Drug WarRant

Sorry for the neglect, folks. I’ve been busy doing tech rehearsals for my show that opens in Chicago on Friday. I’ll give you more details on that, along with some additional postings tonight.

In the meantime, this is an open thread.

Big news, so far apparently not reported in U.S. media

Bolivia abandona la convención de la ONU contra las drogas

La Paz, 22 jun (EFE).- El Congreso boliviano aprobó hoy, a petición del presidente Evo Morales, la denuncia de la convención de la ONU contra los estupefacientes de 1961, como protesta porque el organismo no ha despenalizado el masticado de la hoja de coca.

La Cámara de Diputados, controlada por el oficialismo, ratificó en primera y segunda instancia la ley de abandono de la convención, tras leer una carta de Morales, líder de sindicatos de cultivadores de coca, base para la producción de cocaína, y escuchar explicaciones del canciller, David Choquehuanca.

“La convención del 1961 prohíbe el acullicu (masticado de coca). Si nosotros no hacemos esta denuncia, nuestros hermanos no van a poder ejercer esta práctica ancestral”, dijo Choquehuanca.

Google’s imperfect, but useful translation:

La Paz, June 22 (EFE) .- Bolivian Congress today approved the request of President Evo Morales, the denunciation of the UN convention against drugs in 1961, as a protest because the agency has not decriminalized chewed leaf coca.

The Chamber of Deputies, controlled by the ruling, upheld on first and second instance the law leaving the convention, after reading a letter from Morales, leader of coca growers unions, the basis for cocaine production, and listen to explanations Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca.

“The convention of 1961 prohibits acullicu (coca chewing). If we do not make this claim, our brothers will not be able to practice this ancient practice,” said Choquehuanca. […]

… the chief deputies, Edwin Tupa, defended the move, noting that defends “the dignity of Bolivians” and “the sacred leaf.”

He added that critics of the measure are in favor of “Empire (USA), which unfortunately wants to continue as a narcotic to the coca leaf.”

Update: Apparently still needs Senate approval.

The Justice Policy Institute has released a new report: Gaming the System: How the Political Strategies of Private Prison Companies Promote Ineffective Incarceration Policies

It’s clear that the prison industry sees the drug war as something important to their bottom line.

“The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them. Legislation has been proposed in numerous jurisdictions that could lower minimum sentences for some non-violent crimes and make more inmates eligible for early release based on good behavior.” – CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA 2010 ANNUAL REPORT

Krokodil

Russia has had some of the worst drug policies, pushing for abstinence over any kind of harm reduction programs. This is what you get.

A date to fill sane people with fear.

Sunday, 26 June, is the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is leading a global campaign to raise awareness about the major challenges that illicit drugs represent to society as a whole, and especially to the young. The goal of the campaign is to mobilize support and inspire people to act against drug use.

“Inspire people to act against drug use.” Chilling. Especially considering the tendency for some countries to use this date to execute drug offenders.

Efficient

During the first five months of this year, China’s courts heard 25,986 cases involving drugs and convicted 24,815 criminals.

A 95% conviction rate.

Drug War Creates Distrust Between Cops and Communities by Leigh Maddox (retired Captain, Maryland State Police).

The 40-year-old “war on drugs” and the criminalization of addiction have placed communities at odds with law enforcement, prosecutors and courts — to the detriment of justice and respect for the rule of law. The violence driven by the astronomical profits of the illicit drug market and the life-long collateral consequences for those snared by drug laws will continue to exile generations from the mainstream.

It might be surprising to hear this from a cop like me, but the solution to our current human rights crisis will ultimately require the legalization and regulation of current illicit drugs.

If the Law’s Unfit, You Must Acquit

Cool new illustrated guide to jury nullification by Ricardo Cortés. Downloadable for free: Jury Independence Illustrated

Via press release from the Drug Policy Alliance

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) will introduce bi-partisan legislation tomorrow, June 23, ending the federal war on marijuana and letting states legalize, regulate, tax, and control marijuana without federal interference. Other co-sponsors include Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). The legislation would limit the federal government’s role in marijuana enforcement to cross-border or inter-state smuggling, allowing people to legally grow, use or sell marijuana in states where it is legal. The legislation is the first bill ever introduced in Congress to end federal marijuana prohibition.

