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Freedom of Information and the U.S. Department of Justice
There has been another gang fight (9/17/2006) at the Federal Correctional Institution ("FCI") La Tuna, New Mexico/Texas (the prison actually straddles the border, though almost all prisoner claims must go to a Texas court).
How the Drug War Targets Women
The drug war has come down on women like a huge hammer in recent years. During the 1990s drug offenders accounted for the largest source of the total growth among female inmates (36 percent). As of 2004, almost one-third of all women prisoners were convicted of drug offenses; in federal prisons, this figure was 65%. In 1979 only ten percent of women in state prison were drug offenders.
A Look Inside Brazil's Drug "Commands"
Brazil, Latin America's largest and most populous nation gets surprisingly little press in the US. The mass media paid some attention back in May, when the country's "commands"--the criminal gangs formed in Brazil's prisons that control the drug trade and act as a de facto government in some of the favelas (ghettos) surrounding Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro--rose up in open rebellion against the Brazilian state. But since then, the silence in the US press has been deafening.
Free World
I wrote earlier with regards to Kinky Friedmans stance to the legalization of marijuana. Prison is not the place for people caught with marijauna. Many of these people fall prey to the more violent offenders. Many of these offenders(1/4 ounce and less) come from small Texas townships and receive more time than offenders convicted of child molestation, rape, murder, etc.
Being the Best "Bad Guy" You Can
Guest blogger Jay Fleming of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition points out a painful unintended consequence for police officers who do undercover work: Undercover is being the best bad guy you can.
U.S.Stamps
Saturday 16 September 2006 In 1971 the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp Scott number 1438 titled PREVENT DRUG ABUSE; but as Post Master General Winton M. Blount stated at the First Day of Issue ceremony âThe stamp is not, in fact, a commemorative stamp at all. It is rather, a warning, a plea for help and a call to the American people to take every step to lift up those who have fallen under the use of drugs.â At that time marijuana had been illegal (Prohibition) for thirty-four years. Since then what has occurred? Well marijuana has become more expensive and its cousin hemp has begun entry into the commerce despite efforts by the DEA to stop it. In the 1980âs we have had a cocaine âcrackâ epidemic. In the 1990âs an epidemic of ECSTASY at the dance club âRAVESâ that our youth are drawn to. Now we are experiencing a METH crisis with its main root resulting in an ID theft crisis. Heroin is cheaper and more readily available. Cocaine appears in abundance, too. In these last thirty-four years our country has spent over $400,000,000,000.00 for these results. The drug criminal cartel is more violent and in 1999 made over $1,000,000,000,000.00 with profits exceeding the GDP of most U.N. member nations.
My first post
As I sit here indulging in marijuana before I start my day, I consider the loss of privilages in life I would have if I were to get caught by the wrong people. I'm not hurting anyone, and I'm even really a nice person.
Support Question 7
Once again there will be another ballot issue on marijuana in Nevada. As readers know, I have consistently been an outspoken critic of the drug war and so it should come as no surprise that I support this ballot measure.
Just Say No to Meth Registries
What sort of criminal offender merits the special distinction of being placed on a public registry? Only the most dangerous, or is it the most demonized? Registries of sex offenders began appearing a few years ago as part of the hysterical response to not an increase in sex crimes, but an increase in publicity about them, driven in part by information technologies that allow the whole country to almost instantaneously watch the latest local outrage with fascinated horror.
ONDCP Publicly Debates Drug Reform Leaders for the First (and Probably Last) Time Ever
Last night I attended the D.C. premiere of Jed Riffeâs film Waiting to Inhale, which was followed by a debate that pitted Special Assistant to the Drug Czar David Murray against MPPâs Rob Kampia, and DPAâs Ethan Nadelmann (Former ONDCP staffer Andrea Barthwell didnât show).The film takes a compelling look at the history of medical cannabis and gives us a glimpse into the lives of several patients who depend on it. For those of us whoâve been following the issue, the plight of the patients depicted is all too familiar. Iâd bet that many people whoâve formed snap judgments about medical marijuana would be stunned to see the faces behind this controversy.
Retired Sheriff's Deputy Jay Fleming of LEAP Joins DRCNet Blogging Team -- Drugs, Crime and Conservation First Topic
DRCNet is pleased to welcome Jay Fleming to the Speakeasy. Fleming was for many years a deputy sheriff and narcotics officer in Washington, Montana & Idaho. He is now retired in the US southwest (Arizona) and is a speaker with the organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). Fleming has graciously agreed to serve as a regular, featured guest blogger here in the Speakeasy, focusing on the impact of drug prohibition on the western United States.
Making Sense of the DEA's New Proposed Policy Statement on Pain Prescribing
There are definitely mixed feelings in the pain medicine community when it comes to the DEA's new proposed policy statement on prescribing pain medications. While everyone is pleased that the agency has loosened up its prescribing rulesâallowing doctors to write three one-month pain med prescriptions at a timeâthere is some dispute over whether the DEA's latest policy statement represents anything other than the agency doing business as usual.
Vermont politics and drug news
I created and chaired the Vt. Grassroots Party(VGP) from '92 to 2000 and was a Gubernatorial candidate against Howard Dean in '94 & '96 as well as being 1 of 14 Americans to be on the Presidential ballot in the 2000 election. The VGP received enough votes in just our 2nd election w/o benefit of any money to become the only other major political party in Vt. besides the Republicrats and Demopublicans. I've been an active anti-prohibitionist since '67. I've sponsored and organized annual cannabis awareness rallies in Burlington, Vt. since '89. I
Reformers Raid Cato Institute
Radley Balko and Norm Stamper spoke at the Cato Institute yesterday about Balkoâs new report Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America.
Heroin Lifers, DEA Pain Guidance, California Lowest Priority Initiatives
Those are the feature stories I think I will be doing this week. It doesn't always happen that way, though. Some readers may recall that I was going to do the Louisiana heroin lifer story last week, but I didn't manage to get ahold of any of the people critical to the story. I'm back on it again this week. Similarly, something may break during the week. This typically happens on Thursday, the day we're supposed to be wrapping up the Chronicle.
A Question for Dr. Volkow
Drug warriors donât answer phone calls or emails from the likes of us, so the only way to ask them questions is to show up when theyâre speaking publicly and hope to get called on during Q&A. Sitting in the moderatorâs line of sight helps, as does not looking like a balls-to-the-wall hippie drug-legalizer (not that thereâs anything wrong with that).
My Border Blues
I really dislike crossing international borders. I've been doing a lot of it lately in the past few years, particularly since my partner and I got a summer place outside Nelson, BC. Even when I was spending a few weeks or months in Nelson, I was often off to the USâfor a meth conference in Salt Lake, the NORML annual conference in San Francisco, to score cheap cigarettes on the Indian reservation in Washington stateâor crossing into the US to get to the nearest big time airport to fly off to more exotic locales.
Many Partisans on Both Sides Get Drug Policy Wrong, Blogosphere Shows
Last Friday the blogosphere provided a good example of how readily even political progressives can fail to see the important points in drug policy. A post in Bob Geiger's U.S. Senate Report titled "Bill to Cripple Taliban Drug Trade Passes -- After GOP Tries to Kill It" informs us that Republican senators had unsuccessfully tried to block an amendment by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to put $700 million into the latest defense appropriations bill for suppression of Afghanistan's opium trade. Schumer explained, "The Taliban draws its strength from the drug trade and in order to prevent them from reclaiming the country, we need to crack down the drugs that fuel their regime. We need to ensure that the Department of Defense has the resources available to attack this problem before it becomes far worse."
Rest in Peace, John W. Perry
Radley Balko reminds us that John W. Perry lost his life 5 years ago today. Our John W. Perry Fund, which provides scholarships to students whoâve lost financial aid due to drug convictions, is named in his honor: