World Cup Draw, Drugs, Bodies

--Find a comfortable seat near a TV at 12 pm EST for the 2010 World Cup draw. Similar to the NCAA basketball bracket, the draw either gives hope to teams like the US or makes 3 years of hard work during qualifying seem utterly pointless in a matter of seconds. What's not to like?

If you're a US fan you're hoping for a draw that puts us in a group with South Africa as the top seed and avoids dangerous unseeded teams like France, Portugal and the Ivory Coast. Saying that, we'll probably end up in the famous Group of Death consisting of something like Brazil, France, Paraguay...Or something dauntingly similar that has you immediately looking forward to Brazil 2014. Speaking of which...How amazing will the World Cup be in Brazil? Could there be a better venue for a month long party? Cheap hookers, drugs, beautiful weather --- It has it all.

--Failure in the drug war takes many different forms.

I need to move to a place where failure in the drug war takes the form of pointless marijuana eradication, and not dead bodies. Seems like a better morning read. Here's Sun crime reporter Peter Hermann reporting from a memorial for an officer who was killed in a drug bust gone bad 25 years ago:

At the ceremony outside the house in which Marty had been shot, 1829 Frederick Avenue, cops gathered and talked about continuing the drug war and "standing the line" but it was clear that 25 years of seemingly futile work has made little headway. Above, in a picture by The Sun's Lloyd Fox, Officer Efren Edwards salutes).

The best that could be said came from Gary Childs, who was the lead cop on the raid team when Marty was shot. Standing back at the house a quarter-century later, Childs told me: "Imagine what it would be like if we didn't do what we did. We try to put a lid on it and make it OK for the people who have to live here."

In other words, we're barely keeping pace. We're struggling to maintain the status-quo. As as several police officers told me on Thursday, the amount of heroin Marty was negotiating for in such an elaborate and dangerous sting is roughly the same amount cops today get in standard street rips.

"Baltimore will never change," one city police lieutenant told me.

No shit. In Baltimore we've had an especially violent November giving us an annual homicide total that is now on pace to top last year's 20 year low of 234. Both figures more than the total US fatalities in Afghanistan in 2008. It would be nice if people pointed out this collateral damage from the drug war a bit more often.

--New York Times takes the occasion of the putrid New Jersey Nets starting the season 0-18 to remind readers of the 0-23 1988 Orioles. Thanks for that.

It Pays To Be A Mexican Drug Lord

Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman comes in at #41 on Frobes Most Powerful list.

Obviously being on this list means shit; but the power that Guzman wields across the border is very real -- and I imagine -- very frightening for the people who live in his territory. It's estimated that his cartel is responsible for hundreds of killings a month in Mexico, by way of turf battles and retribution killings. El Chapo runs what's arguably the largest, and most powerful drug cartel in the world, the Sinaloa cartel. The guy's something of a legend, having been arrested and jailed by Mexican authorities in the late 90's only to escape in 2001 via a laundry cart.

Here's a very good profile on the man from the WSJ that was published this past summer. Recently The Atlantic also ran a piece on the failed drug war in Mexico. Here's a breakdown of cartel controlled areas in Mexico via the BBC.

Police Professionalism and All That...

I'm sure this is just one lonely, isolated case over at the Baltimore Police Department. Hardly ever happens, right?

A city police officer has been arrested following a sting operation conducted by internal affairs acting on complaints that the officer was shaking down drug dealers.

Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Officer Michael Sylvester, 29, was arrested Thursday morning after he stole $70 from an internal affairs officer posing as a drug dealer in the 3900 block of Carlisle Ave. Three Ziploc bags containing suspected cocaine were also found in his locker at the Northwest District station, Guglielmi said.

Baltimore or Mexico? Which place would you rather run into cops with a small amount of drugs on you?

Baltimore Dispatches from the Drug War. 19 Shot.

Over the course of 6 hours on 7/27-7/28, 19 people were shot in Baltimore City. 12 were shot during a retaliatory ambush (including a pregnant woman and a 2 year old child) at a cookout/memorial to a murder victim. About four hours later 2 more were shot during what police describe as a "running gun battle" that was most likely related to the cookout shooting. Two hours after that shooting 2 more young males were found shot in East Baltimore.

The bulk of these shootings, including the cookout mass-shooting, were directly related to an ongoing feud between rival drug gangs that stretches back over a year and brings with it kidnappings, shootings and murders.

You might have missed this news if you don't live in the Baltimore area. It would have been easy to -- I didn't see much national coverage in the few places I checked. Nor did I see anything on the spattering of libertarian and drug blogs I checked. That bothers me. It's always bothered me. This should be headline news followed up with commentary by anti-prohibitionists, but rarely do you see that.

When a Baltimore city councilman introduces a bill to decriminalize marijuana I read blog posts, articles, and op-eds about the news. When a 5 year old is shot in the middle afternoon by a stray bullet while playing in street where is the outrage from drug war critics? When 12 are shot, many of them innocent, who's condemning the drug war for the violence?

This is Mexico folks. Some parts of this city make the scariest parts of the middle east look like a campground. Kids are exposed to some of the most heinous things that me and you couldn't even imagine and we expect them to function like contributing members of society. Many have no families to rely upon, no real chance for a job or a future. It's possible for them to get out of it, but it's much harder than it should be. The drug war is responsible for this. It isn't difficult to figure out or prove. It shouldn't be difficult for people with influence to take these violent examples from our cities to the public and make the case for real reform. A pregnant woman and a 2 year old shot should invoke empathy just like a guy in wheelchair who needs medical marijuana.

Former Baltimore Homicide Cop: Legalize It

A local crime website, Investigative Voice, has been running an interview conducted with a recently retired Baltimore homicide cop. It makes for good reading all around, but I'll just just share his opinions on the drug war.

What percentage of your murder cases are drug-related?

I’m willing to say at least 75 drug-related or dispute over something, or disrespect. I had one guy who shot someone, and I asked why did you shoot him? And he said “he gave me a hard look. He disrespected me.' How’s that..he gave me a hard look.

I just shook my head. A man murdered for a hard look.

It’s almost like you can't look at somebody. Even now, I see it when I’m in my truck, I am at a light, four or five people have rap on and are looking hard, and I say, how are you doing? And they don’t know what to think. They think I’m going to look back hard. They don’t know what to do.[...]

So there is a limit to what police can do? What do you think should change?

We need to take the profit out of the drug game.

Legalize drugs?

They made alcohol legal and look what happened. You take the profit out of drugs and think of what would happen with the crime rate. You can legalize certain drugs and if you want it you can go to Hopkins or University of Maryland Hospital to get it, you sign a waiver. Most people say crime will pick up elsewhere, there will be more robberies or whatever, but if you take the profit out of drugs you will see a drop in crime.

I think taking the profit motive out of drugs should be seriously considered, and I think they should look into it and do a study. When you look into it and do a study it’s alright to have people with Ph.D’s but you’re going to need some grassroots people too, you’re going to people from the street, you’re going to need to get everybody in on this study to make this decision.

We know drugs have destroyed this city, but we’ve haven’t changed how we fight crime, so it hasn’t gotten any better, not since I’ve been here. I talk to new officers and they ask me an important question, 'Let me ask you, Bradley, has it gotten any better since you started? And I say, 'No, it has not. '

Communities have just been ripped down by drugs, torn down bit by bit until all you have is a vacant lot. A city of empty lots, that what’s the drug war has bought us. Pennsylvania Avenue used to be a vibrant place. And now, after all these communities have been destroyed, people say, look at all these kids coming down to the Inner Harbor doing this and doing that. But they're just looking for something to do, where are they supposed to go? Can’t sit on the stoop in your neighborhood because you’ll get locked up, so they come downtown.

If we place a somewhat agreed-upon and most likely conservative figure on the Baltimore drug economy, we end up in the neighborhood just shy of $1 billion. Somewhere around $900 million. As the City Paper says in a recent piece about the drug economy, Shadow Players:

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that in 2002 "accommodation and food service sales" in Baltimore were worth about $1 billion.

In other words, the drug trade generates a revenue stream comparable to the city's hotels and restaurants, an industry so important politically that the city government pledged $305 million in revenue bonds to build a downtown hotel that opened last year.

That's a lot of money to fight over and accounts for the single most dangerous part of the drug war in Baltimore. We can change policing and tactics that we use to fight drug crime; but until we address the $1 billion dollar question we'll still have a culture of violence and crime that has destroyed cities like Baltimore.

