Drug WarRant

A sea change? Lake Zurich District 95 hears a big no on drug testing

A proposal to subject Lake Zurich High School students to random drug testing met with overwhelming public opposition at a forum Wednesday night.

One after another, audience members told Lake Zurich Unit 95 board members and administrators they object to the testing plan, which would be limited to students in extracurricular activities such as sports or clubs or teens who drive to school. […]

Other attendees said it infringed on parental responsibilities.

“A drug-free environment should be the school’s job,” Karen Abry said. “Drug-free students should be a parent’s job.”

Wow.

Remind me why we have forfeiture laws again?

The former Romulus police chief, his wife and five Romulus officers were charged today with running a scheme in which drug forfeiture money was used to pay for prostitutes, marijuana and alcohol.
The charges are the culmination of a nearly three-year investigation by Michigan State Police into what Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy called “a culture of corruption and greed at its core.”

Marijuana study of traumatized veterans stuck in regulatory limbo

In April, the Food and Drug Administration approved a first-of-its kind study to test whether marijuana can ease the nightmares, insomnia, anxiety and flashbacks common in combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

But now another branch of the federal government has stymied the study. The Health and Human Services Department is refusing to sell government-grown marijuana to the nonprofit group proposing the research

More on this from Paul Armentano

Another episode of “Kids Say the Darndest Things, College Edition.” A first-year at Columbia writes Smoking Ignorance

Columbia students need to be aware that the very drug habits they see as recreational fund a war.

Um, no. Columbia students need to get politically active to stop the war. It is drug policy that funds the war.

It’s like saying “Young people need to stop having sex so we can do something about STDs.”

Ah, yes, because drug-free zones have worked so well… Pr. George’s seeks to create ‘prostitution-free zones’

The Prince George’s County Council is considering legislation that would create “prostitution-free zones” in the county, an effort police say could help eradicate prostitution from the county entirely.

Councilwoman Andrea Harrison, D-Bladensburg, introduced the bill, which would create areas similar in effect to drug-free zones near schools and playgrounds, she said.

The law apparently adds penalties for being caught congregating in a prostitution-free zone with the intent of engaging in a sex act. So be careful where you go on dates.

American marijuana growers could beat this war on drugs – interesting OpEd by Douglas Haddow

Clandestine grow-ops sown by industrial Americans could damage drug cartels more effectively than the US military

Buy American!

Anti-Drug Tsar Says, ‘Plant Cannabis’ – in Russia, the drug czar is suggesting that the country re-start a major hemp industry.

One of our readers will be on radio today debating a police officer on cannabis legalization (at 11 pm PDT). The debate will be downloadable here for the next week. You’ll need to understand the Estonian language, however.

Quick quiz… do you know where Estonia is? And did you now that it’s ranked #1 in the State of World Liberty Index as the most free country in the world?

Some things already discussed in comments, but worth a mention here…

Gary Johnson: Marijuana smokers may be ‘largest untapped voting bloc in the country’ at The Hill.

Pizza Delivery Guy Calls Cops on Customer For Smoking Pot — you might not want to patronize Papa John’s. There are plenty of other pizza places.

Montana objects to federal gun ban for medical marijuana users

Sheriff Wants Station To Stop Broadcasting Pot Raid Warnings

They’re also certifiably crazy.

So with states passing medical marijuana laws, it makes sense to have good controls over those who sell marijuana to make sure things are on the up and up.

Of course, that’s nearly impossible with the feds breathing down the states’ backs and interfering with any system of checks and balances that a state might want to implement.

But let’s say an individual dispensary want to try to do the right thing. So they pay federal taxes on their marijuana sales just like any other business.

Oakland –  A leading Oakland marijuana dispensary was hit with a $2.5 million tax bill this week, which may force its closure, dispensary staff said Tuesday.

Harborside Health Center owes the Internal Revenue Service back taxes for 2007 and 2008, based on a federal law prohibiting marijuana dispensaries – unlike other businesses – from deducting payroll, insurance, rent, workers’ compensation and other operating costs from its revenues.

So, what message does that send to dispensaries that want to do the right thing and pay income taxes, but aren’t completely loony?

Item 2. Dispensaries have tried to be good players by keeping business accounts in banks, where the money can be tracked, and, if there was any wrong-doing, an investigation could occur.

Denver — On Friday, the last bank in Colorado to openly work with the medical-marijuana industry — Colorado Springs State Bank — officially closed down the accounts of dispensaries and others in the state’s legal marijuana business over concerns about working with companies that are, by definition, breaking federal law. […]

That’s where the really big safe comes in.

