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"The Drug War is Lost" interview with Milton Friedman

As we go forward with our war on the drug war, I think it's important that we keep it clear that this is an issue that everyone can agree on, regardless of where they lie on the political spectrum.

Joe Biden's Daughter Allegedly Caught on Video Snorting Cocaine

The New York Post dropped a bombshell over the weekend:A "friend" of Vice President Joseph Biden's daughter, Ashley, is attempting to hawk a videotape that he claims shows her snorting cocaine at a house party this month in Delaware.â¦The video, which the shooter initially hoped to sell for $2 million before scaling back his price to $400,000, shows a 20-something woman with light skin and long brown hair taking a red straw from her mouth, bending over a desk, inserting the straw into her nostril and snorting lines of white powder.Thus far, no media outlet has purchased the video, and Huffington Post is reporting that it was filmed without consent. As to whether the tape is authentic, we'll have to wait and see, but my gut tells me the Biden family would be making noise right now if this were all a big hoax. They havenât said anything.Despite the greed and nastiness that brought this matter to our attention, we're now confronted with yet another major celebrity drug use scandal that is far from typical. If, in fact, Joe Biden's daughter is a cocaine user, there will be a very public conversation in which the vice president's history of aggressive drug war posturing will be juxtaposed against the drug use taking place in his own family. As the administration pushes a hardline response to the drug war violence in Mexico, Ashley Biden could easily become symbolic of the American drug user whose disposable income subsidizes the cartels and renders our enforcement efforts impotent.Like the Michael Phelps saga, it's a story that tells itself and requires little to no narration from advocates for drug policy reform. Ashley will rightly be perceived as the victim of an unscrupulous associate who violated her privacy for personal gain. Her alleged drug use shouldn't (and hopefully won't) ruin her career. Who knows, maybe she could become president some day. So long as the vast and infinitely clumsy arm of the law doesnât get involved here, no one's life needs to be ruined. Stay tuned.

Maryland House Passes Bill to Monitor Use of SWAT Teams

Cheye Calvo's efforts to bring transparency to the use of aggressive SWAT raids in Maryland are moving forward:Delegates adopted a bill, on a 126 to 9 vote, that would require law enforcement agencies to report every six months on their use of SWAT teams, including what kinds of warrants the teams serve and whether any animals are killed during raids. The bill was prompted by the case of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo, whose two black Labrador retrievers were shot and killed during a botched raid by a Prince George's County Sheriff's Office SWAT team in July.Calvo has said he was surprised to learn that police departments use the heavily armed units far more routinely than they once did but that it is difficult to get reliable statistics about SWAT raids. The Senate has passed a similar measure. [Washington Post]The bill doesnât actually reform anything, but it aims to create a record of how, when, and why SWAT teams are deployed in Maryland. This effort has the potential to reveal a great deal about the reckless over-reliance on aggressive drug raid tactics. That's exactly why police opposed it, despite utterly lacking any compelling arguments against such oversight. Good work by Maryland's legislators and another big moment for Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo, who has become a valiant champion of justice following the tragic killing of his two dogs during a botched drug raid last summer.

There are Many Different Kinds of Marijuana, But They're All Illegal

Mark Kleiman, who we've often criticized for generally supporting drug prohibition, deserves credit for his recent discussion of the merits of a "grow-your-own" marijuana policy. Kleiman's main concern with legalization is that a legitimate marijuana industry will be incentivized to market their products and work to sustain high usage levels within the population. His solution is to let people form co-ops and grow their own pot.In response, Pete Guither has an ingenious post noting that marijuana genetics are remarkably diverse, thus creating inevitable consumer demand for a variety of options. Indeed, the war on marijuana and the exhausting, often redundant debate surrounding it have largely obscured the fascinating psychopharmacological diversity of the plant itself. Experienced marijuana consumers delight in exploring the unique psychoactive properties of particular strains and individual users often develop preferences for certain varieties when they're available. This is especially true with regards to medical use, wherein it's widely understood that some strains are better for specific symptoms than others. Potency is just one of many factors that impact the popularity of a given strain. Sativa strains, for example, are known for being more energetic and stimulating, while indicas are typically more relaxing.Explaining all of this to people who hate marijuana will surely just freak them out even more, but it still bothers me that the discussion of marijuana tends to present the drug as a one-dimensional substance when, in fact, it is anything but. There are many things worth knowing about this plant that won't fully be revealed and understood until we end the vicious war against it.

Legislative Deal Made on Rockefeller Drug Laws

In yesterday's Drug War Chronicle we reported that a deal seemed to be near for reform of New York State's infamous Rockefeller Drug Laws -- reform that appeared likely to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing for many (though not all) of the state's drug defendants while allowing current Rockefeller prisoners to apply for commutations. The deal now reportedly has been reached. Click here for the latest from the New York Times, and here for the NYT archive on the topic. Tony Papa sent out the link for the following NYPost.com video about it too: The legislation is not perfect, and it doesn't help everybody -- check back for details -- but we are optimistic that this will help a lot of people and that we are at an historical turning point in the issue.