Innocent College Students Targeted By Drug Dealers

What an odd way to describe a drug organization:

Federal authorities in Delaware say they've broken up a Newark-based drug operation that targeted students at the University of Delaware and University of Maryland, College Park.[...]

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kravetz says the multimillion-dollar Newark operation appeared to target University of Delaware students and two suspects charged in Maryland focused on University of Maryland students.

If by targeting you mean that no where outside of American colleges would you find so much demand for drugs, and that drug dealers are merely meeting the high demand for said drugs. Then yes -- this drug ring was targeting college kids. Otherwise known as serving customers.

We Can All...Hope

I'll take a wait-and-see approach with our new Drug Czar, with the upside being that it really can't be much worse than the past 8 years.

Bloggingheads

A smart, short and at some points silly bloggingheads episode featuring Radley Balko and David Freddoso talking drug war.


A few thoughts:

1) Radley Balko is a very smart, polite and patient guy.

2) Even though Freddoso works for NRO don't forget that National Review's editorial stance is and has been for 25 some odd years, that the drug war needs to end. (Balko and Freddoso recently contributed over at Culture11 and were on bloggingheads discussing those pieces.)

3) It's amazing how otherwise intelligent people like Freddoso become intellectually worthless when discussing an issue like the drug war because they are emotionally attached to the baseline concept that Drugs Are Bad. Talk about not being able to see the forest through the trees.

4) The burden of proof is always on the anti-prohibition side even though the status quo has never worked. Makes winning the debate much harder. I mean this in a macro way, not just an individual debating another individual. It's what makes the whole exercise seem so futile and frustrating and it's why you have to give the up most respect to guys like Radley and Pete for never letting up.

I'm Now an Obamaniac

Links to start your short holiday week.

Rob rejoices -- Obama supports lactating mama porn genre. Or at least that's how I read this Slate article. Read the whole thing, or just skip to the middle where the lactating breasts are.

How's this for a little Baltimore holiday cheer:

Travis Makofski, 28, lived in a first-floor rear apartment with his mother, who was superintendent of the building. About 2:15 a.m., the doorbell rang and the mother went to the front entrance door of the triplex. Two men shoved the door open and one of them placed a gun to her head, police said. Makofski left his apartment and asked the suspects what they were doing, and was shot in the face, police said. He was pronounced dead about an hour later at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

If you ever needed another reason not to open your door in Baltimore, especially at 2:15 in the AM; a home invasion resulting in your face being shot off seems like as good as any.

1,2,3...4 strikes you're out -- if you're a PG County cop:

A Prince George's County police lieutenant charged four times this year with driving under the influence passed out behind the wheel of a running police cruiser in one incident, had to be Tasered and pepper-sprayed in another and was at fault in a hit-and-run in a third, Laurel Police said yesterday.

In February, an officer found Lt. Kenneth W. Parrish, 44, asleep in the cruiser, its emergency lights on, in front of Laurel High School shortly after noon on a school day, a spokesman for the Laurel police said. Parrish's cruiser was in the road, running and in drive, his foot resting on the brake pedal and his body slumped over the steering wheel, spokesman Jimmy Collins said.

Why all the hand-wringing? The guy had his foot on the brake.

In beheading news from the war down south

Reporting from Mexico City -- Twelve men were decapitated and dumped at separate sites in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, authorities said Sunday.

Mexican news outlets quoted Guerrero Gov. Zeferino Torreblanca Galindo as saying that eight of the men were identified as Mexican soldiers and another as a former state police commander. Earlier, Mexican media had said that the victims' close-cropped hair indicated they were soldiers.[...]

Beheadings have become increasingly common around Mexico amid rising drug-related violence that has killed more than 5,300 people this year.

President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown against drug traffickers upon taking office two years ago, triggering clashes between security forces and gunmen and vicious feuding among rival drug gangs.

Simple solution -- A global War on Beheadings. Problem solved.

Monday Afternoon Links

Like most of you, I've had drunken, dirty sex with a fat boss on the weekend and then had to show up for work to face her on a Monday. It's part of life. You can't escape it. And like most of you I wasn't looking forward to seeing her on Monday.

You're not sure what you said to her in bed/shower/bar bathroom but you do know that whatever it was you didn't mean it and you hope that she knows that. You're also not sure if you stuck it up the butt, but you're pretty sure that if you did, she didn't approve. All in all it adds up to a night full of dread on Sunday.

So mentally that's where I'm at today leading into Election '08. Except I'm the one who is about to take it up the ass without my consent....I'll be here with a bottle of something starting around 7 or 8 live-blogging the results. Until then enjoy some Monday election-free links.

Election results pre-Drudge or NYT.com: Wilson beats Hughes, as told by the street lights

Is any country safe from the epidemic? Japan frets over growing marijuana problem

Whoa..Wait. So you mean our drug war is a corrupting influence throughout all of Mexican society and government and leaves no one untouched? Jeesh, it's almost like we should rethink the policy or something...

Putin, baby, you're on the wrong end of this exchange.

Baltimore Police & DEA Shutdown Major Heroin Distribution Ring; Drug Problem Solved in City

Last week a large joint operation between the DEA and Baltimore City culminated with 18 raids and 9 arrests city-wide. Putting aside all the groundbreaking reporting that the Sun does in this article, like the fact that drug dealers like to buy really expensive cars (whew knew?) that football players might have at one point owned, it's always interesting to see how these large-scale urban drug organizations essentially become a big business:

Here is how the operation is alleged to have worked, according to Collins' affidavits:

• Butler, aided by Calvin Wright, 36, and suspected money launderer Walter Horton, is alleged to have supplied large amounts of heroin to and maintained control of a group of drug-dealing shops throughout Baltimore.

• Alleged "managers" of the shops include Daron Ashe, 21; Geraldmain Wilkerson, 34, and his brother, Leon Wilkerson, 35; Akeem Yarberough, 31; Antoine Boston, 35; and Adrian Aulton, 36. Yarberough is at large.

• The ninth defendant, Shawn Moore, 22, is incarcerated in Jessup and accused of arranging to purchase heroin for distribution in jail.

The affidavit outlines multiple conversations involving drug-dealing operations and claims that Butler had also taken control of the city's "Red Dot" drug ring, which authorities allege distributes heroin throughout the city, obtaining up to 5 kilograms a week from a Queens, N.Y., supplier and making about $100,000 a week in profit.

I Need to Become a Police Informant for a Preggo Prostitution Sting So I can "Maintain My Cover"

Drug bust in Connecticut nabs 64 street-level drug dealers; who as police say "were collectively dealing large amounts of drugs." Interesting way to distort phrase a low-level bust comprised mostly of addicts. 'Kinda like saying "collectively, everyone working at my non-profit earns a lot of money."

The Herald:

NEW BRITAIN - Complaints of street-corner dealing and a slight upswing in heroin use spurred teams of city officers to nab dozens of low-level drug dealers Tuesday in an early-morning sweep designed to curb open crack and heroin sales in the city.

The arrests were the result of a four-month investigation during which city narcotics officers tracked the activities of known dealers and videotaped their sales during controlled drug buys to informants.

The busts were focused on putting a crimp on street-level dealing in targeted areas, including the city's three neighborhood revitalization zones, public housing and the downtown area in front of City Hall.

In front of City Hall? I love it. Prohibition is such a failure that this city can't even control heavy drug dealing in front of their main municipal building. Great stuff this war on drugs.

And how about that 4-month long investigation into street-level drug dealers selling 5-15$ worth of drugs? Sounds involved and intense. I betcha' like Baltimore it must be hard to buy small amounts of crack and heroin on the streets of New Britain.

Heroin sells for about $3 a bag in Hartford, Williams estimates, but about $5 to $10 a bag in New Britain. "It's very easy to make a quick profit and then use the money to feed their own habit," Williams said.

[...]"Heroin appears to be up more than past years," Williams said. It's very easy to get and an easy way to get quick money."

Oh, never mind..It's "easy to get" and an "easy way to get quick money". That almost leads you to believe that in no time 64 people will quickly spring up to take the place of the soon-to-be incarcerated 64.

Here's the best part of this story:

One man claiming to be a confidential informant for New Britain police said two weeks before the sweep that he was paid $60 per drug buy and an extra $100 if a firearm was seized.

The informant said he had smoked some of crack cocaine bought from a dealer, to maintain his cover, before giving the rest to police.

Heh...Full story here.