Leading critics of the war on marijuana will explain its significance for state and national marijuana policy at a national tele-press conference on Thursday.

Sounds like the bill is attempting to do what the Constitution theoretically already did: limit the federal role to the regulation of interstate commerce.

There are a number of GOP candidates who are talking about getting the federal government out of state roles (education, etc.). Wonder how quick they’ll be to support this (other than Paul and Johnson, of course).

The tortured analogy is a device used by the ignorant (or those preaching to the ignorant) usually in an attempt to make something sound bad by fabricating a non-existent comparability to something horrific.

Example:

“Serving on that committee is like watching the extermination of the Jews in concentration camps.”

No, it’s not.

In political terms, the tortured analogy is often used because the ignorant (or the one preaching to the ignorant) would rather not addresss the actual facts of the issue and so tries to make the issue itself seem ridiculous to short-circuit real discussion.

We see this in drug policy a lot.

“If you want to legalize drugs, why don’t you just go ahead and legalize rape while you’re at it?”

It’s a classic tortured analogy misdirection. Of course, my favorite response to that is a rather facetious “If you don’t know the difference between drugs and rape, you’re not going to get invited to the good parties.”

All of us know why that’s a tortured analogy. It’s an attempt to avoid any real discussion of the issues. Drug transactions are consensual, rape is not. Drugs are demand commodities; rape is not. If you arrest a drug dealer, it creates an immediate job opening caused by demand, so the net effect of the arrest is an increase in drug dealers, whereas if you arrest a rapist, you get the rapist off the street, and it doesn’t result in a demand for new rapists. The illegality of drugs makes them so valuable that corruption in law enforcement and other areas inevitably ensues; the illegality of rape doesn’t make rape valuable.

These things are completely incomparable.

So here, my friends, for your amusement, is the Tortured Analogy of the Day!

This comes from the Katz Litterbox at the Pacovilla Corrections blog. Howie Katz is a former law enforcement officer and retired professor of criminal justice.

Law Enforcement For Pedophilia

A prominent group of former law enforcement officials announced the formation of Law Enforcement for Pedophilia (LEP), an organization whose goal is to repeal the laws against pedophilia.

“I was a police officer for 34 years, the last six as chief of police in Grossville,” retired law enforcement veteran Norm Stoner told the press conference held to announce the formation of LEP. “At one point in my career, I had an epiphany. I came to the appreciation that police officers could be doing better things with their time and that we were causing more harm than good by arresting pedophiles. My position is that we need to end the prohibition against pedophilia. We need to replace our Victorian laws by following the lead of Thailand and other enlightened countries that allow sexual relations between adults and children.”

The formation of LEP is ridiculous, isn’t it? Well, it’s not much more ridiculous than Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a tiny group of former law enforcement officials urging an end to the war on drugs and advocating the decriminalization of recreational drug use.

Actually, to compose Norm Stoner’s absurd LEP statement, I paraphrased a statement about the war on drugs made by LEAP member Norm Stamper, former police chief of Seattle.

Congratulations, Howie! You have the ability to paraphrase.

Taking a criminal justice class from you must have been like having your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick.

I think I’ll sit back with a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster and let my readers take your silliness apart.

If you don’t already follow/support Americans for Forfeiture Reform, you should. Our asset forfeiture systems in this country are a total disgrace, full of corruption, and essentially a “legalized” system of highway robbery, allowing government entities to take cash and property and use it themselves, often with no evidence of criminal activity.

