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Dissertation on America's push for punitive drug laws
Certainly not light reading at over 300p, but I just came across Nathaniel Lee Smith's 2007 dissertation for UNC,
What are the Weakest Arguments Against Legalizing Drugs?
Pete Guither lists a couple of the worst arguments we hear from our opponents. There are basically an infinite number of stupid reasons to oppose drug policy reform ("My girlfriend was smoking all this weed and making out with hippies and we broke up"), but Pete's right that the worst arguments are often regurgitated repetitively, so it's worth taking note of the common ones. Fun too, if you like banging your head against a wall.
Drug War Debate Continues in El Paso
I wrote yesterday about El Paso Mayor John Cookâs veto of a city council resolution calling for a debate on our drug policy. Today, Former El Paso Mayor Bill Tilney came out in favor of the vetoed resolution.As a former mayor, I understand the position taken by Mayor John Cook, when he decided to veto the resolution at the last moment. [link] The City of El Paso is dependent in many ways on both the Texas state government and the United States federal government for funding of many important projects. Tweaking their noses could have unpleasant consequences. U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, who has done a great job as the region's representative, was chief of the Border Patrol for many years. Given the fact that he was involved in the "war on drugs" and interdiction here along the border, he may have reservations about launching a national debate at City Council. Nevertheless, given President-elect Barack Obama's philosophy of "Yes, we can change," this seems a propitious moment to give El Paso center stage at the national level. Also the simple truth that the last three presidents have experimented with illegal drugs, like cocaine or marijuana, makes it a most apropos time to initiate a national debate. [Newspaper Tree]It just gets better from there. Read the whole thing. Itâs wonderful to see conversations about our drug policy bubbling up in new places without the involvement of the usual familiar faces. If this is a sign of the direction weâre headed, that can only be a good thing.
Gupta's Anti-Pot Article Cites Anti-Prohibition Article
Dr. Sanjay Gupta's anti-pot article contains this passage: That's why I, like many other doctors, am unimpressed with the proposed legislation, which would legalize marijuana irrespective of any medical condition. Now if you actually read the linked article, it's clearly a call for the drug's legalization:The chief dangers of marijuana, practically, seem to spring from only one of its features: it's illegal. People get beat up, shot up and locked up because of the great amount of money that rides on selling the stuff, stuff that would be about as expensive as lettuce if it weren't against the law. I have treated people seriously hurt by the illegality of pot....  I also feel pretty strongly that nearly every child should study Latinâreallyâbut I don't think we should lock them up if they don't.Hanging around with all sorts of big dope-smokers for the same 35 years I should have bumped into at least one or two with those "serious health effects". The fact is I haven't.But when you try to change certain things by force, things close to the core about what folks love and hate, about their personalities, you just run into trouble. It doesn't work. You might knock down but you will never build up. This is why the government is better off out of the marijuana business.Either Gupta didn't read the article, or someone at Time linked the other story, without reading it!
RSS goodness
FYI, I've found a good way to stay on top of prohibition news in my RSS reader (I use Bloglines).
If the Drug War is so Great, How Come You Donât Wanna Talk About it?
Total chaos has erupted in El Paso, TX following a city council resolution calling for an open dialogue about drug legalization. The mayor promptly vetoed it, and lots of angry people are talking about how we shouldnât talk about this.To understand how little it takes to drive drug war supporters completely insane, watch El Paso City Rep. Beto OâRourkeâs impressively reasonable argument for a dialogue on our drug policy. All heâs saying is that we should talk about drug policy options and try to address ongoing problems. And to that, the mayor repliedâ¦VETO! Here is the totality of El Paso Mayor John Cookâs argument for not talking about drug legalization:"It is not realistic to believe that the U.S. Congress will seriously consider any broad-based debate on the legalization of narcotics," Cook added. "That position is not consistent with the community standards both locally and nationally." [El Paso Times]If this sounds familiar, itâs because enemies of the drug war debate have been insisting for years that thereâs nothing to talk about. Itâs weird too because if theyâre so sure Congress will never do it, then thereâs really no good reason to obstruct the conversation. What are they afraid of?Of course, the downside of claiming a monopoly on reality and refusing to debate is that you look like an idiot. And thatâs exactly what appears to be happening here, as the mayorâs allies are refusing to back his veto and the council is pushing for an override. So all we have to do is win the debate over whether or not to have a debate, and we can finally get around to debating. I can't wait.
