Weight Battle

Give Us $hot In The Arm: 'Exchange' Depends On State Aid

Jersey City officials will get a shot at a long-awaited program aimed at reducing rates of AIDS among drug users - but unless it comes with critical state funding, city officials say they won't take it. A spokesman for the state Department of Health and Senior Services says the state will accept new applications from cities seeking permission to run needle exchange programs, which would allow drug users to trade used syringes for clean ones, beginning as soon as later this week. City officials missed the original deadline to apply at the end of May.

Reality on needle exchange

It may have been logical to assume that sooner or later New Jersey might put some state funding behind its decision to allow pilot needle exchange programs in communities hit hardest by AIDS. But the money was not there from the beginning and isn't yet. Nonetheless, officials in Newark, which hopes to be one of the six pilot projects to be named soon, say they expect and need state funding to run the program they have designed: a $1.2 million project for at least 300 drug users.

Taliban forces Nato to rethink its strategy

When Nato officials talk of their Taliban foes, they do so with a mixture of contempt and grudging admiration. Contempt because of the Taliban tactics that have become so shockingly familiar over the past six years, beheadings and hostage-taking among them. There is also a sense that the "Taliban" is not a homogeneous organisation but a series of interlocking groups, which include drug traffickers and other criminals as well as religious zealots.

Justice Dept. and Prosecutors Are Said to Have Disagreed on OxyContin Case

Federal prosecutors may have differed with their superiors at the Justice Department over how aggressively to pursue fraud charges against the maker of the narcotic painkiller OxyContin, two lawyers who were briefed about the case say. Those lawyers, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the case, said that higher-ups within the Justice Department appeared initially to favor a less aggressive approach to the case against OxyContin’s producer, Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Conn.

Al Gore III pleads guilty to drug charges

Former Vice President Al Gore's son pleaded guilty Monday to possessing marijuana and other drugs when he was caught speeding this month in south Orange County. The entire case could be dismissed once he completes a drug rehabilitation program offered to first-time offenders. Al Gore III, who has been receiving treatment for his addictions at an undisclosed location since his arrest, had not been scheduled to be arraigned until Wednesday.

I was thrilled by recent expressions of opposition to the Drug War from American mayors, both the resolution passed by the United States Conferences of Mayors, which called for, among other things, a re-direction of "a greater percentage of drug-war funding toward evaluating the efficacy and accountability of current programs," and in an interview given by Newark mayor Cory Booker. In that interview, Booker said, "The drug war is causing crime. It is just chewing up young black men. And it's killing Newark." Governors and federal politicians are rarely critical of the drug war; perhaps mayors are better situated to levy such criticism. Mayors govern more politically uniform constituencies sympathetic to progressive thinkingm and have a less mediated experience of the drug war than governors and federal legislators, witnessing open air drug-markets and suffering through drug-related violence. Where do other American mayors stand on the drug war? Adrian Fenty?

I'm also heartened by the work of rapper Jim Jones, who recorded a single, "Lockdown, USA" criticizing New York's Rockefeller drug laws (as discussed in this blog) and basketball superstar Carmelo Anthony, whose experience growing up in Baltimore's drug-ridden west side compelled him to fund a documentary critical of the drug war that declares, "America has spent over $900,000,000,000 on the war on drugs. Drugs are just as available today as they have ever been." These are examples of the millions of voices opposed to the drug war, whose authority stems from direct experience with its consequences. How can opponents of the drug war work to continue to make these voices heard, to compete with (and ideally drown out) those of the drug war establishment, for whom the media provides extensive time?

Posted by Raphael Ginsberg

3 arrested as Colombia investigates drug cartel's recruitment of retired army officers

BOGOTA, Colombia – Colombian investigators have arrested three people allegedly involved in recruiting recently retired army officers to work for the country's largest drug cartel, authorities said Thursday. The allegations are an embarrassment to an army receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid for arms and training to fight the world's largest heroin and cocaine industry.

Mexico says pseudoephedrine case signals breakdown in port security in US, China

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Chinese and U.S. authorities are investigating whether a breakdown in security at their ports allowed an illegal shipment reportedly carrying more than 17 tonnes of a chemical intended for methamphetamine cartels to reach Mexico, the Mexican attorney general said. The shipment led to what has been touted as the world's largest seizure of drug money and the arrest of Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon, who is accused in the United States and Mexico of supplying pseudoephedrine to Mexican cartels who then used the drug to make methamphetamines.

DEA Seeks to Shut Legal Marijuana Centers

Morning Edition, July 26, 2007 · Medicinal marijuana use is legal under California law, but not federal law. Los Angeles officials asked the federal government to stop cracking down on the same day that the Drug Enforcement Administration raided 10 clinics. The agency is also threatening landlords who rent space to such clinics.

City calls for moratorium as DEA raids pot shops

As the turf war between the federal government and local officials over medical marijuana continues, the Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to block more medicinal pot shops from opening over the next year. City officials aim to weed out dope peddlers who are ignoring the intention of 1996's Proposition 215, which allows Californians to obtain marijuana for treatment of chronic pain, anorexia, cancer and other serious illness.

Police Corruption Threatens Puerto Rico's Drug War

Tell Me More, July 26, 2007 · Puerto Rico's escalating drug war has been significantly hampered by alleged corruption within the island's police force. In this week's Dispatches, reporter Frances Robles talks about the impact of drug trafficking, which is contributing to a dramatic surge in crimes.

