Five Architects of the Drug War — and the Result of Their Work
Alex Coolman’s Drug Law Blog has published a list — with pictures — of “5 Bumbling Architects of America’s War on Drugs“: Hamilton Wright, Richmond Pearson Hobson, Harry Anslinger, William Randolph Hearst, and Richard Nixon. It’s a good historical review of how duplicitous and random the pathway to prison and the current drug war really was. In order to believe that current US (and world) drug policy makes sense, it is necessary to assume that a sensible drug policy occurred by accident.
The most important picture is the one at the end, showing the result of our architects’ efforts:
Republican and Democratic Senators Query Gonzales on Crack Sentencing Views
User “puregenius” reports over in the Reader Blogs that Republican and Democratic senators — Jeff Sessions and Pat Leahy — queried Alberto Gonzales about his views on the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity, in last Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Dept. of Justice oversight. Short answer — he likes it, they don’t.
Update: Just saw this link on TalkLeft to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s amicus brief to the Supreme Court in the case of Derrick Kimbrough, a federal prisoner serving time on a crack cocaine offense. LDF contends that “The Crack Cocaine Sentencing Guidelines Have Resulted in Vast Racial Disparities” and “The Racial Disparities Associated with the Crack Cocaine Sentencing Guidelines Have Caused Widespread Distrust of the Law.
Why did alcohol prohibition end?
Did the “tax-it and make money for the government” argument carry the day in the fight to end alcohol prohibition? Donald Boudreaux makes a case in Prohibition Politics, Pittsburgh Tribune Review. (Via Radley Balko, who is not a fan of prohibition or taxes.)
drug war killings
One of the articles we published in the Chronicle this morning is a newsbrief about investigations starting in Thailand about the 2,500 extra-judicial drug war killings. User “eco” has posted a couple of pictures in the comment section at the bottom of the page, with a link to a web site that has more. If you have the heart for it, you can see them here.
Calling All Facebook Members…
Students for Sensible Drug Policy needs your help. Facebook has a cool contest where non-profits can win a $1,000 grant just by collecting votes. All you have to do is vote for them before tomorrow. If SSDP gets the most votes, they win $1,000 to help provide materials for their chapters this Fall.
Click "read full post" to see the instructions. It's really easy.
Pain News
Pain Relief Network’s Siobhan Reynolds and son are slated to appear on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet — tomorrow morning, I think, Tuesday — a Fox network talk program that airs at 9:00am in the New York area and on various Fox stations around the country.
Dr. William Mangino is out on bail and able to work on his own appeal as was hoped.
Richard Paey’s clemency petition has been granted expedited consideration by Gov. Crist and the Florida Board of Clemency. Visit Alex DeLuca/PRN’s War on Doctors / Pain Crisis blog for info.
(See our pain archive here. Subscribe to our pain feed via RSS here.
Don’t Smoke Pot in Your Car
Listen up hippies: smoking pot in your car is for jerks. Here's what will eventually happen to you if you insist on doing this:
An off-duty Sioux Falls police officer called other officers Thursday after he pulled up next to a car in which a man was smoking a marijuana pipe while driving, police spokesman Loren McManus said.
…"As a matter of fact, (the pipe) was still warm when they found it," he said. [Argus-Leader]
Marijuana enthusiasts are fond of claiming that the drug doesn't actually impact your driving ability to any significant extent. I think it depends on your experience level, but literally getting high behind the wheel is just stupid no matter who you are. For one thing, the more comfortable you are with marijuana, the more you'll hate having to pee in a cup every 30 days for a year (or worse).
In my work with Flex Your Rights, I've heard so many horror stories about people getting arrested this way that I could never count them. For anyone who doesn’t already know this, the smell of marijuana automatically gives police probable cause to search your vehicle. You will be arrested for anything and everything that might be in your car.
So, whether you're Willie Nelson or my friend Peter, just wait 'til you get where you're going (depending, of course, where that is).*
*This public service announcement has been brought to you by StopTheDrugWar.org, a division of the international conspiracy to legalize drugs.
If Medical Marijuana Patients Don’t Exist, How Come They Keep Sending Us Letters?
Our Executive Director David Borden and NORML's Senior Policy Analyst Paul Armentano have coauthored an updated version of Dave's marijuana_is_not_a_hoax” target=”_blank”>DWC editorial, "Why Do People the Government Says Don't Exist Keep Writing Me?"
Check it out over at Huffington Post. It's quite good.
You know, it's funny how drug policy reformers keep getting accused of marijuana_” target=”_blank”>exploiting sick people in the medical marijuana debate, yet when patients write to us, it is always to thank us for our efforts. Somehow I doubt the Office of National Drug Control Policy gets many letters from medical marijuana users thanking them for opposing the evil marijuana lobby that tries to exploit them by making their medicine legal.
marijuana_patients_do”>read full post
John Edwards Supports Needle Exchange
As part his new proposed plan to combat AIDS, democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards is speaking out in favor of needle exchange:
"And I think we also ought to promote programs that prevent harm and specifically needle exchange, which I support. We ought to get rid of the federal ban on needle exchange." [NPR]
Drug war absolutists have long opposed needle exchange, despite overwhelming evidence that it prevents AIDS and saves lives. It is just amazing that the people in charge of protecting Americans from drugs support policies that spread AIDS and kill people.
Edwards deserves credit for calling out one of our nation's most ill-conceived drug policies. It's a no-brainer for sure, but at least he got it right.
And in the process, John, you may have stumbled upon a nifty device for drafting a superb drug policy platform for your campaign: simply check what the federal policy is on any drug issue and advocate the opposite. You will be correct every time.
Update: At the risk of further emboldening the hysterical Obama fans who freaked out over my last post, and irrationally implied that he's good on drug policy, it's only fair to add that Barack Obama has also spoken in favor of needle exchange. Hillary Clinton, who's otherwise sounded good on drug policy (for a front-runner, anyway) wants to see more proof that it works, which, at this point, is like demanding proof that the sun will rise tomorrow.
"You Don’t Want This!"
It's funny because it's true. At least I think that's why it's funny. Anyway, I hope the whole movie is Tim Meadows getting stoned, acting super intense, and reverse peer pressuring people.