The Speakeasy Blog
Another Dumb Drug War Idea: Banning Hidden Compartments in Cars
Frequent visitors to this site should know by now that there is no idea so absurd, no strategy so stupid, as to be rendered ineligible for introduction into the War on Drugs. There is nothing these people won't try, and by nothing I mean that literally, as in every bad idea that the human mind can possibly produce will eventually be attempted by amped-up narc-mongering nutjobs hellbent on bending our legal system to hell.
The latest news in this ongoing crusade to arrest everyone for everything is Ohio's preposterous plan to start busting and jailing people for having hidden compartments in their cars:
A hidden compartment in your vehicle, with or without drugs, could mean big trouble as Ohio officials get serious about slowing down drug-smuggling.
A proposed state law, advocated by Gov. John Kasich, would make it a fourth-degree felony to own a vehicle equipped with secret compartments. A conviction would mean up to 18 months in jail and a potential $5,000 fine. [Columbus Dispatch]
Right out of the gate, I've got three good reasons why this is insane:
1. It's already illegal to have drugs. Is Ohio having a hard figuring out what to charge people with when they find a kilo of coke in a car? I have an idea: coke. That ought to get the job done. You can make all the laws you want about where people can and cannot store enormous amount of highly-illegal contraband, they're still not gonna keep it in a turkey bag and balance it on their head. Anyway, since when does the highway patrol hate ripping cars apart?
2. How am I supposed to know if I have a hidden compartment in my car? It's hidden. There's a multi-billion dollar industry of people smuggling this and that from here to there, and those cars get resold like crazy. Heck, the number one reseller of shady smuggler cars is the cops. Any used car on the road could have a stash spot in there somewhere, and excuse me for not preemptively cutting every inch of my crappy car open with a metal saw to make sure. You're gonna put me in jail for possession of empty space that I failed to notice?
3. I should be allowed to hide random crap in my car. Right? It should go without saying that I have every right to hide my stuff in my car any way I want. Maybe I'm hiding candy from my kids or porno from my wife, or whatever from whoever else. It's my damn car. Why is the government telling me I can't have a compartment full of candy and porno in my car if my lifestyle calls for that? The fact that some other dude keeps a kilo of coke in his compartment has nothing whatsoever to do with me. Leave me the hell alone.
It remains to be seen whether any of this will occur to anyone before this stupid new idea becomes a stupid new law. But you can bet that the people smuggling drugs through Ohio really couldn't care any less what the law says about where you aren't allowed to store the marijuana, meth, cocaine, and heroin that you aren’t allowed to have in the first place.
Video: 5 Reasons You Should Never Agree to a Police Search
Steve Silverman and I recently started a new YouTube show called How to Deal with Cops. This is my first episode, which goes over the major points from my Huffington Post piece last week.
Future episodes will probably follow more of a Q&A format, i.e. I'll be responding to questions people posted in response to previous episodes. Unfortunately, the leading question so far seems to be "How high are you in this video?" and the answer is not at all. People who don't know me always think I look high on camera. Guess it goes with the territory.
Anyway, there are plenty of more important issues to discuss than whether or not I'm super high, so I look forward to making more videos and helping people handle police encounters.
U.S. Tells South America to Shut Up About Legalizing Drugs
(Reuters) - Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano defended Washington's drug war strategy on Monday despite calls by some Latin American leaders to consider decriminalizing narcotics.
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"I would not agree with the premise that the drug war is a failure," Napolitano said. "It is a continuing effort to keep our peoples from becoming addicted to dangerous drugs." [Reuters]
Okay, but what do these two sentences have to do with one another? Yes, we know the drug war is "a continuing effort to keep our peoples from becoming addicted to dangerous drugs [and marijuana]," but I don't understand what that has to do with whether or not it's been a failure. This is like saying, "I would not agree with premise that asbestos is toxic. It is a material used to insulate buildings."
So in a metaphorical sense, you could say that American drug policy is made of asbestos, and Janet Napolitano has been given the fun assignment of convincing a bunch of frustrated foreign leaders that the sickness and death presently surrounding them was caused by something other than the one thing that's obviously causing it.
It's a ridiculous situation that lends itself to some really ridiculous arguments, such as Napolitano preposterously comparing Mexican Drug Kingpin Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman to Osama Bin Laden:
"It took us 10 years to find (al Qaeda chief) Osama bin Laden and we found him, and you know what happened there," Napolitano said.
Yeah, but the fact that these drug lords are as slippery as Osama f#$king Bin Laden ought not to inspire confidence. Seriously, I don't even know what her point is supposed to be, because it's gotta be pretty damn obvious to Latin American leaders that we don't have enough SEAL teams to track down and kill every wannabe drug boss all over the globe. Their services, unlike Bin Laden's, are actually popular with much of the American public.
Calls for legalization in Latin America are going to get louder the longer this idiocy continues, and it should surprise no one that the U.S. government's latest attempts to suppress it are utterly and predictably devoid of substance as always.
