This week, more than 1,000 people will gather for the 2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference in New Orleans. There could not be a better venue for us to discuss how the drug war has become a war against black Americans. Louisiana's rate of incarceration for nonviolent drug-law violations is among the highest in the nation. But all over America, including states like New York, drug-war arrests, convictions and imprisonment have increased dramatically, and are disproportionately targeted against African-Americans, making this a major, though largely unrecognized, civil rights issue. [continues 628 words]
Most Policies Don't Work, Speakers Say A man wearing a pot-leaf emblem sat next to a former judge, not far from a former cop, a short hop from a lawyer. All were listening intently to the discussion, taking notes and sipping coffee. Attendees at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in the French Quarter this past week represented the whole spectrum of opinions: crime fighters and former inmates, legalization advocates and opponents, casual users and part-time abusers. As the conference, which ended Saturday, dissected the country's drug culture, no topic or approach was taboo. [continues 495 words]
U.S. Attorney's Office Delivers Hard Sell to Churches, Schools The roll call kicks off with the bass drum of a funeral dirge. Slowly, methodically, the names of each young person slain last year creeps across the projection screen. People shift in their seats, swallow lumps in their throats. Federal prosecutors Richard Rose and Abram McGull II want it that way. "We are trying to get into one young mind at a time," Rose said. Their venture, "Street Smarts NOLA" is a progressive new crime prevention program aimed at city teenagers. The program prompts students to think, to react, to question. [continues 560 words]
The beating death of hairdresser Robin Malta is a perfect illustration of the folly of our drug laws. Mr. Malta allegedly was killed over a debt, by someone who had no lawful way to collect. For other kinds of business transactions, we provide a forum for dispute resolution: the civil courts, where a creditor can sue a deadbeat debtor. For drug transactions, that option is not available. Drug debts must be collected privately, and violence is the predictable outcome. If the woman accused in his murder had been able to sue Mr. Malta, he might be alive today. [continues 90 words]
BOGALUSA - Officials from a Baton Rouge-based company have been in the city recently, but the DARE funds they are raising may not be getting back to local programs. Charlie Thames is affiliated with SMG and is based in Baton Rouge. His company is a fund-raising organization and recently had people working in Bogalusa on behalf of DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). The only problem is that for every dollar someone "donates" to DARE through Thames' firm, only about a nickel makes it to the organization. [continues 264 words]
As a Christian, I strongly disagree with Arden A. Anderson's assertions (column on Marijuana Should Be A Wake-Up Call, Oct. 28), about the relatively safe, God-given plant cannabis (kaneh bosm/marijuana). Cannabis persecution, prohibition and extermination is luciferous and Biblically incorrect to begin with since Christ, God,Our Father, the Ecologician, indicates he created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on literally the very first page (see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). The only biblical restriction placed on cannabis is that it is to be accepted with thankfulness (see 1 Timothy 4:1-5). It's time to stop caging responsible adult humans for using what God says is good. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
Local Legal Experts Say Belief Systems Must Be Changed More than three out of every four inmates entering the state's prisons likely have problems with addiction and yet just one-third of them receive treatment for it. "Substance abuse, in my opinion, is our No. 1 enemy," said Jimmie LeBlanc, who is heading up the Louisiana Department of Corrections while Secretary Richard Stalder is out on medical leave. Yet the state, largely because of the public's belief that treatment is expensive, ineffective or unnecessary, has been hesitant to fully fund efforts aimed at addressing addiction, be it inside or outside of prisons. As a result, untreated addictions are helping to fuel a vicious cycle that puts addicts in jail and then returns them to the streets where they in turn commit more crimes - often to fuel or as a direct result of those addictions. [continues 1748 words]
The Oct. 22 column by Bill Steigerwald regarding the legalization of marijuana has got to be in the top 10 of all-time stupid columns. He cites reports by Jon Gettleman and Ethan Nadlemann who both decry our laws prohibiting the legalization of marijuana. The title of Steigerwald's column is, "Cost of marijuana enforcement and lost taxpayer revenues is $41.8 billion." Of the $41.8 billion, he cites the prospective taxes on marijuana as being $31.1 billion, inferring that our present cost of enforcement is $10.7 billion. [continues 129 words]
ZACHARY - The Zachary Community School Board revised its drug-testing policy for high school student-athletes Thursday and said it will begin random testing immediately. Board member Hubie Owen said the board has had a drug testing policy since the district's inception, "but we just haven't been enforcing it." The policy change names Lane Regional Medical Center as the initial testing agency. Lane officials will use a computer to select the seven athletes to be tested by urinalysis each month. [continues 326 words]
Unless you have been on vacation or otherwise under a rock, a case that is rocking Black America involves the racist conviction of six black youths, by an all-white jury, to the tune of potential 100-year sentences, while white youths were given the comparative leniency of in-school probation and non-prosecution for committing violent acts. This legal lynching of six young Black students by officials in Jena, La. is not only a continuing manifestation of Southern justice, it is a symptom of a vicious period in American history now in existence emphasizing the use of the law to severely punish Blacks. So, while there are justified mobilizations taking place around the Jena 6 injustice, the heat of the Black community, activists, officials, church leaders, all, should be directed toward the changes in the law that have made these injustices easier to perpetrate by local criminal justice officials. [continues 563 words]