Action Alert: Stop DEA Medical Cannabis Raids

Please copy and re-distribute this announcement. Action Alert: Stop DEA Medical Cannabis Raids http://www.denver420.com/news/action.alert.dea.raids.html

Obama Won't Say Why He Opposes Marijuana Legalization

The overwhelming popularity of marijuana questions on the president's website has repeatedly forced him to address the issue, yet his answers are utterly lacking in substance. From Change.gov in December:President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.And at today's event:"No, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy."As lame as these responses are, you can bet he'd never have said anything at all if marijuana questions hadnât repeatedly pulled the most votes on his website. There's a subtle and revealing undertone to all of this insofar as Obama has publicly declined to actually challenge the merits of our argument in any way. For all of the stereotypical anti-pot talking points at his disposal, Obama chooses to take the softer path of pushing the matter aside as best he can and moving on. Is that because he can't refute our arguments, he doesn't want to, or both? I'm operating under the assumption that 1) Obama privately agrees with us, but remains concerned about the political consequences of associating himself with that viewpoint, and 2) Obama has enough respect for the potency of our movement that he doesn't want to piss us off any more than he has to.As frustrating as all of this is, we'd be foolish to miss the significance of our success at strong-arming the reform argument into a high profile discussion of the economy. It's not everyday that a sitting president is forced to comment on the legalization of marijuana. The fact that this even happened means we're doing something right.

Help wanted

Large fortune 500 co. in NY seeking janitorial service personnel. Drug test, and background check required, maybe. Some experience a plus, must read/write some English Corporate jet

Obama Insults Online Community for Supporting Marijuana Legalization

At his Online Town Hall meeting this morning, President Obama joked about the overwhelming popularity of marijuana legalization questions on his online forum. Well, Mr. President, if you "don't know what this says about the online audience," allow me to clue you in. We're more than just some nicknames on a computer screen. We're Americans and we have the same right as anyone else to be heard and to be treated with respect.As nearly a million among us are arrested each year for marijuana, it should come as no surprise to you that we've come together to ask why. The reason you find us in every category of your site is because the harms of the war on drugs reach into every facet of American life. Drug prohibition destroys all it touches and there is scarcely a problem we face as a nation that couldnât be made more manageable by ending this great war that continues to stigmatize and divide us.You can trivialize and dismiss our argument, but you cannot silence our movement. You make us more powerful with every public forum you hold.Update: This quote from Jack Cole at LEAP pretty much sums it up:"Despite the president's flippant comments today, the grievous harms of marijuana prohibition are no laughing matter. Certainly, the 800,000 people arrested last year on marijuana charges find nothing funny about it, nor do the millions of Americans struggling in this sluggish economy. It would be an enormous economic stimulus if we stopped wasting so much money arresting and locking people up for nonviolent drug offenses and instead brought in new tax revenue from legal sales, just as we did when we ended alcohol prohibition 75 years ago during the Great Depression."

Uh-Oh! Medical Marijuana Raid in San Francisco

Very unsettling:Federal drug agents raided a medical marijuana facility in San Francisco Wednesday night.The raid occurred at Emmalyn's California Cannabis Clinic at 1597 Howard Street. DEA spokeswoman Casey McEnry told CBS 5 the documents regarding the raid are sealed, so the DEA was not able to give many details."The documents relating to today's enforcement operation remain under court seal. Based on our investigation we believe there are not only violations of federal law, but state law as well." [CBS]By claiming the case involves violations of state law, DEA is able to maintain the appearance of abiding by the attorney general's pledge to respect state medical marijuana laws. We're left to wonder if that will now become their blanket justification, to be invoked each time they elect to move in on an established medical marijuana provider. No one was arrested in today's raid, so we'll likely be waiting a while to find out what the hell happened.The skeptical interpretation is that nothing's changed, that the feds will simply be more careful with the wording they use to describe future enforcement efforts that target medical providers. A worst-case scenario would the adoption of a policy in which the full force of federal law is brought down upon any medical marijuana provider who is accused of even a minor violation of state law. Defendants facing only federal charges would have no means to contest the grounds on which they were targeted to begin with. The practical value of Obama's purported policy shift would be negligible.However, even if that's DEA's gameplan (which wouldnât surprise me at all), I doubt it could withstand scrutiny. The salient question of why DEA is usurping the responsibilities of state law-enforcement won't escape notice and press coverage of these events grows increasingly competent as the issue continues to boil. Obama's position on medical marijuana owes a great deal to pure political pressure resulting from the deep unpopularity of the raids themselves. The public simply hates this and won't be satisfied with a fictitious shell-game solution that merely reframes what DEA is actually doing.