The Drug War is Basically an Employment Program for Criminals
One of the least impressive arguments youâll ever here from drug war supporters is that we have to keep drugs illegal otherwise all the drug offenders will move on to other more horrible types of crime. Check out how LEAPâs Howard Wooldridge rips it apart in a Wall Street Journal LTE:I learned something about how drug prohibition generates crime during my 18 years of police service. Eighty percent of my property-crime case load was caused by addicts needing money to pay sky-high prices for crack, etc. Legal crack would cost an addict about a dollar per day, as would heroin and amphetamines.Ronald Shafer (Letters, Dec. 30) worries about what drug dealers would do without their prohibition-generated jobs. The one million teens who sell drugs would begin flipping burgers and mowing yards. Serious thugs will rob banks where we will capture or kill them. Or was Mr. Shafer suggesting to continue prohibition as a jobs program for bad guys? Itâs really just that simple. People like to sell drugs because itâs ridiculously easy and profitable, not because theyâre all born criminals. I canât say for sure what all of them will do if we regulate them out of business, but I can tell you what they wonât do: sell drugs on the street to anyone with a $5 bill. And thatâs the point.Weâre the only people entering this discussion with a plan to actually stop people from selling drugs on the sidewalk in our communities. Our plan may not be perfect, but the alternative is a proven disaster.
Metro Threatens Flex Your Rights with Legal Action, ACLU Defends
Flex Your Rights' opposition to random searches on D.C. public transportation has finally pushed Metro officials over the edge. Whole story here.
Latest Drug Czar Lies
It does not bother me that John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy, is passionate about his positions on drug addiction and how it is best treated; with opinions I can always respectfully disagree. What is unacceptable are lies, fallacies, and deceptive wording in federal government publications.
Obamaâs Surgeon General Hates Marijuana (But Sort of Supports Medical Use)
Barack Obama is looking at CNN correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta to serve as surgeon general, providing yet more ammunition for those of us who like to constantly point out how bad his choices are when it comes to drug policy.Here's Gupta's 2006 article "Why I Would Vote No on Pot." The reason? Because "marijuana isn't really very good for you," as though that has anything do with whether or not it makes sense to arrest nearly 1 million American a year for possessing it. The bright side is that Gupta acknowledges "health benefits for some patients." Unfortunately, he then proceeds to complain that most medical marijuana supporters "just want to get stoned legally," as though that justifies supporting laws that hurt legitimate patients.Hopefully, if Gupta is our next surgeon general, he will come to understand that there is in fact an enormous war on marijuana users in America that harms them in all sorts of ways that aren't really very good for you either.
Canadian army cannot be trusted(military press report)
An article that appeared in the Metro newspapers Vancouver edition claimed that tests done on military vehicles(2)showed traces of narcotics and that the military was going to experience drug traffick
High Times Should Give Me a Job
So, Iâm checking out High Times' Top 10 News Articles of 2008 (the stories that got the most traffic on their site) and noticed that I wrote two of them (#1 and #9). Both are crazy marijuana stories that never brought us the traffic I expected, but seem to have done well on the HT site. We allow our material to be reprinted as long as StoptheDrugWar.org is credited, so this is totally legit. I guess it kinda sucks for us that they pulled more traffic from our content than we did, but itâs fun to know that I rule the High Times news archive.Anyway, since you cool dudes at High Times are obviously reading my blog, Iâd like to be perfectly clear about the fact that I will write even better articles for you if you give me some money.
The Drug Cartels are Becoming More Powerful Than the Government
Theyâre even doing their own diplomacy:CIUDAD JUÃREZ, Mexico â Mexico's warring cartels are negotiating a truce that, if it holds, could end one of the bloodiest eras since the 1910-20 Mexican Revolution, according to a U.S. official and experts familiar with the talks.A peace agreement would be the second in two years and, like the last one, its chances of surviving are slim, the U.S. official said."In the end, greed prevails over reason," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. [Dallas Morning News]Actually, it was the drug war that prevailed over reason. We were all watching when Calderón declared war on the cartels andâ¦wait for itâ¦a huge bloody war broke out! Why is anyone acting confused or surprised by what happened? Itâs all perfectly clear. If you throw rocks at a beehive, expect swarms of angry bees. The fact that theyâre negotiating their own peace agreements does not reflect well on the decades-long war that was supposed to disrupt the drug industry. Theyâve become a second government that even controls its own territories:Already, the violence is crippling regions and cities, some of them on the border with Texas. Some top U.S. officials and analysts describe these cities, including Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, as "failed cities," in which cartels, not city or police officials, have control. [Dallas Morning News]Amazingly, the U.S. and Mexican governments actually believe we should continue the policies that produced this outcome.
The Drug War Only Causes Violence. It Can't Create Peace.
Someone help me understand what Mexicoâs U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza is thinking:"Calderón must, and will, keep the pressure on the cartels, but look, let's not be naïve â there will be more violence, more blood, and, yes, things will get worse before they get better. That's the nature of the battle," Garza said. "The more pressure the cartels feel, the more they'll lash out like cornered animals." [Dallas Morning News]This is correct except for the part about how Calderón has to do this (no, he doesn't) and the part about how things will get better (no, they won't). Weâve heard all this a thousand times before and it just gets sillier every time. The bottom line is that cracking down on the cartels either works or it doesnât. It makes no sense to say that aggressive drug war policies will create violence in the short term, and then eventually that same approach will begin reducing bloodshed. Thatâs not logical. The drug war causes violence. Just admit it. Stop pretending that itâs going to produce the opposite result at some point in the future. It isnât going to.
