Drug WarRant

Jamaica Poised to Decriminalize Marijuana Possession, Approve Medical and Religious Use, and Expunge Past Offenses

On Friday, Jamaican Minister of Justice Mark Golding released a statement announcing government support for a proposal to decriminalize the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana and the decriminalization of marijuana use for religious, scientific and medical purposes.

“The objective is to provide a more enlightened approach to dealing with possession of small quantities and smoking, while still meeting the ends of justice,” Minister Golding said. “The proposed changes represent an approach which will ensure to the benefit of the persons concerned and the society as a whole, and reduce the burdens on the court system.”

Good step. I’m pretty sure just about all ganja use in Jamaica is religious. They practically worship the plant.

The DEA: Four Decades of Impeding and Rejecting Science

Today, members of Congress, scientific experts, medical marijuana patients and others will join a teleconference that will accompany the release of a new report co-published by MAPS and the Drug Policy Alliance called “The DEA: Four Decades of Impeding and Rejecting Science“.

There will be a time when the political landscape has changed sufficiently that the DEA will no longer be able to act without accountability. Is that time now? We’ll see. There are specific concrete recommendations in the report related to taking away powers from the DEA, based on their documented past abuse. And I think more political leaders are straying from the traditional belief that the DEA is some kind of sacred cow.

Research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (DOT HS 810 637) has shown that you are roughly three times as likely to be killed on the highway if you’re traveling in a car with the headlights on.

This should be a wake-up call to legislators who have long been hoodwinked by auto industry claims that headlights are “harmless” or even beneficial.

Yeah, this would be an insanely silly news story. And yet, it is the level to which so much reporting on marijuana and driving has sunk. The truth is, of course, that you are three times more likely to be killed on the highway with the headlights on, but that’s because you’re three times more likely to be killed on the highway at night than in the daytime. It isn’t at all because you have headlights on.

[See: Matt Schmitz and Chris Woodyard at USA Today exemplify dishonest reporting on drugged driving.]

Marijuana playing larger role in fatal crashes by Matt Schmitz and Chris Woodyard at Cars.com and USA Today.

This article is just another example of blatantly dishonest reporting (or, just as bad, ignorant reporting).

It may be that Matt Schmitz and Chris Woodyard are experts at cars and don’t know anything about marijuana, but if that’s true, they shouldn’t be writing articles about the two together without getting some help.

Columbia University researchers performing a toxicology examination of nearly 24,000 driving fatalities concluded that marijuana contributed to 12% of traffic deaths in 2010, tripled from a decade earlier.

Nope. They concluded nothing of the sort.

Nowhere did they say that marijuana “contributed” to traffic deaths. In fact, they went out of their way to note: “the prevalence of nonalcohol drugs reported in this study should be interpreted as an indicator of drug use, not necessarily a measurement of drug impairment.” That’s because the study measured those who tested positive, whether they were impaired or not, and that could include those who ingested marijuana days earlier.

Let’s see what else Schmitz and Woodyard have to say:

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study found that 4% of drivers were high during the day and more than 6% at night, and that nighttime figure more than doubled on weekends.

Nope. They never found that at all.

Nowhere did they say that the drivers were “high.” In fact, they went out of their way to note: “The reader is cautioned that drug presence does not necessarily imply impairment. For many drug types, drug presence can be detected long after any impairment that might affect driving has passed.”

All of us care about the safety of roads and realize that all kinds of things can affect drivers in different ways, and learning more of the actual facts about driving impairment is a good thing.

But irresponsible reporting that merely plays on fears with unsupported conclusions doesn’t help us make good policy decisions and therefore can actually lead to less-safe roads.

Maybe Matt and Chris should stick to telling us about carburetors.

[See: Use of headlights linked to traffic fatalities]

When I was in college my Freshman year, my roommate and I decided to get really drunk for the first time. Yes, I had led a bit of a sheltered life, and, while I had consumed alcohol once or twice before, I didn’t know much about it.

Not being complete idiots, we decided to do it under safe conditions, in our dorm room, with the bathroom right across the hall, and having friends check up on us. We knew nothing about types of alcohol, and so our choices for the evening were: Boones Farm Apple Wine, Southern Comfort, and Bacardi 151 Rum! We got drunk, we got sick, and learned a couple of lessons.

Many young people have some similar kind of rite of passage when it comes to alcohol, that often seems particularly stupid in retrospect. If I hadn’t been so ignorant of alcohol, I might have avoided that particular experience — who knows?

There’s a similar introduction to getting high that’s involved with marijuana. For my generation, that usually involved getting passed a joint at a party and having absolutely nothing happen the first time, and then gradually getting to appreciate the effects in further experiences.

But now, we have legalization in Colorado, and businesses are promoting edibles. And so, idiots (like Maureen Dowd), are going in and saying the equivalent of “I’ve heard alcohol gives you a nice comfortable buzz – give me a glass of Bacardi 151,” and then are terrified when the experience seems overwhelming.

That, unfortunately, makes marijuana legalization look bad.

Personally, I think first-timers to marijuana should smoke or vaporize – edibles should be reserved for those who already know the effects. With smoking/vaporizing, you get the gradual sense of the marijuana high, while with edibles, it all comes on at once, and if you’ve accidentally consumed too much, then it’s a bad (though never life-threatening) experience.

