Drug War Chronicle, Issue #464 (long version)

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #464 -- 12/8/06
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith [at] drcnet.org
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464

A Publication of Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)
David Borden, Executive Director, borden [at] drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Announcement: Syndication feeds for your web site and RSS feeds
for your reader now available:
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_policy_content_syndication_feeds_now_available
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_policy_RSS_feeds_now_available

Table of Contents:

1. DRUG REFORM AND THE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS: WHAT'S GOING TO
HAPPEN?
Will Democratic control of the Congress mean significant drug
reform progress next year? Drug reformers certainly hope so, but
the prospects are uncertain.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_reform_democratic_congress_what_will_happen

2. DRCNET BOOK REVIEW: "FATAL DISTRACTION: THE WAR ON DRUGS IN
THE AGE OF ISLAMIC TERROR," BY ARNOLD TREBACH (2006, UNLIMITED
PUBLISHING, 398 PP., $19.95 PB)
Arnold Trebach, the dean of American drug reform, is at it again
with the publication of his latest book, "Fatal Distraction: The
War on Drugs in the Age of Islamic Terror."
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drcnet_book_review_arnold_trebach_fatal_distraction

3. ANNOUNCEMENT: DRCNET CONTENT SYNDICATION FEEDS NOW AVAILABLE
FOR YOUR WEB SITE!
Support the cause by featuring automatically-updating Drug War
Chronicle and other DRCNet content links on your web site!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_policy_content_syndication_feeds_now_available

4. ANNOUNCEMENT: DRCNET RSS FEEDS NOW AVAILABLE
A new way for you to receive DRCNet articles -- Drug War
Chronicle and more -- is now available.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_policy_RSS_feeds_now_available

5. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
After a one-week hiatus, the corrupt cops stories are back,
thanks in large part to the help of Chronicle readers -- we have
a veritable potpourri of police misconduct with a heavy emphasis
on the larcenous.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/this_weeks_corrupt_cops

6. SENTENCING: US SUPREME COURT RULES FOR IMMIGRANTS IN DRUG
POSSESSION DEPORTATION CASE
In a Tuesday decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that
immigrants convicted of drug felonies under state law are not
subject to mandatory deportation unless the offense is
classified as a felony under the federal Controlled Substances
Act.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/US_Supreme_Court_Rules_for_immigrants_drug_deportation_case

7. SENTENCING: US SUPREME COURT LETS STAND POT DEALER'S 55-YEAR
MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCE
Observers had hoped the court would use the case to address the
excesses of mandatory minimum sentences, but no such luck.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/US_Supreme_Court_upholds_55_year_sentence_for_marijuana_dealer

8. PAIN PATIENTS: RICHARD PAEY LOSES APPEAL, WHEELCHAIR-BOUND
MAN TO REMAIN IN PRISON
Richard Paey, the wheelchair-bound pain patient serving a
25-year mandatory minimum sentence as a drug dealer under
Florida law, will remain in prison after losing an appeal this
week. But a sympathetic appeals court suggested he seek clemency
from the governor.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/richard_paey_pain_patient_loses_appeal_will_remain_prison

9. HEMP: NORTH DAKOTA BECOMES FIRST STATE TO LEGALIZE INDUSTRIAL
PRODUCTION
North Dakota becomes the first state to legalize industrial hemp
production, with licenses available beginning January 1. But
someone is going to have to do something about the DEA's
opposition, or nobody's going to be growing hemp any time soon.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/north_dakota_first_state_legalize_hemp_production_licenses_available_in_january

10. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: COUNTY LAWSUIT CHALLENGING CALIFORNIA LAW
THROWN OUT
Officials of San Diego, Merced and San Bernardino counties who
are hostile to California's medical marijuana law lost a court
battle.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/california_judge_throws_out_lawsuit_challenge_medical_marijuana_law

11. HARM REDUCTION: NEW JERSEY NEEDLE EXCHANGE BILL MOVES TO
FINAL FLOOR VOTES NEXT WEEK
New Jersey is the only state in the nation with neither needle
exchange nor non-prescription needle sales, but that could
change Monday as a needle exchange bill heads for final floor
votes in both houses of the legislature.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/new_jersey_needle_exchange_bill_final_votes_next_week

12. LAW ENFORCEMENT: REV. AL SHARPTON CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL
HEARINGS INTO POLICE KILLINGS OF CIVILIANS
In the wake of a trio of high-profile police killings of
civilians, African-American civil rights activist the Rev. Al
Sharpton is calling for congressional hearings on police
violence.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/reverend_al_sharpton_calls_for_congressional_hearings_on_police_killings

13. WEEKLY: THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of
years past.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_war_history

14. JOB OPPORTUNITY: MPP NEW HAMPSHIRE MEDICAL MARIJUANA
CAMPAIGN
Granite Staters for Medical Marijiuana is back, and they may
want YOU.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/granite_staters_for_medical_marijuana

15. ANNOUNCEMENT: NEW FORMAT FOR THE REFORMER'S CALENDAR
Visit our new web site each day to see a running countdown to
the events coming up the soonest, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_reform_calendar

(Not subscribed? Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up
today!)

