Drug WarRant

New Report Finds “Drug Courts Are Not the Answer”

At two briefings on Capitol Hill today, the Drug Policy Alliance released a groundbreaking new report, Drug Courts are Not the Answer: Toward a Health-Centered Approach to Drug Use (www.drugpolicy.org/drugcourts), which finds that drug courts have not demonstrated cost savings, reduced incarceration, or improved public safety; leave many people worse off for trying; and have actually made the criminal justice system more punitive toward addiction – not less.

War on drugs as failed, say former heads of MI5, CPS, and BBC

The “war on drugs” has failed and should be abandoned in favour of evidence-based policies that treat addiction as a health problem, according to prominent public figures including former heads of MI5 and the Crown Prosecution Service. […]

The MPs and members of the House of Lords, who have formed a new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drug Policy Reform, are calling for new policies to be drawn up on the basis of scientific evidence.

It could lead to calls for the British government to decriminalise drugs, or at least for the police and Crown Prosecution Service not to jail people for possession of small amounts of banned substances.

Defendant Sentenced to 18 Years on 11 Gram Federal Crack Conviction

TalkLeft has a good piece discussing the absurdity of sentencing that is based on charges for which the defendant has been acquitted. It’s a real injustice and a violation of the very concept of jury trials.

The always excellent Radley Balko is moving on from Reason Magazine soon to begin writing at Huffington Post — a chance to reach a much larger audience (and perhaps an audience that needs to hear what he has to report). Good luck, Radley!

Here are a few of his current pieces that should not be missed…

Failing Upward in Criminal Justice

Paey’s prosecution was an outrage, and it generated significant media attention. In 2007, after Paey had served nearly four years of his sentence, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist gave him a full pardon. Yet Scott Andringa, who prosecuted the case as an assistant state attorney in New Port Richey, has never expressed a hint of remorse. In fact, Andringa, now a defense attorney in private practice, brags about his efforts to imprison Paey on his professional website, noting that he “was the prosecutor assigned to a controversial drug trafficking case that was later profiled on 60 Minutes, Nightline, and in the New York Times.”

And now Andringa wants to be a judge.

How Drug Cops Go Bad

Critics of prohibition often argue that drug cops are especially susceptible to corruption because their jobs regularly bring them into contact with black-market cash and large quantities of illicit substances worth more than the average police officer makes in a year. There is something to that, but I think the problem runs deeper. Drug crimes are consensual crimes, which means there are no aggrieved victims to file a complaint. The only way to fight consensual crimes is with surveillance, informants, or undercover cops. Surveillance requires a warrant, which requires some evidence of criminal activity. The latter two options are far more common, but they require the police to break the very laws they are enforcing—or encourage someone else to do so. That creates a moral disconnect right off the bat.

Politicians paint cross-hairs on Americans

To date, there has been little outcry from the press, and not a single national politician from either the Democratic or Republican parties has condemned or even questioned the increasing use of government violence against Americans.

It will be a welcome day when America’s political and media figures get as indignant about innocent Americans killed by their own government as they do on those thankfully rare occasions when deranged people carry out attacks on government officials.

The UNODC likes to work in semi-secret, so you won’t see video or transcripts of their proceedings. The only real way to get a glimpse is through the fine live-blogging done by CND blog (a project of the International Harm Reduction Association).

These entries are paraphrases of what goes on in the sessions by a writer, so that must be taken into consideration when judging a country’s statements, but still it can be interesting.

One that really stuck out for me was Sweden’s bizarre distortion of the definition of rights in their opening statement. As you may know, one of the criticisms that has been directed at the UNODC is the fact that human rights is a core principle of the U.N. (in fact, all other activities of the U.N. are supposed to take a back seat to human rights) and that the drug war is a prime violator of human rights.

Sweden turns all logic upside down by claiming that protecting children from drugs is a human right

[…] Sweden remains a strong supporter of UNODC’s activities in addressing the world drug problem and as a guardian of the Conventions. […] The ultimate aim is abstinence and reintegration of dependent users.

There is no contradiction between drug conventions and human rights and fundamental freedoms. One of the most important elements is the protection of children from illicit drugs. Our children are most vulnerable to drug abuse. We have legally binding obligations under international law to protect children of their rights and give them good living conditions. We must ensure that children do not become victims of illicit drugs. Last year, a resolution was adopted on children’s rights. States should take measures to protect these rights. States should raise awareness among the general population and among children (article 33 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child). Protecting children from drug abuse, production and trafficking, is an obligation.[…]

After the break, I’ve posted the drugged driving discussions.
Continue reading →

In one of the more absurd moves this administration has made regarding drug policy so far, the drug czar has chosen Sweden as a drug policy model for the U.S. to emulate.

Director Kerlikowske also highlighted both nations’ common experiences with drug use, and showcased Sweden’s successful balanced public health approach and opposition to drug legalization as a model for the United States.

And his justification? Take every lie and platitude about balance and science and stick them into one paragraph.

“History has taught both of our nations that we must support robust and comprehensive drug policies which recognize we cannot arrest our way out of the drug problem and that drug addiction as a disease of the brain. We are proud of our strong partnership with Sweden in supporting balanced drug strategies guided by science and research and opposing drug legalization, both within Europe and around the world,” said Director Kerlikowske.

Uh, yeah. Right. Balanced. Can’t arrest our way out of it. Robust. The whole world. Science. Oppose legalization. Brain disease. That about covers it.

Today is the beginning of the 54th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Austria

The agenda appears to be more the same — administering and strengthening the destructive policies they’ve been following for half a century. I see Gil Kerlikowske got his pet project – drugged driving – added to the agenda as well.

There’s a big scandal that’s been going on in San Francisco, regarding some drug busts in the Henry Hotel, and something surprising that happened. Apparently cops have been lying in court regarding how those busts went down.

That, of course, is not the surprising thing. It’s the fact that they got caught on video.

What this scandal is making clear in San Francisco is not that some cops sometimes lie, and in court while under oath, but rather that this is a regular part of doing business for many, if not most, narcotics cops.

Peter Keane had an outstanding OpEd in the San Francisco Gate this week about this: Why cops lie

Count this as one more casualty of the “war on drugs.” It is simply additional collateral damage from using the American criminal justice system as the battlefield of that war. […]

Why do police, whom we trust as role models of legal conduct, show contempt for the law by systematically perjuring themselves?

The first reason is because they get away with it. They know that in a swearing match between a drug defendant and a police officer, the judge always rules in favor of the officer. Often in search hearings, it is embarrassingly clear to everyone – judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, even spectators – that the officer is lying under oath. Yet nothing is done about it. […]

Another reason is the nature of most drug cases and the likely type of person involved. Usually police illegally enter a home, search it and find drugs. Like the recent scandal in San Francisco concerning the Henry Hotel residents, the defendant is poor, uneducated, frequently a minority, with a criminal record, and he does have drugs. Police know that no one cares about these people.

But the main reason is that the job of these cops is chasing drugs. Their professional advancement depends on nabbing dopers. The dominant culture they grew up with is popular mythology glorifying rogue cops like Popeye Doyle from the 1975 film “The French Connection.”

This is a culture that goes all the way to the top in our corrupt drug war.

When I wrote about Michele Leonhart back in 2003 (she has since advanced to Director of the Drug Enforcement Administration), I noted that she seemed oddly surprised that lying on the stand in the service of the drug war was even… wrong.

The most startling statement in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigation of [super snitch] Andrew Chambers was from Michele Leonhart:

“The only criticism (of Chambers) I’ve ever heard is what defense attorneys will characterize as perjury or a lie on the stand.”

She continued by saying that once prosecutors check him out, they’ll agree with his admirers in DEA that he’s “an outstanding testifier.”

This corruption creates far-reaching damage to the relationship between law enforcement and our communities. Yet another dangerous by-product of this ill-conceived and destructive war.

Clinton: US ambassador to Mexico has resigned

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual, who criticized his host government’s handling of the drug problem in a cable divulged by the WikiLeaks website, has resigned, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday.

President Felipe Calderon, who met earlier this month with Obama at the White House, had taken umbrage publicly in February over remarks Pascual made in a diplomatic cable about the Mexicans’ handling of the anti-drug trafficking effort there. The diplomatic document was among tens of thousands disclosed by the WikiLeaks website. […]

In a newspaper interview published in late February, Calderon said that U.S.-Mexico relations had been strained because of the leaks of cables.

