Drug WarRant

Matt Taibbi has a great piece about the lack of drama in the Obama-Romney race for the Presidency.

But this campaign, relatively speaking, will not be fierce or hotly contested. Instead it’ll be disappointing, embarrassing, and over very quickly, like a hand job in a Bangkok bathhouse. And everybody knows it. It’s just impossible to take Mitt Romney seriously as a presidential candidate. Even the news reporters who are paid to drum up dramatic undertones are having a hard time selling Romney as half of a titanic title bout. […]

In other words, Obama versus McCain actually felt like a clash of ideological opposites. But Obama and Romney feels like a contest between two calculating centrists, fighting for the right to serve as figurehead atop a bloated state apparatus that will operate according to the same demented imperial logic irrespective of who wins the White House. […]

Then there’s one more thing – Obama versus Romney is the worst reality show on TV since the Tila Tequila days. The characters are terrible, there’s no suspense, and the biggest thing is, it lacks both spontaneity and a gross-out factor. […]

When the presidential race is a bad show, people might not have any choice but to pay attention to those other things. And this year’s version is the worst show in memory. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Sounds right to me, and it’s an opportunity for us. The lack of excitement in the big show means that anything that Ron Paul is able to do in the Republican Convention is huge news, helping to point out a very real contrast between him and Obama/Romney in areas like drug policy.

It also opens up the possibility of greater visibility for the Johnson-Gray ticket as the media looks for something to talk about.

Latest tweet from NIDA News, which presents itself as a leader in science-based efforts in drug policy.

National @RecoveryMonth is coming up in September – learn more from @SAMHSAgov about substance use treatment: 1.usa.gov/2EptfH

Substance use treatment?

So the vote in the House was 163 in favor and 262 opposed for the Rohrabacher and Hinchey amendment that would have prevented the DOJ from expending any funds for the purpose of interfering with state medical marijuana operations.

A similar bill in 2006 lost 163 to 259.

In 2005, it was 162 to 264.

In 2003, it was 152 to 273.

… or are the police merely less well-trained?

One of the many atrocities covered by Radley Balko is “Puppycides” – the killing of dogs by police (usually dogs who were friendly family pets). In pretty much every case, the officer’s actions are considered “justified” because he or she was “threatened.” (See the bottom of Balko’s latest puppycide post for a guide to threatening dog behavior.)

If these dogs in people’s yards are so dangerous, what about meter readers, mail carriers, and other professionals who have to regularly approach houses as part of their job? We don’t even issue them weapons! Why aren’t we daily hearing about gas company employees being mauled to death by family pets?

Do they have some secret? Are they made of tougher stuff?

I spent a couple of years working for a company that delivered coupons and shoppers door-to-door. In order to be efficient, you couldn’t go back out to the sidewalk each time – you cut across the lawn to the next house. Oftentimes I’d reach the corner of the house and suddenly find myself face-to-face with a guard dog that had another 20 feet of chain. I never shot a single dog, nor did a single dog bite me.

I figured out how to negotiate with threatening dogs (without killing them) all on my own.

Maybe the police should receive some training that doesn’t involve pulling out a gun if Daisy barks.

From the wonderful folks at The Onion…

Nation’s Moms Invent New Recreational Drug To Worry About

DENVER—A new illicit drug that is incredibly cheap, highly addictive, and extremely easy to produce is appearing in school yards across the country, the fevered imaginations of the nation’s mothers who need something to fret over confirmed today.

The totally contrived drug that in no way exists in any objective reality and is only real in the minds of mothers is known by its street name, “scramp,” and according to moms who previously did not have enough actual things to worry about, a batch can be made from everyday household supplies such as sugar, window cleaner, and petroleum jelly.

Wait ’til they hear about Dihydrogen Monoxide.

The Drug Czar: “We should examine our … failures forthrightly, and we should adjust our approach as necessary”

The drug czar’s office continues to tout its so-called “third way” of drug policy, rejecting the lock-em-up approach on one side and the extreme legalization approach on the other side.

The truth is that there is no “third way” — the ONDCP is merely trying to avoid taking the blame for the drug war destruction they cause.

The drug czar’s office claims that in the 2013 budget, demand reduction is funded at a higher level than domestic law enforcement. Sure it is. By a very small amount. But that was true way back in 2005 (and has been every year since then).

To be bragging that the feds are spending less on domestic law enforcement than demand reduction is pretty weak, especially since domestic law enforcement is supposed to be the purview of the states (and the states also spend enormous amounts on domestic law enforcement).

If you take a look at total supply reduction efforts (including international interdiction, etc.), it’s very clear that the third way is merely more of the same.

In 2005, the supply reduction portion of the budget was $11,473,400,000 (56.8% of the budget). For the 2013 request, it’s $15,061,000,000 (58.8% of the budget). Note: in 2003, the government simply stopped including many of the DOJ costs of incarcerating federal drug prisoners in their budget numbers, or those supply-side figures would be even higher.

That’s right. The failed supply-side approach to drug policy has increased both in terms of actual dollars and percentage of total budget.

The third way is a sham – a flim-flam game by charlatans who know that the drug war is a failure, but due to self-interest are unwilling to discuss true alternatives honestly. So instead, they hawk their Third Way Tonic to cure all your drug war ills and hope that you’re dumb enough to buy it.

Marijuana driving limits die on Colorado House floor

It was expected to pass.

A bill making it easier to convict people of driving high on marijuana was among the more than two dozen bills sacrificed in the Colorado House Tuesday night during a gridlocked debate over civil unions.

The 5 nanogram limit would have been better than what we have in Illinois (0), but it still would have been based on fear rather than science.

The Drug Czar’s office has been kicking up a storm of fear about drivers high on marijuana without doing the science to determine the level of danger and any real measure of impairment. As far as I can tell, the 5 nanogram limit was a rather arbitrary amount.

What this means is that prosecutors must continue to prove impairment on a case-by-case basis.

And what’s wrong with that?

Action Alert: Stop the Department of Justice from using funds to crack down on medical marijuana

AMENDMENT TO H.R. 5326, AS REPORTED
OFFERED BY MR. ROHRABACHER OF CALIFORNIA
At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert
the following:

1 SEC. ll. None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the States of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.

Good news in Illinois. Federal appeals court bans enforcement of Illinois eavesdropping law

Why Obama got touch on medical marijuana: 3 theories — None of these three theories actually nails it, in my opinion.

Arrested, Jailed for a Legitimate Pain Script at The Agitator.

Terrance Huff Files Lawsuit Against Illinois Police Officer Michael Reichert Over ‘Trekkie Traffic Stop’ by Radley Balko at Huffington Post

Alcohol Prohibition Not Helping Native Americans Deal With Harms of Alcohol by Tony Newman

34 National and State Organizations Send Sign on Letter to Administration Regarding Enforcement of Federal Marijuana Laws

Dear President Obama:
We, the 18 national and 16 state organizations below are writing to commend your Administration for its efforts to enforce federal drug laws, and strongly urge you to reject any calls to revise the United States’ policy on illegal drugs that would legalize marijuana or other illicit drugs. We urge your Administration to remain steadfast in its efforts to enforce Federal drug laws in states that allow “medical marijuana” and to reject any calls for outright legalization of marijuana and other drugs anywhere in the United States.

The supporters, of course, include a lot of the major drug war profiteers, such as National Sheriff’s Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Troopers Coalition, National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition, along with the major funded (some by government) anti-drug orgs like Drug Free America Foundation, The Partnership at Drugfree.org, CADCA, etc, and weirdo groups like Save Our Society from Drugs, plus, oddly, 5 groups from Arizona.

I hope the President is happy with his core supporters.