================

1. Drug Reform and the Democratic Congress: What's Going to
Happen?
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_reform_democratic_congress_what_will_happen

To hear the buzz in drug reform circles, Christmas came early
this year. To be precise, it arrived on Election Day, when the
Democrats took back control of the Congress. There is a whole
long list of drug reform-related issues that the
Democratically-controlled Congress can address, and hopes are
high that after a dozen years of Republican rule on Capitol
Hill, progress will come on at least some of them. But will the
Democratic Congress really turn out to be Santa Claus, bestowing
gifts on a movement long out in the cold, or will it turn out
more like the Grinch, offering up tantalizing glimpses of the
goodies only to snatch them away?

Drug War Chronicle is trying to find out what's likely to
happen, so we talked to a number of drug reform organizations,
especially those with a strong federal lobbying presence and
agenda, as well as with the offices of some of the
representatives who will be playing key roles on Capitol Hill in
the next Congress.

The list of drug war issues where Congress could act next year
is indeed lengthy:

* Sentencing reform -- whether addressing the crack-powder
cocaine disparity or mandatory minimums or both, and other
reforms;
* Medical marijuana, either through the Hinchey-Rohrabacher
amendment barring federal funds to raid patients and providers
in states where it is legal or Barney Frank's states' rights to
medical marijuana bill;
* The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP -- the drug
czar's office) is up for reauthorization;
* The Higher Education Act (HEA) and its drug provision are up
for reauthorization;
* Removing drug offender restrictions from food stamp, public
housing, and other social services;
* The Washington, DC, appropriations bill, where Congress has
barred the District from enacting needle exchange programs and a
voter-approved medical marijuana law;
* Plan Colombia;
* The war in Afghanistan and US anti-opium policy;
* The pain crisis and the war on pain doctors;
* Prisoner reentry legislation, particularly the Second Chance
Act;
* Police raids.

While there is optimism in drug reform circles, it is tempered
by a healthy dose of realism. The Congress is a place where it
is notoriously difficult to make (or unmake) a law, and while
some of the new Democratic leadership has been sympathetic on
certain issues, drug reform is not exactly a high-profile issue.
Whether congressional Democratic decision-makers will decide to
use their political resources advancing an agenda that could be
attacked as "soft on drugs" or "soft on crime" remains to be
seen. But according to one of the movement's most astute
Hill-watchers, some "low-hanging fruit" might be within reach
next year.

"Some of the easiest things to achieve in the new Congress will
be the HEA ban on aid to students with drug violations, because
the Democrats will have to deal with HEA reauthorization, and
the ban on access to the TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families)
to public housing, because they will have to deal with welfare
reform," said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the
Drug Policy Alliance (http://www.drugpolicy.org). "There is also
a chance of repealing provisions in the DC appropriations bill
that bar needle exchanges and medical marijuana. These are the
low-hanging fruit."

For Piper, there is also a chance to see movement on a second
tier of issues, including medical marijuana, sentencing reform
and Latin America policy. "Can we get the votes to pass
Hinchey-Rohrabacher in the House and get it to the Senate?" he
asked. "There is also a good chance of completely changing how
we deal with Latin America. We could see a shift in funding from
military to civil society-type programs and from eradication to
crop substitution," he said. "Also, there is a good chance on
sentencing reform. Can the Democrats strike a deal with Sen.
Sessions (R-AL) and other Republicans on the crack-powder
disparity, or will they try to play politics and paint the
Democrats as soft on crime? Would Bush veto it if it passed?"

Clearly, at this point, there are more questions than answers,
and time will tell. But the political ground has shifted, Piper
noted. "We are no longer playing defense," he argued. "Now we
don't have to deal with folks like Souder and Sensenbrenner and
all their stupid bills. This puts us in a really good position.
For the first time in 12 years, we get to go on offense. And
unlike a dozen years ago, the Democrats who will control the key
committees are really, really good. This is probably the first
time since the 1980s that drug policy reform has been in a
position to go on the offensive."

Representatives sympathetic to drug law reform will fill key
positions in the next Congress, led by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI),
who will be the incoming chair of the crucial House Judiciary
Committee. Replacing HEA drug provision author and leading
congressional drug warrior Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) as chair of
the important Government Reform Committee Subcommittee on
Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources will be either
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) or Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) -- the
assignment isn't yet set -- while Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) will
chair the Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism,
and Homeland Security, the key subcommittee when it comes to
sentencing reform.

