| March 26, 1999 #91 | ||||||||||||||||||
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A DrugSense publication | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Editors Note: It is well known that most drug warriors are not exactly rocket scientists. Here is an interesting article on reforming drug policies by someone who actually is a "rocket scientist." | ||||||||||||||||||
A Viagra-model Solution to the War on Drugs | ||||||||||||||||||
Poorly funded schools. Deteriorating highways. Gang violence. Blame it on
the "war on drugs." | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug dealing and enforcement together constitute a several hundred
billion dollar per year business worldwide [1]. We are fueling the
world's largest black market, creating criminal empires of global drug
dealers, and in return our society gets gangs, violence, crime,
corruption and a drain on our resources. | ||||||||||||||||||
This robs and threatens every one of us. California, for example, has
built only one new university since 1984... thanks to building 20 new
prisons. And these prisons are now overflowing with people whose crime
is not robbery, rape or murder, but merely private use of a "controlled
substance." It costs taxpayers about $30000 per prisoner per year.
There is a way out of this waste of life and money: a "live and let
live" compromise we can live with. | ||||||||||||||||||
The function of Prozac and several similar prescription drugs is not to
fight sickness, but to make people feel good. Viagra has gone one step
further. It is really our first legal recreational drug. This opens a
whole new solution to our dangerous, costly war on drugs. Let's
challenge pharmaceutical companies to come up with one or more safe,
non-addictive, legal recreational drugs, available to adults by
prescription. | ||||||||||||||||||
It is futile to try to stamp out something people desire. Throughout
history this approach has never worked, but a safe and controlled
alternative often has. However the real reason to try this is not just
personal freedom. The real reason is that the current war on drugs is
the single most corrupting, violence-generating factor in the world
today and we've got to stop it. | ||||||||||||||||||
Primarily as an anti-drug offensive, the government has granted itself
vast power to seize private property even from innocent people. So if a
spouse or a business partner, say, winds up involved in drugs, your
share of assets may be taken away from you no matter how innocent you
might be. In an amazing ruling the Supreme Court upheld the right of
the government to do just that. An innocent wife in Michigan recently
lost her share of a seized automobile because her husband had used it
in soliciting a prostitute.[2] That widely-publicized case happened not
to involve drugs, but the "war on drugs" is where seizure is more
widely used all the time by the government. | ||||||||||||||||||
We consider it outrageous when a repressive foreign regime dictates the
private behavior of its citizens. And yet we allow our government to
throw our own citizens into prison for doing things in private. On what
moral or constitutional grounds can we justify penalizing the mere
possession or private use of something? Do we really want to give the
government the power to incarcerate its citizens for this? This is
barbaric and unconstitutional... and an ominous road to be going down
that threatens all of our rights. | ||||||||||||||||||
Prohibition failed. The federal 55 mph national speed limit of the
1970's failed. It looks to me as if our "war on drugs" is failing badly
and, worse still, undermining our liberty at the same time. Dare we ask
who is profiting from the present situation? I pose that it is time to
stop the war mentality rhetoric, start thinking these things through
rationally, and even try a radically new approach. Let's win the war on
drugs with a new definition of victory that will end the violence,
corruption and black market bonanza. | ||||||||||||||||||
According to a piece in the New York Times"A good many Americans,
including police chiefs and doctors, believe it is time for a change in
our failed drug policy. It is our political leaders who are afraid of
change." [3] Our national "war on drugs" poses a greater danger to our
society than the drugs themselves. It is time to rethink our drug
policies from square one. Why not authorize the pharmaceutical
companies to explore the completely new approach of developing a few
safe recreational drugs, with known effects and well-calibrated
dosages. If a physician can prescribe Viagra, why not this? We permit
adults the use of alcohol. It's time to think outside the box. The mess
within the box is intolerable. | ||||||||||||||||||
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[1] $53.7 billion was spent on illegal drug purchases in the US alone in 1996 (Assoc. Press). Add to that a similar amount spent on enforcement. | ||||||||||||||||||
[2] USA Today, March 5, 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||
[3] New York Times, Jan. 5, 1998, piece by Anthony Lewis. | ||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Haisch is an astrophysicist in Palo Alto California
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (1-4) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Although major media attention focused on the IOM report, other drug
policy issues also made news; a recent surge in favor of school drug
testing seems to have crested- except in predominantly rural states,
like Oklahoma. | ||||||||||||||||||
The US Senate, refusing to concede that statistics showing lower crime
rates should confer any "drug war benefit" on taxpayers, continued to
support a harsh version of the drug war. | ||||||||||||||||||
Finally, Sean Gonsalves, a syndicated columnist who is also African-
American, seems to have acquired a very accurate understanding of the
drug war. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(1) HIGH COURT LIMITS DRUG TESTING OF STUDENTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Fourth Amendment Applies To Children As Well As Adults | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court, limiting the drug testing of
students, refused Monday to allow a school district to test all those
who violate its disciplinary rules. | ||||||||||||||||||
While individuals who appear to be under the influence of drugs can be
tested at school, officials may not routinely test groups of students,
under the ruling that the high court let stand. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Constitution's Fourth Amendment protects students, as well as
adults, from unreasonable searches by public officials, the ruling
said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) SCHOOL DRUG TESTING PROPOSAL MOVES THROUGH SENATE PANEL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
OKLAHOMA CITY - A bill approved by a Senate panel Tuesday would give
schools legal authority for the first time to administer random drug
and alcohol tests to tens of thousands of students. | ||||||||||||||||||
House Bill 1289 by Rep. Dale Smith, D-St. Louis, and Sen. Brad Henry,
D- Shawnee, authorizes schools to conduct drug and alcohol tests on
students who engage in extracurricular activities. That would include
such things as sports, band, debate, choir or any other
school-connected activity. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) SENATORS PLEDGE 1,000 MORE AGENTS FOR BORDER PATROL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Several Senate Republicans pledged Tuesday to overrule the Clinton
administration and add 1,000 new Border Patrol agents next year. In a
hearing to question INS Commissioner Doris Meissner, they accused the
White House of raiding immigration enforcement accounts to fund other
priorities. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) WHEN A BAD POLICY FAILS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
REMEMBER the so-called welfare reform debate? Politicians, policy-makers and pundits were arguing about "welfare dependency" - the notion that "welfare queens" (doublespeak for poor black women) had become overly dependent on the state for their survival. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Two weeks ago, a report was released titled "The Effective National
Drug Control Strategy." The report, co-authored by Kevin Zeese,
president of Common Sense for Drug Policy, concluded that the
so-called war on drugs "has failed to protect America's children from
drug abuse and has failed to reduce the availability of cocaine and
heroin." | ||||||||||||||||||
The report was released on the same day that Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey
testified before a House subcommittee on his fiscal year 2000 budget
request. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-7) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Although also overshadowed by the IOM report, the implications of recently released DOJ prison statistics continued to resonate with editorial writers. The dire fiscal and educational implications of the prison glut are also beginning to dawn on the more thoughtful. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) THE PRISON BOOM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Interesting how not only people have their 15 minutes of fame. Issues
do, too. A powerful beam of concentrated light has fallen, suddenly,
on the astonishing share of our population we've been putting behind
bars. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the past dozen years, the number of Americans in jails and prisons
has doubled, says a Justice Department survey released this month. At
the end of 1985, there were 744,208 people locked up; by mid-1998, 1.8
million. | ||||||||||||||||||
The prison boom -- and the degree to which it is fed by drug-related arrests -- had been generating headlines even before the study. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) AMERICA, LAND OF PRISONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
No doubt there is a connection between America's falling crime rates
and its soaring prison populations. It's the nature of that connection
that demands scrutiny. Many think the former was purchased with the
latter. Lock up more criminals for longer periods and it is inevitable
the streets will become safer. And they have.... | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
But it also can be argued that jailing almost 2 million people is, in
the long run, neither a cost-effective nor a humane method of
maintaining domestic tranquility. Not when it costs around $30,000 a
year to keep someone in a typical prison. And not when our prisons are
as likely to harden criminals as rehabilitate them. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) PRISON POLICY IS BOTH COSTLY AND IRRATIONAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
When he ran for governor last year, Ed Garvey complained that Gov.
