| May 18, 2001 #200 | ||||||||||||||||
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Listen On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/radio/ | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
Brigette Sarabi, Director Western Prison Project PO Box 40085 Portland, OR 97240-0085 503.335.8449 www.westernprisonproject.org * Feature Article | ||||||||||||||||
Reply to Former Drug Czar William Bennett / By Dr. Tom O'Connell | ||||||||||||||||
* Quote of the Week | ||||||||||||||||
Carl Hiassen | ||||||||||||||||
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) THE HYDRA-HEADED DRUG BUSINESS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
There's No Killing It | ||||||||||||||||
At last we've turned the corner in the war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
A Coast Guard crew has seized more than 13 tons of cocaine in what
authorities are calling "the largest cocaine seizure in U.S. maritime
history." | ||||||||||||||||
But careful news watchers have heard those words before. Back in 1998
Attorney General Janet Reno and Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin
announced more than 100 indictments and the seizure of some $150
million from Mexican banks, representing a successful conclusion to
"the largest, most comprehensive drug money laundering case in
history." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) BUSH'S DRUG POLICY: 'THE THING WITH TWO HEADS' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The president claims treatment is the best way to lower the demand for
drugs. So why is his new drug czar so obsessed with punishment and
prisons? | ||||||||||||||||
When George W. Bush introduced John Walters as his new drug czar last
week, it was the strangest example of being of two minds since Ray
Milland and Rosey Grier shared the same torso in "The Thing With Two
Heads." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) WHAT A SHAME: A TRULY AWFUL DECISION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
I AM appalled and infuriated by the truly awful decision of the United States Supreme Court effectively limiting the rights of Californians (and all Americans) to obtain and utilize upon advice of their personal physicians, marijuana to assist in prolonging life by making food more palatable, alleviating pain and assisting in their effective treatment. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) CANADA: MPS SET TO DEBATE LEGALIZING MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Ottawa - MPs quietly launched a debate Thursday that could lead to the decriminalization of currently illegal drugs such as marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
All five parties in the House of Commons unanimously backed a motion
to create a committee with a broad-ranging mandate to study solutions
to the use of banned narcotics. | ||||||||||||||||
Members from at least three parties said Thursday that they see the
committee as a forum to discuss the once-taboo topic of legalizing
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-10) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Nearly a month after Dan Forbes' scoop, John Walters was finally
nominated as drug czar in a Rose Garden ceremony. The President also
explained how a "tough on drugs stance" isn't at odds with
"compassion." | ||||||||||||||||
Before the Rose Garden announcement, the White House confirmed a more
recent drug policy rumor: Asa Hutchinson, also a hard-liner, will be
nominated to head the DEA. | ||||||||||||||||
As for Walters, a chorus of media boos drowned out any faint cheers;
look for lively confirmation hearings as politicians are brought up to
speed on the shifting national mood toward the increasingly visible
failures of our drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) HARDLINE DRUG CZAR APPOINTED BY BUSH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
President George Bush tried to reinvigorate America's controversial war
on drugs' yesterday by appointing a hardliner to the position of drug
czar'... | ||||||||||||||||
The new drug czar, John Walters, was the deputy head of drug policy in
George Bush Sr's administration, and has long been a firm advocate of
mandatory prison sentences for drug users. | ||||||||||||||||
Acceptance of drug use is simply not an option for this | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) BUSH MAKES JOB OFFER OFFICIAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - President Bush finally made official Wednesday an offer
he extended to Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Fort Smith, to head the Drug
Enforcement Administration. | ||||||||||||||||
Bush had telephoned Hutchinson Monday afternoon to offer him the job, and Hutchinson accepted. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer announced Hutchinson's nomination Wednesday during Fleischer's daily briefing. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) FOR DRUG WARRIORS, IT'S FLASHBACK TIME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Bush Takes A Hard-line, Old-Fashioned Approach To An Intractable Problem | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - The White House drug wars are heating up again. Woe is us. | ||||||||||||||||
Having scolded the previous administration for laxness in fighting the
war on drugs - a tired cliche that means kids go to jail, missionaries'
planes are shot out of the sky, politicians get quick-and-easy sound
bites and Hollywood has more movie fodder - the Bush administration is
going back to the future. | ||||||||||||||||
When in doubt about how to get a handle on the scourge of drugs by reducing demand, the ready solution seems to be to get tougher by building more prisons and filling them up with addicts and small-time dealers, although the pitiful case of actor Robert Downey Jr. shows that the threat of jail is not always the solution for addicts. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) BUSH'S DRUG CZAR DINOSAUR IS NO BARNEY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
You would think that a man with George W. Bush's, er, familiarity with
illegal substances might be sympathetic to calling a cease-fire in
America's $50-billion-a-year drug war. | ||||||||||||||||
But, in Bush's parlance, that would be a "misunderstandimation" of the
president. | ||||||||||||||||
The man who still refuses to discuss exactly how much cocaine he snorted in the 1970s is drawing fire for his nomination of "do-drugs, do-time" extremist John P. Walters to serve as the nation's drug czar. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) SAME OLD DRUG FIGHT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Sixty years ago America fought a war that had widespread public support
and achieved the lofty goal of ending tyranny in Japan and Germany.
