British Medical Journal On Harm Reduction
Strict laws on the criminalisation of drug use and drug users are fuelling the spread of HIV and other serious harms associated with the criminal market and should be reviewed, say experts. In this video, epidemiologist Elizabeth Pisani and other leading commentators describe which countries are leading the way in tackling HIV infection among injecting drug users.
By Stephen Rolles, senior policy analyst
Stephen Rolles argues that we need to end the criminalisation of drugs and instead set up regulatory models that will control drug markets and reduce the health and social harms caused by current policy
Published Letters Awards www.mapinc.org/lteaward.htm
LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH – JUNE – KIRK MUSE
DrugSense recognizes Kirk Muse of Mesa, Arizona for his ten letters
published during June, bringing his total number of published letters
archived by MAP to 1,186. Kirk is also a volunteer newshawk, having
newshawked 291 MAP archived articles so far this year.
You may read Kirk’s published letters at:
http://www.mapinc.org/writer/Kirk+Muse
Pubdate: Tue, 13 Jul 2010
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/H11qQ2tj
Copyright: 2010 PG Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4
Author: Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Cited: Proposition 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+19
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?261 (Cannabis – United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis – Medicinal – U.S.)
LEGALIZED POT? LIKE GETTING BONGED IN THE HEAD
In November, Californians will have the opportunity to vote on a
ballot initiative legalizing all marijuana use, whether medicinal or not.
According to the latest poll of likely California voters, Proposition
19 will pass. This will put the Obama administration in an awkward position.
The federal government is already suing Arizona for its recently
enacted immigration law. What will the Obama Justice Department do
when a state goes rogue by establishing its own rules when it comes
to licensing and taxing the sale of weed?
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0441.html
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010
Subject: #441 Legalized Pot? Like Getting Bonged In The Head
LEGALIZED POT? LIKE GETTING BONGED IN THE HEAD
**********************************************************************
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #441 – Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
The column below illustrates that a columnist may cover a topic
well.
An anonymous donor has challenged DrugSense and MAP to raise $25,000
in new donations and/or increases in current periodic donations. Once
the goal is achieved the donor will provide us with $25,000. Today we
are about four fifths of the way to this very important goal. Please
help us meet the challenge! http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
**********************************************************************
Pubdate: Tue, 13 Jul 2010
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/H11qQ2tj
Copyright: 2010 PG Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4
Author: Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Cited: Proposition 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+19
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?261 (Cannabis – United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis – Medicinal – U.S.)
Legalized Pot? Like Getting Bonged in the Head
In November, Californians will have the opportunity to vote on a
ballot initiative legalizing all marijuana use, whether medicinal or
not.
According to the latest poll of likely California voters, Proposition
19 will pass. This will put the Obama administration in an awkward
position.
The federal government is already suing Arizona for its recently
enacted immigration law. What will the Obama Justice Department do
when a state goes rogue by establishing its own rules when it comes to
licensing and taxing the sale of weed?
California law will be in opposition to federal law as well as in
violation of a 1961 international treaty that prohibits the
legalization of cannabis. The U.S. is a signatory to that treaty.
In a surprising move, Alice Huffman, the president of the California
State Conference of the NAACP, threw the prestige of her organization
behind Proposition 19.
Citing a new study by the Drug Policy Alliance, Ms. Huffman insisted
last week that the legalization of marijuana is, among other things, a
civil rights issue because blacks are more likely to be arrested for
pot possession than whites, even though blacks use it at far lower
rates.
In California, blacks make up 22 percent of those busted for marijuana
possession despite being less than 7 percent of the population.
National NAACP Chairman Julian Bond applauded Ms. Huffman’s stance, as
did the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and the California
Black Chamber of Commerce.
Shortly after Ms. Huffman endorsed Prop 19, a group of black religious
leaders called for the civil rights leader’s head. “Why should the
state NAACP advocate for blacks to stay high?” asked Bishop Ron Allen
of the International Faith-Based Coalition. “It’s going to cause crime
to go up. There will be more drug babies.”