Drug Czar Blogger is Fucking Stupid and Lazy

I'm not sure I even get the lie in this post over at the Drug Czar's blog:

Violent Pharmacy Crime
If only we legalized, taxed, and regulated prescription drugs, this kind of thing wouldn't happen, right?

Oh wait.

The links point to news stories on armed robberies occurring at pharmacies -- I guess in an attempt to subtly argue that we need to outlaw lipitor, valtrex and other life-saving pharmaceuticals. That, or it's just a really stupid way of saying that even that if we legalized, regulated and taxed street drugs we would still have drug violence.

Huh. Really? 'Cause we easily had 150 drug related murders in Baltimore last year, and I don't remember reading about a single pharmacist who was killed for vicodin. I'll gladly admit my ignorance if someone could point my towards a few stories to the contrary, but I can't think of any right now.

Of course, no serious opponent of drug prohibition ever argues that drug violence would disappear overnight or completely if we legalized and mildly regulated drugs. Instead they argue, that we would take an artificially profitable product out of the hands of murderous, cold-blooded criminals who don't mind shooting toddlers in a pool. That's real drug violence.

P.S. The dumb blogger at the ONDCP resorts to a tactic that not even I use; linking to two separate news sources that are covering the exact same event. Classy stuff. Guess he really wanted links for every word in "this kind of thing", but couldn't find a 4th story to complete it. Check it out. Link 1) http://www.pjstar.com/news_police/x1878566842/Man-demands-pain-pills-in-Galesburg-robbery Link 2) http://www.galesburg.com/news/x1346456695/Drugs-stolen-in-armed-robbery-at-Walgreens.

Good to Know We Have Drug Laws On the Book to Save Privileged Former Child Stars

Tatum O'Neal -- "My dog died so I needed some blow":

NEW YORK - Tatum O'Neal has told a newspaper that she was distraught over the loss of her dog when she went looking to buy drugs from a Manhattan street dealer last weekend.

The 44-year-old actress says in Tuesday editions of the New York Post that she lost her Scottish terrier about three weeks ago.

She spoke to the Post in a telephone call after being arraigned Monday on a charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance. She entered no plea.

O'Neal says that her arrest Sunday "saved" her from possibly ruining her life. Police have accused her of buying cocaine.

Good for her. Count yourself as the exception to the rule. I can think of more than a few people who weren't so lucky as to be "saved" by our drug laws. Unless getting shot to death, or thrown in prison counts as being saved...

That's the Sound of the Men Trying to Get More Money

'Pot in state a growing problem':

Seizures of marijuana plants statewide more than doubled to 296,611 last year, a trend that unabated could see Washington rival California as the nation's No. 1 producer of the illicit drug, state and federal drug agents warn.[...]

Since then, it's only gotten worse for the Golden State, where 3 million plants were seized last year, said Duran, who spoke this week to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, which held its annual spring conference at the Yakima Convention Center.

"It's kind of the prediction for our future," Duran said. "It's going to get worse before it gets better."[...]

"And compared to California, we have very limited resources," he added. "They do marijuana eradication for six months straight while we're lucky if we can afford to do it for five weeks."

The top counties for outside marijuana production in 2007 include Klickitat, Yakima, Grant, Franklin and Skamania. Law enforcement said marijuana growers prefer remote tribal areas. Last year, 102,379 plants were seized on tribal lands, much of it from the Yakama reservation.

I'm not sure what problem is growing -- other than the reporter's use of puns -- but I'm assuming from the article that the problem is that more pot is being seized in the state. Humm...I've got an idea. How about news reporters do a little leg work and investigate the allegations of officials. Like, why is the fact that marijuana farming is increasing in the state a problem? Is it costing lives, destroying private property, etc? Or is it just a problem because it's illegal, and everyone knows that doing illegal things is a problem. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

On the other hand we get this out of Hawaii -- Hawaii County Council action ends marijuana eradication program:

HILO, Hawaii (AP) _ The Hawaii County Council has rejected a state and federally funded marijuana eradication program.

The annual ``Green Harvest'' program began 30 years ago on the Big Island.

Many residents have opposed the program, saying the low-flying helicopter missions invade privacy and disrupt rural life.

Critics also say it has done little to eradicate marijuana and has even promoted use of other drugs, such as crystal methamphetamine, or ``ice.''

Now that makes sense.

Does Anyone Care?

Radley reports yet another disturbing, no-knock SWAT raid, this time in Arkansas.

I agree with him, this one is pretty egregious, even in the context that all of these raids-gone-bad are awful.

NYC's New Motto: Marijuana Arrest Capital of the World

NEW YORK - Police busted nearly 400,000 people for carrying small amounts of pot in the last decade, making New York City the world leader in marijuana arrests, civil rights advocates said Tuesday while unveiling a study criticizing the war on drugs.[...]

The study by Queens College sociologist Harry G. Levin, titled "Marijuana Arrest Crusade," accused police of purposely singling out minorities during the 10-year crackdown. It said that data provided by state Division of Criminal Justice Services showed that between 1997 and 2007, 52 percent of the suspects were black, 31 percent Hispanic and only 15 percent white.[...]

According to the study, arrests for marijuana possession began skyrocketing in the late 1990s during the Giuliani administration _ a trend that continued under Mayor Michael Bloomberg at an estimated cost of between $50 and $90 million a year. There were 39,700 arrests last year alone, according to the study.

Well, there are like 8 million people in New York, so it's not a total surprise that 40,000 people were arrested for possession of marijuana. I might have even guessed higher; which is a sad statement on our country.

More:

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne called Levine an "advocate for marijuana legalization," and accused the NYCLU of using the sociologist "to mislead the public with absurdly inflated numbers and false claims about bias."

"If the NYCLU is for legalization, it should just say so without resorting to smears," Browne said.

OK, there we go, throw out the dirty words like, "legalization", and calling someone an "advocate for legalization". I know that I wouldn't want to be accused of fighting for a rational approach to drug policy. And since when did simply reporting how many people were arrested for carrying a plant become a "smear". Just like Mr Browne urges the NYCLU to come out and just say they are for legalization, I urge the city of New York to come out and just admit they are for an arcane policy of prohibition, enforced with penalties of arrest and imprisonment. It's only fair.

Full article here.

2288 Grams is a Lot of Shrooms

Our country is no doubt a little bit safer after police confiscate 2288 grams of psilocybe mushrooms that some master drug smuggler attempted to mail cross-country via USPS. I could understand a few pills; maybe some pot, but 2288 grams of shrooms? Seems ambitious at best, really stupid at worst. Either way it failed.

The bigger War on Drugs-is-a-Big-Failure point still remains though -- we are looking at mushrooms, not a pile of dead Russian hookers that police discovered in a shipping container -- but fucking mushrooms. We spend billions of dollars a year in enforcement so that police can proudly take a picture of a huge pile of mushrooms. Pretty silly if you ask me.

More here at the always informational DEA Microgram Bulletin, including the always popular heroin in a laptop and meth, meth, and more meth.

Who Knew?

From the Washington Post, we have a winner most unsuprising news of the day:

Federal employees used government credit cards to pay for lingerie, gambling, iPods, Internet dating services, and a $13,000 steak-and-liquor dinner, according to a new audit from the Government Accountability Office, which found widespread abuses in a purchasing program meant to improve bureaucratic efficiency.[...]

In another case at the State Department, cardholder spent $360 at the Seduccion Boutique in Ecuador to buy "women's underwear/lingerie for use during jungle training by trainees of a drug enforcement program." The report does not include further details, but it says a State Department official "agreed that the charge was questionable."

"Jungle training"...I did some jungle training in Latin America before. Only it was in Mexico and involved a hooker. In Mexico City. So it wasn't really in the jungle per say. Nor was I doing any training. But it did involve drugs. Lots of peyote. So I'm pretty sure me and the DEA agents are on the same page.

Full article here.

Kermit the Frog Should Help the Sun-Sentinel Write Editorials

War on Drugs insanity from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial:

U.S. should help Guyana fight drugs

ISSUE: Guyana's president wants a U.S. DEA office in his country.

English-speaking Caribbean countries have become transshipment ports for drugs headed to North America and Europe. So it's not a bad idea to have a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office in the region to help combat illegal trafficking.[...]

Stronger relations with countries like Guyana could go a long way in fighting the flow of drugs here on the home front. And with Guyana and the United States having a history of cool relations due to the country's socialist leanings during the Cold War, having a DEA office in the country could help usher in a new era of cooperation, which is much needed at a time when national security is a concern.

BOTTOM LINE: The State Department should grant the South American country's request.