He specifically cited Pascual’s cable, which he suggested was disparaging of Mexico. The cable said there was little coordination among Mexican federal agencies assigned to battle drug gangs, including Mexico’s army, navy and federal police. The Mexican president said in the interview with El Universal that the cables show U.S. diplomats are ignorant about Mexico’s security situation and are prone to distort and exaggerate “to get their bosses’ attention.”

Calderon said at the time that the U.S. government should help Mexico’s fight against drug gangs by reducing drug use in the United States, the biggest consumer of illegal drugs in the world, and by stemming the flow of automatic rifles to the cartels.

So basically, his fault was to have the wrong stupid idea about the drug war instead of having the correct stupid idea about the drug war.

After the Seattle Times came out with a powerful editorial for marijuana legalization last month, the drug czar was immediately on a plane to go talk to them. Some speculated that he would apply pressure on the paper to ease off. Whether that was on his mind or not, it’s clear that the Times has made up its mind and is holding to its position.

In today’s paper: The serious business of marijuana legalization

THE marijuana legalization bill, House Bill 1550, may be stopped for this session of the Legislature. But this issue has been moving as never before, and it needs to keep moving.

This page has been part of it. On Feb. 20 we came out for regulation and taxation of cannabis for adult use, which HB 1550 would do through the state liquor stores. That The Seattle Times would say this lowers the risk for public officials to say it. At the hearing Wednesday at the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, you could feel the change.

There were no Cheech and Chong jokes. This was serious business.

Excellent.

Well-known marijuana legalization advocate upbeat despite terminal lung cancer diagnosis

This is very unwelcome news about Ben Masel. My thoughts are with him.

I had a great time the one time we got together — for coffee and Beignets at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans.

Ben is a tireless advocate and has been a powerful political influence in Wisconsin. I hope that every day for him is a good one.

This article seems to be very poor reporting by Samara Kalk Derby. How can you merely repeat “the jury’s out” language from Dr. Fiore regarding marijuana and lung cancer, and not mention the largest ever study done on the issue, funded by the U.S. government?

The words “Drugs” and “Terrorism” have developed a power unto themselves. You can use them to justify any government action or expenditure and suddenly things like budget, logic, evidence or accountability are forgotten.

It’s no surprise that new UNODC director and hard-liner Yuri Fedotov understands this.

Growing links between crime and terrorism the focus of UN forum

Highlighting the growing nexus between global criminal acts, including drug trafficking and money laundering, and terrorism, a top United Nations official today called for boosting efforts to tackle these threats.
Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told participants at a terrorism symposium in Vienna that profits from criminal activity are increasingly being used to fund terrorist acts. […]

“Thanks to advances in technology, communication, finance and transport, loose networks of terrorists and organized criminal groups that operate internationally can easily link with each other. By pooling their resources and expertise, they can significantly increase their capacity to do harm.”

According to UNODC, drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, the movement of illicit firearms and money laundering have become integral parts of terrorism.

Look! Drugs! Terrorism! We need to fight harder!

It’s a simplistic device designed to appeal to fear that ends up making us less safe.

Now I’m a full-blown opponent of the death penalty. I think it’s immoral, impractical, unfairly administered, and has way too much potential for error. I also reject the notion that a free individual can assign that duty to someone else (nominally called “the government”) and escape personal responsibility. I’m thrilled that Illinois has finally abolished it completely.

Still, I find this story about the DEA seizing an execution drug from the state of Georgia morbidly amusing.

Georgia Execution Drug Is Seized

The Drug Enforcement Administration has seized a key execution drug from the Georgia prison system because of concerns about how the state imported the drug from overseas.

Like other states, Georgia last year was forced to import thiopental sodium from England due to a U.S. shortage of the drug, which is used to carry out lethal injections.

“Questions came to light with how the substance was imported” by Georgia, said DEA agent Chuvalo Truesdell, declining to elaborate. He said the DEA will retain control of the drug while it conducts an investigation, which could last up to six months.

Good thing the DEA’s all over that. Importing drugs without proper federal clearance could result in dangerous drugs that might end up killing someone…

Must be a tough job seizing execution drugs from states and tracking down those pesky medical marijuana dealers in Montana.