| May 7, 1999 #97 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
David Broder mistakenly thinks forced treatment will win the war on
drugs / by Steve Young MAP Focus Alert Specialist | ||||||||||||||||||
Following the lead of many so-called "progressive prohibitionists," syndicated columnist David Broder has jumped on the coerced treatment bandwagon. Broder wrote a column appearing in many newspapers this week claiming that the war on drugs can be won, as long as anyone charged with drug crime is forced into treatment, whether they are addicted or not. In addition to treatment, extensive drug testing is also recommended for those in treatment and those released from treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||
While treatment may seem more humane than prison, coercion is
coercion. Recall that in the former Soviet Union psychiatrists and
mental hospitals were frequently used to "cure" those who dared to
challenge official state policies. While Broder seems to see this trend
coming directly from voters through initiatives like Arizona's
Proposition 200, it's interesting that he refers to other elements of
Prop. 200 as "controversial." Perhaps drug policy that doesn't involve
the state pressuring individuals to act against their own free will
continues to sound controversial to some people. | ||||||||||||||||||
In addition to his endorsement to this highly questionable practice,
Broder shows a basic misunderstanding of the relation of drug policies
to the incarceration boom. "It long has been known that drug abuse is
the major factor in swelling our prison and jail population almost to 2
million," Broder writes. Well, Dave, not exactly. It's the policies
that are supposedly designed to deal with drug abuse that are crowding
prisons and jails. | ||||||||||||||||||
Please write to the newspapers where Broder's column appeared to remind
readers that the only solution to drug problems is real reform, not
just changing the signs over prison gates to read "Official Drug
Treatment Center." | ||||||||||||||||||
NOTE: The above feature refers to an article written in the Washington
Post. Please consider writing a letter to them using the information
below. Should you elect to take this action, you should write your
letter then visit the web page and paste it into the feedback form
provided: | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy COMMENT: (1-5) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Loic Wacquant's brilliant analysis and chronology of the punitive
social policies which have evolved insidiously in the US and Western
Europe over the past 2 decades appeared in April Le Monde. The superb
translation available at the MAP URL should be studied by everyone
with a serious interest in drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
Two good examples of the linkages Wacquant described are offered by
the next two articles. The WSJ lauds "responsible monitoring" of
McCzar's completely unproven multi billion dollar ad campaign, while
David Broder's widely distributed op-ed praised coercive "treatment"
as a solution for the problem of "drug crime" without any reference to
the fact that the "criminal" nature of drug use is itself a function
of a destructive and ineffective policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
The thrust of the study described in the OC Register was not criticism
of our drug policy as a failure, but the suggestion that hard core
junkies are somewhat price-sensitive. Nevertheless, the last paragraph
discloses that $100 bought three times as much heroin in 1995 as it
did in 1988. Progress? | ||||||||||||||||||
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(1) US EXPORTS ZERO TOLERANCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Penal 'common sense' comes to Europe | ||||||||||||||||||
As gigantic industrial and financial mergers are sweeping across the
United States and Europe, to the seeming indifference of the
governments concerned, political leaders everywhere are vying with each
other to think up and implement new ways of cracking down on crime. The
mainstream media, often forgetting that urban violence is rooted in the
generalisation of social insecurity, contribute with their own biases
to defining these alleged threats to society. Many of the remedies
commonly proposed ('zero tolerance', curfews, suspension of social
allowances to offenders' families, increased repression of minors) take
their inspiration from the American model. And, as in the United
States, they are bound to lead to the extension of social control
compounded with exploding rates of imprisonment. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
This process originates in Washington and New York City, and reaches Europe via London. It is anchored by the complex formed by the organs of the American state that are entrusted with implementing and showcasing "penal rigour". Among these are the federal Department of Justice and the State Department (which proselytises, through its embassies in each host country, ultra-repressive criminal justice policies, particularly in regard to drugs), semi-public and professional associations tied to the administration of police and corrections. The media and the commercial enterprises that partake of the business of imprisonment are also part of this process. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Note: Loic Wacquant is professor of sociology at the University of
California, Berkeley, and researcher at the Centre de sociologie
europeenne du College de France | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) US ANTIDRUG CAMPAIGN TO BE CLOSELY MONITORED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The $2 billion federally sponsored campaign to keep kids from using
drugs is putting the government into the unfamiliar business of
measuring advertising effectiveness. | ||||||||||||||||||
U.S. drug czar Barry R. McCaffrey, a retired four star general, knows a
lot about accountability in the military. Friday, he said he would hold
Madison Avenue to the same high standard. | ||||||||||||||||||
"There are no points for style," Gen. McCaffrey said in an address to
the American Association of Advertising Agencies, many of whom provide
free creative work for the campaign, which was launched' in 1998.