Excerpt from soon-to-be-published TtP editorial:

ISSUE: South Florida Sun-Sentinel editorial board is made up of dim-witted retards.

Editors of Florida newspaper show stunning lack of knowledge concerning the effectiveness of the US to police drugs within its own borders; let alone abysmal failures in foreign countries such as Afghanistan, Colombia, Jamaica.

Establishing a DEA office and working closely with the South American country would contribute greatly to corruption in the country, alienate much of the local population, and achieve exactly none of the stated goals -- such as reducing the flow of drugs into our country.

BOTTOM LINE: The editors should all find new jobs that require much less intellectual curiosity, and reasoning like washing cars, or cleaning monkey cages, and quit "journalism" for good.

If Heroin Was Legal, You Couldn't Pay for It With Your Sister

Whose the bigger creep? The drug dealer selling his sister, or the drug dealer who accepts the woman as payment and rapes her in the back of his car? Tough call.

Espanola, NM (KOAT) - A northern New Mexico man is suspected of trading his sister for heroin.

Police say they initially investigated the case as a kidnapping, but when they dug deeper, they say they discovered something more disturbing.

Police say Herman Flores Junior accepted the woman as payment for the drugs and then forced her to have sex with him.

Full story here.

Jim Landers is a Dope

An idea for columnist, reporters, and other worthless media types everywhere -- If you write a story/article on drugs, and the drug trade, make a honest effort to talk some people that don't work for the ONDCP or the U.N. It might provide some actual insight into the problems we face.

Case in point: Jim Landers from the Dallas Morning News:

WASHINGTON – Here's a recession that's welcome.

The criminal enterprises that sell illegal drugs are seeing less profit, and some are losing money, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

Drug abuse is down dramatically in the United States. It is flat around the world for the third year in a row.

What happened?

The war on drugs has shifted to a public health focus toward users, and a private business focus toward sellers.

Uh...Is that news to anybody else, or just me? "The war on drugs has shifted to a public health focus toward users". I wasn't aware we switched drug policy. Must have happened over the weekend and I missed it in the haze of St Patrick's Day weekend. A shame really -- because our previous strategy of shooting and/or imprisoning users and dealers alike seemed to be working so well for us.

I'll give Jim credit on one data point; drug use is down, and has been going down for years. It's been going down as the supply of most drugs has been increasing and the prices decreasing. More and cheaper drugs; but yet less drug use. Could it be, that if you let people alone to make their own decisions about what they put in their bodies that most will decide that drugs are not for them? That would be a revolutionary idea: Let folks make their own choices.

More:

"It may not be the best thing to arrest the most people. It may not be the best thing to focus brute force on them," said John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Good one John. You almost had me there for a minute.

And finally:

Local, national and international laws restricting the sale of chemicals used to manufacture the drugs have proved surprisingly effective in disrupting the traffic in methamphetamines, or crystal meth, an illegal stimulant. Local governments were the first to curb sales of cold medicines containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, followed in 2006 by national legislation.

The drug makers moved manufacturing to Mexico. As of January, however, Mexico has banned imports of these chemicals.

And then people will stop using methamphetmines to get high. End of story, it's that simple. No substitution drug will pop up, no new production methods will be tried, all you have to do is ban the substances and the problem goes away. It always works.

There's a War at Home

Try to ignore the style and length of this opinion column in the SF Gate, that resembles a rambling blog post more than a newspaper column, and focus on the substance of his attacks on the War on Drugs.

And then, well, then you turn around and realize it's all pretty much a big, nasty joke. Pointless, senseless, quite nearly useless — that what you've done really makes no difference whatsoever. And what's more, it never really has.

Is it not brutally true? Is this not pretty much the norm now, the common wisdom, going on nearly 40 years of the modern and abysmal "War on Drugs" and hundreds of billions of dollars spent and countless thousands of lives lost and prisons overflowing, and yet we're a nation that's more illegally drug-happy than ever?

Sometimes you just have to ask. Because truly, this grand and insidious "war" must be one of our greatest national embarrassments, an enormous, unspoken failure, far worse in its way than the lost and disgusting war in Iraq, given how it's caused more misery and more pain and more destruction across multiple decades and nations and governments and continues to cost countless billions of dollars and yet has, as all stats and studies reveal, almost zero effect on the overall drug culture of the nation.

He makes a good point. I know I wish that "anti-war" activists would focus their energy on the longest running war by the United States. Not only the longest running war, but the longest running war by our government on its own people. Is that not more repulsive than just about any foreign war? It might just be my view of things, but foreign wars are a legitimate action by the federal government. One of the few. But a war on its own people? A war to keep people from ingesting certain substances? That's not only nuts, it's disgusting and unconstitutional -- if that matters anymore.

It might not be a sexy to protest the drug war --you know, as sexy as say, becoming human shields to protect Saddam's palaces -- but it's most definitely a better use of the activists seemingly never-ending free-time.

Full piece here.

The Wire Writers on War on Drugs, Jury Nullification

You can quibble with David Simon's view of America, and how we arrived at that place, but it's hard to argue with much he say on the Drug War. From a Time piece authored by the bulk of The Wire writing staff.

We write a television show. Measured against more thoughtful and meaningful occupations, this is not the best seat from which to argue public policy or social justice. Still, those viewers who followed The Wire — our HBO drama that tried to portray all sides of inner-city collapse, including the drug war, with as much detail and as little judgment as we could muster — tell us they've invested in the fates of our characters. They worry or grieve for Bubbles, Bodie or Wallace, certain that these characters are fictional yet knowing they are rooted in the reality of the other America, the one rarely acknowledged by anything so overt as a TV drama.[...]

Yet this war grinds on, flooding our prisons, devouring resources, turning city neighborhoods into free-fire zones. To what end? State and federal prisons are packed with victims of the drug conflict. A new report by the Pew Center shows that 1 of every 100 adults in the U.S. — and 1 in 15 black men over 18 — is currently incarcerated. That's the world's highest rate of imprisonment.

The drug war has ravaged law enforcement too. In cities where police agencies commit the most resources to arresting their way out of their drug problems, the arrest rates for violent crime — murder, rape, aggravated assault — have declined. In Baltimore, where we set The Wire, drug arrests have skyrocketed over the past three decades, yet in that same span, arrest rates for murder have gone from 80% and 90% to half that. Lost in an unwinnable drug war, a new generation of law officers is no longer capable of investigating crime properly, having learned only to make court pay by grabbing cheap, meaningless drug arrests off the nearest corner.

On jury nullification:

A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right," wrote Thomas Paine when he called for civil disobedience against monarchy — the flawed national policy of his day. In a similar spirit, we offer a small idea that is, perhaps, no small idea. It will not solve the drug problem, nor will it heal all civic wounds. It does not yet address questions of how the resources spent warring with our poor over drug use might be better spent on treatment or education or job training, or anything else that might begin to restore those places in America where the only economic engine remaining is the illegal drug economy. It doesn't resolve the myriad complexities that a retreat from war to sanity will require. All it does is open a range of intricate, paradoxical issues. But this is what we can do — and what we will do.

If asked to serve on a jury deliberating a violation of state or federal drug laws, we will vote to acquit, regardless of the evidence presented. Save for a prosecution in which acts of violence or intended violence are alleged, we will — to borrow Justice Harry Blackmun's manifesto against the death penalty — no longer tinker with the machinery of the drug war. No longer can we collaborate with a government that uses nonviolent drug offenses to fill prisons with its poorest, most damaged and most desperate citizens.

It's a good, strong piece. Read it here. Via Radley.

Prohibition: Harmless?

New Study Outlines Harm of Smoking Marijuana During Pregnancy

Marijuana: Harmless?

---

Above, as quoted directly from the ONDCP's blog. Classic sensationalized scare tactic. Has anyone who is engaged in the public debate over our drug policy ever come close to asserting that pregnant women should smoke marijuana -- legal or not? Of course not, that's nuts. Is this a real fear of what's to come if we loosen some of our drug laws in our country? Pregnant women running around like mad zombies, joint in mouth, high as shit, damaging their unborn children with every puff. As much as I might like that fantasy to come true, it's highly doubtful and completely unassociated with any argument that anyone makes.