While it is too early to get firm commitments from committee
heads on hearings next year, a spokesman for Rep. Conyers told
Drug War Chronicle sentencing reform is definitely on the table.
"Congressman Conyers is certainly interested in these issues,
he's been quite outspoken on this, and it is something he will
address, but we haven't come out with our agenda and we don't
have a timeline yet," said House Judiciary Committee press
officer Jonathan Godfrey. "But this will definitely be an issue
for the committee," he added.

Conyers and the new Democratic Congress may not yet have
established their agendas, but the drug reform movement
certainly has, and sentencing reform, whether through addressing
the crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity or through a
broader assault on the federal mandatory minimum sentencing
scheme, is front and center. Perhaps not surprisingly, many
leading reformers said addressing the crack-powder disparity was
not enough.

"There's been a lot of discussion about eliminating the
crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity, or even removing the
definition of crack from the guidelines entirely," said DRCNet
executive director Dave Borden. "We of course support that, but
we also hope the issue of mandatory minimums themselves, and the
sentencing guidelines, are also taken up. Those are far bigger
problems, affecting far more people than that one controversial
but small piece of them. It may be that only small changes are
possible at this time, even with our best Congressional friends
in important positions. Nevertheless, the opportunity should be
taken to raise the larger sentencing issues, to organize around
them, build support, attract cosponsors for mandatory minimum
repeal bills, all the things that go with any legislative
campaign -- what better time than now?"

"While we of course favor reforming the crack-powder cocaine
disparity, we need to stop thinking small," said Julie Stewart,
executive director of Families Against Mandatory Minimums
(http://www.famm.org). "We need to be looking at sentencing
reform as a whole. We will be asking for legislation to address
the crack-powder disparity, but we will also be asking for
hearings on the repeal of mandatory minimum sentencing," she
said. "Whether we can get that is another question, but it's
time to ask for the sky."

Stewart's sentiments were echoed and amplified by Nora Callahan,
executive director of The November Coalition
(http://www.november.org), a drug reform group that concentrates
on winning freedom for federal drug war prisoners. "What we need
is an omnibus crime bill," Callahan said. "Otherwise we'll be
picking this thing apart for the next five decades. An omnibus
bill would open the door to broad hearings where we could
address the myriad negative effects of the drug war, from
imprisoning huge numbers of people to depriving students of
loans and poor people of housing and other federal benefits, and
from police corruption to police violence. If we try to deal
with all these problems one by one, the prison population will
have doubled again by the time we get it done."

Of course, sentencing reform isn't the only drug policy issue
activists will be pushing next year. Medical marijuana remains
on the agenda, with the biggest push likely to be around the
Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment, which would bar the use of
federal funds to raid patients and providers in states where it
is legal. "We will be looking for meaningful protections for
medical marijuana patients," said Aaron Houston, director of
government relations at the Marijuana Policy Project
(http://www.mpp.org). "We will judge progress by the extent to
which patients can use the medicine that works best for them
without fear of federal arrest or prosecution. We need
meaningful reforms, not ones that sound meaningful but are not,
like rescheduling," he added.

"Our legislative priorities in the past have been
Hinchey-Rohrabacher, the states' rights to medical marijuana
bill, and the Truth in Trials Act, which would allow for an
affirmative defense in federal court," said Houston. "Of these,
we expect that we should be able to pass Hinchey. Last year, we
had 167 votes, and we picked up 19 new members in November who
we think are supportive. And when Speaker-elect Pelosi assumes
the gavel in January, it will be the first time we have a strong
medical marijuana supporter at the helm of the House of
Representatives."

Those numbers are encouraging, but not quite enough to win yet.
It takes 218 votes to win a majority in the House if everyone
votes.

And as DPA's Piper noted above, the HEA reauthorization bill
next year should be a good opportunity to finally kill Souder's
drug provision once and for all. "We have a tremendous
opportunity here with the Democrats taking control and deciding
which legislation moves forward," said Tom Angell,
communications director for Students for Sensible Drug Policy
(http://www.ssdp.org). "Rep. George Miller (D-CA) will chair the
House Education Work Force Committee, and he's a cosponsor of
the RISE Act. Also, one of our biggest supporters, Rep. Rob
Andrews (D-NJ), is in line to chair the subcommittee that
handles higher education, which is where the RISE Act sits right
now."

But Andrews may not end up with the chairmanship, Angell warned.
"He's a supporter of for-profit colleges, and the Democratic
leadership doesn't like that, so he might not get it," he said.