Tommy Thompson's vision for Wisconsin's future was one of "big highways
connecting big prisons.'' | ||||||||||||||||||
What neither Garvey nor anyone else knew at the time was that the most
expensive "highway'' was the one being used to ship Wisconsin prisoners
-- and tax dollars -- out of state. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Forfeiture- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (8-10) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The onerous practice of forfeiture also received considerable media attention; there is increasing recognition that what was billed as a tool to punish "kingpins" is increasingly a means for venal cops to steal from America's least affluent and well-connected property owners. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) WHEN CAN POLICE SEIZE PRIVATE PROPERTY? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Supreme Court hears case today that tests limits of a powerful
crime-fighting tool. | ||||||||||||||||||
It's one of the most contentious areas of American law in the 1990s: allowing police to seize personal property - often in advance of a finding of guilt - if they believe it is linked to criminal activity. | ||||||||||||||||||
Opponents say such police tactics raise basic questions of fairness,
privacy, and due process. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) STEALING BY THE STATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In January Hamilton County prosecutors spent hours convincing a jury that Michael Nieman was an innocent victim, a jeweler murdered in his own bed by a stripper girlfriend who just wanted his money. | ||||||||||||||||||
As soon as the trial was over, federal prosecutors turned around and
launched legal proceedings to seize Nieman's house, vehicles, cash,
jewelry and other assets, arguing that he had really been a drug
dealer, even though he had absolutely no record of drug crimes. The
Hamilton County sheriff helped seize Nieman's estate. | ||||||||||||||||||
An attorney for Nieman's daughter called it legalized stealing. The
attorney is right. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) PROPERTY SEIZURES TRAMPLE THE CONSTITUTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In America, no one can take your property except through a legal
process involving a finding of guilt. So says the Constitution of the
United States in Articles IV, V and XIV. | ||||||||||||||||||
But don't kid yourself. Today these words all too often ring hollow as
the federal government, the states, counties and cities across the land
avail themselves of the opportunity to sequester private property -
cash, houses, boats- under laws enacted by the Congress in the 1980s as
a way to combat the power of major drug lords. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (11-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
We've changed our heading to emphasize that "marijuana" is an enemy
term. Cannabis is proper usage for that fraction of the hemp plant
employed for its therapeutic or psychic effects. Henceforth, we intend
to eschew 'marijuana' in our own prose and urge our readers to do the
same. Its continued use in quoted and excerpted articles is, of
course, unavoidable. | ||||||||||||||||||
The long-awaited IOM Report- as predicted- proved a disappointing and
equivocal document, carefully crafted to provide prohibitionists some
cover, but which also was unable to lie about the central truth:
cannabinoids are bona-fide therapeutic agents. | ||||||||||||||||||
The most interesting aspects of the report were how avidly it was
covered by the media, the extent to which they saw it as far more
positive than it really was, and the editorials it generated calling
for a more rational policy. Nonetheless, McCzar immediately made clear
there will be no move to reschedule and (by implication) urged
continued arrests. | ||||||||||||||||||
In California, the McWilliams, Kubby and Lockyer positions remained
unchanged while in Philadelphia, a trial date was set for the
class-action suit. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) STUDY: MARIJUANA HELPS FIGHT PAIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The active ingredients in marijuana can help fight
pain and nausea and thus deserve to be tested in scientific trials, an
advisory panel to the federal government said today in a report sure to
reignite the debate over whether marijuana is a helpful or harmful
drug. The Institute of Medicine also said there was no conclusive
evidence that marijuana use leads to harder drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) EDITORIAL: LET SCIENCE RUN MARIJUANA DEBATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
THIS week's Institute of Medicine report on medical marijuana should
send a message to the feds that it's time to start letting science -
not politics - steer this debate. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) MEDICAL MARIJUANA SMOKING TO REMAIN ILLEGAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LOS ANGELES, - White House anti-drug czar Barry McCaffrey said on
Wednesday that marijuana would remain on the government's list of
illegal drugs despite a report saying smoking it could be beneficial to