Sadly, this country remains deeply engaged in another war that simply
soaks up scarce tax dollars, supports foreign corruption and stuffs our
prisons full of non-violent criminals. | ||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs hasn't worked, and yet it has been embraced by one beleaguered presidential administration after another... | ||||||||||||||||
In this kind of war, the best time to change tactics is when a new
president moves into the White House. ... | ||||||||||||||||
But this president, with his eyes firmly fixed on the rear-view mirror,
is not one to break new ground. His idea of progress is to heed his
father's advice to "stay the course." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) EDITORIAL: JUST SAY NO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
It's hard to imagine a worse choice for national drug czar than John
P. Walters. He promises to employ strategies that have already wasted
billions of dollars and thousands of lives -- among them an American
missionary and her infant daughter, killed last month when their plane
was shot down over Peru. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (11-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
After "Traffic," the new panacea for our drug problem became "demand
reduction," a concept examined last week by both William Raspberry in
the WP and Jason Cohn in Rolling Stone. | ||||||||||||||||
Raspberry found the case for treatment unconvincing and Cohn found
D.A.R.E.'s unsuccessful "prevention" a metaphor for the drug war
itself: when forced to admit a program is failing, "fix" it with more
money. | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) DRUG POLICY POSTER BOYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Haven't Darryl Strawberry and Robert Downey Jr. been given enough
"second" chances? Isn't it time to let justice do its thing and put
these two jokers away for long, long stretches? | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"There may not be much we can do about a Strawberry or a Downey," said
Simon, the partnership's (PDFA) associate director of public affairs.
"For those guys, drug use is really not a choice. What we try to do is
help kids in their teens to reject drugs while it is still a choice,
and for that they need both information and encouragement in making
good choices." | ||||||||||||||||
It is, of course, what we do in the case of tobacco. We promote social
sanctions against smoking, publish the health horror stories, develop
treatment protocols and pass laws against sales to minors. What we
don't do is put nicotine addicts in jail. | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) DRUG EDUCATION: THE TRIUMPH OF BAD SCIENCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Dare And Programs Like It Don't Stop Kids From Using Drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
But There's Too Much At Stake To Replace Them | ||||||||||||||||
IN FEBRUARY, THE HEAD OF DRUG ABUSE Resistance Education - used in
seventy-five percent of U.S. school districts and fifty-five countries
worldwide - made the extraordinary admission that the program has not
been effective. Nonetheless, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation gave
DARE a $13.7 million grant to bring the curriculum up to date and to
scientifically evaluate its usefulness. The foundation reasoned that it
would be easier to change DARE than to bring another program to its
level of penetration. And so, in September, DARE will launch its new
and improved program with great fanfare in six cities, including New
York and Los Angeles. In March 2002, administrators will implement it
worldwide. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Since 1980, the U.S. has attempted social change through imprisonment;
many are unhappy with the consequences, yet the policy seems beyond
change. Three recent books on the phenomenon were reviewed in The
Progressive. | ||||||||||||||||
By chance, an egregious example of the policy in action also made the news last week; note its chronicity and tendency to recur. | ||||||||||||||||
One thing keeping prisons in a growth mode is the meth industry--
which didn't exist when the drug war was declared-- and is never even
mentioned whenever "successes" are claimed. | ||||||||||||||||
A brutal mass killing in NYC led some to question marijuana's benign
image, but at least one observer got it right; it's the money and
illegality, stupid. | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) THE CRAZE OF INCARCERATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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More Americans went to prison or jail during the eight years of the
Clinton Administration than during any other. In total, 673,000 people
were sentenced to prison or jail terms during Clinton's Presidency, and
our national incarceration rates are now officially the highest in the
world. Altogether, two million Americans are currently behind bars.