China seeks cooperation to eradicate poppy cultivation in Golden Triangle

RUILI, China: China wants further co-operation with countries in the Greater Mekong area to eradicate poppy cultivation in the notorious Golden Triangle. For the National Narcotics Control Commission, the priority of future drug-control is zero poppy cultivation in the region. There are more than 100 methadone clinics in China where over 15,000 drug abusers have received treatment since 2004. In the south-western province of Yunnan, drugs are so cheap, it is said that an average addict can maintain his habit for just US$1 a day.

DEA targets landlords in pot battle; Threatens to seize properties where medical marijuana sold

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Justice Department is unleashing a potent new weapon in its battle against California's hundreds of medical pot clinics, threatening landlords with arrest and property seizures for renting to tenants who flout federal drug laws. Intensifying its crackdown on pot sales that are legal under California law but illegal under U.S. law, agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency executed search warrants Wednesday in raids on 10 marijuana dispensaries across Los Angeles.

Marijuana may increase psychosis risk, study says, refueling debate on pot's dangers

LONDON: Using marijuana seems to increase the chance of becoming psychotic, researchers report in an analysis of past research that re-ignites the issue of whether pot is dangerous. The new review suggests that even infrequent use could raise the small but real risk of this serious mental illness by 40 percent. Doctors have long suspected a connection and say the latest findings underline the need to highlight marijuana's long-term risks. The research, paid for by the British health department, is being published Friday in a medical journal, The Lancet.

House nixes medical pot amendment

The House again has rejected an amendment to protect medical marijuana patients from federal prosecution, the fifth such vote in as many years. But while the amendment continued its trend of picking up a few votes each year, half of the House's freshman Democrats opposed it Wednesday _ including Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton. ``I have spoken to many law enforcement officials concerned about the effect of drug use on our communities, particularly in San Joaquin County. The problem is real,'' McNerney said in a statement issued Thursday. ``Just yesterday, Stockton police announced a successful drug sweep _ in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies _ that led to 51 arrests and the seizure of over 12 pounds of illegal substances.

The drugs strategies don't work

Almost anybody who takes a sustained, unprejudiced look at the current drugs laws eventually reaches the conclusion that they are hopelessly unfit for purpose. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 must be one of the least effective pieces of legislation ever enacted. At that time, there were perhaps 10,000 problematic drug users in the UK; now there are nearly 300,000.

The U.S. House of Representatives again thumbed its nose at compassion and common sense by rejecting the Hinchey-Rohrabacher-Farr-Paul amendment, which would have prohibited the federal government from undermining state medical marijuana laws. If enacted it would have put a stop to the federal raids on patients and caregivers in California and other states. The final vote was 165 for / 262 against. This is 2 more "yes" votes than a similar amendment received last year and a sign that support for medical marijuana is slowly growing in Congress. 150 Democrats (65% of voting Democrats) and 15 Republicans (8% of voting Republicans) voted for the amendment.

Please take a few minutes today to thank or spank your Representative for how he or she voted on this important amendment. Sending a message in your own words or making a phone call will have the strongest possible impact:

1) Find out how your Representative voted. If you're not sure who your Representative is, find out by entering your zip code at the top of this page.

2) Use this directory to go to your Representative's website where you can find information on writing, e-mailing, or calling your Representative.

If your Representative voted for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher-Farr-Paul medical marijuana amendment to the CJS spending bill, thank them for standing up for compassion and the will of the voters.

If your Representative voted against the amendment, express your disappointment and encourage your Representative to vote for the amendment next year. (Note: even if they voted against the amendment, it’s important to be polite when expressing your disappointment, so that they consider your views in the future).

Though there is a lot to say about the importance of this vote, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) summed it up best when speaking in support of his amendment: “At stake in this debate is who should be deciding what is best for patients. Should it be the patients themselves, the doctors, or should it be arbitrarily somebody in the federal government?”

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) hit a home run when he remarked: “A vote yes on Hinchey-Rohrabacher is a vote to respect the intent of our founding fathers, and respect the rights of people at the state level to make the criminal law under which they and their families will live. It reinforces rules surrounding the patient-doctor relationship and it is in contrast to emotional posturing and federal power grabs and bureaucratic arrogance, which is really at the heart of the opposition.”

But it was newly elected Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) who stole the show with a personal story: “I had a dear friend named James Mitchell, Jr. He was a navy seal, he fought in Vietnam. He got pancreatic cancer. He lived in Bethesda, Maryland. A 210 pound strapping man that you would want on your side in a fight and I’ve had on my side in a fight, this country had on its side in a fight, the Vietnam War. And when he had pancreatic cancer he smoked marijuana. And his 88 year old Irish catholic mother said to me ‘thank god for the marijuana, it’s the only thing that makes him smile or eat’ - and I watched that man go down to 115 pounds and die...I ask you to pass this [amendment] and allow states to have rights and people to have some relief in their dying days.”

I’m optimistic that we will change federal marijuana laws in coming years. All we need to do is pass medical marijuana in more states, get more voters to contract their members of Congress, and continue to educate the American people on this issue.

Sincerely,

Bill Piper
Director, Office of National Affairs

PS: Support is growing significantly in Congress on some other issues, such as reforming the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity and repealing the federal law that denies student loans to people convicted of drug offenses. Stay tuned for some exciting alerts on these and other issues in the coming weeks.

An Orange County sheriff's deputy pulled over Al Gore III for driving his Toyota Prius at 100 miles per hour.  The officer said the car smelled of marijuana.  A search found marijuana and prescription pills Vicodin, Valium, Xanax and Adderall.  Here are five observations following Gore's arrest.