"We'd like to see the HEA drug provision repealed, and we think
it's possible in the new Congress," said DRCNet's Borden. "There
just isn't a lot of passion from very many members of Congress
for keeping the provision, even among those who have voted to do
so. We'd like to see legislation to repeal similar provisions in
welfare and public housing law -- we have a coalition of over
250 organizations (http://www.raiseyourvoice.com) that have
signed on to repealing the HEA drug provision, and activating
that network and building it to take on more issues is
definitely on our agenda."

The RISE (Removing Impediments to Students' Education) Act would
repeal the Higher Education Act's (HEA) drug provision, SSDP's
key congressional goal. While Angell was optimistic about
prospects in the next Congress, he was also looking for early
indicators. "The introduction of the bill, the number of
cosponsors, and the top names behind it will be a good
indication of how likely we are to repeal the penalty," he said.
"I'm looking for that to happen early in the session. We had 84
lobbying meetings on Capitol Hill during our annual conference
last month, and we will be following up on those and working
closely with the staff of the education committee."

But repealing the HEA drug provision isn't SSDP's only goal on
Capitol Hill, said Angell. "We are hoping to be working with DPA
and MPP to reduce or eliminate funding for the ONDCP media
campaign and we will be working to reduce or eliminate funding
for student drug testing grants," he explained. "Besides HEA,
those are our big issues."

One issue that has emerged as a hot topic in recent weeks is the
issue of police violence. With the killing of Atlanta senior
citizen Kathryn Johnson in a "no-knock" drug raid and the
killing of New York City resident Sean Bell a few days later in
a volley of more than 50 shots fired by NYPD officers, policing
in America is under the spotlight. Civil rights activist and
former presidential candidate the Rev. Al Sharpton called this
week for congressional hearings on the issue. Sharpton said he
had already been in contact with Rep. Conyers about the
possibility.

That's something DRCNet's Borden would like to see, too. "We'd
like to see action taken to rein in these paramilitary police
forces and not have SWAT teams breaking down people's doors in
the middle of the night when there is not an emergency
situation. I think there should be hearings in Congress, as well
as state legislatures, with victims of bad drug raids playing a
prominent role, as well as police experts, civil rights experts,
and the like. We are considering launching a petition calling
for all of this," he said.

And then there is the US drug war abroad. With Plan Colombia
about to enter its seventh year, and the flow of cocaine
unabated despite massive aerial spraying of herbicides,
congressional Democrats will seek to cut back or redirect US
spending to emphasize development instead of drug war. And
although Congress has not yet come to grips with the serious
contradictions inherent in waging war on poppies at the same
time it seeks to wage a war on terror in Afghanistan, facts on
the ground suggest it will be unable to continue to ignore them.

This should be a year of change in our drug policy abroad, said
DRCNet's Borden. "We'd like to see the coca and opium
eradication programs stopped. They are useless; all they do is
move the cultivation from place to place," he noted. "In
Afghanistan, it's driving people into the arms of the Taliban
for protection, and that's disastrous for our national interests
and potentially for global security. There are credible plans
put forward, by the UN and other international bodies, and by
experts in the nonprofit sector, that don't rely on eradication;
let's look at those."

Borden also urged Congress to act to address the crisis in pain
care in the context of the administration's war on prescription
drug abuse and prosecutions of pain doctors. "Last but not
least, something must be done about the pain doctor
prosecutions," he said. "I believe the law in this area has been
fundamentally warped. Conyers has supported important work being
done in this area. Now he's in a position to kick it up a
notch."

Drug reformers have a mighty busy agenda for Congress in the
next two years. Congressional Democrats have said they are
interested in reforms; now that they will be in power, we will
see if they are as good as their word and we will have the
chance to prod them to act.

================

2. DRCNet Book Review: "Fatal Distraction: The War on Drugs in
the Age of Islamic Terror," by Arnold Trebach (2006, Unlimited
Publishing, 398 pp., $19.95 PB)
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drcnet_book_review_arnold_trebach_fatal_distraction

Phillip S. Smith, Writer/Editor, Drug War Chronicle,
http://stopthedrugwar.org/user/psmith

The grand old man of American drug reform is at it again.
Retired American University professor and head of the
International Antiprohibitionist League Arnold Trebach returns
to the fray with "Fatal Distraction," and a fine addition to the
literature it is. While the book is a reworking of his
contribution to the 1993 pro-and-con "Legalize It? Debating
American Drug Policy" (with James Inciardi), Trebach has greatly
expanded that material and includes much that is new. In doing
so, he has created what is in essence a primer for ending drug
prohibition.

And make no mistake about it, legalization is precisely what
Trebach wants. Although he complains that he was unfairly
labeled a legalizer earlier in his career, Trebach now embraces
the label. In "Fatal Distraction," he calls for the repeal of
federal drug laws, especially the 1970 Comprehensive Drug Abuse
Prevention and Control Act, and the dismantling of the DEA. The
federal government would get out of the drug prohibition racket
and, as was the case with alcohol after Prohibition, leave it to
the states to set their own drug laws, Trebach writes.

Drug reform groups that refuse to embrace ending prohibition,
who are afraid to say the word "legalization," are part of the
problem, Trebach declares. For reformers today to avoid calling
directly for full legalization is to Trebach analogous to "the
Abolitionist movement of the 1800s having worked not to free the
slaves, but to provide better housing and health care for them."
Like slavery, Trebach notes, drug prohibition is "a true evil
institution, one that needs destroying -- not improving."

Trebach spends about the first third of "Fatal Distraction"
demonstrating just how and how horribly drug prohibition has
failed, and as he does so, he takes the reader on a guided tour
of the drug war, from the bloody streets of our inner cities to
our overflowing prisons, from the damage done to the freedoms
enshrined in our Constitution to the inherently corrupting asset
forfeiture laws, from the crisis in pain relief to the
mini-concentration camps masquerading as drug treatment centers
for our kids. To all of this, Trebach brings decades of
experience, observation, and thoughtful pondering, and he builds
a devastating case against prohibition.

Much of Trebach's argument and many of his examples will be
familiar to serious students of drugs and drug policy, but
Trebach's comprehensive vision helps bring the convoluted mass
of intersecting issues around drug policy into clear focus. It
also helps that Trebach presents his material in easily
digested, bite-sized chunks of three or four or five pages.

But, as "Fatal Distraction's" subtitle -- "The War on Drugs in
the Age of Islamic Terror" -- suggests, Trebach has more on his
mind that simply ending drug prohibition. Obviously deeply
affected by the September 2001 attacks on New York and
Washington, Trebach argues that the war on Islamic
fundamentalist violence is so critical to America's future that
continuing to divert energy and resources into the war on drugs
could threaten our very existence.

The ranks of drug reformers will doubtless produce diverse
reactions to this contention. Trebach is undoubtedly correct
that the war on drugs is a diversion and distraction from the
war on terror. But one could also argue that it is a diversion
and distraction from the need for social justice or the fight
against global warming. Trebach points out that skills honed by
the many agents currently employed in drug enforcement could be
effectively applied to investigating and rooting out terrorist
cells instead. True, but also against other kinds of violent
crime. Is the concept of "war" more apt when applied to a tactic
(terror) or an ideology (Islamic fundamentalism) than to a war
on inert substances (drugs)? This reviewer is himself among the
ranks of the unconvinced on those points; and as Trebach has so
artfully shown, drug prohibition is a failure on its own terms
and does not require juxtaposition with a more recent threat to
be recognizable as such.

Nevertheless, while the theme of fighting Islamic terrorism
appears sporadically throughout "Fatal Distraction," most of
that material appears within a handful of chapters near the end
of the book. Perhaps its presence will get some new people to
think about the drug laws who haven't done so before. The
remainder of "Fatal Distraction" -- the distillation of a life's
work in the trenches of drug law reform -- makes this a book
grizzled reformers and bright-eyed newcomers to the cause alike
will want to read and absorb.

================

3. Announcement: DRCNet Content Syndication Feeds Now Available
for YOUR Web Site!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_policy_content_syndication_feeds_now_available

Are you a fan of DRCNet, and do you have a web site you'd like
to use to spread the word more forcefully than a single link to
our site can achieve? We are pleased to announce that DRCNet
content syndication feeds are now available. Whether your
readers' interest is in-depth reporting as in Drug War
Chronicle, the ongoing commentary in our blogs, or info on
specific drug war subtopics, we are now able to provide
customizable code for you to paste into appropriate spots on
your blog or web site to run automatically updating links to
DRCNet educational content.

For example, if you're a big fan of Drug War Chronicle and you
think your readers would benefit from it, you can have the
latest issue's headlines, or a portion of them, automatically
show up and refresh when each new issue comes out.

If your site is devoted to marijuana policy, you can run our
topical archive, featuring links to every item we post to our
site about marijuana -- Chronicle articles, blog posts, event
listings, outside news links, more. The same for harm reduction,
asset forfeiture, drug trade violence, needle exchange programs,
Canada, ballot initiatives, roughly a hundred different topics
we are now tracking on an ongoing basis. (Visit the Chronicle
main page (http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle), right-hand
column, to see the complete current list.)

If you're especially into our new Speakeasy blog section, new
content coming out every day dealing with all the issues, you
can run links to those posts or to subsections of the Speakeasy.

Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org/feeds to view a sample of what
is available -- please note that the length, the look and other
details of how it will appear on your site can be customized to
match your needs and preferences.