"We've got to achieve an outcome. We have to change the way Americans
act," the general said at the group's annual meeting in Amelia Island,
Fla. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) NEW DRUG-WAR OFFENSIVE SHOWING ENCOURAGING RESULTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DECADES after America declared "war on drugs," there are encouraging signs that we may be getting smart about how it can be won. | ||||||||||||||||||
For years, the focus was on blocking shipments of heroin and cocaine into the country. The effort continues, but so does the drug traffic. | ||||||||||||||||||
When frustration with that approach bubbled over, the next move was to
crack down on the users. "Lock 'em up and throw away the key" became
the new mantra. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
McCaffrey agrees. In congressional testimony last week, he said it was
time to abandon the phrase "war on drugs," because "addicted Americans
are not the enemy. They require treatment. Wars are waged with weapons
and soldiers. Prevention and treatment are the primary tools in our
fight against drugs." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) US TX: DRUG WARS, PART TWO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Houston-based Drug Policy Forum of Texas believes the U.S. war on
drugs is indefensible. To prove its point, the group is offering $500
to anyone willing to publicly and intellectually argue in favor of
current drug policy. The group is looking for an individual to defend
current drug laws - and argue in favor of punishing possession of
small amounts of marijuana - in at least one debate. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Over the past few years the group, which favors decriminalization and
regulation of illegal substances, has contacted dozens of government
officials, elected representatives and civic leaders, but no one has
been willing to debate. So the group offered the reward. But still, no
takers. "We've had zero response," said Veley. "We can't find anyone
who will become informed on the subject and argue against changing the
law. Nobody will argue in favor of the current laws." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) STUDY: CHEAPER HEROIN ENCOURAGES ADDICTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Washington-Heroin prices dropped in half from the late 1980s to
mid-1990s, driving up use by addicts, a study finds. The results are
significant because they suggest that addicts are sensitive to price
fluctuations, meaning drug policy that drives up prices could stem drug
use even among hard-core users, said the study's author, Dr. Peter
Bach, who did his work at the University of Chicago. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
In Los Angeles, $100 bought 267 milligrams; in Phoenix, 244 milligrams;
in San Francisco, 195 milligrams.... in 1988, $100 bought 29 milligrams
in Atlanta and 77 milligrams in Los Angeles. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (6-10) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Giuliani again. The ubiquitous NY Mayor earned high marks from WSJ
columnist Holman Jenkins in a column which was almost a textbook
illustration of the deceitful rhetoric exposed by Waquant's Le Monde
article. DPFT member Rick Day wasn't fooled by Giuliani in his op-ed
in the conservative DMN. A DPFT article in the DMN? Now, that's
progress | ||||||||||||||||||
Two educational and generally favorable articles on the subject of
jury nullification appeared in the wake of Laura Kriho's (partial)
reversal by the Colorado Supreme court. | ||||||||||||||||||
Finally, outrage over racial profiling by New Jersey state troopers
inspired both a self-righteous NYT editorial and a federal lawsuit,
without out any recognition of the ironic implications: the profiling
is a direct consequence of federal drug policies. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) WHAT HAPPENED WHEN NEW YORK GOT BUSINESSLIKE ABOUT CRIME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Despite "reinventing government" and the ebb and flow of similar management slogans equating government with business, the twain are destined seldom to meet, as the Mayor of New York is discovering. Up until a few months ago, Rudy Giuliani might have been known to history as the one politician who took aim at a supposedly entrenched condition of modern life, urban crime, and actually did something about it. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"I'm trying to run the NYPD as you would a private corporation," said
Mr. Guiliani's first police commissioner, William Bratton. He used
words like "productivity" and made precinct captains directly
answerable for crime rates. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) DRUG WAR UNFAIRLY TARGETS BLACK COMMUNITY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In a recent visit to Dallas, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani spoke
to the Greater Dallas Crime Commission. The arch-conservative politico
chastised the Clinton Administration's lack of commitment to stopping
the flow of drugs across the border, even though a record 665,000
Americans were arrested in the U.S. last year for simple marijuana
possession. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
One of the last things the Dallas Police Department should exemplify is
a racially biased group such as Giuliani's finest. Unless the mayor and
City Council drastically change police policy, this racist trend will
continue, effectively destroying Dallas' black community, as it is
currently known. | ||||||||||||||||||
Rick D. Day is a Dallas business owner and member of the Drug Policy
