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Don't Blame Medical Marijuana for State Park/Wildlife Harm from Illegal Grow-Ops
Earlier this month Mexico's El Universal paper reported on the . An article in today's San Francisco Chronicle made the same lament about Bay Area marijuana growing in state parks. Henry Coe State Park supervising ranger Mike Ferry told the Chronicle: "At these gardens, we've found dead animals and birds, ammonia sulfate, pesticides and herbicides, ponds and creeks lined with plastics, and garbage all over the place," he said. "The environmental damage is huge." El Universal's article made the key point, that the Chronicle article and few articles in US media yet make: If narcotics are decriminalized, then the black market might cave in, and along with it the smuggling relationships that undermine conservation efforts. So it would. And that's what has to happen here too. There is nothing intrinsic to marijuana growing that it should have this kind of effect on our national parks -- if people were illegally growing broccoli or tomatoes in the parks for the mass commercial market they would undoubtedly create the same kind of pollution that is hurting the animals. The problem is prohibition. The solution is: legalization. Unfortunately, while Mr. Ferry certainly seems to care about the environment and to be working hard on its behalf, he also has some ideas about drug policy that don't seem well thought out: One dilemma "that is really throwing us," Ferry said, is the wide-scale acceptance of medical marijuana and the perception that casual marijuana use hurts nothing. But if marijuana smokers saw the carcasses of deer, squirrels, songbirds, owls and other wildlife shot or poisoned at the illegal groves, as Ferry has, perhaps they would understand the price wildlife pays for their next toke. Blaming it on medical marijuana?!?!?!?!? No. Never mind that federal surveys found no increase in marijuana use in states that passed medical marijuana initiatives. (Could someone send in a link for this? I am having trouble finding it. I think it was part of a Monitoring the Future study one year.) Tell the feds and their ideological allies in certain cities and counties to stop shutting down coops who are in a position to contract with responsible growers. Hmm, I didn't set out to pick two SF Chronicle stories two days in a row. Maybe that's good. Again, here is their letter to the editor information. And again, please send us copies of your letters through our -- select the "Copies of Letter You've Sent" option -- or post a copy in the comments here below.
Oakland Officials Fooling Themselves If They Think Drug Crackdown Will Curb Violence for Long
The San Franciso Chronicle has reported that 30 suspected drug dealers were arrested in a crackdown on drug hot spots on Thursday. More arrests are planned as the sweep continues. Mayor Jerry Brown explained the reason for doing the sweeps: "This violent subculture is very much connected to the sale of drugs in the same locations, year after year.'' Talking tough for the media, Brown continued: "Oakland is not the place to do criminal business." Captain Dave Kozicki added to the tough talk: "Every drug dealer out there should be looking over their shoulder, wondering whether or not they, in fact, sold to an undercover officer." Maybe some Oaklanders will be impressed, but I'm not. Frankly, I think comments like Brown's and Kozicki's are pretty silly. Clearly Oakland is a place to do drug dealing, or the drug dealers wouldn't be there. Do they seriously believe the drug trade isn't going to continue, in basically the same form, with at most an extremely brief (probably already over) and highly partial reduction? Or just moving to different locations? Obviously these are not the first drug arrests Oakland police have made during the "year after year" to which Brown referred. While I didn't look at all the details, a search of the SF Chronicle's archives going back to 1995 on the words "Oakland Drug Sweep" pulled up 130 listings -- I'm sure they weren't all really about drug sweeps, but a lot of them clearly were. Guys, the drugs are still there from after the last time you did this, and the time before that, and the time before that, and the time before that... The way to make Oakland -- and all of our cities -- no longer places to do criminal business is to end prohibition. Sweeps and busts only move the trade from place to place or hand the business from one seller to another. Only drug legalization can actually make that kind of crime not pay. Let the Chronicle know what you think by sending them a letter to the editor. Send us a copy using our new -- select the "Copies of Letter You've Sent" option -- or post a copy in the comments here below.
We Told Them So...
Two weeks ago we that South Dakota medical marijuana patient Valerie Hanna had sued state attorney general Larry Long over a misleading (dishonest?) ballot summary of the state's upcoming initiative, charging the attorney general had violated state law. Yesterday Judge Max Gors opined in favor of Hanna -- and the rule of law -- according to the Associated Press: "The whole impression leads one to believe that the attorney general wants voters to reject the initiative. The attorney general should confine his politicking to the stump and leave his bias out of the ballot statement that is supposed to be objective," Gors wrote. The state is not appealing the decision because doing so would prevent them from meeting their ballot printing deadline of September 1. The AP story can be read for free on the web site of the Yankton Press & Dakotan, though you have to register first to get through. Score for our side! We told them so...
Poppy Scare in New Mexico!!
There was a story in the Santa Fe New Mexican this morning titled "Seized Poppies Perplex Officials" in which police raiding a marijuana plantation discoverd a tub full of poppies in the middle of the pot field. Despite a lack of clarity about whether the poppies in question were actually opium poppies (papaver somniferum), the cops consulted by the newspaper were ready to declare that the end times are upon us.
September 2006 - a change of 20 years
Immediately after Labor Day in September 1986, the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives brought to the floor the hastily conceived and written Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. At the top of the national political agenda was the war on drugs. Catastrophic concepts like mandatory minimum sentences were forced back into the federal justice system. Certification of other nations as meeting U.S. anti-drug standards was required, poisoning America's image and relations with peoples around the world. The voices of reason were largely silenced by the echo chamber of anti-drug hysteria.
Welcome to DRCNet Reader Blogs in the Stop the Drug War Speakeasy!
Thank you for checking out and signing up to participate in Reader Blogs in DRCNet's "Speakeasy." We hope you will continue to add your voices to our "choir" as we preach through this venue to the unconverted. With your help, the DRCNet Speakeasy can be a major force carving our new spaces for drug policy reform in the sphere of public dialogue and debate.
Grave Injustice from the Eighth Circuit
This weekâs most depressing story is that of Emiliano Gonzolez, an immigrant who consented to a police search only to have his life savings confiscated. The Eighth Circuit upheld the seizure even though Gonzolez was never even charged with a crime:
New Trial for Martyred Pain Doctor William Hurwitz
Dr. William Hurwitz, whose case weâve reported on extensively, has been granted a new trial.
Drug War Grandstanding: A Bridge to Nowhere
Another prohibitionist politician has been ousted by voters: From CBS NEWS: Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski, stung by accusations of arrogance and stubbornness, lost his bid for a second term Tuesday after polling last in a three-way GOP primary. Arrogant and Stubborn indeed, Murkowski has repeatedly disregarded Alaskan Supreme Court precedent, and public opinion, in his effort to re-criminalize private marijuana possession in his state.
Intern at ONDCP
The Office of National Drug Control Policy looking for interns for the spring semester. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Student Internship Program is structured to challenge and reward a select number of students from across the country. The goal of the program is to allow students to gain an outstanding educational and work experience within various components of ONDCP. The program is intended to provide the students with knowledge, tools, skills, and real life work experiences that they can readily apply to future challenges and professional pursuits. Anyone interested in drug policy ought to find this pretty exciting. But theyâre a bit picky about the applicants:
Myanmar Drug Trade May Be Fueling Sri Lankan Civil War and Terrorism
A conflict that doesn't make the US radar screen as often as it merits is the civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers. The Tigers are a nasty group that among other abuses uses children as soldiers. I don't know enough about Sri Lanka's government to venture an opinion on its own human rights record, though a quick web search did not turn up anything quite so obvious or outrageous. I'm not too familiar with the causes of the conflict or issues that are driving it. Regardless of that, the Tigers are bad. Naturally, press living closer to the conflict cover it much more prominently.