Yet Another Chance to Ask Obama About Marijuana Laws

So far, Obama's favorite thing about being president is getting to read all the marijuana-related questions on his website. If it weren't, then he'd surely have stopped inviting us to submit questions, right? He loves you. Each and every one of you.That's why WhiteHouse.gov is now accepting your questions on the economy. It's broken down into several categories, but multiple sections are utterly dominated by marijuana reform questions. Apparently, Americans' #1 economic concern is that marijuana is illegal. As we've done several times now, let's make damn sure the new administration sees the potency of our movement by keeping drug policy reform questions in top position. The site also encourages you to vote against questions you're less interested in, so feel free to do that too.The point isn't that marijuana laws are necessarily the top economic issue right now, but rather that the drug war went over budget a long, long time ago. It's one bad program that needs to go immediately if we're serious about making responsible decisions in tough times. Filling our prisons with non-violent drug offenders was bad enough when we still had the money to do it. Those days are behind us and no excuses remain for the political culture that has long championed the grand fiasco that now festers before our eyes.At this moment of grave economic uncertainty, the obligation of our leaders to justify their programs and expenditures has never been greater. Unless or until Obama can come forward and confidently defend every damn dollar that is poured into the war on drugs, these questions will continue to dominate every public forum he holds.

Marijuana Legalization Bill Introduced in Massachusetts

Paul Armentano at NORML has the details. From the comments, you'd think the thing had already passed. That's probably a bit much, but I don't fault folks for being excited right now. Marijuana policy reform is gaining momentum in a way we've never seen. It will still take time, but the first step is understanding that our goals are achieveable. For too long, we've been told that "it's never gonna happen."Â Suddenly, the discussion is erupting into the mainstream everywhere you look.

If You Hate Gun Control, You Can Thank the Drug War for Causing it

Escalating drug war violence in Mexico has brought recent attention to the fact that the cartels are often armed with American guns. The border is really a two-way street, with drugs moving north while cash and weaponry travel south. Here's Mexican President Felipe Calderon claiming that over 90% of the cartels' firepower comes from the U.S.U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has proposed re-implementing the assault weapons ban and discussions are under way about what else can be done to curb the flow of American weaponry across our southern border. Naturally, opponents of gun control are concerned. The popular right-wing blog NewsBusters has a post criticizing media coverage of the issue, arguing that recent statements regarding the role of U.S. weapons in facilitating Mexican drug war violence have been widely exaggerated. The conclusion caught my eye:Gun control doesn't work to stop crime. Just look at places that have very strict gun regulation. Like ... Mexico.Just replace "gun control/regulation" with "drug prohibition" and you've solved the riddle of why conditions in Mexico continue to deteriorate. Of course, while the NewsBusters site is overflowing with gun rights advocacy, discussion of drug policy is nowhere to be found, save for an occasional jab at the pro-pot liberal media. It never ceases to amaze me that some people actually believe enjoying guns is a personal choice, but enjoying marijuana is not.So let me spell it out: the drug war is a huge reason the new administration is looking at the gun issue. Drug prohibition has created a bloodbath in Mexico that is now spilling across our southern border. The problem is getting worse because our strategy of fighting it out with the cartels just causes more crime and violence. Marijuana prohibition alone plays a staggering role in funding the drug war violence that may soon result in new domestic gun control measures, yet NewsBusters has repeatedly criticized the discussion of reforming marijuana laws. The bottom line is that if you oppose gun control while simultaneously supporting a prohibitionist drug policy that increases gun violence and prompts calls for regulation, you're shooting yourself in the foot.

More DEA Nonsense

On March 22nd, two men plead guilty to kidnapping and other related charges for holding another dealer hostage while demanding a $300,000 debt be paid.

The Fine Line Between Drug Raids and Armed Robberies

It seems Philadelphia's drug cops have adopted a nasty habit of raiding corner stores accused of selling paraphernalia, then smashing security cameras and just straight-up stealing cash and merchandise. The accused officers are denying everything, of course, but the Philadelphia Daily News found multiple former informants who acknowledge being paid with cigarettes. Hmm, I wonder where those came from.It's truly remarkable how often the soldiers in the war on drugs can be found committing worse crimes than the people they're investigating.

Sentencing Postponed in Charlie Lynch's Medical Marijuana Trial

This is a potentially big development:U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu asked prosecutors for a written response from the Justice Department about its position on medical marijuana prosecutions in light of recent comments from Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr.Holder said last week that the Justice Department under President Obama had no plans to prosecute dispensary owners who operated within their state's law.Wu said he did not believe that any change in policy would affect the conviction of Charles Lynch, 47. But the judge said he wanted to consider any new information about the policy before imposing sentence. [Los Angeles Times]Even as the new administration moves towards ending federal interference with state medical marijuana laws, Lynch's prosecution remains a national controversy and a harsh reminder that the war on medical marijuana continues to claim casualties. Attorney General Holder has only one logical choice here: tell Judge Wu to send Charlie Lynch home. It's the only option that would be morally and politically consistent with the administration's decision to respect state medical marijuana laws. Holder has been handed an opportunity to intervene and if he lets this man go to prison, he makes a mockery of everything he's said about medical marijuana policy.This is yet another important test that will tell us a great deal about the new administration's commitment to cleaning up the mess created by a decade-long war against medical marijuana. Thus far, Obama's approach has been encouraging and I'm optimistic that justice will be done in the Lynch trial as well. It should be abundantly clear at this point that the best way to avoid bad publicity with regards to medical marijuana policy is to support patients and providers.