What does it have to do with any part of the legitimate drug policy debate? Nothing, of course; but the government continues to get away with their mis-information war, compiling lies and straw men everywhere you look. The truth is we have plenty of legalized substances -- including ones like alcohol and cigarettes that make the government a tidy profit -- that can cause harm to an unborn child/fetus/mistake, whatever you want to call that lump in the belly. Fish can harmful for Christ sakes. Should we ban fish? If there was a federal agency in charge of controlling fish, would we have TV ads with a picture of a cod and a pregnant lady, with the title "Fish: Harmless?" It makes just as much sense as a picture of a pregnant women with the title "Marijuana: Harmless?" As my post title suggest, I want SSDP, Stop the Drug War, MPP -- any one of those outfits to start running ads with the a picture of a packed jail cell with the title, "Prohibition: Harmless?" Because that's the real question centered around this debate.

Sidenote: I will say, in the effort of agreeing to disagree, at least John Walters and this TtP blogger enjoy posting pics of pregnant women on our blogs for utterly no reason at all. Kudos. Maybe we can get a beer sometime John? We can swap material off our hard drives, or trade URLs of some of our favorite sites. It'll be fun.

Revised Crack-Cocaine Sentencing Guidelines

A December decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission could possibly reduce the sentences of many inmates. The reason for the decision is to reduce the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences.

Judges could reduce sentences for nearly 20,000 inmates following the decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission -- an independent federal agency that advises all three branches of government on sentences. Advocates of the sentence reduction say it is only fair, but the Justice Department counters and says that the move will allow dangerous criminals back on the street.

The Justice Department is concerned "that so many people would be released all at once -- people who have shown that they are repeat offenders, and without the possibility of any kind of transition or re-entry program to bring them from prison back to the streets," Deborah Rhodes, an associate deputy attorney general, told CNN.

But lawyers and groups that have been pushing for the change in sentencing disagree. They say that most of these prisoners are not hardened criminals, and that judges will have to approve any reduction on a case-by-case basis and will not grant an early release to those considered dangerous.

Will the early release of inmates result in a spike in crime? I sure hope not, and it's quite possible that there will not be any distinguishable spike. But I'm not willing to make that claim with much certainty.

I wholeheartedly agree with the "lawyers and groups" noted above that most of the prisoners are not hardened or violent criminals. Many of them, however, will likely be craving a hit or two of crack. Considering that many have been serving multi-year to 22.5 year sentences for getting high or providing for others to get high, I can't honestly fault them for it.

As long as the government feels the need to keep drug prices at high black market levels, corrupt the supply chain, conduct dangerous raids, rely on shady informants and, yes, throw people in jail for years for getting high, then a minority of the released inmates will relapse into a life of crime - be it crime or "crime."

Of course, you can be sure that the DEA will seize any statistic they can find that indicates a related crime spike, and you can be sure that the media will run with it. Expect that. In fact, it's possible that some of these dire stats may even be true. But until any real, substantial progress is made on ending the war on drugs or even better, legalization, it is impossible to guarantee that some of the criminals will not again become dangerous.

The reduction in crack-cocaine vs. powder-cocaine sentencing disparity is a step in the right direction, but it is for sure a baby step. Let's hope that there will still be some positive lessons to learn from this, regardless.


UPDATE: Cully Stimson of the Heritage Foundation opposes making the new sentences retroactive. I don't buy the first half of the argument that the 100-1 sentencing disparity was justified to curb inner-city violence (my paraphrase of Stimson). But the second half of the argument makes some valid points, if you have a world view that takes the Drug War as a given and you refuse to consider legalization.

It Could Always be Worse

Pronouncements like this are enough to make the US war on drugs look like amatuer's hour.

(BangkokPost.com, Agencies) - Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said the government will revive the war on drug campaign, which the first time around allegedly caused around 2,500 extra-judicial killings.

The campaign was initiated by the Thaksin Shinawatra administration to stop the spread of narcotics. Police investigators, the media and human rights groups have estimated that at least 2,500 people died as police cracked down on small-time drug dealers in villages in 2003 and 2004.

"My government will decisively implement a policy against drug trafficking," he said. "Government officials must implement this policy 24 hours a day, but I will not set a target for how many people should die."

Full article here.

Soldier Finds Himself Caught in the Crosshairs of Our Nation's Idiotic Drug Laws

I'll excerpt a bit, just so you get the idea, but please read the whole thing. The legal battle to try and keep this guy from serving the 5 years is still ongoing and has had its ups and downs.

The defendant, Sgt. Patrick Lett, had served 17 years in the Army, including two tours in Iraq, and he had pleaded guilty in federal court to selling cocaine. It was up to Judge William H. Steele, a former marine, to decide how to punish him. [...]

Sergeant Lett re-enlisted in October 2004. He was about to deploy to Iraq again when he was arrested. It turned out he had sold cocaine to an undercover federal agent.

Judge Steele made plain that he wanted to give Sergeant Lett the briefest possible sentence. But Congress had set a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, Judge Steele said, and that is the sentence he reluctantly imposed.

Watch Out for Toothless, Rotten Gummed, Iron Lunged, Szichophrenic Pot Heads

Rotten gums, the latest medical consequence from smoking pot:

An international team tracked the dental health of 1,000 people born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972 and 1973.

They found heavy cannabis smoking was responsible for more than one-third of the new cases of gum disease among the group by the age of 32.

Right. Buried down at the end of the article is this:

Overall, 29% of the sample showed some signs of gum disease.

29% showed some sign of gum disease. Don't forget that most of the smokers were smokers; of both tobacco and marijuana, and that gum disease is a very common ailment.

More on drugs: Check out this article in the Washington Post on cocaine trafficking out of Columbia using submersible vessels. Pretty cool stuff. Definitely read the whole thing, but let me excerpt the last few paragraphs that remind anyone with an ounce of common sense of the futility of the prohibition exercise.

Here in the navy yard, in addition to the seized submersibles, there is a torpedo-like tube, designed to carry cocaine, that traffickers planned to attach by cable to a ship. There are also several "go-fasts" and an earlier mode of transport for drugs -- fishing trawlers -- now rotting in dry dock. Together, they could make up a Smithsonian exhibit.

Some officials say the submersibles should be destroyed.

"We've been debating what to do with them," Angel said. "I'm partial to keeping them because they are part of the history of our country. And when we put an end to drug trafficking, our sons and grandsons should know what these criminals did."

Our Criminal Justice System in Action

I'm trying to stay away from blogging so I can catch up on work that actually pays for my drinking and whoring habits; but I had to link to this post from Radley. This should scare a whole hell of a lot more people than it does. It's a shame that your average American doesn't start asking how we allow these types of abuses in the name of preventing people from getting high..

More Ron Paul on CNN

Read Radley.

I thought his appearance was overly defensive, lacked any sort of contrition, and found it wholly unconvincing.

Take Paul's discussion of the drug war's impact on minorities. Yes, it was spot-on. But I've been watching this campaign fairly closely, and I believe that's the most time to date that Paul has spent talking about the drug war. I've actually been surprised at how little he has discussed it. His position on the drug war is one of the main reasons why I was encouraged by his candidacy. This campaign could have represented the first time ever (that I know of) that a GOP candidate challenged his rivals to defend the failure and moral corruption of drug prohibition in a nationally-televised debate. It hasn't happened. That his longest discussion of the drug war to date had to come only after he was confronted about the newsletters, and in the context of defending himself from accusations of racism, is unfortunate. And perhaps telling.

Bingo. Wow is he right. Now my opinion on anything dealing with Ron Paul and/or the libertarian movement should be taken with a grain of salt. I'm not a movement libertarian, nor an expert on Paul. Read Cicero if you want that. He's put out some of the better stuff that I've seen on Paul and the recent controversy. All that being said, I was bothered more after the CNN interview than I was before. I knew about the newsletters. I hadn't seen it laid out like it was in the TNR piece, but I've read warnings from interested observers that this stuff was out there and it would come back to bite him. I wasn't surprised. But during the CNN interview he was angry and defensive, and -- ahem -- for some reason talking an awful lot about the racist drug war. Awful nice of him to do that.....here and now....But where was this rhetoric in the past year?

I tacitly supported (meaning that I donated no money, time or energy -- outside of blogging -- to his campaign) him in a large part because of one issue. The drug war. Of course I agreed with him on other things, but his continued and principled stand against our current drug policy makes the largest difference in my mind. I thought this would be a great opportunity to get the message out about how deep the failures from the drug war run. That's where my disappointment lies and I've said it before here. He was quite on the issue. Instead he became this mish-mash candidate who couldn't decide if he was running as the anti-war candidate, or the Tancredo anti-immigration candidate, or the crazy gold standard guy. Whatever. His stances on those issues could be right. They most likely are in most cases. But he failed to talk about the drug war....That is until he needed a Get Out of Jail Free card when he got called out on his shady past. Well, it didn't work. And it wouldn't have worked. Maybe if the public saw our drug policy as a civil rights issue it would've worked. But guess what? Someone has to get out and make that argument before people will appreciate it. It doesn't work for the general public who has no idea how fucked up our policy is. Not to mention it's disgusting, and should be anti-Paul to use such an important issue in this manner. Sorry, I won't buy the argument that he is merely pointing out that he can't be racists if he wants to undue the most racist policy we have. If he felt that strongly about it, he should have brought it up more.