My South Dakota Medical Marijuana Lawsuit Research
Our article about the South Dakota medical marijuana initiative and the likely lawsuit against state Attorney General Larry Long over what initiative supporters contend is his biased and possibly illegal description of the initiative that will appear on the ballot, got bumped this week, but we expect it to happen next week. I held off for a couple of reasons: First, the lawsuit has yet to actually be filed. Second, I couldn't manage to make contact with South Dakotans for Safe Access sole spokeswoman Valerie Hannah until Friday morning. Hannah, a Gulf War veteran who suffers from nerve gas exposure, will fill me in on what's going on Monday.
Don't Go to Indiana
From the Tribune-Star in Terre Haute, Indiana: The Vigo County prosecutorâs office, the Terre Haute Police Department and Vigo County Sheriffâs Department will be conducting intermittent driverâs license checks at an undisclosed location in Vigo County. When I hear that Indiana police are conducting âdriverâs license checksâ, my constitutional spidey-sense goes off. Afterall, these are the folks who brought us the drug checkpoint. And when that got overruled by the Supreme Court, they came out with the similar, but more sinister âfake drug checkpoint.â
Trouble in Paradises
The last week of June saw grizzly news from the popular Mexican resort town of Acapulco, according to Reuters, severed heads found in garbage bags near the US border and in front of government offices, and the police chief gunned down, all believed to be related to the drug trade. Violence including ambushes and executions of police officers has become routine in Tijuana as well, the article reported.
No Honor for Last Holdout State Against Needle Exchange
A few weeks we reported in Drug War Chronicle that New Jersey had become the only state in the nation not allowing needle exchange programs in some form or at least syringe purchase without a prescription -- the second to last state, Delaware, passed a needle exchange law last month.
It's Aghanistan and England in the featured stories tomorrow
I wanted to do South Dakota and the lawsuit over the the medical marijuana initiative ballot language, but the lawsuit hasn't happened, and the appointed spokeswoman for the initiative hasn't returned my calls. I contacted the Senlis Council for some comment about increasing support for their opium licensing initiative. No response. Nada. I find these guys increasingly insufferable.
New "Meth Gun" Not as Cool as it Sounds
Courtesy of Pete Guither at DrugWarRant comes this terrifying story. From CNET News: A new "meth gun," in development by Maryland-based CDEX, enables police to use ultraviolet light to detect trace amounts of chemicals left by methamphetamines and other illegal drugs. Civil libertarians have been concerned for some time that drug war profiteers would begin marketing something like this. Of course, the obvious problem with this type of technology is that it will inevitably be wrong sometimes.
Drug Trade Hurting Mexican Environmental Efforts -- Prohibition to Blame
A piece in Mexico's El Universal called illegal drugs the "root of evil for conservationists." From deforestation in Chihuahua's Copper Canyon by marijuana and opium growers to make way for their crops, to cocaine dumping near the fragile reef nurseries in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico by traffickers, writer Talli Nauman laments:
The Ever-Changing Coming In the Chronicle This Week
So it goes. No word yet on either the South Dakota medical marijuana lawsuit or whether the Portland initiative made the ballot (although I'm hearing disquieting rumblings on the latter), which were going to be some of my features this week. So I'm now shifting gears and attempting to pull enough material together for two more probable features: The NATO takeover in southern Afghanistan (European politicians are beginning to murmur about the Senlis proposal as NATO troops start getting killed in larger numbers) and the call for a rational drug classification system in Britain.
Mother Nature Implicated in Massive Marijuana Grow-Op
Your tax dollars at work: From the The Norman Transcript A call from a concerned farmer in southeast Norman led Cleveland County Sheriff's Department deputies and Norman police officers to a field of 8,889 "wild" marijuana plants growing on private property early Monday morning. The plants ranged in size from 3 feet to 9 feet tall and would have a street value of up to $1,000 each, or around $8 million total, if allowed to grow and be harvested in the coming months, said Captain Doug Blaine, of the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department. Now Iâm not surprised about the plants. Feral hemp, also known as ditchweed, is indigenous to the region. The shocker here is that these officers, in a fit of unbelievable idiocy, actually attempted to place a street value on it. Ditchweed doesnât get you high! Itâs as worthless as the dirt it was yanked from.