts continue to emerge with absurb predictions.From TheDenverChannel.com:
Have You Warned Your Kids About Schwag?
Next time you get "amped out" on "sextasy" and wind up in a "k-hole" don't tell your mom. Forbes.com has published a new drug-slang quiz for parents that totally lets the "cat" out of the "bag". If you're a parent, you might want to brush up on your drug slang to stay alert to possible drug use by your children, suggest addiction experts at the Menninger Clinic in Houston.Slang terms for drugs constantly change and evolve, the researchers said. For example, while marijuana is still called weed or pot by some, it's also referred to by newer terms such as chronic or schwagg.Are they serious? Dr. Dreâs marijuana-themed album "The Chronic" came out in 1992. And "schwag" of course is a derogatory term for really bad marijuana thatâs been in use forever as far as I know.
The Cartels Are Coming, the Cartels Are Coming! (Or A New Meme Emerges)
No, not the Colombian cartels and not the Mexican cartels. Last week, law enforcement officials in two different federal drug cases on different ends of the country used the word "cartel" to describe local drug trafficking organizations. I'm not aware of previous usages of the word to describe such domestic groups, and I have to wonder if we're not seeing the orchestrated emergence of new meme from the drug warriors.
Legalization: A Homegrown Solution
Legalization: A Homegrown Solution 1. THE BENEFITS In 2002 the Report of the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs recommended legalization and regulation of cannabis. According to the Oct.1, 2002 edition of the Sooke News Mirror (CN BC), "Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue," said Senator Nolin, who chaired the Senate Special Committee. Canadians should be allowed to "choose whether to consume or not in security." This report, according to Craig Jones, Ph.D., a Research Associate at Queen's Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, is "comprehensive in its command of the current international epidemiological, pharmacokinetic and sociological literature on drug use, thoroughly documented, honest about what we still do not know, clear in its mandate, decisive in its findings, and vastly informative. It replicates the conclusions of every other major study of its kind: that prohibition of cannabis is more harmful, both individually and socially, than the use of it and that the criminal prosecution of users ought to be abandoned."
You Canât Spell âPotentialâ Without Pot
They said marijuana causes cancer, but now weâve learned that THC may prevent it.They said marijuana makes you forgetful, but it turns out that it might prevent Alzheimerâs too. They said marijuana makes you sterile, but today I learned that it can increase fertility.
Survivor of the Arkansas bi-partisan corruption cesspool running for governor
Sam Smith's Progressive Review summarizes the beguiling story http://prorev.com/2006/10/fading-days-of-asa-hutchinson.htm of Barry Seal, a major cocaine smuggler who operated undisturbed in Mena, Arkansas while Asa Hutchinson was the Republican United States Attorney and Bill "Vacuum Cleaner Nose" Clinton was Governor.
13,000 Joints
That's what a South Dakota sheriff just told me you could get from one marijuana plant. Hmmm, if a joint is somewhere between one-half gram and one gram, that comes to somewhere between 6,500 and 13,000 grams, or 15 to 30 pounds.
Bush: Stay the Course in Colombia
President Bush never tires of spending our tax dollars losing not winning various wars. Now he wants to give Colombia another $600 million International Herald Tribune reports.
More Bad News: Shaq is a Cop
Radley Balko reports that Shaq has been going on SWAT missions. They let him carry a gun, and heâs already had his first wrong address raid and his first misconduct complaint.Shaq was cleared of any wrong-doing after being accused of excessive force by a drug suspect. Bear in mind of course that getting cleared of misconduct following a SWAT raid is incredibly easy. So one lucky suspect may very well have gotten his ass kicked by Shaq. Thatâs awesome, but it could also be a sign of terrible things to come.
Third-Party Candidacies vs. Voting for the Lesser Evil
Last week's < a href="" target=_blank_>feature article on the Zeese and Thornton campaigns (Zeese is running for US Senate in a tight race in Maryland and Thornton is running for governor of Connecticutâlinks in the article) included a discussion between Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance and Eric Sterling of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation on the possible benefits and liabilities of third-party campaigns. That discussion provoked a lengthier (and continuing) exchange on a nomination-only list for leading drug policy reformers, and I think it should be a topic of serious discussion here among the unwashed masses as well. Both Thornton, running as a Green, and Zeese, running a "unity" campaign as the Green-Libertarian-Populist nominee, have clearly rejected the clarion call of the two-party system. From a pragmatic perspective, the fundamental question is whether working outside the two major parties will bring success on drug policy reform faster than attempting to bring either of the two major parties (most likely the Democrats, given the Republicans' social conservative base and penchant for the "war on" metaphor) around to a palatable position on the issue. For some reformers, defeating the Republicans is everything. What if Zeese pulls enough votes from the Democrat to throw the Maryland senate race to the Republicans andânightmare scenarioâthe Republicans keep the Senate by one seat? There will be much howling and gnashing of teeth among Democratic loyalists, just as there was after the 2000 presidential elections, when much of the party faithful blamed Ralph Nader for costing Al Gore the White House. Zeese and Thornton and their supporters will undoubtedlyâand fairlyârespond that they are not beholden to the Democratic Party and are as entitled to seek peoples' votes as either the donkeys or the elephants. Besides, again echoing the post-2000 discussion, they will say, there's not that much difference between the two major parties. I guess that's a matter of perspective. If you look at the broad contours of drug policy, there is a broad, bipartisan consensus on the status quo. From that viewpoint, Democrats are no better than Republicans on drug policy. A particularly progressive congressional Democrat might work toward a kinder, gentler drug war, perhaps sponsoring a bill that reduces the crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity, for instance, but none are saying we need to do away with the peculiar institution of drug prohibition in its entirety. But coming in for a closer look, there are significant differences between the two parties when it comes to nibbling away at the edges of the drug war. The congressional votes on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment, which would bar the use of federal funds to raid medical marijuana patients and providers in states where it is legal, and the Higher Education Act's anti-drug provision both show Democrats much more likely to favor such reform at the margins. Is that difference enough to make independent or third-party campaigns that may weaken the Democrats a mistake? I'm not going to try to answer that question right now. Instead, I invite our readers to weigh in, and I hope that will include some of the people who have been discussing this already. Is Zeese a menace or a messiah? Is Thornton dashing after windmills or leading the way to a new politics? You tell us. (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.)