Failed War on Drugs: Combined January-February Edition

Corrupt Cops, This Week in Drug History, Reforms, News, More!


Our January-February Special Edition of the "Failed War on Drugs" is a special combo edition that covers all that we've received in the last two months.

It takes a look at all aspects of the second longest-running war in U.S. history. Only the "War on Poverty" is older.

1 It's Safer to Be a Cop Than a Farmer

Police deaths in the line of duty were up last year, and so was the number of cops killed by gunfire. But only handful died. enforcing the drug laws, and policing remains safer than a good number of other professions.

2 This Week's Corrupt Cops

The Detroit drug squad is under investigation, a Pennsylvania police chief is accused of stealing money from drug busts, and a Wisconsin prison has a problem with pill-stealing guards.

3 Seeing Someone Smoke a Joint Outside is not Grounds for Police to Enter Home

The California Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled last Friday that police cannot enter a home without a search warrant just because they see someone smoking marijuana inside. Police may enter a home to preserve evidence of a crime, the court held, but only if the crime is punishable by jail or prison. The ruling came in People v. Hua.

4 Vermont Looks into De-Criminalization; Wants to Crack Down on "Hard" Drugs

The Vermont legislature will this year take up a bill to decriminalize the personal possession, growing of two plants, and small-scale sales of marijuana. At the same time, the legislature will consider a proposal to lower the threshold for what constitutes "trafficking amounts" for hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Both proposals will be discussed at public hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 23.

5 After 30 Years, Nebraska Legislator Wants to Re-Criminalize Pot

For three decades, marijuana possession has been decriminalized in Nebraska, but now a state legislator has filed a bill, LB844, that would make it a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. Currently, the maximum penalty for possession of less than one ounce is a $100 fine.

6 The Poppies Blossum in Iraq

British journalist Patrick Cockburn, writing in The Independent reports that opium poppy cultivation is rapidly spreading across Iraq. While Cockburn reported in May that poppies had appeared near Diwaniyah in southern Iraq, he now reports that poppies are growing in restive Diyala province, where Al Qaeda in Iraq is making what could be a last stand.

7 This Week in Drug History: January 4, 2008
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.

8 This Week in Drug History: January 11, 2008
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.

9 This Week in Drug History January 18, 2008
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.



10 This Week in Drug History January 25, 2008
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.

11 This Week in Drug History February 15, 2008
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.

12 Ohio SWAT Team Kills Mother, Wounds Toddler in Drug Raid

An Ohio SWAT shot and killed a young black mother and wounded the toddler she was holding in her arms during a routine drug raid last Friday. An angry community wants some answers and some accountability.

13 Drug Smugglers Battle Cops, Soldiers in Mexican Border Town

The new year has brought more drug war violence to the Mexican border, as drug gunmen battled cops and soldiers in a bloody confrontation in Rio Bravo, across the river from McAllen, Texas.

14
Group to Challenge Controlled Substances Act over Pain Medication

The arrest and prosecution of a Kansas pain management physician and his nurse wife have prompted a leading pain advocacy group to file a lawsuit challenging the application of the Controlled Substance Act when it comes to doctors and patients.

15 More Corrupt Cop Stories

There's some funny accounting in some Mississippi anti-drug task forces, a pot-peddling Houston cops is in hot water, there's a bunch of dope missing from the Boston police evidence room, and crooked cops are headed for prison in Chicago, Nashville, and New Haven.

16 DEA to Hire 200 New Agents

Thanks to funding provided in the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, passed last month by Congress, the DEA will be able to lift a hiring freeze in place since August 2006, the agency announced late last month. The new funds will allow the agency to hire 200 new agents, as well as a similar number of support staff.

17 International Campaign to Stop Drug Executions Gearing Up

Some 32 countries have laws on their books allowing for the death penalty for drug offenses. A new report details the situation and lays the groundwork for a campaign to stop it.

18 Still More Corrupt Cops Stories
A crooked Florida cop seeks a sentence cut, and two more jail guards get in trouble.

19 British Police Chief Predicts Drugs will Be Legal in 10 years; Ecstasy Safer Than Aspirin

Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales, has created a firestorm with comments made to the BBC that drug legalization is both desirable and inevitable and that ecstasy is "safer than aspirin." In response, anti-drug campaigners, politicians, and elements of the British tabloid press are calling for his head.

20 Iran, Vietnam Ring in New Year with More Drug Executions, Death Sentences

Both Iran and Vietnam greeted the new year by resorting -- yet again -- to the ultimate sanction for drug trafficking offenders. In Vietnam, eight convicted heroin traffickers were sentenced to death this week, while in Iran, five drug traffickers were among 13 people executed Wednesday.

21 No Relief in Sight: Reynosa, Mexico Military Occupation Yields No Let-up in Drug War Violence

In the latest move in his ongoing war against Mexico's powerful and violent drug trafficking organizations -- the so-called cartels -- President Felipe Calderon last month sent some 6,000 Mexican soldiers and federal police into the cities on his side of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, from Nuevo Laredo down to Matamoros. They disarmed the municipal police forces, who are widely suspected of being in the pay of the traffickers, established checkpoints between and within cities, and are conducting regular patrols in Reynosa and elsewhere.

22 Another Round of Corrupt Cop Stories

A Pennsylvania cop's bad habits get him in trouble, a Boston cop goes to prison for steroids and perjury, and a Texas Department of Public Safety technician goes away for a long, long time for ripping off the lab's cocaine stash.

23
Faced with Swollen Prisons, Idaho Ponders Reforms

With nearly 7,500 people behind bars in Idaho -- more than half of them for drug offenses -- the Idaho legislature is finally beginning to move away from the "tough on crime" posturing and infliction of mandatory minimum drug dealing sentences that helped create the current crisis. A bill with bipartisan support that would give Idaho judges the option to send people convicted of drug distribution offenses to treatment instead of mandatory prison terms if they are found to be addicts is on the move in Boise.

24 Smell of Pot No Grounds for Arrest or Search

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has ruled that the scent of burning marijuana emanating from a car window is not probable cause for an arrest and vehicle search. The decision came in the case of Archibald Janvier, who was pulled over for a broken headlight four years again in La Loche, Saskatechewan.

25 Nebraska Man Files Complaint over Bogus SD Bust

Eric Sage got pulled over on his motorcycle as he left South Dakota after the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally last summer and ended up being charged with possession of paraphernalia even though he didn't possess any paraphernalia. He fought the charges and faced threats from prosecutors if he didn't plead. Finally, the prosecutors gave up, but Sage still wants justice.

That's this month look at the Failed War on Drugs. Next edition: March 15. Send all submissions to: Hummmbert@gmail.com.

Thanks to Stop The Drug War.org for the great links.

Back editions of The Failed War on Drugs archived at Failed War on Drugs.

by Hummmbert
images: wfxl



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Rush Limbaugh's Adult Behavior Excites Finger-Wagging Nanny "Experts"

About 14 or 15 years ago, an email was sent to Rush Limbaugh pointing out the inconsistencies with being both a principled conservative and an advocate for the U.S. government's War on Drugs.

The popular conservative talk show host had just given a monologue expounding on the benefits of continuing the drug war--a "war" only exceeded in length, cost, futility and lives ruined by the "War on Poverty".

This listener found it hard to equate the conservative principles of smaller government, less taxes and less government intrusion with the leviathan the federal Drug War was turning into.

Apparently, more nerves were touched than mine. The next day, Rush appealed to listeners to "stop the emails!" He said that his mailbox was flooded with emails-- from the sounds of it--much like my own.

But he stated that his views on the matter remained 'unchanged'.

About 10 years later, of course, Limbaugh's own struggles with chemical preferences were revealed, much to this listener's dismay. Since our listening habits have changed, our chances to catch the EIB broadcasts over the last five years have been of the 'hit-or-miss' variety.

We're not sure what Limbaugh's position on this matter is today, but probably he remains unconvinced--if only because he wouldn't want to be seen as having his principles affected by personal, inconvenient experiences.

This brings us to an item in Rush's local paper, yesterday's Palm Beach Post. Entitled "Limbaugh's Liberal Drug Recovery: Liquor's okay", it's nanny-ism at its best.

It starts out by acting concerned, then brings in the usual 'experts' on why Limbaugh is playing with fire by engaging in adult behavior.

By all accounts, including his own, star conservative radio-talker and recovering prescription-drug abuser Rush Limbaugh isn’t letting his addiction stand in the way of a good time.

Limbaugh was absolutely truthful when, a few months into his probation for a doctor-shopping charge, he started reporting to his state handler that he drank casually.

Now, probation completed, the Palm Beach gazillionaire is routinely spotted at Trevini on Worth Avenue, spending early bird time sipping on cocktails with sweetheart Kathryn Rogers.

And when Page 2.1 traded media-war stories with El Rushbo in Miami recently, the talk was fueled by just the right amount of libation.

“I never had a problem with it (liquor) before I went to rehab (in 2003, to treat an addiction to OxyContin), so it’s not going to become a problem now,” Limbaugh said. “Besides, I challenge anyone to say I was ever carried out of a party because of drinking.”

The article continues by stating that Limbaugh was "as coherent at the midnight hour as he had been in the early evening."

Now come the "experts".

But, drug addiction specialists say, Limbaugh should know better.

“This is called cross-dependency,” says Juan Harris, clinical director at West Palm Beach’s Hanley Center. Although Limbaugh went to Arizona for his problem, celebs and professional athletes are at times spotted at Hanley. “Once a person has become addicted to a mood-altering substance, their brain chemistry has changed. They can easily become addicted to another substance, like alcohol.

“But alcohol is likely to lead a recovering addict back to his drug of choice.”

And if booze creeps into the life of a recovering drug addict, Harris added, the question isn’t if the person eventually becomes hooked again — it’s when.

“Ninety-five percent of those who drink after treatment eventually come back to us,” Harris says.

Perhaps this says more about the "effectiveness" of the whole "treatment" than about people's private habits.

It ends with a comparison of European and American 'methods' of 'treatment'.

“In Europe,” says Harris, “they teach harm reduction. Eight drinks today is better than 10 yesterday. But in this country, it’s about abstinence.

“He shouldn’t drink even one cocktail.”

Tiresome to read, tiresome to even think about: that some specialist, who's not even seen Limbaugh, would offer such faux advice in print.

We could get into the amazing coincidence of the proliferation of 'drug treatment' centers and the availability of government funding for such. But, that's another post.

We could examine the effectiveness of such 'treatment centers'. Again, that's for another day.

We could take a look at the history of government's attempts to control what people choose to put into their bodies, everything from chocolate to today's substances, and the results of such efforts--on another day.

Today, we're just looking at a gossipy item in a local paper about a national media personality.

So, there's no moral here, other than the one about what happens when the federal government gets involved in anything outside of national security.

Conservatives, better than anyone, should know what happens whenever the federal government gets involved in any enterprise: it doesn't do it very well and the law of unintended consequences is given more credence.

Many of the the same objections to nationalized health care could be transferred to the nationalized War on Drugs.

Conservatives rightly saw the 'War on Poverty' as the Liberal's failed war. The 'War on Drugs' is the conservative version.

It's a War a liberal could love.

A vast, unresponsive bureaucracy chasing after its citizens and jailing them for their chemical preferences, gobbling tax dollars, ever-expanding and achieving--after decades of chaos and billions of dollars--nothing.

Sounds like a good topic for a Rush Limbaugh monologue.

by Mondoreb
images: mediabistro; DBKP file
Source: Limbaugh's Liberal Drug Recovery: Liquor's Okay



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

The Failed War on Drugs: October Edition

by Hummmbert

Our October Special Edition of the "Failed War on Drugs" takes a look at all aspects of the second longest-running war in U.S. history. Only the "War on Poverty" is older.

1. For a ton of useful information, check out Drug Sense. They have accumulated a mountain of facts and statistics sure to interest any anti-drug warrior.

2. The Media Awareness Project: an archive of over 187,000 drug-related media stories from around the world.

3. Death by 1000 Papercuts own RidesAPaleHorse offers his look on what might be behind all the troubles that Britney Spears has suffered lately.

4. Media Contact on Demand: the internet's most comprehensive and versatile free media contact database.

5. Kilroy_60 presents USAppetites posted at Fear And Loathing - The Gonzo Papers.

6. RAPH checks back in with this look at who might get the munchies.

7. Does the War on Drugs include sugar addiction? therapydoc presents the Carnival of All Substances posted at Everyone Needs Therapy.

8. I include this one because you just know Bill Maher is high most of the time he's on TV. FitBuff presents Bill Maher Quotes on Health and Fitness posted at FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog.

9. Another resource, this time for those looking to take up the fight. Drug Policy Central: DrugSense's web design and hosting service, which is amied at drug policy reform orgs hoping to increase or improve their web presence.

10. What can happen to those who run afoul of drug laws? Ian Welsh presents Prison Brutality posted at The Agonist.

11. RAPH looks at a possible result of the War on Drugs?

12. One last resource: The Community Audits and Initiatives Project: a comprehensive list of past municipal and regional drug policy reform initiatives.

That's this month look at the Failed War on Drugs. Next edition: November 17 2007. Have a link to something interesting about the War on Drugs? Send all submissions to: Hummmbert@gmail.com.
All archives of this special edition are kept at: Failed War on Drugs.



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THE FAILED WAR ON DRUGS: BRING THE TROOPS HOMEA Call For Submissions

by Mondoreb

We're looking for a few good anti-drug war men (or women). See below.

INFORMATION ON Death by 1000 Papercuts' Monthly Special Edition/Blog Carnival

1 Looking for original articles highlighting the futility of the 35-year-old War on Drugs. Articles may be those on the web (include working links to any work that is not your own.)with your own original analysis included.

2. Also looking for illustrations, original artwork, pictures: any graphic that would help illustrate the Failed War on Drugs. Include info about the graphix, where you took the pic, why you drew the drawing, etc.

3 The monthly special edition will be out on the 3rd Saturday of each month. 2007 editions: October 20, November 17 and December 15.

For more information:
The Failed War on Drugs

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