Grasping at Straws gives an update on the Camp Zoe situation…

The federal government has finally brought charges against Jimmy Tebeau, the musician who owns Camp Zoe, which the government is currently attempting to take through civil forfeiture. The case looks like thin gruel. Saint Louis’ River Front Times reports:

The 44-year-old Cape Girardeau resident faces a single felony count of “operating premises for the facilitation of illegal drug use,” according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

On its face, that appears to be a highly unusual charge for a land owner/music promoter. It neither alleges that Tebeau himself sold illegal drugs nor used them personally — and appears to discount the festivals’ music and entertainment value almost entirely. […]

That is completely absurd. Tebeau is a musician who bought that land to use as his primary venue. He played scores of shows at Camp Zoe and hosted dozens more with musical acts ranging from George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic to Los Lobos, the Roots, and the Marshall Tucker Band. During the summer it was one of the larger venues for live music in the state of Missouri. Like any music venue with thousands of attendees, drug use occurred there, but to say that Tebeau held all these events purely to allow drugs use to take place is an extraordinary claim. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and considering that the U.S. attorney is not charging Tebeau with the possession or sale of any drugs, I doubt the government has it.

Instead, I think the government may be using this charge to force Tebeau to acquiesce in the fight to keep Camp Zoe.

Fortunately, in many areas, people are starting to wake up to the atrocities of forfeiture abuse, particularly when corruption in the spending of the proceeds comes to light. But we need even more attention in this area.

Gilbert Police Storm Home, Seize Two Ounces of Marijuana From Card-Holding Medical Pot Patient. Really.

Twenty Gilbert police officers, some in masks and riot gear, stormed a home last week after receiving a tip that the owner was in possession of an ounce of marijuana.

The homeowner, Ross Taylor, is a card-carrying patient under Arizona’s new medical-marijuana law, which allows people to qualify to possess up to 2 1/2 ounces of pot legally.

A satellite TV installer saw the cannabis in a closet and informed the police. Within hours, without investigation, the police put together a military-style home invasion for an ounce of pot.

Why is it that some police are so pathetically eager to save the world from a couple ounces of marijuana that they’re willing to completely ignore the law to do so?

More on the story here.

Indian Court overturns mandatory death penalty for drug offences

16 June 2011, Mumbai: In an unprecedented decision, the Bombay High Court struck down the mandatory death penalty for drug offences, becoming the first Court in the world to do so. Announcing the order via video conferencing, a division bench of Justices A.M Khanwilkar and A.P Bhangale declared Section 31A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) that imposes a mandatory death sentence for a subsequent conviction for drug trafficking ‘unconstitutional’. […]

The High Court’s verdict came in response to a petition filed by the Indian Harm Reduction Network (IHRN), a consortium of NGOs working for humane drug policies, who assailed mandatory capital punishment as arbitrary, excessive and disproportionate to the crime of dealing in drugs. […]

Across the world, 32 countries impose capital punishment for offences involving narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Of these, 13 countries (including India until today) prescribe mandatory death sentences for drug crimes.

I just finished spending a year organizing events related to the 40th Anniversary of an organization that’s important to me. The fact that it was the 40th was really a random milestone, but it was an excuse to celebrate, to remember, to connect with people, and to bring attention to the wonderful work that is being done today.

In a similar manner, the events revolving around today’s “40th Anniversary” of the war on drugs have very little to do with the significance of 40 years. After all, it’s really the 40th anniversary of one speech in the war on drugs. The drug war can’t really be contained in one set of dates.

The event of the 40th, however, has given us an opportunity — the opportunity to remember the atrocities, to gather together those who have suffered, to call attention to the failures and the societal destruction, to lead a charge toward a more sane future.

It’s been so wonderful to see the plethora of articles and voices, all calling for an end to the war on drugs in some way.

Let’s enjoy the moment and let it give us fresh strength for the job ahead.

Here’s come coverage round-up.

The ACLU has a good series of graphics on our incarceration nation.

Here are a couple of them:

As someone who works in higher education and has seen the reductions in tax support while prisons keep opening, this graphic has a huge impact (our particular university used to get around 70% of it’s budget from the state; now it’s closer to 24%).

I see the potential of these students and know that an investment in education is far more valuable to us (which is why I also personally contribute to a scholarship fund) than an investment in more incarceration.

This one’s just ridiculous. How can anyone think that this is healthy?