• Letter of the Week

    Letter Of The Week

    D.A.R.E. PROGRAM

    I am writing in response to your article about the “Council unveils
    cuts to budget” on the June 2 front page. I feel like you are
    misrepresenting the facts about Emily Naeole-Beason’s budget cut
    request. The D.A.R.E. program is not an educational program. It is
    a propaganda program aimed at young schoolchildren. The police are
    spreading misinformation and what happens is once the children learn
    that the police lie about drugs, they cannot trust them about other issues.

    The D.A.R.E. program has been cited as being ineffective by the
    U.S. Department of Education, in addition to the U.S. Surgeon
    General and the U.S. General Accountability Office. The DOE has
    banned federal funding of the D.A.R.E. program in school. I feel
    you need to print a correction immediately stating the truth about
    the D.A.R.E. program. And I, for one, am personally thankful to
    Emily for standing up to end this wasteful use of county funds. The
    police should be here to protect and serve us, not lobby for the
    perpetuation of the “Drug War.”

    Sara Steiner

    Pahoa

    Pubdate: Fri, 4 Jun 2010

    Source: Hawaii Tribune Herald (Hilo, HI)

  • Letter of the Week

    Allow Pot for PTSD

    LETTER OF THE WEEK

    ALLOW POT FOR PTSD

    The Veterans Affairs Department recently adopted a policy prohibiting its physicians from recommending medical marijuana to their patients.

    Overwhelming scientific evidence has already proved marijuana’s safety and efficacy for treating conditions like chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition that afflicts nearly one in five Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.  Marijuana, moreover, carries none of the risks associated with prescription drugs used to treat PTSD, which have been responsible for the tragic overdose deaths of current conflict veterans.

    VA claims the ban is primarily a response to threats from the Drug Enforcement Administration to prosecute VA doctors who recommend medical marijuana, even though civilian doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients are not subject to arrest.

    Veterans and advocates are urging VA to stand up to the DEA’s harassment of veterans and their doctors.

    Former Sen. Bob Kerrey, President, The New School

    Jason Flom, Board of Directors, Drug Policy Alliance, New York City

    Source: Federal Times

    Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 2010

  • Letter of the Week

    Step Close To Subjugation

    LETTER OF THE WEEK

    STEP CLOSE TO SUBJUGATION

    I am appalled at the decision to extradite Marc Emery on May 10 for clearly political reasons, despite the move directly violating Canada’s extradition treaty with the United States which states that no citizen may be extradited for a political crime.

    On the day of Emery’s arrest, the U.S.  Drug Enforcement Agency released a statement that confirmed that the extradition was politically motivated.

    It’s clearly targeted at the rapidly growing marijuana legalization movement in both Canada and the U.S.

    Since Emery has tirelessly crusaded for years to legalize this harmless substance, he’s an obvious target for the wasteful and futile American “war on drugs.”

    He is only one of thousands of people out there selling seeds in the U.S., Holland and Britain, yet those parties are not being prosecuted.

    Emery was chosen because he is an extremely influential leader in the legalization movement.

    Never have I been more ashamed of the Canadian government, which bowed down and gave away one of our citizens for a five-year sentence for what would merit a $500-fine in our own country.

    We truly have given away our sovereignty in giving away Emery, and are that much closer to becoming politically subjugated to the U.S.

    Tony C. Quick

    Saskatoon

    Pubdate: Thu, 20 May 2010

    Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)

  • Letter of the Week

    War on Drugs Deadly

    LETTER OF THE WEEK

    WAR ON DRUGS DEADLY

    Re: Just another casualty in the criminal war on drugs, May 12.

    I appreciate that there are some who will actually write articles like Dan Gardner’s column stating the sad truth.  The war on drugs is offensively expensive, deadly, and extremely misdirected.

    The horrible truth is that the criminals who control much of our societies today have all the power on the creation, sale and terror related to the use of illegal drugs.  Giving government the ability to legally control the creation and safe distribution of drugs would take an enormous amount of power away from gangs and huge organizations that regularly terrorize people of all ages and walks of life.  Yes, drugs are dangerous, but they create much more danger in the hands of gangs and drug cartels.  They cannot be all jailed and will always create more drugs because it is an incredibly lucrative business and they, essentially, control the world!