I've paid close attention to the GOP race out of a political-junkie interest, and Paul in particular, for much too long. Believe me, I know what he was saying, and I know what he wasn't saying. And he wasn't saying enough about the drug war until it came time to prove he wasn't a racist.

Do I vote for him in the MD primary? Probably not. Mostly because I think I'm going to sit this election out. But I might have been more willingly to get out here and cast a pointless ballot for Paul if he 1) Took his own candidacy seriously and handled this issue properly. And 2) Spoke up during this time of intense national media coverage on our hopeless drug war.

P.S. I'd love to make it down to DC for the reason happy hour tonight, but let's face it....35 miles back-and-forth is a dangerously long way on a Friday night. Anyways, I'll be at the BWI Ramada Inn from 5:30 on. Anyone catching a flight is more than welcome to join me.

The Crack Reporter: A Drug War Parable

Wa Post veteran reporter Ruben Castaneda wrote a wonderful and harrowing article in that paper's past Sunday Magazine about his addiction to crack when he was, ironically, covering the crack wars of the early 90's in DC for his employer. His account is honest, sad, raw and brave. One vignette:

The Post issued quarterly "comp time" checks for days and hours worked beyond the normal workweek. Employees had the choice of taking the time or the money. I was on a frantic rat wheel, trying to stop using, failing, needing more cash. I always opted for the money. In October 1991, I received a comp check for about $700. I went home and fully intended to wait until the morning to deposit the check at my bank. I started drinking. I got into my car and drove, winding up at a check-cashing place in Adams Morgan. One, two rocks tops, I told myself. I ended up smoking through the night with a friend. Within 24 hours, all the money was gone.

Kudos to the Wa Post for not firing Ruben and instead being sympathetic and helpful.

On December 20, 1991, I showed up for work obviously wrecked. I'd binged on rock and tried to bring myself down with three or four gin-and-Cokes. My eyes were glazed, and my breath smelled of liquor. I was told to go home and come back the next night.

The following night, Milton [Ruben's editor] met me in the newsroom. He said we needed to go meet with the EAP counselor. In her small office, she dropped the bombshell: They'd made arrangements for me to spend the next three weeks in the rehab unit at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.

Ruben defeated his addiction and has been a productive Post reporter in the 15 years since. Had the Post fired him, as most companies would have done, instead of working to reduce the harm of his addiction, we can only guess where Ruben would be today. Ruben's Wa Post online chat today is here.

Racist? Check. Ineffective? Check. Part of Drug War? Yup.

No more drug-free zones in New Jersey?

In 2005, the New Jersey Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing found that 96 percent of all those in prison for school-zone offenses were black or Hispanic, and recommended that the zones be reduced to 200 feet and that the penalties within those smaller zones be increased. [...]

In October, Gov. Jon S. Corzine asked another panel to look at the earlier commission’s findings again. This time all 21 of the state’s prosecutors, as well as the attorney general, endorsed the proposals, and also recommended expanding the state’s drug court program, which emphasizes treatment over prison. “The current school zone law does not effectively deter drug activities in urban centers and the legislative purpose — to create a safe haven for children around schools — is thwarted,” the report said. But again the proposal has stalled in the Legislature.

I'll be borrowing a page from the drug war, and effective immediately I will declare a vagina-free zone within 3 feet of my penis and testicles. If the success of drug-free zones is any indication, I'll be laid by lunch.

Full article here.

Meth Use in Europe Grows

The drug of choice in the American heartland is now all the rage in Europe. Meth's seemingly ubiquitous presence as the media's drug of choice continues with this story from the New York Times.

Authorities estimate that the rise of meth use coincides with growing cocaine prices. Meth use is being outpaced by coke's expansion, but European officials hope to control the supply before it demand gets worse. This tactic hasn't worked yet, but I suppose its worth a try.

Barry* Bonds* Indicted

I wish this shit would just go away.

I think Barry is a whiny prick, so I don't really feel any sympathy for him in general. But his reputation is already ruined. His name will be attached to the steroid controversy for at least 100 years. There has been much debate about whether or not to include an asterisk next to Bonds's name in the record books, but in reality the asterisk has already been affixed to his reputation.

But it looks like the government wants the last word.

And in a strictly by-the-book kind of way, the charges are appropriate. Bonds may very well have lied to the feds during an investigation, which is indeed grounds for "obstruction of justice" charges.

However, the original investigation four years ago was bullshit to begin with. If the MLB finds steroids a big enough problem, they are free to require testing (pending a battle with the players' union, of course). But except for the completely unreasonable and unconstitutional Drug War, there is no justification for the feds to be involved.

Whether the actual charges are valid or not, the feds are beating a dead horse here.

Then again, when Congress and its subcommittees operate under the rules quoted in this letter [pdf] from Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), I shouldn't be surprised.

I Was Saying....

Jay Hancock in the Baltimore Sun:

There is a way to stop Baltimore's murder epidemic. Improve Baltimore's schools. Revive Baltimore's neighborhoods. And it doesn't involve more police, higher taxes or longer prison sentences.

Instead, it requires restructuring what is possibly the city's biggest industry.

Legalize heroin and cocaine sales, and you erase the economic force behind Baltimore's heartache [...]

No single change in policy would lead to so many good outcomes. Neighbors could take back neighborhoods. Housing values and the tax base would rise. Arrests and incarceration would plummet.

Billions blown on the drug wars and prisons could be spent instead on tax cuts and schools - and drug treatment and drug education. With no narcotics lords as role models, more city kids might pay attention to schoolwork. With less city violence, more companies might move in to employ them [...]

Of course no politician with a chance of getting elected is talking about this. Former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke was ridiculed for broaching the idea in the 1990s. A. Robert Kaufman, the Socialist candidate in yesterday's mayoral election, has long supported legalization. He probably got less than 1 percent of the vote. Presidential candidates Ron Paul (a libertarian Republican), Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich (Democrats), all skeptical of the war on drugs, are likely to do about as well.

Good, it's nice to see this in print at the Sun. More of it please.

Full article here. Reader reaction, mostly positive, here.

Amsterdam is so Last Year

According to the New York Times, the Afghan province of Balkh is the new 'it' location for cannabis. The province made the switch from opium to marijuana mainly because it is easier and more profitable for farmers to grow. Well at least is not heroin. This article also features a super special bonus surprise of an original New York Times video for those of you who are to lazy to read.

Read

Jacob Sullum's post.

and..

This guy's post on Afghanistan.

Cocaine Use Soars in Europe

European officials are attempting to stem the rise of cocaine use in Spain and Britain particularly. Studies indicate that 10 million people or 3% of the population in Europe have used the drug. Authorities are stepping up efforts to apprehend smugglers, but new routes are always being explored. The newest hot spot is West Africa NPR reports.

This story mainly regurgitates old news of coke being an acceptable party drug of the upper-class. Its depressing, but is the news media really that slow?

Drug War Draft

Ditto what Nick Gillespie said.Via Tom Angell at SSDP. Whole SSDP presss release here.

Weekend International Links

In attempt to broaden the appeal of To The People I have decided to post a story from the erudite USA Today. It looks as if President Musharraf will retain power in Pakistan pending final election results and a Supreme Court ruling.

China becomes the land of opportunity for Chadian citizens to dream about. The Washington Post

German Chancellor Merkel endorses 2010 World Cup preparations in South Africa. The Mail & Guardian

The Orange Bloc, lead by minx Yulia Tymoshenko, has gained control of the Ukrainian Parliament. The BBC

Mexican authorities seized 10 Tons of cocaine in Tampico. The LA Times

Ron Paul

So I'm lazy. Comes as no surprise to the handful of readers that would like to see more than 3 new posts a day, but at least I'll admit that I'm lazy. I'm so lazy that I missed Ron Paul speaking on the Drug War, death penalty, and other criminal justice issues at the last GOP Candidate-less Forum. In Baltimore. Where I live. I think I may have had to actually try not to watch it. We are talking like a full week after the fact, and I'm just now catching the video. Luckily for the blogosphere we have guys who actually pound out posts that are full of information, facts and passion. And not horse on man passion. We have plenty of that here. Facts are harder to come by at TtP, but we do occasionaly make some shit up that sounds awfully convincing. Does that count?