Closer to home, a bill to legalize medical marijuana use continues to
languish in both chambers of the state Legislature despite polling
that puts voter support for it at 81 percent.
The Republican and Democratic gubernatorial candidates oppose medical
use of marijuana, no matter how restrictive Pennsylvania’s laws would
be compared to California’s.
(It’s interesting that the leading politicians of our state favor
liberalized gun laws, expanded gambling and the expansion of
controversial hydraulic fracturing techniques to extract natural gas
from below ground in ways that could adversely affect the state’s
water supply.)
There’s also concern that the revenue stream created by legalizing
marijuana in California and other places is overstated. The Rand
Corp.’s Drug Policy Research Center said that the state’s premium weed
could drop from a high of $450 an ounce to $38. California would have
to slap on a consumption tax to double or triple the price to get a
workable funding stream.
The criminal black market for marijuana would collapse, but it could
be replaced around the edges by law-abiding folks growing and selling
their own weed. Why is that such an unacceptable outcome?
A state highly skilled at slapping on taxes like Pennsylvania could
use the legalization of marijuana as an opportunity to provide a
“gateway service” to the Liquor Control Board as it transitions out of
the liquor control business.
Overnight, the LCB could become the Legalized Cannabis Board. The LCB
could bring the benefit of generations of condescension by bored
clerks to a sector of the economy that desperately needs it. Dealing
with the culture of the LCB would be such a bummer for most potheads
that demand for marijuana would drop precipitously. It is an elegant
way to deal with both sides of the demand curve.
There would be those who would rather grow their own weed and avoid
paying any taxes than buy it from state middlemen. As someone who
doesn’t personally indulge, the thought of neighbors growing a patch
of Mary Jane in their back yard for private use doesn’t exactly terrify me.
For most of our history, Americans grew and consumed marijuana in
various forms. Aren’t we politically mature enough to go back to the
days of deciding what merits watering in our own back yards? If
dealing with hemp was good enough for George Washington and the
Founding Fathers …
Only ideologues are unable to admit what is obvious to everyone else:
The Drug War has been an unmitigated disaster. It has resulted in the
fattening of profits for drug lords, the destabilization of nations,
the corruption of law enforcement, the reallocation of dwindling
national resources down rat holes, the expansion of the
prison-industrial complex, expensive wars overseas and national hypocrisy.
You don’t need to smoke a bong to see that.
**********************************************************************
Suggestions for writing letters are at our Media Activism Center
http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides
For facts please see Marijuana: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/53
**********************************************************************
Prepared by: Richard Lake www.mapinc.org
=.
Poll commissioned by LDDPR demonstrates public are ready for drugs discussion
Three other drugs: Magic Mushrooms, Amphetamines, and Mephedrone show a majority in favour of legalisation and regulation, whilst 3 in 10 people would prefer the state regulate rather than prohibit heroin supply. These poll results demonstrate that the public is ready for a mature, open discussion of alternative approaches to drug policy and that there is no need for politicians to fear a backlash should they express doubts about the wisdom of our current approach.
Rather than just ask whether each drug should be “legalised”, the poll gave brief descriptions of three regulatory options and asked the public to pick which they thought most tolerable for each of a series of drugs. The options were:
Light regulation (drugs sold like tobacco and alcohol are now)
Strict government control and regulation (an example of how government could heavily regulate a legal market in an attempt to minimise harm)
and Prohibition (the current status of illegal drugs).
Figures below supporting legal regulation add the percentages for “light regulation” and “strict government control and regulation”
Headline results include:
• 70% support for legal regulation of cannabis, with 1 in 3 of those polled feeling that it should be sold in a similar way to alcohol and tobacco.
• More people supporting legal regulation than prohibition for 3 other drugs: Magic Mushrooms (52% to 34%), Amphetamines (49% to 40%), and the recently banned “legal high” Mephedrone (41% to 39%).
• 39% support for the legal regulation of ecstasy sales, 36% support for regulation of cocaine, and 30% of respondents supported the legal regulation of heroin.
• For alcohol and tobacco over 1 in 4 respondents supported strict government control and regulation and 8% expressed a desire for tobacco to be prohibited.
• Very little variation in opinion dependent on which political party respondents support.
Newshawk: Please Support Prop. 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jul 2010
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Page: AA1, continued on page AA7
Copyright: 2010 Los Angeles Times
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/bc7El3Yo
Author: John Hoeffel
Referenced: The Field Poll http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2342.pdf
Cited: Proposition 19 http://www.taxcannabis.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+19
OPPOSITION TO POT MEASURE GAINS NARROW LEAD IN POLL
In Contrast to Earlier Results, Survey Finds That 48% of Likely
Voters Are Against Prop. 19
Californians who intend to vote in November narrowly oppose
Proposition 19, which would make the state the first to legalize
marijuana possession and sales, according to a recent survey.
The Field Poll found that 48% of likely voters oppose the measure and
44% support it, a contrast with two polls taken in May that showed
voters were leaning slightly in favor of the measure.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n536.a01.html
Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jul 2010
Source: Portland Press Herald (ME)
Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/EOeDMAHB
Copyright: 2010 MaineToday Media, Inc.
Contact: http://www.pressherald.com/readerservices/Send_a_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Author: John Richardson, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis – Medicinal – U.S.)
STATE AWARDS SIX OF EIGHT LICENSES TO DISPENSE MEDICAL MARIJUANA
Northeast Patients Group Earns the Chance to Distribute the Drug in
Cumberland County and Three Other Regions.
PORTLAND – Cumberland County’s first medical marijuana dispensary is
expected to open this fall on Congress Street in Portland.
York County may have to wait a little longer.
Maine awarded six operating licenses Friday for nonprofit
dispensaries around the state, and one of the licensees plans to
lease part of the former Key Bank building at 959 Congress, near the
corner of St. John Street.
However, officials rejected all six license applications to operate a
dispensary in York County and set a new deadline of Aug. 20 for the
next round of applications. That could push back the opening of a
dispensary in that part of the state until early next year. New
applications also must be sought for the Down East facility.
Northeast Patients Group won the right to open the dispensary in
Cumberland County, one of eight public health districts in Maine. The
group, which has Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion on its board of
directors, also won licenses to operate dispensaries in three other
districts around the state: Augusta-Waterville, Thomaston-Rockland
and Bangor-Hermon.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n535.a07.html
Newshawk: Published Letters Awards www.mapinc.org/lteaward.htm
Pubdate: Fri, 9 Jul 2010
Source: DrugSense Blog
LETTER OF THE WEEK
NEW JIM CROW: WAR ON DRUGS PROVIDES EXCUSE
The News should be praised for publishing Leonard Pitts’ article about
Michelle Alexander’s book, “The New Jim Crow” (“‘New Jim Crow’
surfaces in U.S. justice,” Other Views, Monday). It is undoubtedly the
most important book published in this century about the U.S.
Over the past 20 or so years, we have seen a huge jump in the
imprisonment of black men in the U.S., using the “war on drugs” as an
excuse to establish a caste system here, with an effect not unlike Jim
Crow. Police statistics show black men use no more drugs than white
men, yet blacks are being rounded up in droves, through checkpoints
and stop-and-search rules, while police avoid using the same tactics
for white men.
As an older, white, Protestant minister fortunate enough to have been
in the civil rights movement from early on, I move easily and freely
in the black communities in Alabama and the nation, have lived in
those communities in Washington, Chicago and Boston, and can testify
that the people there are simply not a dangerous criminal element.
What has created the crisis in the black community is selective and
racist policing, encouraged by the federal government, and joblessness
from the abandonment of these men by major industry as companies have
dumped their employees to shift work out of the country in the pursuit
of profits before people. The new Jim Crow may or may not be
intentional, but it is very real, and it is dividing this nation
between white and black once again. The “war on drugs,” “stop and
search” and checkpoints by police must end.
The Rev. Jack Zylman
Birmingham
Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jun 2010
Source: Birmingham News, The (AL)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n000/a020.html