Personal Marijuana Use

While reading this MPP post, I kept wondering to myself what the scene was like at the hotel bar:

Law enforcement officials from all over the nation have descended upon San Diego, California this week to attend a conference for the National Marijuana Initiative (NMI) and the California Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP).
…
The agenda for the publicly funded conference, held at the prestigious U.S. Grant Hotel from May 10 through May 13, is not available to the public. In fact, the conference is under the close guard of about a dozen San Diego Police officers and even some military personnel.

We do know that former U.S. Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey was a featured speaker. According to his press release, McCaffrey laid out talking points against California’s Tax Cannabis 2010 initiative. That’s right, your tax dollars are essentially being used to hold an anti-reform campaign rally behind closed doors.

Keep all of this in mind the next time you hear police insisting that they're "just doing their jobs" when they arrest people for marijuana. While it's true that many officers do recognize the colossal injustice of our marijuana policies, the fact is that large factions within the law enforcement profession are deeply invested, both financially and emotionally, in this great war against millions of peaceful citizens.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that their entire industry is rippling from the pro-legalization shockwave that surges before their eyes. Having failed on every measurable level, the people who took responsibility for containing the marijuana situation in America surely have a lot to talk about. And I'm not the least bit surprised that we weren't invited to participate.

But let's be clear: while these folks obviously prefer to plan their next steps privately, the same isn't true of the movement for reform. Our events are open to the public and our agenda is displayed openly for all to see. Anyone with concerns about the direction of marijuana policy in America is welcome to participate in the conversation. Rather than recoiling in fear at the prospect of new policies, the anti-marijuana crowd would do well to better educate itself about what we're  trying to do and why.

After so many years of willfully ignoring the case for legalization, our opponents have been rendered hopelessly incapable of understanding and adapting to the discussion taking place all around them. Their only hope may be to begin feigning sympathy for our concerns in exchange for a seat at the table when inevitable changes are enacted. If police want credibility in the marijuana debate, they can begin by working to prevent outrages such as this and acknowledging that the current approach is very far from perfect.

As outdoor marijuana cultivation continues to surge in our nation's forests, police are growing increasing desperate in their miserably failed attempts to put a stop to it. I think police in Utah are about to find out what happens when you ask people on the internet to help you fight the drug war.

The instant the site's link was posted at NORML, commenters began proposing a coordinated effort to submit false information and send police on long pointless marches into the wilderness. Soon, the site may have to be updated to remind everyone that submitting a false report is a crime, thereby deterring genuine tipsters from participating.

Meanwhile, some more charitable folks have been sending in tips on how to eliminate illegal outdoor cultivation entirely, by reforming our marijuana policies. It may not sink in right away, but maybe the long hikes will give Utah's marijuana warriors a chance to reflect on the absurdity of the situation.

I keep hearing rumors that former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is going to run for President. And if his campaign sounds anything like last night's Colbert appearance, the other republican candidates better start practicing their anti-pot propaganda:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Gary Johnson
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

He should turn this into a campaign ad. If Johnson is able to pick up where Ron Paul left off, while picking up some new folks as well, we could see a heated and potentially consequential drug policy debate happen in the republican primaries. The possibility of a Johnson candidacy is huge for a few reasons:

1. He's a badass who came out for legalization while in office many years ago and has significant comfort and experience debating drug policy.
2. He's extremely popular with libertarians, who can use their massive web presence to fund and promote him.
3. The media's recent fascination with marijuana legalization will bring more attention to his candidacy.
4. There's a general sense that the likely republican candidates all suck horribly, thereby creating more room for Johnson to shine.
5. There won't be an Obama/Clinton war eating up half the press coverage, so the republican primaries will get twice the exposure we saw in '08.

Of course, for a variety of legal and practical reasons, we don't endorse candidates. And he's not even officially running yet. I'm just saying this promises to be an awesome situation that I'm sure we'll be talking about a great deal in the future. The fact that Johnson is already preaching legalization on the Colbert Report -- before even declaring his candidacy -- is a great sign in terms of the kind of press he can get and the kind of things he's likely to say.

(This blog post was published by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also shares the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)

Our friends at LEAP noticed this remarkable DEA testimony at a Senate hearing:

Mexico is the number one foreign supplier of marijuana abused in the United States. In fact, according to a 2008 inter-agency report, marijuana is the top revenue generator for Mexican DTOs—a cash crop that finances corruption and the carnage of violence year after year. The profits derived from marijuana trafficking—an industry with minimal overhead costs, controlled entirely by the traffickers—are used not only to finance other drug enterprises by Mexico’s poly-drug cartels, but also to pay recurring “business” expenses, purchase weapons, and bribe corrupt officials.

What a mess. Who'd have guessed that a drug known for producing feeling of pleasant relaxation would end up financing massive international networks of murderous gangsters.

Well, let's get one thing straight: this isn't happening because the Mexican drug lords grow the best weed. In fact, their product utterly sucks and they wouldn't be able to sell a single dime-bag of their seedy bloodstained schwag if it weren't for American law enforcement destroying as much domestic cannabis as possible.

It really is that simple. Every plant we uproot, every stash we "take off the streets," every cent we spend in our mindless war on marijuana is another dollar poured into the pockets of the pot mafia. They get to sell this stuff only because we help them dominate the market, and if we let responsible Americans do it instead, the cartels' marijuana profits would shrink to zero by the end of the next harvest season.

If you don't believe me, just give us one year to prove you wrong.

As the Canada Press reports:

Marc Emery's lawyer says the self-described “Prince of Pot” has been ordered extradited to the United States. Kirk Tousaw says he received word from the federal justice department shortly after the long time marijuana advocate turned himself into custody today that the minister has decided to sign off on his extradition. Mr. Emery has been out on bail since last fall, when he was released from custody as the minister made the final decision in his case. He made a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors last year, agreeing to plead guilty in connection to his Vancouver-based seed-selling business in return for a sentence of five years in prison. It's not clear when Mr. Emery will be sent to the U.S., but Mr. Tousaw says he expects it will happen within the week.

Emery turned himself in this morning. This was the day Justice Minister Rob Nicholson had to decide whether to okay the extradition, deny it, or postpone a decision. Emery spoke briefly before vanishing into the gulag:

“I think of myself as a great Canadian – I've worked my whole life for individual freedom in this country, I've never asked for anything in return,” Mr. Emery told reporters outside B.C. Supreme Court in downtown Vancouver, with his wife by his side and a throng of supporters carrying “Free Marc” signs. “And now I will be possibly handed over to the United States for a five-year sentence for the so-called crime of selling seeds from my desk. I'm proud of what I've done, and I have no regrets.”

Well, I, for one, can rest easier tonight knowing this dangerous criminal is behind bars.

If you think our drug laws keep people safe, I would love to hear your thoughts on this video from a drug raid in Missouri:

You just watched as police shot 2 dogs in the presence of a small child, only to find nothing more than a small bag of marijuana. Incredibly, the parents were charged with child endangerment, not the police who fired guns inside the home.

The madness of prohibition just can't be illustrated much more powerfully than this. You have to see it with you own eyes to fully absorb the brutal callousness of the people who carry out these violent attacks on peaceful families. Even knowing as I do how often events like this take place, I still shuddered while witnessing the suspect's grief at discovering his dogs had been shot.

This is the vicious reality that the drug war's defenders can't and won't ever acknowledge. Blaming drugs for violence might be easy enough to do when it suits your agenda, but the role of our laws and their enforcers in creating horrific bloodshed is too real to be ignored.

Invariably, if you ask police to talk about marijuana laws, they will start listing reasons that it should be made legal. Even if they don't realize it:

Police say pot accounts for so many arrests not only because it is so commonly used but also because it's often easier to detect than crack cocaine or heroin, with a distinctive odor that has a way of wafting out car windows during traffic stops.

"You can drop a rock and run," said D.C. Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham. "If you drop a Ziploc bag of marijuana, you're going to leave a big patch of green."

D.C. police seized about 840 pounds of pot last year, Newsham said. "People don't feel marijuana is dangerous, but it is, because of the way it is sold," he said. "We frequently recover weapons when serving search warrants associated with the sale of marijuana." [Washington Post]

Really, how much clearer could it be? Far and away, the greatest danger associated with marijuana is the black market. If even the police understand this, then who do we still need to explain it to? Changing the way marijuana is sold couldn't be any simpler. In fact, the D.C. Council did exactly that this afternoon with regards to medical marijuana.

If we don't want any more violence in the pot business, we can accomplish that with remarkable ease. Ironically, the only obstacle is the bizarre complaints of police and politicians who insist on blaming marijuana for the violence of prohibition.

From the new National Drug Control Strategy, here's our government's official position on why marijuana must remain illegal:

We have many proven methods for reducing the demand for drugs.  Keeping drugs illegal reduces their availability and lessens willingness to use them.  That is why this Administration firmly opposes the legalization of marijuana or any other illicit drug. Legalizing drugs would increase accessibility and encourage promotion and acceptance of use.  Diagnostic, laboratory, clinical, and epidemiological studies clearly indicate that marijuana use is associated with dependence, respiratory and mental illness, poor motor performance, and cognitive impairment, among other negative effects, and legalization would only exacerbate these problems.

Oh yeah? Well, empirical studies also clearly indicate that marijuana prohibition is associated with drug trade violence, funding of dangerous criminal organizations, environmental destruction, unsustainable criminal justice costs, suppression of evidence regarding medical benefits, among other negative effects, and continued criminalization would only exacerbate these problems.

I should have mentioned last week that the hugely popular blog FireDogLake has launched a legalization campaign due to interest from their readers. It's great to see more voices join the debate and we should support them.

It you click over there now you can help out by voting for the name of the their campaign. They've got a bunch of user-submitted ideas to choose from. Many are ridiculous, but there are some good ones too. Check it out.

Even as record numbers of Americans begin recognizing the profound stupidity of our marijuana laws, Florida legislators are still thrashing around in panicked desperation:

A bill passed Wednesday will make it illegal in Florida to sell the drug paraphernalia in most head shops.

The so-called "Bong Bill" passed by the Senate and then overwhelmingly passed 115-0 in the House now heads to Gov. Crist for final approval.

The bill prohibits the sale of the items by businesses that don't make at least 75 percent of their money from tobacco sales or make over 25 percent from sale of the prohibited items. [NBC]

So the Florida legislature's idea of fighting the drug war is to tell retailers they have to sell more tobacco. And the vote was unanimous, of course.