American Express commercials used to suggest that membership has its privileges. I guess having an American Express card can prove beneficial, but membership in America's ruling class most definitely has its own set of privileges. After all, a decent credit rating can warrant a credit card, but only the right connections and political pedigree earns one the privileges of being close to power. Such is the case of Scooter Libby. Libby found himself in a political firestorm and was convicted and sentenced to prison, but now his privilege has earned him a commutation of his 2 1/2-year jail sentence. [continues 534 words]
What Do Drugs, Jesus And The White House All Have In Common? For conspiracy theorists the answer might be mind control. Or for some of the President's critics it could be Bush's alleged cocaine use and pandering to the religious right. But the answer is simply that recent legal decisions involved all three. The First Amendment came under attack Monday when the Supreme Court - showing its new conservative leanings - ruled on two particular cases: Morse v. Frederick and Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation. [continues 691 words]
The U.S. Supreme Court made an important decision Monday that placed tighter control on students' freedom of speech. The Court ruled, 5-4, that schools can restrict student expression when their messages seem to support illegal drug use. This decision directly stemmed from an incident where a high school student displayed a 14-foot long sign reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" near his high school in 2002. The student, Joseph Frederick, who was later suspended from the school, displayed his banner outside the high school grounds while the Olympic torch relay passed through Juneau, Alaska, for the 2002 Winter Olympics. [continues 279 words]
President Nixon's declaration that drug abuse is "public enemy number one in the United States" in 1971 launched a "war on drugs" that has raged since the war in Vietnam. Like the war in Vietnam then and in Iraq today, this war has proven to be much more complex than a simple "red versus blue" campaign. The soldiers are sworn law enforcement officers and organized crime members playing a dangerous game of "cops and robbers." The victims are varied, some helpless, destitute, or hardened criminals themselves, but all are civilians. [continues 863 words]
President Nixon's declaration that drug abuse is "public enemy number one in the United States" in 1971 launched a "war on drugs" that has raged since the war in Vietnam. Like the war in Vietnam then and in Iraq today, this war has proven to be much more complex than a simple "red versus blue" campaign. The soldiers are sworn law enforcement officers and organized crime members playing a dangerous game of "cops and robbers." The victims are varied, some helpless, destitute, or hardened criminals themselves, but all are civilians. [continues 943 words]
ST. MARTINVILLE -- Country music legend Willie Nelson and his tour manager were ordered to pay $1,024 each and were sentenced to six months of probation after pleading guilty to possession of marijuana here Tuesday. Nelson, tour manager David Anderson, Nelson's sister and two of the singer's tour bus drivers were cited on misdemeanor drug charges in September while traveling on Interstate 10 through St. Martin Parish. State Police investigators said they found 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana and a small amount of hallucinogenic mushrooms in a search prompted by a "strong odor of marijuana" during a routine motor coach inspection stop of his tour bus. [continues 583 words]
Section one of the April 3 edition of The Advocate was dominated by stories about the terrible epidemic of murder and other criminal activity causing great distress in New Orleans. All these problems could be eliminated with one stroke of the government's pen. Decriminalize the use and sale of drugs. Because these drugs are illegal, their price is very, very high. Nevertheless, many people are willing to risk long jail sentences, murder people, or be killed themselves trying to get the drugs for their own use or to sell at huge profits. [continues 214 words]
The Supreme Court is a solemn forum where America's greatest legal minds gather to soberly weigh serious issues. But that doesn't mean they can't have a bit of a laugh every now and then. In the 1960s and 1970s justices would gather to munch on popcorn and watch pornographic movies to define what was "obscene" or not. Monday, the court heard arguments on whether "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" qualifies as free speech. It all started when Joseph Frederick, a then-18 year-old high school senior, unfurled a 14-foot banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" while his classmates and teachers gathered to watch the 2002 Olympic torch relay pass through Juneau, Alaska. High school principal Deborah Morse saw the banner, confiscated it from him, destroyed it and suspended Frederick for 10 days. Now his sophomoric prank will be the genesis of another landmark case considering the extent of student free speech on and off campus. [continues 607 words]
Annual Award Given To Pair From Drug Unit BOGALUSA - Pfc. Wendell O'Berry and Sgt. Kendall Bullen of the Bogalusa Police Department's Drug Task Force were honored as Policemen of the Year at this week's Rotary Club meeting. Bogalusa Police Chief Jerry Agnew said last year the entire department was recognized instead of just one or two individuals, but this year the drug task force officers were chosen. "They have the vision," he said in his introduction, noting that they looked at all the officers and recognized that these two are visionaries who work their beat, anticipate reality and have a dream for the city. [continues 658 words]
NEW ORLEANS - When De La Salle High School resumed drug testing after Hurricane Katrina, officials were surprised to find that 8 percent of the student body tested positive for marijuana or other illegal substances - the highest percentage at the Roman Catholic school since it began testing nine years ago. Since then, the figure has dropped to under 3 percent, the principal says, a result that both she and the White House drug czar, who is set to visit the school Thursday, attribute to the constant threat of random drug testing. [continues 638 words]
Inside Louisiana
