Banks That Accept Proceeds Based on Official Assurances Will One Day Regret It The Obama administration recently released departmental "guidance" saying banks may "provide financial services to marijuana related businesses operating legally under state law." Let's be clear: No federal trump card exists that can erase bank liability for handling of drug money. Put differently, there is no conceivable way to remove criminal and civil liability for complicity in money laundering by departmental "guidance." Thus, any bank that wants to avoid federal, state and private liability has only one choice: Say no to drug money. Here is why. [continues 896 words]
Could Drugs Play a Role in 'Fundamentally Transforming' The Nation? First, President Obama says marijuana is "not very different from cigarettes" and no more "dangerous" than alcohol, just "a waste of time" and "not very healthy." One imagines that he thinks of pot as somewhere between too many potato chips and fast driving. The president's not-so-subtle message is "go ahead, just use it." Never mind that pot is a Schedule One narcotic, meaning a drug assessed as possessing "high potential for abuse," based on science. Never mind that this narcotic has landed hundreds of thousands in treatment during the past 10 years, accelerated emergency room incidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and raised levels of drugged driving, domestic abuse and marijuana-associated crime, according to state and federal sources. [continues 787 words]
What does the rise of Evo Morales as president of Bolivia mean for the average American? More than you might think. Less than you might be inclined to have nightmares about. Here are the core facts. First, Mr. Morales is committed to legalizing coca growing, implicitly supporting cocaine and coca paste syndicates in rural Bolivia's Chapare regions. If real, such a policy would accelerate coca growth all over the nation, upending longtime gains and U.S. policy. Bolivia's tottering economy would face the sort of self-inflicted wound not seen in decades. It would last years. [continues 500 words]
Odd? Maybe. Predictable? Probably. Worrisome? Definitely. Word is trickling back from Iraq, through official and unofficial channels, that "opiates" (likely of Afghan origin) may be showing up in dead Iraqi insurgents. Five questions flow from that trickle. (1) Is it true? Is it possible that, consistent with anecdotal reports of heroin and methamphetamines discovered more often (especially in southern Iraqi cities of Basrah and Najaf), insurgents are getting a mind-numbing dose of heroin prior to suicide attacks? There are ways to find out. First, add that question to current and future interrogations. Second, do basic testing where possible on remains. Third, do a drug test shortly after apprehending someone, as we often do after arrests in this country. We might discover something worthwhile. [continues 413 words]
In Frank Capra's legendary movie, "It's a Wonderful Life," George Bailey's guardian angel is a lovable old fellow named Clarence. Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, was in a heap of trouble, and Clarence was heaven's public diplomat. Clarence's mission was to save George Bailey from hopelessness. He had the power to change facts, but only George Bailey could change his own attitude - -- the one that kept him in the Valley of Darkness. Clarence got the Stewart character's attention, altered conditions around him and left him to re-evaluate his attitude toward Clarence and the future. [continues 640 words]
Big victories in the drug war are seldom big news. Good news violates the old adage that "what bleeds leads," especially in competitive nightly news. But there is good news and it needs airing. It also leads to next steps. You know, drug war stories are like castor oil. They might be good for you, but they are no fun to read. Yes, drug overdoses ended 20,000 young lives in 2003, crushing dreams, leaving gaping holes in families, schools and communities. But that stuff hurts to read. Don't you flip past that to the far away news? [continues 681 words]
To those who have worked on federal narcotics legislation for decades, the notion of state referenda allowing "medical" marijuana, as an exception to federal drug trafficking laws, has always been an oxymoron. There was nothing "medical" about smoking marijuana; the two words were mutually exclusive. The idea made no more sense than "medical glue sniffing, or free-lance "medical heroin injection." It was dangerous, indulgent nonsense at best, a cynical hoax at worst. Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's lucid ruling this week, the hoax is over. [continues 715 words]
RE YOUR series "Canada goes to pot" and the decriminalization of marijuana: It would be interesting if somehow marijuana had become the accepted drug of our society, and alcohol was treated the way marijuana is today. I wonder what arguments could be made for the decriminalization of alcohol? Robert Charles (Well, Prohibition didn't work for booze, and it's not working for pot) [end]
