Reason Talks With Three Ex-Warriors Who Now Fight Against The War On Drugs Like any war, the War on Drugs has its good soldiers -- a varied bunch, coming from all walks of life and filling all ranks. They include eager volunteers, from the drug czars at the top of the command chain to the beat cops, Drug Enforcement Administration and Customs Service agents out in the field. The war also has reluctant conscripts, such as state and federal judges compelled by mandatory minimum sentencing rules to enforce laws that many see as counterproductive and unjust. [continues 3524 words]
Amtrak manages to lose money on 39 of its 41 routes, but that doesn't stop it from making a killing off some of its customers. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Amtrak officials cut a deal with the Drug Enforcement Administration: In exchange for giving the drug police access to its booking system, Amtrak gets 10 percent of any money the cops take from hapless passengers. In February 2000, the deal helped Amtrak make $14,700 off Sam Thach, who was traveling from Fullerton, California, to Boston. When the train pulled into the Albuquerque station, DEA agents relieved him of $147,000. Did Thach possess any drugs? No, but he purchased his one-way ticket with cash, and he failed to give Amtrak his phone number. So the DEA seized his cash under forfeiture rules that have since been changed. Thach is now suing in federal court to get his money back. [continues 444 words]
If Our National Passenger Rail Line Can't Turn A Buck Running Trains, Maybe It Can By Enlisting In The Drug War. In addition to its high prices, weak coffee, bad food, and horrible service, here's one more reason to avoid Amtrak: It gives federal drug cops your travel itinerary. If the narcs don't like how you paid for your ticket (helpful hint: avoid cash), or find a digit wrong in your phone number (or find none at all), or don't like the spelling of your name (any guesses which ones are most suspect?), you may get a visit from a DEA agent and his friendly dope-sniffing pooch when your train pulls into the station. Even if the feds don't find any drugs, they may relieve you of any extra cash you may be carrying, figuring the only use for large amounts of greenbacks is drug transactions. [continues 1546 words]
In Which Our Man In Washington Listens To The Drug Czar Babble And Learns Why We Can't Afford Tax Cuts Spent a morning last Tuesday at the Heritage Foundation, listening to the outgoing drug czar, Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey. Heritage billed the speech as, "Is Our Balanced Approach to the War on Drugs Working?" McCaffrey, who prefers assertions to questions, made the title declarative: "Our Balanced Strategy Against Drugs Is Working." Let me admit a bias of my own: Long before I spent time in Santa Fe talking with New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson about how much fun, if arguably counterproductive, it is to get stoned, I felt the drug war's insistence on jailing people for sensory enhancement is a waste of human effort (see "America's Most Dangerous Politician," January). Still, I was surprised to find just what an idiot McCaffrey is in person. [continues 652 words]
New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson Interviewed by Michael W. Lynch I've been in New Mexico less than 10 minutes when I realize that no ordinary politician rules the Land of Enchantment. After the young woman working the rental car counter discovers I need wheels to visit her very own governor, she starts talking excitedly and positively about his efforts to pass a school choice bill. One of her co-workers, a Democratic activist, tries to straighten her out, and the conversation soon grows to include other employees, all of whom are surprisingly well-informed due to the governor's high-profile efforts to pass a statewide voucher program. The Democrat wants to make something else clear about New Mexico's top pol: She doesn't appreciate his crusade for drug legalization. Struggling to come up with the worst possible epithet, she finally spits out, "I think he's a liberal," adding that as one he embarrasses her state. (Such is the New West that even Democrats think of liberals as lower than rattlesnakes.) [continues 4294 words]