Mexico’s Domestic Drug Market

In Mexico, drug use is usually relegated to cheaper substances like crack and meth. This is not a surprise for developing nation with high levels of economic inequality. An article in the New York Times mentions that violent crime didn’t exist 15 years ago when the local market just had marijuana.

One positive is that Mexico is home to a growing industry of private rehab clinics. It is obvious that for this industry to really take off Mexico requires further development of its film industry.

It's Not a War on Pot...

It just looks that way. Shreveport Times:

MANSFIELD — Fifty vehicles stopped on various traffic violations Friday on Interstate 49 yielded 16 arrests on various drug offenses and 46 traffic violations, DeSoto Parish Sheriff Rodney Arbuckle said Monday in a news release.

The Tri-Parish Drug Task Force, DeSoto and Red River sheriff's deputies conducted the criminal interdiction detail using the drug-sniffing dogs assigned to the task force. Motorists were stopped for a variety of traffic violations and searches were conducted with the drivers' consent after the drug dogs alerted to the possible presence of drugs

"Various drug offenses"...I'll clue you in. They were all charged with marijuana possession (or intent to distribute), or paraphernalia. One guy also had some pills, but all 16 were charged with possession. A microcosm of the larger War on Drugs. Take a look.

And what's not to love about a tactic that involves pulling people over for tossing a cigarette butt out their car window, only so you can have your drug dog do some sniffing. Seems kosher, right?

Harvesting Time

It's that time year -- harvesting for some, eradication for others. Lots of articles floating around about futile eradication efforts, what this year's crops look like, etc...Good article yesterday in the USA Today, covering such eradication efforts in Kentucky (the nation's #2 producer behind California), and the ingrained culture of growing in Appalachian country. Story is a pretty fair portrayal, and I'd give the whole thing a read if I were you, but I'll excerpt the last quote of the article from a Kentucky State Police Lieutenant. It's an awfully telling statement of how everyone on both sides of the drug issue knows -- or should know -- that large scale enforcement and interdiction is useless. Especially when we are talking about an artificially high-priced weed that can, and would grow just about everywhere. [emphasis mine]

Shemelya says he believes that marijuana would be on every hillside in Eastern Kentucky if his unit didn't keep it in check.

"You're never going to stop people from growing marijuana," he says. "But the idea is to make it so dad-gummed hard to grow they go to Tennessee or somewhere else."

Right. Thanks for making our point. Full article here.

The New Hot Spot for Pot…Parks

In California there is an increasing amount of marijuana being grown in parks. Park rangers now spend a great deal of time hunting these pot preserves down and destroying them. California ranks as the number one producer of pot in the US and data from the Justice Department indicates that $6.7 billion worth of the crop were eradicated in 2006. This Californian practice, the BBC reports, is thought to be spreading across the continent.

America Running Out of Continents to Fuck Up -- Antarctica said to be On Alert

Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos met with the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle yesterday, and presented a side of the US drug war that anti-prohibitionist know all too well. Unfortunately he wasn't in Houston to tell us to legalize the stuff already and get off his country's back. More like -- "We've co-operated with you and done everything you've asked, please pass a free-trade agreement....Oh, and keep those billions in aid flowing too."

Some excerpts: [emphasis mine]

The drug cartels are looking to Peru, Bolivia and other countries to expand their coca crops, he said, and Mexico, now home to the world's most powerful cartels, had better fortify itself.

"You need to be tough, really tough, because they are tough criminals and the business is so big that they will try to fight it out to the end," Santos said.

[...]

Santos held out his country's efforts to extradite drug traffickers to the United States and spray poison on crops as evidence of its policies, but conceded it has not had much success in reducing the supply — a problem many say is caused by the United States remaining the world's biggest cocaine market.

John Walsh, a senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights and foreign policy monitoring organization, said that although the amount of Colombian cocaine has not dropped, the Bogota government is doing more than any other country to eradicate coca crops.

That anyone can see the results of our own domestic drug policy both at home and on the world stage, and not concede that what we are doing is failing miserably is serious cause for concern. Full article here.

Richard Paey Pardoned

DAYTONA BEACH -- A victim in the war on drugs, Richard Paey was just wheeled out of prison by a guard, a free man for the first time in 3 ½ years thanks to an immediate and unexpected pardon by Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet this morning.

Via The Agitator. As Radley says, wonderful news. Full article here.

Didn't We Do the Same Thing?

Public service announcement in the Khaleej Times, the English, Dubai paper. I agree it's pretty tasteless...Although I seem to remember our government did a similar thing last year. Wait...now that I've gone back to check my previous post from last January, I see they did exactly the same thing. Just swap out tobacco for illicit drugs, and you have a DEA ad from '06.

Violence? In Columbia? Drug Lords Adapting to Aggressive Policing?

Shocking news, all of it...AP did a story over the weekend re-capping the effects of arrested kingpin Montoya, and the current situation in the Colombian drug underworld. Worth a read.

The drug trade has become increasingly compartmentalized — the era of vertically run cartels that controlled everything from the coca plant to U.S.-bound planes and speedboats ended a decade ago — and authorities doubt any would-be cartel leader can maintain the 250-strong private army and intelligence network that helped Montoya evade capture for so long.

Your Feel Good, Anti-Drug War News of the Week

Baltimore City Councilman, Jack Young looks to formalize his criticism of the war on Drugs. Good stuff:

On Monday, Young said he will introduce a resolution seeking a hearing — with testimony from the Baltimore Police Department and the city Health Department — to open a dialogue on what he said is a failed strategy against illegal drugs.

[...]

In August, Young floated the idea of decriminalizing drugs at a City Council meeting, but has now decided to formalize his proposal after receiving a commitment to testify at the hearing from an organization called Law Enforcement Officers Against prohibition.

[...]

Among Young’s rhetoric is at least one specific proposal: to make possession of small amounts of marijuana punishable with only a citation, an idea that may end up on a future ballot as part of a citywide referendum, he said.

Read the whole thing.

Hell, This Has To Be One Of The Worst Op-Eds Ever Written

This one by Colonel David Hunt, via FoxNews.com, I mean... In case you plan on reading the entire article, take an aspirin and a few quick shots of whiskey first.

For the sake of discussion, I'll breeze quickly past the poor writing style - such as calling President Karzai a "cute little guy who wears a cape and a hat" and starting 10% of his sentences with "Hell,..."

The first three paragraphs are reasonably accurate, minus the oddly placed immigration reference at the end (and maybe the claim that the US has "owned Afghanistan for five years"). In fact, the article starts much like most pro-drug war articles start: with facts that support ending the drug war.

And then, the paragraph:

The United States of America is sadly the largest user of raw opium — you may
know it as heroin. My friends, you cannot make this up … you see, truth is stranger and always more shocking than fiction. What else is stranger than fiction is how easy it would be to destroy the stuff. These fields are miles and miles long and wide. We should bomb them, blow them up, set up an artillery and motor training range and blow the opium off the planet. It is true that it’s the only product Afghanistan farmers export. Between us and Europe, we surely can come up with another product that this poor country can export. We can also pay them for their opium that we will destroy for a few years, and, of course, while we are getting them to use another product that does not kill people. [How about marijuana, then??]

All emphasis and bracketed comments mine.

Wow... WOW... In this one paragraph, Hunt advocates not only spraying but bombing opium fields. He claims that the US and Europe should be able to dictate what crops poor Afghan farmers can grow. And finally, he advocates extending the oh-so-successful "pay to not produce shit" farm subsidies to a foreign country.

I could quote some more from the final paragraphs of the article, but there's really no need. It doesn't make any fucking sense. To summarize, Hunt goes on to scold you for not caring enough about bin Laden's most recent video and then the grand finale (ok, I just have to give in and quote one more time):

...with the sheer amount of opium present, the massive size of the problem will get your attention and maybe, just maybe, you might put down the beer, or even better, take the half full one and throw it at the TV and then write your congressman, senator or even the president and say, “Enough is enough, this is the greatest damn country in the world, how about we act like it?

My head hurts.

Talk About Missing the Point

Case study: What happens when you allow a philosophy professor from an art institute write about domestic and international drug policy. From Counterpunch:

[...]Baltimore- and Newark, Detroit, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Washington D.C., and so many other impoverished urban centers- is the front line of a very real, very bloody Drug War, with cocaine and heroin taking center stage.