Forum of Texas. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) ACTIVIST JURORS JUDGE THE LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Movement Uses Jury Box To Work For Social Change | ||||||||||||||||||
In courthouses across the country, an unprecedented level of juror
activism is taking hold, ignited by a movement of people who are
turning their back on the evidence they hear at trial and instead using
the jury box as a bold form of civil protest. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
If jurors vote not to convict because they don't believe the nation's drug laws are fair, they may disguise their true feelings by simply saying the evidence wasn't there or the prosecution didn't make its case. Otherwise, they risk being ejected from the jury box. | ||||||||||||||||||
But lawyers across the country are convinced that jurors are rejecting
the law -- in drug possession cases, in trials that lead to "three
strikes, you're out" or other stiff mandatory sentences, and in
situations that invoke evolving social values.... | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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THE BIG CITY | ||||||||||||||||||
(9) SEVERITY OF DRUG LAWS TROUBLES A JURY FOREMAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A jury was being selected for a drug case, and as soon as I confessed
my occupation the prosecutor raised a question: did I have opinions on
drugs that would prevent me from being a fair juror? "Well, I have
opinions," I said, but I assured him I could set them aside. What else
could I say without professional embarrassment? "No, I'm such a biased
journalist that my judgment is hopelessly impaired." | ||||||||||||||||||
But then I was not only picked for the jury but also appointed foreman,
and doubts set in. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Within an hour we returned to the courtroom, and it was with a clear conscience that I stood up and said, "Not guilty." We had followed the judge's instruction not to discuss the severity of the prison sentence. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) EDITORIAL: NEW JERSEY'S TROOPER SCANDAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The racial profiling and drug interdiction offenses at the New Jersey
State Police keep looking worse and worse. It was outrageous when state
troopers were found to be stopping and searching a disproportionate
number of black and Hispanic motorists on the New Jersey Turnpike in an
effort to intercept illegal drugs. Now it turns out that the State
Police have enlisted hotel workers along the turnpike to spy on guests
and report behavior as common as speaking Spanish. This civil liberties
nightmare has all the earmarks of a program that has spun out of
control. Thus it can only be welcome that the Federal Department of
Justice has decided that there are grounds to file a civil suit against
the State Police for racial discrimination... | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medical Marijuana | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (11-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A turgid rehash of the craven IOM report appeared in JAMA. The only
one seemingly cognizant of that real patients have needs which are not
currently being met was the headline writer. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Northern California, cultivation charges against Dr. Baldwin and
his wife were thrown out. This gratifying reversal of the execrable
string of judicial rulings in the trials of medical Cannabis users was
long overdue. The same judge will preside over the trial of Steve and
Michele Kubby. | ||||||||||||||||||
The pressure for agricultural hemp continued from around the country.
The question now seems to be which state will be the first to defy the
feds and when? | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) THERAPEUTIC MARIJUANA USE SUPPORTED WHILE THOROUGH PROPOSED STUDY DONE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Advocates for the medical use of marijuana received support recently
from Institute of Medicine (IOM), recommendations that clinical trials
and drug development should proceed. But its acceptance into the
general population of prescribed drugs appears to be years away-if it
happens at all. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) POT CULTIVATION CHARGES DROPPED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Dentist And Wife Still Face Sales Accusation | ||||||||||||||||||
By Dena Erwin, Journal Staff Writer | ||||||||||||||||||
An Auburn judge dismissed marijuana cultivation charges against a
Rocklin dentist and his wife Wednesday, ruling their 146-plant garden
complied with a 1996 state initiative allowing use of the drug for
medical purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
In making what could turn out to be a landmark ruling, Superior Court
Judge James D. Garbolino said Proposition 215 makes a patient exempt
from prosecution for cultivation once he obtains a physician's
recommendation. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) AMBER WAVES OF HEMP? WHY NOT? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Lancaster County countryside is a contrast of old-farm charm and
modern-day despair. | ||||||||||||||||||
And it's about to become the home turf for a heated debate on an illegal crop that some say could be the salvation of struggling farmers. | ||||||||||||||||||
Tucked among the meadows of grazing cows, the fields of cornstalks
reaching for the skies, are rows and rows of tobacco plants - a crop
that robs the soil of its nutrients, robs people of their lives and