certain patients. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) LOCKYER GIVES QUIET OK TO S.F. POT CLUBS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
But Distribution Should Be Discreet And Low-profile | ||||||||||||||||||
California's attorney general told San Francisco authorities yesterday
that medicinal marijuana distribution in the city can proceed if it is
done discreetly, so that federal authorities do not feel the need to
intervene. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) JUDGE DENIES ADVOCATE'S REQUEST TO SMOKE POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LOS ANGELES, March 9 Despite his pleas, medical marijuana advocate and
AIDS patient Peter McWilliams won't be puffing pot while awaiting trial
on drug charges. | ||||||||||||||||||
A federal judge in Los Angeles denied McWilliams request to smoke Tuesday after he claimed that without the marijuana he cannot keep down the nauseating anti-viral prescription drugs he must take to stay alive. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) FEDERAL JUDGE LETS LAWSUIT ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA GO ON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
An Easton man whose wife smoked the drug before she died from AIDS, is
a plaintiff in the case. | ||||||||||||||||||
A class-action lawsuit challenging the federal government's refusal to
legalize marijuana for medicine can move ahead, a federal judge has
ruled. | ||||||||||||||||||
U.S. District Senior Judge Marvin Katz concluded that the plaintiffs have a right to delve more deeply into the fairness of a federal program that gives marijuana to some ill people but not others. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (17-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
There is an amazing sameness to overseas recent drug news: a heroin
glut is engulfing Australia, the UK (and Ireland); Canada is in the
throes of a battle over medical use of Cannabis, and Mexico is
plumbing the depths (heights) of drug corruption. | ||||||||||||||||||
Nothing changed last week. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) HEROIN USERS' STARTING-UP AGE PLUMMETS INTO TEENS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A national report into illicit drug use has revealed a continued fall
in the age of first-time heroin users - now on average just 17.5 years
old - an alarming increase in multiple drug use among injecting drug
users and a gradual increase in heroin purity. | ||||||||||||||||||
The report warned that despite 300kilograms of heroin being seized in 1997-98, the seizures had no real impact on the drug's availability. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) ANTI-DRUGS DRIVE FAILS TO STEM ABUSE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The drive against drug abuse in Britain is proving ineffective with
many initiatives overloaded or never even evaluated despite being in
place for years, according to unpublished results from the first ever
national audit carried out for the drugs tsar. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(19) RCMP DRUG RAID WAS DOPEY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The sight of AIDS victim Jean-Charles Pariseau crying as he watched
RCMP officers smash marijuana-growing equipment outside a Vanier home
this week brought the issue of medical marijuana home with a thud. For
people like Mr. Pariseau, whose weight dropped to nearly 70 pounds
before he began using marijuana to stimulate his appetite and help him
gain pounds, the issue is neither political nor ethical. It is simply
necessary. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(20) TOP MEXICAN OFF-LIMITS TO U.S. DRUG AGENTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - Early last year, as undercover U.S. Customs agents neared
the end of the biggest investigation ever conducted into the illegal
movement of drug money, bankers working with Mexico's most powerful
cocaine cartel approached them with a stunning offer. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
New CSDP web page | ||||||||||||||||||
Common Sense for Drug Policy and DrugSense have collaborated to create
a CSDP web page. It is well worth a visit. It includes the full text of
the powerful "Effective National Drug Control Strategy" that has been
created by Kevin Zeese and many other NRG members. It also includes the
"Drug War Facts" collection and many other research and informational
tools. Take a look: | ||||||||||||||||||
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- Dave Fratello reports: | ||||||||||||||||||
Now, at last, the IOM has a browsable, but not scanned, version of the
entire MMJ report online. Go here: | ||||||||||||||||||
and click on the report cover on the front page; this leads you to a
special medmj page with access to an html or pdf of the exec. summary,
and an "image version" of the entire report accessible by page #. With
this last one you can read the report page by page, somewhat awkwardly,
but it's all there. | ||||||||||||||||||
Ordering printed and bound pre-publication copies costs $44 or so. | ||||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body
and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day."
- Thomas Jefferson | ||||||||||||||||||
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