Gang war moves East
Two East Asian(Vietnamese)males were killed in a restaurant shooting in Calgary Alberta on New Years Day.In a move reticent of the recent gangland killings in Vancouver,Calgary police say they have a
Another Botched Drug Raid: Officers Shot, Mistaken for Burglars, No Drugs Found
Over and over again, it just keeps happening:Three metro SWAT officers were shot last night when they tried to serve a search warrant on a home in Henderson. A resident of the home told Channel 8 that the homes residents had no warning that the police were coming, they hid in a back room and fired at officers through the door thinking it was a break in. Two officers were treated and released according to Sheriff Doug Gillespie and a third will need surgery on his arm. Channel 8 is reporting that no drugs or drug paraphernalia have been found by police. [KXNT.com]The suspect, Emmanuel Dozier, is now facing 3 counts of attempted murder. Interestingly, heâs also facing cocaine charges although nothing was found in the raid. Of course, whether or not he was involved in drug activity, this appears to be a pretty clear case of a suspect who just thought he was defending his home and family from unknown intruders. As weâve seen so many times, the use of sudden entry tactics made the situation more dangerous, not safer.Dozier will undoubtedly face vigorous prosecution, accused of willfully attempting to murder police. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in light of the fact that he had nothing illegal in the house and no reason to initiate a shoot-out with the cops. Stay tuned.
Fixing Our Criminal Justice System Isnât Political Suicide. Stop Saying That.
Washington Post has a whole story on Virginia Senator Jim Webbâs thoroughly awesome ideas about criminal justice reform:This spring, Webb (D-Va.) plans to introduce legislation on a long-standing passion of his: reforming the U.S. prison system. Jails teem with young black men who later struggle to rejoin society, he says. Drug addicts and the mentally ill take up cells that would be better used for violent criminals. And politicians have failed to address this costly problem for fear of being labeled "soft on crime."â¦Webb aims much of his criticism at enforcement efforts that he says too often target low-level drug offenders and parole violators, rather than those who perpetrate violence, such as gang members. He also blames policies that strip felons of citizenship rights and can hinder their chances of finding a job after release. He says he believes society can be made safer while making the system more humane and cost-effective.Sadly, one rarely hears a Washington lawmaker talk about our drug policy priorities in a way that makes any sense. So, fittingly, Washington Post dedicates plenty of space to the theory that Jim Webbâs gonna get massacred for his crazy blasphemous ideas:"It is a gamble for Webb, a fiery and cerebral Democrat from a staunchly law-and-order state.""â¦as the country struggles with two wars overseas and an ailing economy, overflowing prisons are the last thing on many lawmakers' minds.""â¦Webb has never been one to rely on polls or political indicators to guide his way.""Some say Webb's go-it-alone approach could come back to haunt him."No, it wonât. Just watch as that completely fails to happen. Recent polls show that democrats and republicans agree the drug war has failed and that is just a fact. Too bad itâs fact that completely eluded The Post throughout a lengthy article about the politics of criminal justice reform. They found room to postulate endlessly about the supposedly disastrous political consequences of saying anything bad about our policies, but they couldnât find a single line to show what the public actually believes. Of course, to include actual relevant polling data would refute a central point of the article: that thereâs something really mavericky and even reckless about Webbâs ideas. There isnât. Those same ideas didnât stop Obama from winning Virginia, so this whole political-suicide-by-drug-policy-reform narrative is garbage. Stop trying to recycle it. Just put it where it belongs.
Arizonaâs Attorney General Talks Marijuana Legalization
While prosecutors in Massachusetts still canât figure out what "decriminalization" even means, Arizonaâs top drug enforcer is talking about legalization:Attorney General Terry Goddard said Tuesday he might be willing to consider legalizing marijuana if a way can be found to control its distribution - and figure out who has been smoking it.Goddard said marijuana sales make up 75 percent of the money that Mexican cartels use for other operations, including smuggling other drugs and fighting the Mexican army and police.He said that makes fighting drug distribution here important to cut off that cash. He acknowledged those profits could be slashed if possession of marijuana were not a crime in Arizona.[East Valley Tribune]Not only is all of this completely dead-on, he said it at a frickinâ massive drug bust press conference! Are you kidding me!?Goddard's comments came following a press conference Tuesday announcing the breakup of a major ring that police said has been responsible for bringing about 400,000 pounds of marijuana into Arizona each year since 2003.I guess somebody forgot to give Goddard the script. Ya know, the one where youâre supposed to use these big busts to declare epic progress with pillows of schwag piled to the ceiling and crow that youâve crippled the cartels pretty bad this time.