Odds and Ends

“bullet” I had been meaning to get around to talking about James Q. “Broken Windows” Wilson’s guest blogging stint at Volokh. It was a horrible series of posts (fortunately thoroughly ridiculed by the commenters) basically making the point that are high incarceration rate might not be such a bad thing — with bizarre notions thrown in that we might get more value from prisons than universities, and that the cost of incarcerating someone for a year is cheaper than the cost of the crimes they would commit if they were out (a really nonsensical concept when discussing drug offenses or other consensual “crimes”).
But Alex at Drug Law Blog had already taken him on, so I’ll let you go there to read more.
“bullet” Canadian jury acquits Basil Parasiris of murder of a police officer. Judge and media note that armed drug raids should not be used lightly.

Laval police conducted the raid in the belief that Parasiris was involved in a local drug ring. Unfortunately, as Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer ruled, there was little proof to back this belief, certainly not enough for a search warrant to be executed in a surprise, pre-dawn raid. Such a raid should be carried out only in an emergency.

“bullet” Legalization would end drug war in Mexico, world — by Richard Mack.
“bullet” Senator Jim Webb to hold hearing on Thursday examing economic impact of U.S. Drug Policy. Current witness list:

• Peter Reuter, School of Public Policy and Dept. of Criminology, University of Maryland
• Anne Swern, First Assistant District Attorney, Kings County, Brooklyn, New York
• Norma Fernandes, Community Coordinator, Kings County District Attorney’s Office
• John Walsh, Senior Associate for Drug Policy, Washington Office on Latin America

“bullet” I forgot to mention this important one when it came out last week… Canada: Addicts become stable on prescribed heroin. No kidding. I’ve been saying that for years (and we’ve had the proof from Switzerland for years). This should be a no-brainer, folks, yet governments avoid it like the plague.
“bullet” Irish Criminologist Paul O’Mahony has written a book “The Irish War on Drugs, the Seductive Folly of Prohibition.” In it, he says that the war on drugs has “failed catastrophically” and that drugs should be legalized because there is a “human right” to use them.
“bullet” An intern without any facts tries to dispell misconceptions about marijuana. Stupidity ensues.
“bullet” Sometimes we reform activists just get fed up

A drug-law reform activist spent a night in jail after hurling abuse at cops in an attempt to stop them from collaring pot-smokers outside his Greenwich Village home, police said.
As undercover cops nabbed the two dopers Thursday night, Randy Credico allegedly burst from his Gay Street home and screamed, “You guys are really solving murders out here? Why don’t you guys get a life! F- – – you all! You can’t tell me what to do!”