Opponents of Marijuana Legalization Finally Noticed They're Losing the Debate
Well, as a few people pointed out to me, some of our opponents have been doing exactly that. Incredibly, the perpetually panic-stricken rapidly anti-legalization alarmists at National Families in Action have launched the But What About the Children? Campaign, which spells out the conditions under which legal marijuana would be acceptable to them:
12 Provisions to Protect Children if Marijuana is Legalized
Click on “Why”? to read the rationale for each provision. A complete copy of all 12 provisions and their rationales can be downloaded here: 12 Provisions to Protect Children if Marijuana is Legalized
1. No Advertising
An advertising ban on legal marijuana. Why?2. A Penalty Fee
on the marijuana industry for every underage user. Why?3. Automatic Repeal
of marijuana legalization if underage marijuana use exceeds certain levels.Why?4. No Product Placements
sponsorships, point-of-purchase marketing, or depictions in entertainment venues. Why?5. An Industry-Financed Fund
from marijuana profits to pay for the damage legal marijuana will do, so that taxpayers won’t have to pick up the tab. Why?6. A State Agency to Tax and Regulate
the marijuana industry, including marijuana purity and potency. Why?7. Licensed Growers, Distributors, and Retail Sellers
Marijuana sold only in licensed retail stores where no other products are sold. Why?8. No Drugged Driving
A ban on driving with marijuana in the systems of drivers or passengers. Why?9. No Drugged Employees or Students
A ban on people coming to work or school with marijuana in their systems. Why?10. Smoke-Free Laws Apply
No marijuana use where tobacco smoking is banned. Why?11. Marijuana Controlled by FDA
Marijuana placed under the control of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, like tobacco is now.
Why?12. A Surgeon General’s Report
on the impact of legal marijuana. Why?
The whole thing is really quite a project, with an entire dedicated website, blog posts, pictures, policy advisors and so on. On the surface, it really seems to suggest that some of the most hysterical anti-marijuana zealots on the planet are ready to compromise in exchange for a seat at the table, and if that's what this is, then it says a lot about how far the debate has come in just a few short years.
Buuuuut….if one goes clicking around through the numerous "Why?" links enumerating the campaign's conditions for regulated marijuana sales, you'll be reminded quickly who it is we're dealing with here. Their rules would make it illegal for anyone to attend work or school, or operate a motor vehicle with any amount of marijuana detectable in their system, which would mean any marijuana user would have to put their entire life on hold for about a week any time they took a puff.
They even propose that legalization be automatically canceled if use among 12-20 year olds rises above 5 percent, which is weird because use among 12-20 year olds is way higher than that already. So it's really just an unavoidable automatic cancelation provision designed to destroy legalization before it even starts, on the bizarre grounds that it didn't dramatically lower underage marijuana use.
There's more where that came from of course, and I'm left to wonder whether what we have here is actually a concession at all, as opposed to a weird sort of psychological warfare aimed at confusing everyone with onerous rules and ridiculousness, in the hopes that someone will be stupid enough to regulate any of this idiocy into existence. I really have no idea, but it's a fun read, and with numerous marijuana legalization measures hitting the ballot this year, there will likely be more where this came from.
Anti-Meth Prescription Pseudoephedrine Bills Defeated
Lawmakers trying to stop meth labs by forcing people get to a prescription for popular pseudoephedrine-based cold medications like Sudafed are running into strong opposition. Chronicle story here.
LEAP Urges Canada to Reject Harsh Crime Bill
LEAP has intervened in the Canadian debate over the Tories' harsh crime bill. So far at least they're not listening, to LEAP or others, but the pressure mounts. Chronicle story here.
Seattle Mayor Says It's Time to Legalize Marijuana
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn (D) used his state of the city address Tuesday night to make a heartfelt plea for marijuana legalization. The mayor's remarks came as a new poll showed that an initiative that would legalize marijuana is favored by voters. Chronicle story here.
Drug Cops Hatch Foolproof Plan to Arrest Every Teenager in America
During an undercover marijuana sting at a South Florida school, a teenage boy began to fall for someone he thought was just another teenage girl.
But the boy's crush turned out to be an undercover police officer, who would later have him arrested for selling her marijuana she asked him to obtain for her.
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The operation resulted in a total of 31 arrests in three different Florida schools. [Huffington Post]
How many people do you think she had to flirt with to make 31 arrests? My first guess would be 31. I mean, how hard can this be? Have you ever met a bored, lovesick teenager? It's a good thing all she asked him to do was get her some weed.
Medical Marijuana Update
From Alabama to Washington, medical marijuana continues to be a burning issue. Chronicle story here.
This Week in History
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past, in this week's Drug War Chronicle.
5 Reasons You Should Never Agree to a Police Search (Even if You Have Nothing to Hide)
California Marijuana Initiatives Starving for Cash [FEATURE]
A severe lack of funding could prevent any of the California marijuana reform initiatives from making the ballot. "Anyone got a spare $2 million?" the campaigns asked plaintively at a Mill Valley public meeting Tuesday night. Chronicle story here.
National Geographic "American Weed" Series Premiering Tonight
More info on "American Weed" is online at http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/american-weed/. A series of video previews is online here, or can be viewed below on this page.
Here's the announcement NatGeo emailed us this morning:
American Weed
Premieres Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT
All-new series American Weed finds Colorado medical marijuana businesses under scrutiny and facing mounting pressures from local residents. Medical cannabis entrepreneur and Fort Collins dispensary owner Josh Stanley works aggressively to counter such pressure with radio ads and fundraisers. As the oldest of 11 kids, Josh relies heavily on several of his brothers to work at the grove and keep his business supplied in medical marijuana. Meanwhile, Sgt. Jim Gerhardt and fellow officers on the North Metro Task Force continue to find illegal grows by residents claiming to be growing medical marijuana. Is the pendulum swinging back to curb the 10-year proliferation of medical marijuana in Colorado?
American Weed: Marijuana Drama
Premieres Wednesday, February 22, 2012, at 10 p.m. ET/PT
Fort Collins dispensary owner Dawn Clifford and her husband, John, are facing the possibility of their business being shut down due to a proposed marijuana dispensaries ban. If it happens, all owners are on the chopping block, and hundreds of patients will be left in the cold. The Stanley brothers are growing their medicinal marijuana to sell at their dispensaries throughout the state. But the guys face a problem: their $250,000 crop must be moved before the plants outgrow the space and the crop is lost. Meanwhile, Scoot Crandall is rounding up votes to stop Fort Collins from being what he calls the “pot capital of Northern Colorado.” And Sgt. Jim Gerhardt discovers marijuana is growing in a suburban neighborhood within reach of children — who have picked leaves and taken them to school.
This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
More asset forfeiture problems in Texas, plus a typical weekly rogues' gallery of dirty cops. Chronicle story here.
Vermont Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Stalled
Although it has the support of the governor and the public, a Vermont bill to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana is stalled, held hostage by a hostile House speaker, the Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus reported Saturday. Chronicle story here.
Rand Paul Blocks Federal Synthetic Drug Bans
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is blocking three Senate bills that seek to prohibit new synthetic drugs. Rand spokesperson Moira Bagley confirmed to the Lexington Herald-Leader that he has had a "hold" on the bills for the last three months and that he has no intention of lifting it. Chronicle story here.
Texas Officer in Drug Investigation Kills Armed Man
A Texas man is dead after allegedly running away from, then pulling a gun on, members of Texas combined task force doing a drug investigation. Chronicle story here.
Congress Okays Drug Tests for Unemployment Benefits
Faced with GOP demands to drug test people seeking unemployment benefits, the Democrats first fought them off, then accepted some testing as a compromise to get the payroll tax extension passed. Chronicle story here.
Colorado Marijuana Initiative Turns in Final Signatures
The proponents of a Colorado initiative to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol turned in 12,000 additional voter signatures Friday in a last bid to qualify for the November ballot. The initiative needs only 2,400 valid signatures to qualify, meaning a whopping four out of five signatures handed in would have to be invalidated to keep the measure off the ballot. Chronicle story here.
Florida Detective, Meth Suspect Killed in Shootout
A Clay County, Florida, sheriff's narcotics detective and a man he was investigating as a methamphetamine suspect were shot and killed in an exchange of fire Thursday evening. Narcotics Detective David White and the as-yet-unnamed suspect become the 10th and 11th persons to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year. Chronicle story here.
Soros Gives Big Bucks for California Three Strikes Reform Measure
An initiative that seeks to reform California's three-strikes sentencing law appears to have the financial wherewithal to qualify for the November ballot after philanthropist and drug reform supporter George Soros kicked in $500,000 donation last Friday. The Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 has now accumulated more than $1.2 million in contributions. Chronicle story here.
Meet Obama's Proposed 2013 Federal Drug Budget [FEATURE]
The White House has released its proposed 2013 federal drug budget, and it looks pretty much like all the other federal drug budgets, only bigger. Chronicle story here.
Medical Marijuana Update
Medical marijuana patients are taking to the streets Thursday, Feb. 16, to protest the Obama administration's clampdown on medical marijuana across the country. And then, there's the action at the state and local level. Chronicle story here.
Medical Marijuana at the Statehouse 2012 [FEATURE]
Since California voters made it the first medical marijuana state in 1996, other states have come on board at a rate a little better than one a year. Now, 15 years later, 16 states and the District of Columbia have effective medical marijuana laws, and by year's end, we could have 17, 18 or even more. Chronicle feature story here.
This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
A state trooper transporting marijuana, a pair of cops ripping off drug cash, a constable smuggling across the Mexican border, and a cop with a bad pain pill habit make this week's hall of shame. Chronicle story here.