The owner of the Colorado Springs dispensary [interviewed by the Post] — who didn’t want his name or the name of his business used for fear of attracting thieves — said he will have to stick money in there instead of depositing it into a bank account. He’s also planning to take a class this weekend to get a concealed-weapons permit, for protection outside the store.

Our federal government likes black markets so much that it goes out of its way to create them.

Prohibition’s real lessons for drug policy

America’s notoriously “failed social experiment” to rid the country of alcohol — took center stage this week as PBS broadcast Ken Burns’ highly acclaimed series on the subject. And already, it has been seized on by drug legalization advocates, who say it proves that drug prohibition should be abandoned.

But a closer look at what resulted from alcohol prohibition and its relevance to today’s anti-drug effort reveals a far more nuanced picture than the legalization lobby might like to admit.

It’s the standard pro-prohibition claptrap that downplays the enormous harms of prohibition while tossing out silver linings, and tries to claim that drug prohibition is significantly different from alcohol prohibition so it can work.

I got a laugh out of one of the commenters who appears eager to both support Sabet and stop us from reacting…

substancescholar at 4:27 AM October 5, 2011
This article is well informed and grounded in the facts. Once again Kevin Sabet presents a balanced and thought-out argument. Of course, the legalizers won’t like it, and they will organize another smear campaign against it.

On the other hand, I got a real kick out of the tweet from Transform drugs this morning about Sabet’s article:

Prohibition’s real lessons for drug policy, LAtimes: anti-reform piece so bad it makes the case for legalisation dlvr.it/pQ1Nf

Remember we were having a contest to see where Sabet would end up after leaving the Drug Czar’s office? Well, according to this article, he “currently is a consultant and a fellow at the Center for Substance Abuse Solutions at the University of Pennsylvania.”

I don’t think anyone guessed that, but we shouldn’t be too quick to settle the contest. I’m betting that he’s still in flux. The Center for Substance Abuse Solutions doesn’t really exist at the University of Pennsylvania in any of their directories or search engines except as a project in the bio of A. Thomas McLellan (former Deputy Director of the ONDCP), and Sabet is not yet listed in the U. of Penn faculty/staff directory. It’s possible that Tom McLellan lent him a title to use for publishing OpEds.

Finally, someone in the government is willing to speak up and state this glaring truth, potentially risking the displeasure of his boss…

If you think about the enormous changes that have been made in terms of people’s use of tobacco, for example, that wasn’t because they were arrested.

Exactly.

Boy, I sure wish President Obama heard that.

In his book “Eternal Battle Against Evil,” Paul R. Chabot calls for readers to join him in a never-ending jihad. I use that word because there’s no word in English that as effectively connotes the religious struggle (or holy war) described. And while within the Muslim world there are nuances of meaning to that term, there’s no doubt that Chabot’s struggle focuses on the militant form of jihad.

I am a Christian who believes that both God and Satan exists. I believe man is comprised of both good and evil. For humanity to survive, the good must promise eternal hostility against evil, for we have no other choice. The fight is often scary, bloody, and unknown. As I learned going through a law enforcement academy, one must never, ever, ever give up! If you give up, it’s the end! The bad guys win! (p. xxi)

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Rapid City, South Dakota

Red Ribbon Week in Rapid City starts Monday. It kicked off in the afternoon at Dinosaur Hill.

Students and other officials pledged to be drug free.

Also, they tied a large red ribbon around the dinosaur’s neck.

I guess the message is, “Hey, you may be extinct, but at least you’re drug free!”

They have other activities as well, including the strange-sounding “look up and be drug free flyover.”

The letter was from U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen who wrote about marijuana policy and suggesting that marijuana should be removed from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act.

Kerlikowske responded with the usual nonsense. Rep. Cohen could probably use the help of some of you in comments, where some of the constituents seem to be ridiuling the Congressman for caring about this issue.

I always find it bizarre when people (with a straight face, no less) try to explain that marijuana should be kept illegal because it’s only about getting high, and alcohol is different because people drink that for the taste of it.

I wonder what those people make of the ubiquitous Corona Extra commercials…
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I didn’t get a chance to watch the first installment today (it continues over the next two days, I believe). Any reactions?

It really is sad when those with a public platform are so irrationally opposed to discussions of legalization, that they go out of their way to attempt to downplay the importance of drug revenue to Mexican trafficking organizations and the impact of legalization (see Daksya’s comment there for an important correction to Humphreys) or, on the other hand, to suggest that drug testing those on parole or probation would reduce revenue to the drug traffickers by as much as 40%.