Though Dowd’s latest column has got a lot of objectionable parts, I agree with Tom Angell:

“One major reason I got involved in the movement was so that consumers could have basic access to information about the products they’re consuming, which was totally impossible under the prohibition that created the black market,” said Tom Angell, the founder and chairman of Marijuana Majority. “So it’s particularly disappointing to see that some companies in the legal marijuana industry — which our years of advocacy allowed to exist — are falling short of those principles. It seems basic labeling and consumer information hasn’t been a chief priority, but hopefully now it’s starting to change.”

He wants budtenders behind the counter to be trained so they can give customized guidance to customers of varying tolerance levels.

New York Times – Room for Debate: Did Colorado Go Too Far with Pot?

Opinions from: Ernest Drucker, A. Eden Evans, Deborah Peterson, Kevin A. Sabet, Steve Fox, Joe Hodas.

Press release:

TEMECULA, CA – Jesse Snodgrass, the teenage special needs student arrested in an undercover police operation will receive his high school diploma at the Chaparral High School graduation ceremony on Thursday, June 5, at 6:30 p.m.

The February 2014 Rolling Stone article, “The Entrapment of Jesse Snodgrass” details how Jesse, who suffers from a range of disabilities, was falsely befriended by a police officer who repeatedly asked the boy to provide him drugs. After more than three weeks, 60 text messages and repeated hounding by the officer, Jesse was able to buy half a joint from a homeless man he then gave to his new – and only – “friend,” who had given him twenty dollars weeks before. He did it once again before refusing to accommodate the officer, at which point the officer broke off all ties with the child. Shortly thereafter, Jesse was arrested at Chaparral High School in front of his classmates as part of a sting that nabbed 22 students in all, many of them children with special needs.

Even though a criminal judge dismissed the charges against Jesse, the Temecula Valley Unified School District still attempted to expel him. Jesse’s family went to court to fight the expulsion attempt, and in March 2013, an administrative law judge halted the expulsion attempt, issuing a scathing ruling against the school district and ordering Jesse’s immediate return to Chaparral High School. In October 2013, Jesse filed a lawsuit against the Temecula Valley Unified School District, Director of Child Welfare and Attendance Michael Hubbard and Director of Special Education Kimberly Velez for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and other charges.

“We are so proud of Jesse and have only recognized his endless possibilities, never his limitations”, commented Catherine and Doug Snodgrass, Jesse’s parents, who hope that Jesse’s suit will send a message to schools around the country that these raids will not be tolerated.

“What we have witnessed here is the polar opposite of good policing and an example of how the drug war skews the priorities of law enforcement officers. There was no crime here until the police coerced a special needs student into committing one. They didn’t lessen the amount of drugs available and they didn’t provide help to any students who may have had a legitimate problem. Instead, they diminished the life prospects of everyone they came into contact with. As a parent, as a retired police officer, as a human being, this outrages me,” remarked LAPD Deputy Chief Stephen Downing (Ret.), who now speaks on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of law enforcement officials opposed to the drug war.

Well said.

Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin has passed away. I must admit that I did not know much about him, but in the world of psychoactive chemicals, he was considered a true visionary. Erowid has lots of coverage, and their twitter feed today is full of tributes.

Jacob Sullum: Anti-Pot Prejudice vs. Federalism

Yet Republicans still overwhelmingly opposed the amendment, by a ratio of more than 3 to 1, while Democrats overwhelmingly supported it, by a ratio of 10 to 1. Given the GOP’s frequent lip service to federalism, the party’s lack of enthusiasm for letting states set their own policies in this area requires some explanation. So does the need for this amendment under a Democratic administration that has repeatedly said it is not inclined to use Justice Department resources against medical marijuana users and providers who comply with state law. It is hard to say who is being more inconsistent: a president who promised tolerance but delivered a crackdown or members of Congress who portray themselves as defenders of the 10th Amendment but forsake federalism because they are offended by a plant.

New information, recent history raise more questions about drug raid that burned Georgia toddler – more from Radley Balko.

I’m heading out early tomorrow morning for 8 days in New York. I’m leading a group of 95 people. We’ll be seeing a lot of Broadway shows, including A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (with Jefferson Mays playing 8 roles), Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (with James Franco and Chris O’Dowd), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Neil Patrick Harris), All the Way (Bryan Cranston), Violet (Sutton Foster), and Cripple of Inishmaan (Daniel Radcliffe). I’ll also be seeing Beautiful – The Carole King Musical. And I’ll be leading walking tours all over the city. It’ll be a fun, but very busy week.

As always, I’ll stop by as often as I can.

You guys are great at keeping the pressure on and the information coming in (you’re all over that weak New York Times piece today).

Yesterday:

Head of US border agencies revises lethal force policy

The federal agency in charge of U.S. border security on Friday issued a revised handbook on when its agents may use lethal force, adopting changes aimed at reducing dozens of killings that have generated a handful of lawsuits and cast agents as quick to pull their triggers.

Yesterday afternoon:

Border Patrol shoots and kills suspect in Green Valley

According to CBP, agents tried to stop a suspicious car on I-19, near Green Valley. The driver refused to stop, and instead sped away. Eventually, the suspect got out of the vehicle, and tried to run away.

An agent shot and killed the suspect during a chase. CBP told us at this point they don’t know if the suspect was armed.

After the shooting, agents found bundles of marijuana in the suspect’s car.

How difficult is it to determine if a dead suspect is armed?

Well, Gil – hope you’re enjoying your new job. Here’s a tip. When you’re going to release a report saying that your people aren’t going to use lethal force as indiscriminately, you might want to send out a memo to your folks asking them not to kill any unarmed suspects for a few days.