By Anthony Papa
Is the Drug War the Next Big Civil Rights Issue?
How do we begin to address the connections between astronomical rates of incarceration, disintegration of black families, and the war on drugs?
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By Maia Szalavitz
When an act of seemingly inexplicable violence like the Arizona massacre occurs, everyone is desperate for explanations. Some look to political rhetoric, some look to mental illness, some blame the parents, others point to marijuana. But what’s really at fault?
The reality is clearly complex. As researchers searching for the causes of violence and the roots of psychosis know, Jared Loughner’s behavior cannot easily be explained by a gene or a drug or culture or parenting. While each of those factors can be shown to have measurable effects, their relative contributions are often small or moderate and can’t be easily teased apart into a recipe of rampage in any individual case.
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By Rob Kampia
It’s with enthusiasm that I present this top-10 list for 2010. While there were a few disappointing losses — most notably the statewide ballot-initiative defeats in Oregon and South Dakota on November 2 — almost everything else demonstrated positive momentum for the marijuana policy reform movement.
In trying to make this list manageable, I haven’t listed (1) developments in clinical research; (2) developments in foreign countries; (3) the passage or defeat of local measures to tax medical marijuana, since these measures can be viewed as either good or bad; and (4) the progress that the Marijuana Policy Project made with moving our bills forward in the Delaware, Illinois, and other state legislatures where we haven’t yet achieved the ultimate victories we seek.
(In the interest of full disclosure: MPP, of which I am the executive director, played a significant role in five of the 10 victories below, assisted in an ancillary way in four, and played no role at all in one [the court cases]. They are listed in no particular order.)
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MAP presents 2010 in review.
http://mapinc.org/find?365 (United States)
http://mapinc.org/find?366 (Canada)
http://mapinc.org/find?367 (United Kingdom)
http://mapinc.org/find?368 (South America)
http://mapinc.org/find?369 (Australasia)
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By The Associated Press
Monday, December 27th, 2010LISBON, Portugal (AP) — These days, Casal Ventoso is an ordinary blue-collar community – mothers push baby strollers, men smoke outside cafes, buses chug up and down the cobbled main street.
Ten years ago, the Lisbon neighborhood was a hellhole, a “drug supermarket” where some 5,000 users lined up every day to buy heroin and sneaked into a hillside honeycomb of derelict housing to shoot up. In dark, stinking corners, addicts – some with maggots squirming under track marks – staggered between the occasional corpse, scavenging used, bloody needles.
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Momentum Is Building to End the Failed Drug War
The debate around failed marijuana prohibition and the larger drug war arrived in a big way in 2010. Here are some of the most significant stories of the year.
It’s been a difficult year for progressives, and most other Americans as well. While I feel discouraged about many things happening in our country and around the world, and have lost lots of my “Yes We Can” glow from only two years ago, the issue that is closest to my heart — ending the war on people who use drugs — continues to bring me hope and cautious optimism.
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By Stephen C. Webster
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010Count this among the 10 things nobody ever expected to see in their lifetimes: 700 Club founder Pat Robertson, one of the cornerstone figures of America’s Christian right movement, has come out in favor of legalizing marijuana.
Calling it getting “smart” on crime, Robertson aired a clip on a recent episode of his 700 Club television show that advocated the viewpoint of drug law reformers who run prison outreach ministries.
A narrator even claimed that religious prison outreach has “saved” millions in public funds by helping to reduce the number of prisoners who return shortly after being released.
“It got to be a big deal in campaigns: ‘He’s tough on crime,’ and ‘lock ’em up!'” the Christian Coalition founder said. “That’s the way these guys ran and, uh, they got elected. But, that wasn’t the answer.”
His co-host added that the success of religious-run dormitories for drug and alcohol cessation therapy present an “opportunity” for faith-based communities to lead the way on drug law reforms.
“We’re locking up people that have taken a couple puffs of marijuana and next thing you know they’ve got 10 years with mandatory sentences,” Robertson continued. “These judges just say, they throw up their hands and say nothing we can do with these mandatory sentences. We’ve got to take a look at what we’re considering crimes and that’s one of ’em.
“I’m … I’m not exactly for the use of drugs, don’t get me wrong, but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot, that kinda thing it’s just, it’s costing us a fortune and it’s ruining young people. Young people go into prisons, they go in as youths and come out as hardened criminals. That’s not a good thing.”
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David Edwards
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010It’s becoming more and more difficult to find juries that will produce a guilty verdict in marijuana cases, according to a judge in Missoula County, Montana.
“I think it’s going to become increasingly difficult to seat a jury in marijuana cases, at least the ones involving a small amount,” District Judge Dusty Deschamps said Friday after potential jurors refused to convict a Montana man for having a 1/16 of an ounce of Marijuana.
An April 23 search of Touray Cornell’s home found several used marijuana joints, a pipe, and some residue. He’s is also charged with the criminal distribution of dangerous drugs.
Cornell’s neighbors had called the police because they thought he was selling drugs. The defendant admitted in an affidavit that he had distributed small amounts of marijuana.
One potential juror after another told the court that the would not convict the man for possessing a 1/16 of an ounce.
Deputy Missoula County Attorney Andrew Paul told the Associated Press that the jurors staged “a mutiny.”
“District Judge Dusty Deschamps took a quick poll as to who might agree,” the Missoulianreported. “Of the 27 potential jurors before him, maybe five raised their hands. A couple of others had already been excused because of their philosophical objections.”
“I thought, ‘Geez, I don’t know if we can seat a jury,” Deschamps said.
Paul and Cornell’s attorney, Martin Elison, worked out a plea deal during recess.
Public opinion “is not supportive of the state’s marijuana law and appeared to prevent any conviction from being obtained simply because an unbiased jury did not appear available under any circumstances,” Elison wrote in the plea agreement.
Cornell entered an Alford plea Friday, not admitting guilt, but acknowledging there was enough evidence to convict him. The judge sentenced Cornell to 20 years with 19 of them suspended. Cornell was given credit for the 200 days already served.
“I think it’s going to become increasingly difficult to seat a jury in marijuana cases, at least the ones involving a small amount,” the judge said.
“It’s kind of a reflection of society as a whole on the issue,” he added.
“If more potential jurors start turning down nonviolent drug cases, our drug laws will change,”Jason Kuznicki wrote for the blog The League of Ordinary Gentlemen.
Jury nullification often happens when a law is perceived to be unjust. During alcohol prohibition, nearly 60 percent of trials were nullified by jurors. Nullification was also often used in cases involving the Alien and Sedition and Fugitive Slave Acts.
In a more recent case, George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf suspectedthat jury nullification was used to spare former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.