Please also note that we will be happy to make additional
permutations of our content available to you upon request
(though we cannot promise immediate fulfillment of such requests
as the timing will in many cases depend on the availability of
our web site designer). Visit our Site Map
(http://stopthedrugwar.org/sitemap) page to see what is
currently available -- any RSS feed made available there is also
available as a javascript feed for your web site (along with the
Chronicle feed which is not showing up yet but which you can
find on the feeds page linked above). Visit
http://stopthedrugwar.org/feed2js/build.php if you'd like to try
out our automatic feed generator.

Contact us for assistance (http://stopthedrugwar.org/contact) or
to let us know what you are running and where. And thank you in
advance for your support.

================

4. Announcement: DRCNet RSS Feeds Now Available
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_policy_RSS_feeds_now_available

RSS feeds are the wave of the future -- and DRCNet now offers
them! The latest Drug War Chronicle issue is now available using
RSS at http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/feed online.

We have many other RSS feeds available as well, following about
a hundred different drug policy subtopics that we began tracking
since the relaunch of our web site this summer -- indexing not
only Drug War Chronicle articles but also Speakeasy blog posts,
event listings, outside news links and more -- and for our daily
blog postings and the different subtracks of them. Visit our
Site Map (http://stopthedrugwar.org/sitemap) page to peruse the
full set.

Thank you for tuning in to DRCNet and drug policy reform!

================

5. Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/this_weeks_corrupt_cops

Careful readers will have noted that there was no corrupt cops
story in Drug War Chronicle last week. That's because we
couldn't find any. One of our primary sources, Bad Cop News
(http://www.badcopnews.com), had essentially gone silent, and my
Google alerts on various drug-related words and phrases had
turned up nothing. I appealed to my readers in a blog post on
Friday, however, and thanks in part to their responses, we have
more corrupt cops stories this week. I have revised and widened
my Google alerts, but I'm still calling on readers to send me
any local corrupt cops stories they come across. I may have seen
them already, but maybe not. Just visit my contact page at
http://stopthedrugwar.org/user/psmith and put "corrupt cops" in
the subject line to send them along.

This week, it's a veritable potpourri of police misconduct with
a heavy emphasis on the larcenous. Let's get to it:

In Chicago, three police officers were charged Monday in a
widening probe into allegations Chicago police shook down drug
suspects
(http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2006/11/malden_police_o.html).
Officers James McGovern, 40, Frank Villareal, 38, and Margaret
Hopkins, 32, all members of the department's special operations
section, are charged with official misconduct, and Villareal and
Hopkins are also charged with home invasion. Four other Chicago
police officers were arrested on similar charges in September.
All are accused of robbing, kidnapping, and intimidating drug
dealers and using their badges to gain access to homes. So far,
the arrests have forced prosecutors to drop more than 100 drug
cases.

In Norwalk, Iowa, an assistant fire chief is accused of stealing
drugs and covering it up
(http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5768162&nav=2HAB).
Assistant Fire Chief Michael Wenger, 41, was arrested last
Friday after admitting stealing opiate pain relievers used for
EMS calls, including morphine, Tordal, and Fentanyl, and
altering logs to hide his thievery. He is charged with
fraudulent practices and two counts of possessing a controlled
substance. Norwalk, which has been without a fire chief for the
past year, now lacks an assistant chief, too.

In Las Vegas, New Mexico, a New Mexico Highlands University
security officer has been charged with drug trafficking
(http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=29078&cat=NMTOPSTORIES).
Police allege they found cocaine in Officer Michelle Espinoza's
purse last week. According to a university spokeswoman,
Espinoza, 35, has been placed on leave pending resolution of the
case.

In Scranton, Pennsylvania, a Pittston Township police officer
was charged in federal court last Friday with felony drug and
weapons offenses
(http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/16147296.htm).
Officer Michael Byra, 28, recently testified he had made at
least 60 drug busts, but it appears he had problems leaving the
evidence alone. He is charged with possession with intent to
distribute crack cocaine, possession with intent to distribute
marijuana, possession of a firearm during a felony drug
trafficking transaction and possession of a stolen firearm. The
charges came after the DEA investigated missing evidence --
heroin, cocaine, marijuana, guns, $10,000 in cash, files, and a
log book. Byra now faces up to life in prison.

In Ashland, Kentucky, a former state trooper pleaded guilty
Tuesday to federal charges he stole $180,000 from police drug
buy funds
(http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/16176767.htm). Former
trooper Louie Podunavac Jr., 41, was a sergeant responsible for
the narcotics division in Boyd, Greenup, and Lawrence counties
in eastern Kentucky until he retired in July upon being
questioned by investigators hunting for missing funds. He
admitted in court that he used his access to a state bank
account to take money designated for drug buys and transfer it
to an account in his own name. Podunavac will be sentenced March
12. He also faces six state charges of fraudulently obtaining a
controlled substance. Podunavac's attorney, David Mussetter,
explained that Podunavac broke his ankle in 2003, got strung out
on Lortab, and stole the money to buy painkillers.

