Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jul 2004
Source: Free Press, The (Houston, TX)
Column: The Unvarnished Truth
Copyright: 2004 The Free Press, Houston
Contact:  http://www.mapinc.org/media/3222
Note: This twice monthly newspaper does not have a website.
Author:  Dean Becker

DRUG WAR ON TRIAL

There's a cozy little trial happening over at the 333rd District
Court.  Judge Halbach seems to have a fair and open court; the problem
lies in the lies of the Chambers County drug task force.  Racial
profiling leads the laundry list of drug-war-gone-bad tactics, that
also includes forgery, theft, legal malfeasance, fabrication of drug
cases, fraud, computer piracy, perjury and civil rights violations.
Perhaps we've become jaded, (the nightly "Cops" airings would tend to
indicate otherwise), the media has been conspicuous in their absence
from this trial.

This case is a case within a case, a look back at the corruption of
the Chambers County drug task force's machinations in the late 1990's.
  If ever the abomination of the drug war is to be seen in its' raw,
unvarnished and unpolished "splendor", this case is it.

Barbara Markham, a former narcotics officer in Chambers County had
seen more than enough to convince her something was very wrong in the
tactics of her police force.  When no changes were forthcoming
following her discussions with her supervisors about racial profiling,
she became a whistle blower.  Without wrangling over details, (and at
the time we post this column the trial is ongoing), let's just say it
is "juicy".  Their lack of concern for civil rights, for the basics of
the US and Texas constitution is appalling.  The truth, so seldom told
about this drug war is on open display in Court 333.

Buried within the case within, at perhaps a third layer of
investigation is the drug war scandal in Chambers County where 150 or
more blacks were set up like bowling pins.  The man most responsible
for promulgating this fraud was recently sentenced for his perjury in
this regard.  However, just like the Houston crime lab, responsible
for sending thousands to prison on fabricated, ("it's our best guess")
evidence, so too are those framed and sent to prison from Chambers
County.  With the more glaring of our Texas fiascos making
international press, its little wonder the local News focus is not
brought to bear on a smaller, level three investigation.  We're still
trying to enter the 20th century, let alone the 21st.

I will pay additional visits to the 333rd, but as I left today, I
visited with 2 cops and 1 DEA agent who were waiting to testify.
Without discussing the case at hand, I shared my primary thought on
the drug war: "The day we regulate the distribution of drugs to adults
is the day we stop funding the Osamma's of Earth, we eliminate the
reasons for which most street gangs exist, stop most overdose deaths,
take away the job of the street vendors who want to sell drugs to our
children and stop the unnecessary expense of $50 Billion per year."
One cop expressed his concerns that would be the end of his job; he'd
be forced to steal cars to support his family, (thoughts of permanent
unemployment are a common concern among cops.)  Another told me that I
was the enemy, and that I did too many drugs, I was not to be trusted
and that he would no longer talk to me.  This one had about 30 years
of drug war under his belt and seemed damned serious.  He made me
think of assassinated journalists who have gone down fighting against
the drug war in Colombia, Mexico and of late in Texas.

I say all these cops are frauds that support the drug cartels,
psuedo-scientific charlatans, corporate-security prostitutes.  If ever
they try to tell you I was a big "druggie" and deserved to die like a
dog, remember to ask the opinions of my radio guests, the Judges,
congressmen, doctors, scientists and good friends who have found me to
be anything but dangerous.

I invited the law officers to appear on my radio shows, I offered them
copies of the booklet I have published: "Drug Truth - Abrahamson to
Zeese."  They declined because, after all, I was the "enemy".

Nobody, anywhere can validate this drug war.

However, your silence does allow it to continue.

To learn more, please visit these sites: www.cultural-baggage.com,
www.mpp.org, www.mapinc.org, www.drugwarfacts.org, www.drugpolicy.org,
www.norml.org or for a laugh, visit: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov.

Listen to the 4:20 Drug War NEWS each afternoon and to Cultural
Baggage, "the Unvarnished Truth about the Drug War" on KPFT radio,
90.1 FM or online at www.kpft.org each Tuesday at 6:30 PM, CDT.
You'll hear judges, congressmen, police and prisoners speaking of the
need for drug reform.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake