How A Reckless Mayor, Heartless Federal Agents And A Disorganized Drug-Consuming Public Led To A Pointless Raid On Head Shops Duval Street is the epicenter of Key West, Fla., home to Sloppy Joe's, Ernest Hemingway's and a host of bars and hotels that have for a century captured the spark and soul of this land of the lost. The Environmental Circus is gone, Valladares' News Stand is history, and though La Te Da still stands, Larry Formica and his pink Cadillac have long since passed. Where a beat up wooden dock and a collage of cultures once gathered on historic Mallory Square, cruise ships now pour out thousands of tourists in flowered shirts onto the city's main streets. [continues 1448 words]
Buried in the latest Monitoring the Future survey -- the major annual, federally funded survey of teen drug use -- is an astonishing finding: More 10th-graders now smoke marijuana than smoke cigarettes. Strangely, in announcing the results, White House drug czar John Walters failed to mention this evidence that our current drug policies constitute an utter train wreck. In the just-released survey, 13.8 percent of 10th-graders reported smoking marijuana in the past 30 days (considered "current use" by researchers), while just 12.3 percent smoked cigarettes. For 8th and 12th grades, cigarette use still exceeded marijuana, but the gap narrowed to insignificance. [continues 490 words]
December has been an interesting month for marijuana, or cannabis as it is known to scientists and all too few others. To kick off the month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided against reviewing a California state appellate court ruling arguing that its medical marijuana law trumped federal law. That, in effect, set the stage for better implementation of medical-marijuana law in not just California, but every state that has one, while also reminding local police that the job of enforcing federal drug policy is, in fact, not its job. [continues 1434 words]
As we approach the 75th anniversary of the end of alcohol Prohibition on December 5, it's worth noting how little regret there is among Americans for ending this well-intentioned but ill-conceived experiment. Indeed, in September, even Congress passed a resolution praising the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, which ended Prohibition. After Prohibition's "dramatic increase in illegal activity, including unsafe black market alcohol production, organized crime, and noncompliance with alcohol laws," Congress noted, the repeal of Prohibition allowed the creation of "a transparent and accountable system of distribution and sales" that generated "billions of dollars in Federal and Sales tax revenues and additional billions to the economy annually." [continues 660 words]
Hamedah Hasan Tells Her Story Whoa! Talking about sleeping in the bed you made. Imagine trying to turn over and your bedding is so tight you can't move. Your mind is heavily sedated with a strong dose of sleep. You try turning to your right side from your left. You lay there fighting between sleep and fixing your bedding. Your bed is pure 100 percent concrete with blankets of steel. No kiss good night, no bedtime story. You have just been tucked in by Uncle Sam. I am one in thousands of American POWs. I know I'm not the kind you think of first when you hear those words. I'm a prisoner of America's Drug War, currently serving a 27-year federal prison sentence based on laws established in the late 80s. In 1991, at age 24, I was indicted, arrested and subsequently convicted, and sentenced -- initially to natural life -- for cocaine and crack cocaine related offenses. While I am responsible for my own criminal behavior, being a first time, non-violent offender makes my sentence of decades in prison impossible to accept quietly. [continues 803 words]
On a chilly, overcast morning in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, a steady trickle of sallow-faced drug addicts shambles up to a storefront painted with flowers and the words "Welcome to Insite." One by one, they ring the doorbell and are buzzed into a tidy reception area staffed by smiling volunteers. The junkies come here almost around the clock, seven days a week. Some just grab a fistful of clean syringes from one of the buckets by the door and head out again. But about 600 times a day, others walk in with pocketfuls of heroin, cocaine or speed that they've scored out on the street; sign in; go to a clean, well-lit room lined with stainless steel booths; and, under the protective watch of two nurses, shoot their drugs into their veins. [continues 3868 words]
While President-elect Obama is not going to make ending the drug war his #1 priority, he has said that America should start treating drug use as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue. He supports repealing the federal syringe ban and ending the DEA's raids on medical marijuana patients. He is also co-sponsor of Senator Biden's bill to eliminate the 100-to-1 crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity. Moreover, many Democrats in leadership positions in Congress support drug policy reform, ranging from Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Representative Dana Rohrabacher. [continues 229 words]
A Thundering Rejection of America's Longest War On Tuesday, largely under the radar of the pundits and political chattering classes, voters dealt what may be a fatal blow to America's longest-running and least-discussed war -- the war on marijuana. Michigan voters made their state the 13th to allow the medical use of marijuana by a whopping 63 percent to 37 percent, the largest margin ever for a medical marijuana initiative. And by 65 percent to 35 percent, Massachusetts voters decriminalized the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, replacing arrests, legal fees, court appearances, the possibility of jail and a lifelong criminal record with a $100 fine, much like a traffic ticket, that can be paid through the mail. [continues 535 words]
It was in Los Angeles in 1983, while I was attending John Burroughs Junior High, when I recall coming home and tuning into an episode of the popular ABC sitcom, Diff'rent Strokes. I remember watching intently as First Lady Nancy Reagan teetered onto the screen. I watched that show the way I did most other American sitcoms having to do with race relations, with a studious blend of curiousity, fascination, and burgeoning media criticism. I hadn't been born in the U.S., but I'd been living in the diverse megalopolis since 1977. That was long enough to know that this country had rather serious, unresolved problems when it came to skin color, class, ethnicity, culture and language. [continues 3487 words]
It may or may not surprise you that a majority of Americans support treatment instead of incarceration for people struggling with drug addiction. That's the good news. What you may not know is that there is a raging battle within the treatment community and society at large about how much carrot vs. stick we should use to help people who need treatment. There are two major flashpoints that divide treatment advocates and the public: 1) the need to hold sanctions or the threat of jail over someone's head in getting them to comply with treatment and 2) the need for total abstinence for people in treatment and recovery. [continues 709 words]
Even on his most homicidal of days, Al Pacino's character in Scarface couldn't even approach the level of drug trafficking-related brutality bleeding down Mexico's streets. It is no longer unusual for the Mexican news media to report on yet another, freshly decapitated head stuck atop a fencepost or a metal spike, or a garbage bag filled with body parts, usually with a hand-scrawled note or placard attached. That amounts to a cartel's calling card, and it's usually delivered in the form of a warning to a rival cartel, or for the Mexican authorities to stay away and stop seizing their drugs. [continues 2665 words]
Marijuana law reformers, myself included, have spilled volumes of ink commenting on the numerous reasons and vested interests responsible for the continued prohibition of cannabis. But while these lengthy writings may be worthwhile intellectual exercises, I fear that they overlook the obvious. That's why, right now, I'd like to give you seven specific reasons why the use of cannabis by adults -- including seriously ill patients -- remains a crime in America. Ready? Here they are: Governor Donald Carcieri (R-Rhode Island) [continues 140 words]
Exercising the Right to Vote Is Important Part of Prisoner Rehabilitation, but Over 5 Million Convicted Felons Are Barred From Doing So. A coalition of concerned citizens in Alabama is shaking up the GOP with their goal of registering voters in the most unlikely of places - -- state prisons. A voter registration drive led last week by Rev. Kenny Glasgow, began registering prisoners to vote, a right guaranteed under Alabama's State Constitution, so they could cast absentee ballots. The drive was originally embraced by Richard Allen, the commissioner of corrections in Alabama, but it was stopped when he received a letter on Thursday from the Alabama Republican Party opposing the drive. Its chairman, Mike Hubbard, told Mr. Allen that the party supports voter registration but not for prisoners, citing a need for safeguards against possible voter fraud. [continues 602 words]
Cannabis Arrests Now Comprise Nearly 47.5 Percent of All Drug Arrests in the United States, 89% of Them for Mere Possession. If denial is the first sign of addiction, then Drug Czar John Walters is hooked to the gills. He's addicted to targeting and arresting marijuana consumers, and he'll do and say anything to keep this irrational and punitive policy in place. Speaking earlier this month on C-Span, the reigning Czar stretched his usual deceit to outrageous new heights. Responding to a question from the Marijuana Policy Project's Dan Bernath, Walters flatly denied the charge that over 800,000 Americans are arrested annually for violating pot laws. [continues 590 words]
Recently it was revealed that the 17-year-old daughter of the Republican vice-presidential nominee is pregnant. This announcement was particularly ironic, as Gov. Sarah Palin is a staunch advocate of abstinence-only sex education. This high-profile pregnancy is stirring a larger debate about how sex education is taught in the United States. What's clear is that despite strong messages urging young people to abstain, most teenagers, even those who have been admonished time and time again, are not listening. [continues 644 words]
It might sound far-fetched, but just a decade ago it seemed unlikely that the prohibited and mildly hallucinogenic drug cannabis would become a mainstream pain-killing medicine. But it is happening: Cannabis pain-killing pills and sprays are being developed to help people with multiple sclerosis, cancer and Aids. Now some scientists and psychotherapists think more powerful psychoactive drugs like psilocybin, found in 'magic mushrooms', could have a future as medicinal agents for a number of conditions. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved, but not funded, a pilot study aiming to see if the euphoria and insight of a mild psychedelic 'trip' can ease the physical and emotional pain experienced by thousands of terminal cancer patients each year. [continues 770 words]
If marijuana were legal but taxed like alcohol and tobacco, how much money could it bring in to cash-strapped state governments? One 2006 study called cannabis the top cash crop in the nation, worth more than corn and wheat combined. It was the leading crop in 12 states, outstripping grapes in California and tobacco in North Carolina, and one of the top three in 18 others, coming in just behind apples in Washington and cotton in Georgia. So with states facing massive deficits, could reefer revenues help? [continues 1540 words]
Twenty years ago, on Sept. 6, 1988, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's chief administrative law judge issued a landmark ruling, but don't expect any celebrations or commemorations in Washington, D.C. Our government has ignored this historic decision since the day it was issued, inflicting needless misery on millions. Indeed, most Americans don't know it ever happened. In response to a petition asking that marijuana be moved from Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act, which bars medical use, to a lower schedule that would permit physician prescriptions, Judge Francis Young held extensive hearings that began in the summer of 1986. He heard from an impressive array of expert witnesses, resulting in thousands of pages of documentation. [continues 482 words]
On August 19, the Associated Press reported on a group of college presidents proposing reconsideration of the legal drinking age. I'll refrain from wading into the emotional debate about what the legal age for alcohol should be, but a graph that accompanied the story in some outlets, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch raises larger questions about our national policies towards drugs and alcohol. Two things are striking: 1) The number of alcohol poisoning deaths in the U.S. is shockingly high, consistently between 300 and 400 each year. The number of annual deaths from marijuana poisoning remains -- as always -- zero. [continues 418 words]
[Scene:] suburban neighborhood ... Daytime: Our host, Professor Barnard Puck, and his trusty assistant, Baldric, cautiously scan for some unseen creature. Puck motions Baldric to the house on the left. Baldric sneaks off, taking slow, cautious steps. Puck addresses the camera. Professor Puck: It is a beautiful day. And while most people are out and about enjoying friends, activities, life in general -- the creature that we seek is sedentary, uninspired, and remarkably unmotivated. My associate and I are in search of the lair of a magnificent specimen: the mature stoner. [continues 884 words]