Near Boston, a Malden Police officer was sentenced to 15 years
in federal prison on November 15 for ripping-off a drug dealer
(http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2006/11/malden_police_o.html).
Officer David Jordan, a 19-year veteran of the force,
participated in a scheme with a local drug dealer to stop a
rival dealer and steal three kilograms of cocaine valued at
$81,000. Jordan's co-conspirator, Anthony Bucci, 43, of
Wakefield, got 22 years the same day.

================

6. Sentencing: US Supreme Court Rules for Immigrants in Drug
Possession Deportation Case
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/US_Supreme_Court_Rules_for_immigrants_drug_deportation_case

In a decision issued Tuesday, the US Supreme Court made it
easier for some immigrants convicted of drug possession under
state laws to avoid deportation. Under the Immigration and
Naturalization Act, immigrants convicted of an aggravated felony
face mandatory deportation. In this case, the court held that
even if a conviction for drug possession is considered a felony
under state law, if it is not considered a felony under the
federal Controlled Substances Act, it cannot be an aggravated
felony for immigration purposes.

The ruling came in the case of Lopez v. Gonzalez
(http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06pdf/05-547.pdf). Jose
Antonio Lopez, who was born in Mexico, was a 16-year legal
permanent resident of the US with a wife and children and a
family business when he was arrested in Sioux Falls, South
Dakota, and charged with aiding and abetting cocaine possession.
Under South Dakota law, that's a felony. Lopez pled guilty and
was sentenced to five years in state prison. Upon finishing his
prison sentence, he was deported to Mexico in January 2006.

Lopez appealed his deportation by an Immigration and
Naturalization Service judge, but in a 2005 opinion
(http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/05/08/042397P.pdf), the US
8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis denied him. The
Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, and now Lopez has a
chance to come back to his new home in the US.

The ruling came on an 8-1 vote, with Justice Clarence Thomas
alone in the dissent.

The Bush administration argued that Congress left the door open
to counting such offenses as aggravated felonies, but Justice
David Souter, who wrote the opinion, and the court weren't
buying it. In a passage where he accused the government of
"incoherence," Souter added that "the government's way... would
often turn simple possession into trafficking, just what the
English language tells us not to expect and that result makes us
very wary of the government's position."

With some 12 million permanent resident immigrants living in the
country, the Lopez ruling is likely to affect thousands of
immigrants with minor drug-related convictions.

================

7. Sentencing: US Supreme Court Lets Stand Pot Dealer's 55-Year
Mandatory Minimum Sentence
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/US_Supreme_Court_upholds_55_year_sentence_for_marijuana_dealer

The US Supreme Court Monday refused to hear an appeal of a
55-year mandatory minimum sentence for a Salt Lake City
marijuana dealer who carried a pistol in his boot during his
transactions. The decision not to hear the case disappointed
observers in the legal community who hoped it would lead to a
constitutional review of mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

Weldon Angelos was a would-be rap music empresario and father of
two children who also peddled pot. He was indicted on multiple
marijuana distribution charges and, because of the gun in his
boot, multiple charges of possession of a weapon during the
commission of a felony. There is no evidence Angelos ever shot
or killed anyone with his weapon, or even brandished it. But
federal law requires a mandatory five-year sentence for a first
weapons count, followed by mandatory 25-year sentences for each
additional count.

Angelos refused a plea deal and was found guilty of the
marijuana dealing counts and three weapons counts. When
sentencing Angelos to the mandatory minimum 55 years in 2002, US
Circuit Court Judge Paul Cassell issued a lengthy opinion
protesting the injustice of sentencing the 26-year-old to a life
behind bars.

Angelos appealed, but in a January 2005 opinion
(http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=10th&navby=case&no=044282),
the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver rejected his
argument that his sentence violated the Eighth Amendment's ban
on cruel and unusual punishments. When he appealed to the
Supreme Court, Angelos was joined by more than 140 top former
justice officials from across the country, including four former
US attorneys general, a former FBI director and other former
federal judges and prosecutors who sided with him in a
friend-of-the-court brief filed with the court in October.

By refusing to take the case, the Supreme Court has signaled
that it views decades-long prison sentences for nonviolent
marijuana dealers as okay, and that wasn't okay with a
substantial segment of the legal community. "We are very
disappointed that the Supreme Court refused to hear this case in
which a low-level marijuana offender received what is
effectively a life sentence," said Jeff Sklaroff, an attorney
representing the group that filed the brief, in remarks reported
by the Deseret News
(http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650212483,00.html).