Occasionally, you bump into a truly compelling policy argument. Here is one that emerges out of facts that came to light this past month. On data that has recently surfaced, there can no longer be any doubt about a direct link between drug-trafficking money from the buyers of illicit drugs in the United States and leading terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda, Hamas, also known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, and Hezbollah. This puzzle piece is added to another: Colombian FARC terrorists have long funded their operations with cocaine and heroin revenue. New this autumn is a riveting development: Clear and convincing evidence has emerged that California's methamphetamine "super labs" are, in fact, a significant source of revenue not only for Mexican drug traffickers, but also to Middle Eastern terrorist organizations based in Yemen and Jordan. That revelation is significant. It should have resounding policy implications for law makers in both parties and the administration. [continues 788 words]
Unsung heroes are the stuff of which America is made. In places like La Plata, Ground Zero, and a thousand communities nationwide, they are the sudden, steady wind beneath fragile wings. They come uncalled, lift us unrewarded, and reassure us asking nothing. They confirm the power of serving a greater good, and breathe new life into the word hope. When worry and pain retreat, slow as the tide, they have left us safe again, upon the beachhead of renewed faith. At our elbows, almost unnoticed, these are individuals of good heart, groups that care more for service than strife, companies that put aside wants to meet others' immediate needs, and government employees drawn by a chance to really help. Among our unsung heroes are churches and synagogues, grandparents and teens, people of public note, people unknown to all. [continues 655 words]
President Bush nominated John P. Walters last week to be America's drug czar. That job has never been harder. But Mr. Walter's opportunity to shine as a consensus-builder and font of ideas has never been greater. Key to the new drug czar's success will be presidential support, handling seven pressures deftly, and embracing 10 promising ideas. First, the drug war is entirely winnable, if we mean reducing dramatically the number of teens using drugs and markedly reducing drug imports from abroad. In nominating Mr. Walters last Thursday, the president delivered a passionate argument for prevention, treatment and law enforcement that was at once deep and unexpectedly encouraging. That said, there are seven specific pressures that loom large for the new drug czar, and did not a decade ago. [continues 1051 words]
The mistaken shoot-down by Peru of a light plane carrying American missionaries adds two more lives to the vast ocean of lives taken by Colombian drug traffickers. If this tragic mistake is a watershed event, it is not because the shoot-down policy failed or derogates international law. In fact, it reduced drug trafficking between Peru and Colombia dramatically in its first two years, encouraged Peruvian coca growers to switch to legitimate crops, and cut coca production in Peru by an incontrovertible 47 percent. The watershed is somewhat different. This tragedy points up the ever-widening circles of innocent life lost while Colombian drug traffickers remain at large. [continues 874 words]
DRUGS, DEFENSE, CONGRESS AND THE COLOMBIA CRISIS 2000 Some people see further into the future than others. Deep cuts in international counter-drug spending during the early 1990s, coupled with diminished interest in South and Central America by the Clinton Administration and a remarkable underestimation of the link between drug traffickers and South American terrorist movements, have now come home to roost. These factors have given rise to the most virulent strain of drug-funded guerrilla activity and the greatest potential for regional instability in more than two decades. [continues 2083 words]
The year was 1996, and the place was Mexico City. Sitting at a table of hostile legislators and badgering reporters, Sen. Paul Coverdell, Georgia Republican, and the little-known Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois Republican, took question after bruising question. There had been an incident involving the death of illegal immigrants in Riverside, Calif. Was it not true that Americans are racist? There had been words on the floor of Congress about the need for Mexico to cooperate in prosecuting and extraditing drug traffickers. Wasn't this because the U.S. had no respect for Mexican sovereignty? The drug war was a U.S. problem, so why was a U.S. senator here to talk about it in Mexico? This was the tone. Mr. Coverdell listened thoughtfully. [continues 863 words]