[...]

[...]For almost two decades, however, and continuing through today, the Taliban has been at the root of very real blood spilt on American streets.

There is no mystery or confusion surrounding the Taliban's link to our urban drug war, and the American lives it costs. The Taliban encourages heroin production, offers the industry government protection, and arranges the export of this elicit substance. The Taliban is in cahoots with global drug traders, sending the stuff on its way to Baltimore's dealers and addicts. In short, the Taliban is clearly a drug regime, responsible for sowing social mayhem worldwide.

[...]

On American shores, the murders of the drug trade are only its most obvious mark of destruction. In truth, the social devastation it has inflicted runs deep: lives ruined by heroin addiction, both physically and psychologically; families ripped apart by resident addicts; entire neighborhoods rendered unlivable by drug violence.

Read the whole piece -- correct me if I'm wrong -- but this is clearly way off mark in every way possible. First, the Taliban has not been responsible for a narcostate for decades. It's common knowledge that poppy production was controlled quite effectively when they were in charge of the shit-hole dust bowl known as Afghanistan. Her misstated facts aside; I take real offense with the suggestion that heroin and cocaine are the trouble makers for our urban centers -- or that farmers in Afghanistan or Columbia are to blame for the downward spiral that American cities like Baltimore are experiencing. It's not just the drugs, it's the illicit nature of the drugs. Let's put the blame where the blame is deserved. Why is this such a hard point to understand?

What about the lives ruined by criminalizing an entire section of our society? What about the families split up by prison stays and drug trade murders? What about the legitimate jobs that might give some in our inner-cities a chance that are unattainable because of criminal records?

My larger point --and boy do I bore everyone to sleep with it -- is that this is a problem of our own making. We might be victims, but only victims of a failed policy of prohibition. It's not that we are a 'nation of addicts' as this d-bag claims, or that we need to seal our borders to stop the flow of drugs from coming in...No, its the destructive policy of pushing an entire commercial network underground and out of legitimacy. Sure problems come from drug abuse, no one ever claims otherwise. But to claim that violence is a superficial injury from the Drug War, or just shrugging off the millions of people that we send to prison as nothing is foolish and missing the broader point in regards to the failure of the War on Drugs.

A much better Drug War op-ed from the Seattle Times, here.

Beats Getting Raped in an US Prison

If this is considered 'barbaric' treatment of drug offenders, what do you call what we do to them in our country?

In a scene reminiscent of the 1970s, when the Provisional IRA regularly meted out this savage treatment in areas where it held sway, the loyalist Ulster Defence Association is suspected of leaving the victim tied to a lamppost in a street in South Belfast.

[...]

After tar was poured on the man's head, feathers were emptied over him and a placard was hung around his neck claiming the victim, said to be a local man in his 30s, was a drug dealer.

It read: "I'm a drug dealing scumbag."

[...]

Police and politicians called the incident "barbaric".

The UDA denied involvement, but Alban Maginness, a nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party Assembly member, said: "It is quite clear that it was an element of the UDA that was responsible for this.

"These things are not done spontaneously by the community."

Here in the US we have no problem at all, in revoking one's freedom by throwing them in a tiny cell surrounded by violent criminals like rapist and murderers for not just dealing but also prossession. Once in jail they are at the mercy of these thugs, and are often raped and/or beaten. But hey, who cares? They did break the law after all.

UN Reports Stagnation in the Global Drug Trade

Akira Fujino, the East Asia representative for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, notes a large drop of poppy cultivation in the Golden Triangle. This decrease of roughly 128,000 hectares offsets recent growth in Afghanistan reports Reuters. It is also worth taking a look at the executive summary of the 2007 annual report on Trends in World Drug Markets by the UN. One indicator used is the amount of drugs apprehended by authorities, noting an 8% reduction in heroine heroin seized. Interestingly, they don’t consider that the mind expanding properties of heroine heroin aren’t contributing directly to drug runners devising more ingenious methods to elude authorities.

Yeah Fattie, How 'Bout You Lose a Little Weight?

Via The Agitator, Retro-Ron Paul, anti-Drug War video from the '80's. I certainly second Radley's wish about Paul's campaign. I've been tremendously dissapointed with the lack of discussion from him on drug policy.

Iraq, Gaza, and Now New Mexico--Victims of Democracy

From the Drug Czar's blog:

For years, marijuana legalization groups have worked to bypass the Supreme Court's decision, the FDA's official Interagency Advisory, and Federal law regarding medical marijuana. Symbolic medical marijuana laws which have been passed in some U.S. states have given too many citizens the false impression that growing and distributing marijuana is safe and legal. Now, New Mexico is the latest state to become victimized by the confusion generated by these state laws.

They link out to this article, in case you want to read it.

What's truly great is the next section:

State-based medical marijuana laws simply do not work. Consider this:

Huh? Well, yeah. Because you guys don't let them work. If someone somewhere in the federal government decided to give federalism a go again, then maybe state based decision making (whatever happened to the whole states are the laboratories of democracy thing?) could work. Until then, not so much.

They go on to make earth-shattering points about why the laws don't work. Like, Medical marijuana laws lead to drug-related violence. Or my favorite, Medical marijuana laws protect drug dealers. Brilliant! How do you not like that one? Sometimes when I'm reading the ONDCP's blog, I get that, "Hey, they're struggling to come up with content too!" feeling. What kills me is that TtP's operating budget is coming in at a few billion below the ONDCP's. Really, it is. We hide it well, but right now I'm typing this post on a typewriter with no keys.

Related stopthedrugwar.com Drug War Chronicle article here.

War on Terror No Match for War on Drugs

From Sunday's Washington Post:

Thirty-six years and hundreds of billions of dollars after President Richard M. Nixon launched the war on drugs, consumers worldwide are taking more narcotics and criminals are making fatter profits than ever before. The syndicates that control narcotics production and distribution reap the profits from an annual turnover of $400 billion to $500 billion.

[...]

The trade in illegal narcotics begets violence, poverty and tragedy. And wherever I went around the world, gangsters, cops, victims, academics and politicians delivered the same message: The war on drugs is the underlying cause of the misery. Everywhere, that is, except Washington, where a powerful bipartisan consensus has turned the issue into a political third rail.

[...]


In Washington, the war on drugs has been a third-rail issue since its inauguration. It's obvious why -- telling people that their kids can do drugs is the kiss of death at the ballot box. But that was before 9/11. Now the drug war is undermining Western security throughout the world. In one particularly revealing conversation, a senior official at the British Foreign Office told me, "I often think we will look back at the War on Drugs in a hundred years' time and tell the tale of 'The Emperor's New Clothes.' This is so stupid."

Read the whole thing.

New Study: Marijuana is a "Wonder Drug"

From a Boston Globe op-ed today:

A new study in the journal Neurology is being hailed as unassailable proof that marijuana is a valuable medicine. It is a sad commentary on the state of modern medicine -- and US drug policy -- that we still need "proof" of something that medicine has known for 5,000 years.

The study, from the University of California at San Francisco, found smoked marijuana to be effective at relieving the extreme pain of a debilitating condition known as peripheral neuropathy. It was a study of HIV patients, but a similar type of pain caused by damage to nerves afflicts people with many other illnesses including diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Neuropathic pain is notoriously resistant to treatment with conventional pain drugs. Even powerful and addictive narcotics like morphine and OxyContin often provide little relief. This study leaves no doubt that marijuana can safely ease this type of pain.

As all marijuana research in the United States must be, the new study was conducted with government-supplied marijuana of notoriously poor quality. So it probably underestimated the potential benefit.

In this context, US drug policy seems not only idiotic but cruel.

Bush: Anti-Drug War Crusader???

No. No way. Not yet anyway.

But according to an article by Don Boudreaux, the reasons for both the passage and the repeal of alcohol prohibition in the early 20th century were related to government revenues.

To summarize, it was the recent introduction of the federal income tax that made liquor taxes no longer crucial for bringing in government revenue. Subsequently, during the Depression, when incomes fell sharply and government spending exploded, the government became hungry for that revenue source once again.

So, since federal spending has again exploded under the Bush administration, could this mean that the government might realize the need for tax revenue on drugs to cover the expenses of the Iraq war and Medicare Part D (among others)?

I'm not so optimistic yet. But please excuse me for trying to find some speck of good in this disastrous administration (and disastrous Congress, too, of course).