Another 4.5 million are on probation and parole. Meanwhile, crime rates
have remained relatively static-or have decreased in some
categories-since 1980. | ||||||||||||||||
The three books under review address the incarceration craze and attempt to answer several questions about it: Just how deeply wedded has our society become to the idea of imprisonment as a solution to crime? Why? With what consequences? And what can be done differently? | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Much of Hallinan's itinerant account centers on George W. Bush's home
state. "Texas is to the prison culture of the 1990s what California was
to the youth culture of the 1960s: It's where it's happening," writes
Hallinan." Texas has more prisons than any state in the country and
imprisons more of its people, per capita, than any state except
Louisiana." | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) MASS MOVE ADDS INMATES TO ALABAMA'S CROWDED STATE PRISONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MONTGOMERY, Ala., Alabama's troubled corrections system was thrown into
crisis today when two sheriffs sent more than 200 inmates from their
overcrowded jails to state prisons where cell blocks were already
packed. | ||||||||||||||||
Armed with a court ruling, sheriffs in Jefferson and Houston counties
delivered inmates who were supposed to be in state lockups, not in
crowded county jails where prisoners have little choice but to sleep on
floors and tables. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The crisis is reminiscent of problems in the early 1980's, when a
federal judge - with the approval of the governor, Fob James Jr. -
ordered the mass release of nonviolent offenders because of prison
overcrowding. A decade earlier, a judge had described Alabama's prison
system as "barbaric," ruling that state inmates had a constitutional
right to adequate living conditions. | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) DRUG LABS IN VALLEY HIDEOUTS FEED NATION'S HABIT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MADERA, Calif., May 12 - Along the country roads off Highway 99, it
is plain to see why the Central Valley calls itself the nation's
fruit basket. Rising from some of the richest soil in the world,
disciplined rows of fig and almond trees give way to orange and lemon
groves, cherry orchards and bushy lettuce and cabbage plants, as far
as the eye can see. | ||||||||||||||||
But hidden away on this soil, in abandoned barns and falling-down
farmhouses, hundreds, if not thousands, of laboratories are churning
out illegal methamphetamine, the highly addictive stimulant that
Barry R. McCaffrey, the former federal drug czar, has called "the
worst drug that has ever hit America." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) OUR MODERN PROHIBITION FAILS US (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The crime was "drug-related." That's the expression the police always
use in cases like this one. And here we were again. | ||||||||||||||||
Five bloody victims, shot execution-style. | ||||||||||||||||
Hands bound with duct tape. Bullets to the head. | ||||||||||||||||
A couple of pounds of marijuana were still sitting in the apartment-and
more cash than normal people tend to have around. | ||||||||||||||||
What could it be but another "drug-related" crime? | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Change the laws, end the violence. It really may be as simple as that. | ||||||||||||||||
Isn't that the lesson that Prohibition taught? | ||||||||||||||||
Back when alcohol was illegal, the rum runners and their murderous ilk
were shooting up the city. Fighting for territory. Corrupting decent
people. Funding organized crime. | ||||||||||||||||
Common sense finally prevailed. The laws got changed. And when was the
last time you heard about a killing over beer sales? | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (17-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Most were not surprised by the Supremes' decision, but their unanimity
and the sweeping language of the majority were disappointing. The only
bright spot is the narrowness of the issue actually addressed: it only
applies to distribution. | ||||||||||||||||
Shades of Dred Scott: the best response was a Salon double-header: Dan
Forbes realistically portrayed the feds' obdurate mind-set, while Dan
Shapiro vividly described a patients' plight. Guess which view the
public supports? | ||||||||||||||||
Ardent prohibitionist Bill Bennett showed how far out of touch he is
by claiming the decision will put the drug war back on a winning
track-- as if it were ever on one. On cue, eager California law
enforcement types volunteered for federal duty. | ||||||||||||||||
In striking contrast to our high court (no pun intended) was a
Canadian Medical Association Journal editorial calling for their
government to not only relax medical marijuana restrictions but also
to decriminalize cannabis possession. | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) LET THEM EAT CHEMO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Will the Supreme Court's ostrich-like ruling shut down the medical
marijuana movement? Monday's Supreme Court decision against medical
marijuana made one thing crystal clear. | ||||||||||||||||
At every level -- executive, legislative and judicial -- the U.S. government remains steadfast in its opposition to the demon weed. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) NAUSEATING RULING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Through five years of treatment for Hodgkin's disease I relapsed twice, had the maximum dosage of mantle radiation one person should be allowed to enjoy in a lifetime, absorbed 12 chemotherapy agents in a variety of colors and means of infusion, and had surgery nine times ... | ||||||||||||||||
I had Adryiamycin, Bleomycin, Cytoxan, DTIC, Nitrogen Mustard,
Prednisone, Procarbazine, Vincritstine, Vinblastine and VP-16. I've
taken percoset, demerol, morphine, ativan, restoril, dalmane and
halcion. | ||||||||||||||||
Oh yeah, and marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
Weed was one of the few drugs that offered relief. It didn't knock me
out or speed me up, it didn't destroy my heart muscle or take out my
hair, it didn't slow my thinking or slur my speech. It didn't attack my
bowels or make my fingers numb. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) THE DRUG WAR WORKED ONCE - IT CAN AGAIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
George W. Bush recently announced the nomination of John P. Walters to
serve as the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The new "drug czar" is being asked to lead the nation's war on illegal
drugs at a time when many are urging surrender. | ||||||||||||||||
The forms of surrender are manifold: Buzzwords like "harm reduction"
are crowding out clear no-use messages. State initiatives promoting
"medical marijuana" are little more than thinly veiled legalization
efforts ... | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) DA SAYS RULING SUPPORTS U.S. AID IN DRUG SEIZURES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Monday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that federal drug laws make no exceptions for medicinal marijuana use justifies calling federal drug agents to seize pot even if medical users are exonerated in state court, Shasta County District Attorney McGregor Scott said. | ||||||||||||||||
"They have spoken quite clearly that this (marijuana distribution) is
still a violation of federal law, regardless of what California has
done" in approving Proposition 215, Scott said. | ||||||||||||||||
He also said that the opinion validates a controversial decision made
by Shasta County Sheriff Jim Pope in January 2000 to call federal drug
agents rather than obey a Superior Court judge's order to return 41
plants and 22 ounces of processed pot to acquitted medical marijuana
user Rick Levin of Redding. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) MARIJUANA: FEDERAL SMOKE CLEARS, A LITTLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Fourteen years after narcotics police arrested Terrance Parker (who had
discovered that smoking marijuana reduced the frequency of his grand
mal seizures), and a year after the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that
Canada's discretionary regulation of the medicinal use of marijuana was
"unfettered and unstructured ... [and] not consistent" with the
principles of fundamental justice,"1 our federal government has taken
the bold little step of drafting new regulations. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Health Canada's decision to legitimize the medicinal use of marijuana
is a step in the right direction. But a bolder stride is needed. The
possession of small quantities for personal use should be
decriminalized.... | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (22-24) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Arianna Huffington, with her usual directness, addressed a key issue
raised by the Peruvian shot down: the outsourcing of our antidrug
operations in Latin America. | ||||||||||||||||
In Colombia itself, the final preparations of the third, and last
antinarcotic battalion funded by Plan Colombia were glowingly
described for domestic American consumption. Remember "Strategic
Hamlets?" | ||||||||||||||||
Another disturbing note from Colombia: if the present effort falters, pressure to intensify it may come from Colombia itself. | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) OUTSOURCING THE WAR ON DRUGS IN SOUTH AMERICA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
When long-time drug warriors like Congressmen Dan Burton and Mark Souder start blasting American anti-drug efforts in Latin America, you know that something is rotten in Peru. And Colombia. And Washington. | ||||||||||||||||
That's exactly what happened last week when representatives of the
State Department, the Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Customs and the
drug czar's office appeared in front of the House Committee on
Government Reform to discuss the United States' role in the midair
murder of an American missionary and her infant daughter last month in
Peru. | ||||||||||||||||
Well, not exactly "discuss." More like equivocate and pass the buck... | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
So why all the secrecy and obfuscation? Just what is it they're trying
to hide? | ||||||||||||||||
Perhaps it's the fact that our government is funding a war being
conducted by hundreds of American citizens working for private security
companies, with innocuous sounding names like DynCorp, Air Scan and
Military Professional Resources Inc. | ||||||||||||||||
It's a classic end run. When Congress agreed to fund last year's $1.3
billion aid package to Colombia, the approval came with strict
limitations on the number of American military personnel that could be
deployed in the region (500) and a prohibition on those troops engaging
in combat-related tasks. But these private military contractors --
mostly made up of one-time U.S. soldiers and paid for with our tax
dollars -- don't have to abide by any such rules. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(23) U.S. PREPARES DRUG BRIGADES FOR COLOMBIA'S FRONT LINES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
FORT LARANDIA, Colombia -- A group of U.S. Green Berets stood
expectantly in a steamy jungle clearing in southern Colombia. Suddenly,
a rustle in the bushes put them on alert. | ||||||||||||||||
A gruff voice announced: "We are troops of the counter-narcotics
brigade. you are surrounded! Surrender!" | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
By the end of the month, more than 700 soldiers now under training by
47 U.S. Special Forces instructors here will join the front lines in
Colombia's U.S.-backed war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Funded with the bulk of a $1 billion U.S. aid package known as Plan
Colombia, the 3,000-member counter-narcotics brigade will eventually be
equipped with a fleet of 16 Black Hawk and 25 Super Huey helicopters,
which will begin arriving in July. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(24) HARD-LINER SURGING IN POLLS AS COLOMBIA PEACE TALKS FALTER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- In a country fed up with rebel violence and skeptical of peace talks, a hard-line politician is riding a tide of public anger that could carry him into Colombia's presidency. | ||||||||||||||||
While some label Alvaro Uribe a right-wing extremist, a growing number of Colombians want get-tough policies and see him as their savior. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But his upstart candidacy is stirring strong emotions and illustrating
what some call a rightward shift in Colombia's historically centrist
politics. Voters are frustrated that President Andres Pastrana's
concessions to the rebels in return for talks have so far failed to
stop the violence. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (25) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A further note on the controversy that has swirled around the UN drug
czar: it turns out Pino Arlacchi probably isn't crooked; just a bad
administrator no one wants to work for. | ||||||||||||||||
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(25) U.N. DRUG CONTROL OFFICE IN DISARRAY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Two U.N. bodies have conducted investigations into the management
practices of the U.N. drug czar, whom departing senior staffers have
accused of patronage, staff intimidation and secretive or capricious
decision-making. | ||||||||||||||||
The U.N. Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP), based in
Vienna, Austria, is said to be in an administrative shambles under the
leadership of Executive Director Pino Arlacchi, a former Italian
senator and noted Mafia foe. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Opinions for the Oakland Cannabis Ruling | ||||||||||||||||
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Majority Opinion (Thomas): | ||||||||||||||||
Concurring Opinion (Stephens): | ||||||||||||||||
Dr. Russo's Explanation of the Supreme Court Ruling | ||||||||||||||||
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May 20, 2001 will mark the 4th anniversary of the tragic death of
Esequiel Hernandez. Esequiel's death is unique in that both he and the
Marine who fired the fatal shot are victims of the unintended
consequences of the war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Esequiel has a memorial gallery (created by MAP webmaster Matt Elrod
for the DPF Texas website) which now resides on the Media Awareness
Project at: | ||||||||||||||||
Let not the drug war's victims like Esequiel Hernandez and Peter
McWilliams (among so many others) be forgot, for their deaths are no
less tragic today than when they occurred. | ||||||||||||||||
PS: DrugSense archives Peter McWilliams' websites at: | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Ashley in Atlanta | ||||||||||||||||
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There were two documentaries on public radio and television this
week on the drug war. The radio documentary by American Radio Works
(the documentary branch of Minnesota Public Radio and NPR) is an
excellent overview of the failures of the drug war. You can also read
the transcript online. The television documentary by Frontline/PBS
explores the LAPD corruption scandal and features drug dealing by
corrupt police. | ||||||||||||||||
NPR: America's Drug War / by Deborah Amos, broadcast May 15, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||
"After 30 years and billions of tax dollars, America's war against
drugs rages on, unabated and across many borders. Combatants from both
sides of the drug war - traffickers, informants, money launders,
federal agents, addicts, and politicians - shed light on the U.S.