robs farmers of their livelihoods. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mary Jane Balmer has been a farmer most of her 60 years. In the heyday
of tobacco farming, Balmer's crop would bring in $2,000 an acre. Last
year, she made nothing. | ||||||||||||||||||
Now she's looking at hemp as a possible crop. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In a week which saw Ontario legislators confess their youthful drug
use, MAP member Dave Haans had a column published in the Toronto Star
on the recommendation by Canadian chiefs of police to decriminalize
possession of small amounts of pot (opposed by rank and file police
union members). | ||||||||||||||||||
In Australia, the fierce debate between hard-liners and harm
reductionists took a bizarre twist with the opening of a "stealth,"
church-sponsored shooting gallery with strict rules against smoking or
sharing of drugs by addicts. | ||||||||||||||||||
Finally, in Scotland, the media admitted that heroin users were being
written off because of their drug of choice, even as overdose deaths
in Stathclyde headed toward another annual record. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) CANADA: WEEDING OUT CANADIAN CRIMINALS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Something of a miracle happened in Canada this month, in its
implications for our national drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Canadian Association of Police Chiefs' board of directors agreed to
start pressing the federal government to decriminalize possession of
small amounts of marijuana and hashish. | ||||||||||||||||||
The reason? Canada's courts are backlogged with thousands of minor
possession cases, and police across the country are finding themselves
without the resources to go after traffickers and other more serious
criminals. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) AUSTRALIA: SHOT IN THE ARM FOR DRUG DEBATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
NICK'S hypodermic, swab, tourniquet and foil of heroin are neatly laid
out in preparation for his hit. He is about to inject, but first he
reaches for a calming cigarette. | ||||||||||||||||||
Big mistake: the nurse is on him immediately. "You can't smoke in here," she says sternly, pointing to the rules posted on the wall. Nick guiltily shoves the pack back in his pocket and gets on with shooting | ||||||||||||||||||
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Such are the bizarre contradictions that arise when the heroin culture
collides with church rules. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) MORAL MUDDLE IN THE DRUGS DEBATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Editorial comment | ||||||||||||||||||
IS one drug abuser's life worth more than another's? Our moral sense says no. Whether you take your text from Jesus' example in befriending prostitutes and curing lepers, or from Rabbie Burns's assertion that "a man's for a that", the message is the same: we are all equal. | ||||||||||||||||||
By this token, the death of the teenager, Leah Betts, after taking
ecstasy is no more tragic than the deaths of the 80 people from heroin
overdoses in Strathclyde last year. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Great Site Compiling Medicinal Marijuana Science Findings | ||||||||||||||||||
Thanks to Darral Good for informing us of this site: | ||||||||||||||||||
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Two news items of particular interest that were too recent to make this
weeks edition: | ||||||||||||||||||
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A particularly egregious piece of drivel by Joe Califano just hit the
incoming news as we went to press. It should be posted by our ever
vigilant news editors by the time you have this issue | ||||||||||||||||||
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A Gauge of Distress With Public Schools / Joseph A. Califano Jr. | ||||||||||||||||||
Tom O'Connell, who NewsHawked these pieces strongly encourages letters
of response on one or both of these articles. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Tip of The Week | ||||||||||||||||||
DPF Conference to be Available on RealAudio - Be There (even if you
can't be there.) | ||||||||||||||||||
DPF will be taping the highlights for the Conference and will be posting a RealAudio archive of the tapes to the DPF website shortly after the conference. Keep an eye on the website for an update. | ||||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE(S) OF THE WEEK | ||||||||||||||||||
Bill Clinton "Lover of Liberty" | ||||||||||||||||||
"If the personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution inhibit the
government's ability to govern the people, we should look to limit
those guarantees." | ||||||||||||||||||
President Bill Clinton, August 12, 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||
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"The United States can't be so fixed on our desire to preserve the
rights of ordinary Americans..." | ||||||||||||||||||
President William Clinton, March 1, 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||
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"When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical
Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of
individual freedom to Americans, it was assumed that the Americans who
had that freedom would use it responsibly.... [However, now] there's a
lot of irresponsibility. And so a lot of people say there's too much
freedom. When personal freedom's being abused, you have to move to
limit it." | ||||||||||||||||||
President Bill Clinton | ||||||||||||||||||
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