    Your children and mine will always be in danger of those who will take advantage of and exploit the fact that drugs are illegal and happily enjoy the profits.  When will government wake up, take the power back and change this world?

    Jessie Gogan, Ottawa

    Pubdate: Sat, 15 May 2010

    Source: Ottawa Citizen ( CN ON )

    Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n358/a03.html

  • Cannabis & Hemp

    Petitioners Seek Medical Marijuana Outlets

    Pubdate: Fri, 21 May 2010
    Source: Statesman Journal (Salem, OR)
    Copyright: 2010 Statesman Journal
    Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/QEzJupzz
    Authors: Stacey Barchenger and Peter Wong, Statesman Journal
    Cited: Voter Power http://voterpower.org/
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis – Medicinal – U.S.)

    PETITIONERS SEEK MEDICAL MARIJUANA OUTLETS

    Ballot Measure Would Let the State License Dispensaries for the Drug

    Advocates of medical marijuana on Thursday submitted 110,000 signatures, more than the amount required, for a ballot measure to allow state-licensed pot dispensaries in Oregon.

    The proposed measure would not change the medical conditions under the law for which medical marijuana may be used.

    If such a measure ever becomes law, Oregon would join California and a few other states that allow dispensaries.  But supporters of the measure argue that reported problems with dispensaries in California are precisely what the Oregon measure is trying to avoid.  And one marijuana reform-minded group says it will remain neutral on the issue.

    Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n374.a15.html

  • International

    Mexico’s ‘Eliot Ness’ Seeks U.S. Help

    Pubdate: Wed, 19 May 2010
    Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
    Copyright: 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
    Contact: [email protected]
    Author: David Luhnow
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon

    MEXICO’S ‘ELIOT NESS’ SEEKS U.S.  HELP

    MEXICO CITY-Ten days after taking power following a hotly contested election in 2006, Felipe Calderon sat in the gilded presidential chair and signed a decree that would shape his presidency: an order to deploy 6,000 army troops to his home state of Michoacan to take on drug gangs.  Like many, the president believed the army might have trouble with the drug lords, but would at least force them out of city plazas and back into the shadows.

    It hasn’t worked out that way.  Some three years later, more than 23,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence across Mexico, according to government figures.  The bloodshed keeps rising despite the presence of an estimated 45,000 to 60,000 soldiers-roughly a fourth of Mexico’s army-in nine states.

    The 47-year-old career politician begins his first official visit to Washington on Wednesday as a leader who started a battle on the doorstep of the U.S.  that turned into a war-a conflict whose consequences will shape Mexico for years to come.

    Polls show that while most Mexicans support the president’s war, most think the drug lords are winning.  In the past few weeks, cartel gunmen burst into the Holiday Inn hotel in Monterrey and snatched guests from their rooms.  Drug gangs also blocked the highways leading out of Monterrey, Mexico’s business capital.  Among the victims of the war: a groom coming out of his wedding, a 12-year-old and his mother, and scores of teens.

    Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n371.a11.html

  • Drug Policy

    Souder, Leading Drug Warrior, Asks Forgiveness for Sins

    Pubdate: Tue, 18 May 2010
    Source: Huffington Post (US Web)
    Copyright: 2010 HuffingtonPost com, Inc.
    Author: Ryan Grim
    Note: Ryan Grim is the author of This Is Your Country On Drugs
    Referenced: SSDP’s State-by-State Report http://ssdp.org/states/
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Mark+Souder

    SOUDER, LEADING DRUG WARRIOR, ASKS FORGIVENESS FOR SINS

    Mark Souder resigned his congressional seat on Tuesday, confessing to an affair with a staffer and ending an eight-term career as a Republican from Indiana.

    In stepping down, he asked God for forgiveness in a rambling, all-caps public statement.  “I SINNED AGAINST GOD, MY WIFE AND MY FAMILY BY HAVING A MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A PART-TIME MEMBER OF MY STAFF,” he wrote.  “MY COMFORT IS THAT GOD IS A GRACIOUS AND FORGIVING GOD TO THOSE WHO SINCERELY SEEK HIS FORGIVENESS AS I DO.”

    Forgiveness, however, is not a quality that Souder shares with his Lord.  No Republican has been more outspoken in Congress in his moral condemnation of Americans who use illicit drugs.  In order to punish such sinning, Souder championed and vigorously defended perhaps the least forgiving law on the federal books: the denial of federal student aid for any student convicted of drug possession, no matter how minor.

    Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n369/a04.html

  • Drug Policy

    Web: We Are The Drug Policy Alliance

    Pubdate: Mon, 17 May 2010
    Source: Huffington Post (US Web)
    Copyright: 2010 HuffingtonPost com, Inc.
    Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com
    Author: Ethan Nadelmann
    Note: Ethan Nadelmann is the Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance. www.drugpolicy.org
    Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0A1XTlJAio

    Sting, Soros, Montel and More

    WE ARE THE DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE

    I’ve often felt in years past that our struggle to end the drug war is relentlessly uphill.  But that’s changing now, sometimes more quickly than even I can believe.  The principal reason is us, by which I mean every person who grasps the lunacy of drug policies in this country and throughout much of the world, and who takes some action – no matter how small – to advance a better way.

    It’s time now for DPA – the Drug Policy Alliance – to launch a new organizational identity that fully expresses each of our roles as agents of change.

    This change represents the once-unimaginable progress that you and I have made over the past decade to bring drug policy reform that much closer to the tipping point.  Now is the time to make drug policy reform more personal – creating an even greater sense of moral urgency, connecting the dots with more allies, and building on the common interests of everyone who makes up this movement.  We can keep chipping away at the drug war but it won’t really end until a critical mass of people, communities and elected officials demand a new way of dealing with drugs in our society.  That’s why we are the Drug Policy Alliance.

    I’m often asked, “Who is this growing drug policy reform movement?”

    We vary of course in what brings us to this cause.  We are people who care about fundamental freedoms, civil liberties and human rights.  We are people who care about social and economic justice.  We are people who want to end racism.  We are people who want addiction treated as a health issue rather than a criminal justice problem.  We are people who want honest drug education for our youth that fosters trust rather than fear.  And every one of us – no matter our reason – believes that the war on drugs is not the way to deal with the reality of drugs in our society.  That’s why we are the Drug Policy Alliance.

    [snip]

    P.S.  Today we’re introducing a new video featuring Sting, George Soros and Montel Williams.  Each of them – like so many of us – believes that our drug policies must be grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.

    Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n368/a09.html

  • Cannabis & Hemp

    Editorial: Will Feds Allow State Pot Laws?

    Pubdate: Tue, 18 May 2010
    Source: Denver Post (CO)
    Copyright: 2010 The Denver Post Corp
    Contact: [email protected]
    Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis – Medicinal – U.S.)

    WILL FEDS ALLOW STATE POT LAWS?

    Colorado and Other States That Have Enacted Medical Marijuana Laws Should Be Allowed to Proceed Without Federal Interference.

    Now that Colorado is poised to begin regulating medical marijuana dispensaries, it makes sense to consider how the potential state law jibes with the long arm of federal law.

    Though President Obama’s administration is taking a tolerant view toward the 14 states with medical pot laws, future administrations might decide to strictly enforce federal laws, which don’t recognize the drug as anything other than illegal.

    Colorado’s Rep.  Jared Polis, D-Boulder, has co-sponsored a measure that says as long as the doctors who prescribe, patients who use, dispensaries that sell and growers that provide medical marijuana follow state laws, federal drug agents would not be allowed to arrest or charge them with drug crimes.

    That’s an important exception to make because unless Gov.  Bill Ritter surprises lawmakers with a veto, Colorado is on its way to sanctioning dispensaries and creating a vast new regulatory framework for the burgeoning new industry.

    Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n368.a07.html