government's fight against one of the world's most profitable
industries." | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.americanradioworks.org/features/drug_wars/index.html | ||||||||||||||||
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All is not well inside the Los Angeles Police Department. The worst
corruption scandal in the force's history has devastated a police
department once epitomized by Dragnet's Joe Friday and the clean-cut
crew of Adam-12. | ||||||||||||||||
FRONTLINE correspondent and New Yorker writer Peter J. Boyer unravels
the mysteries that swirl around recent reports of police brutality,
departmental racism, and corrupt cops who take part in everything from
dope deals to bank robberies. | ||||||||||||||||
With unprecedented access to evidence-including documents, audiotapes, and startling footage of murders and mayhem- FRONTLINE explores the dark side of lawlessness that has crippled this once-proud force. | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Michael Pearson (Oklahoma NORML) | ||||||||||||||||
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This might be of interest to some of you -- it is a new web site that
posts writings from corrections officers who are speaking out about
abuse in U.S. prisons. | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted by | ||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE | ||||||||||||||||
Reply to Former Drug Czar William Bennett / By Dr. Tom O'Connell | ||||||||||||||||
Drug prohibition has never succeeded at anything except increasing
prison rolls, police budgets, avoidable overdose deaths, gang killings,
and the spread of disease. Bennett and his cronies would have you
believe that because the results of the infamous "household" survey--
itself, a lame-brained and highly inaccurate measurement of drug "use,"
showed a decline in "users" during the period from '79 to '92 that the
Bush-Reagan years were "successful." Their claim completely ignores the
limitations of the method (there may well have been more
experimentation in the Seventies; and "casual" drug use was something
the middle class would admit more freely in the late Seventies than in
the Eighties-- after all, their "research tool" is a survey of people
willing to discuss their own illegal drug use with a stranger over the
telephone, so it's hardly "scientific"). Their claim also ignores the
crack epidemic which occurred right in the midst of their much
ballyhooed "success." | ||||||||||||||||
The simple truth is that we have far more reliable data on smoking and
drinking patterns in America because we rely on macro economic data
from legal markets; similar data cannot ever be obtained from illegal
markets. Bennett's numerical claims can neither be refuted nor
confirmed; in any event, they are irrelevant as a measure of policy
effectiveness. All the indirect measures (for which there is much
harder data) suggest the opposite: number of arrests, amounts of drugs
seized, number of drug prisoners, overdose deaths, etc. | ||||||||||||||||
As for the (very political) charges that Clinton ignored the drug war,
he presided over more arrests than any other president; he also
allocated more resources to fighting the drug war. Current drug
warriors also completely ignore, for obvious reasons, the brand new and
thriving criminal markets for meth, MDMA, and diverted OxyContin which
have sprung up in the past several years and still show no evidence of
"control." The most obvious result of the U.S. drug war as policy has
been the inexorable increase in total dollar volume represented by
global illegal markets since 1972; that's the real "success" of the
policy which created and sustains those markets. | ||||||||||||||||
Playing a numbers game with relentless liars like Bennett is an exercise in futility. Anyone who believes-- or could be convinced-- that the drug war was nearly won in 1992 isn't worth a lot of our time. | ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK | ||||||||||||||||
"To say the drug war is a failure is like saying the Hindenburg was short a few fire extinguishers." - Carl Hiassen, Miami Herald (May 2001) | ||||||||||||||||
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Content selection and analyses by Tom O'Connell (),
Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Jo-D Dunbar
(), International content and analysis selection by
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