Angelos' attorneys were similarly unhappy. "We are extremely
disappointed that the Supreme Court did not agree to hear the
case," University of Utah law professor Erik Luna said. "This
case presented a great opportunity for the Supreme Court not
only to correct this miscarriage of justice but also to clarify
the scope of the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual
punishment."

"We hope that Congress will realize the injustice caused by its
mandatory-minimum scheme and dispose of it without the court
having to intervene," said attorneys Troy Booher and Michael
Zimmerman, a former chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court, in
a statement Tuesday.

But federal prosecutors were happy. "We are pleased that the
Supreme Court denied the petition," US Attorney for Utah Brett
Tolman said. "Congress has determined that armed drug
trafficking is a particularly serious offense that warrants
severe punishment."

Now, Angelos is facing decades in prison. He can appeal his
conviction and sentence in a writ of habeas corpus, but such an
appeal would go before the same courts that have already upheld
them. Or he can seek a presidential pardon.

Or, when sanity finally comes to American drug sentencing
practices, we can make sure to write in retroactivity for
still-serving prisoners like Angelos.

================

8. Pain Patients: Richard Paey Loses Appeal, Wheelchair-Bound
Man to Remain in Prison
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/richard_paey_pain_patient_loses_appeal_will_remain_prison

Richard Paey, the Florida pain patient serving a 25-year
sentence as a drug dealer after being convicted of fraudulently
obtaining pain medications, will remain in prison after losing
an appeal Wednesday. Florida's 2nd District Court of Appeal
upheld his conviction and sentence on a 2-1 vote.

But in a highly unusual act, the appeals court offered some
sympathy and advice. Paey should seek a commutation of his
sentence from the governor, the court suggested. "Mr Paey's
argument about his sentence does not fall on deaf ears," wrote
Judge Douglas Wallace, "but it falls on the wrong ears."

While the two judge majority in the case was sympathetic but
said its hands were tied, the lone dissenter on the bench,
Associate Judge James Seals, disagreed. In a blistering dissent,
Seals made a multi-point case that Paey's mandatory minimum
sentence was both "cruel and unusual" and absurd in light of the
shorter sentences given for many real crimes. (Visit
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maia-szalavitz/cruel-and-unusual-25-yea_b_35781.html
to read an excerpt.)

Paey who was severely injured in an automobile accident in the
1980s, was arrested by the DEA and the Pasco County Sheriff's
Office after buying more than 1,200 pain pills with fake
prescriptions. Although agents watched Paey roll up to
pharmacies in his wheelchair to fill the prescriptions, he was
charged as a drug dealer under a Florida law that says anyone
possessing more than an ounce is a dealer. Paey rejected a plea
bargain before he was tried, saying it was against his
principles.

While other appeals remain open to Paey, his attorney, John
Flannery II, told the St. Petersburg Times
(http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/07/Pasco/Man_loses_case__wins_.shtml)
he would take the appeals court up on its suggestion. Flannery
filed a commutation petition Wednesday. It's unlikely that
outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush will act on it before his term ends as
year's end, but Flannery said he wanted to start the process for
Governor-elect Charlie Crist.

================

9. Hemp: North Dakota Becomes First State to Legalize Industrial
Production
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/north_dakota_first_state_legalize_hemp_production_licenses_available_in_january

Industrial hemp production becomes legal under North Dakota
state law as of January 1, making it the first US state to do
so. But while the state Agriculture Department is ready to start
handing out licenses next month, it cautions potential farmers
that they can't actually begin growing hemp until they are
licensed by the state and are approved by the federal
government.

Given that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) remains opposed to
legalizing the production of the marijuana relative -- the two
plants are different cultivars of the cannabis plant, one grown
for its oils, seeds, and fibers and the other to get you high --
North Dakota wheat, beet, and soybean farmers probably shouldn't
be thinking about switching over anytime soon. That despite the
fact that their cousins on the other side of that line in the
trackless prairie that marks the US-Canada border in the area
are growing it like crazy, sending it across the border, where
it can be processed and sold as hemp products, and taking their
US dollar profits back home.

In several bills passed since 1999, the North Dakota legislature
has approved industrial hemp cultivation. Last month, Attorney
General Wayne Stenehjem gave his approval to implementing rules
crafted by the Agriculture Department, whose head, Agriculture
Commissioner Roger Johnson, has been a leading proponent of the
potential new cash crop. On Monday, the rules won final approval
in the legislature.

"The administrative rules committee of the Legislative Council
has reviewed the rules and has not recommended any changes,"
Commissioner Johnson said in a press release Monday
(http://www.agdepartment.com/2006Press/other061204b.htm). "After
Jan. 1, 2007, North Dakotans will be able to apply for licenses
to grow industrial hemp."

But he also warned that the feds remain an obstacle. "Our rules
clearly state that persons who hold licenses to grow industrial
hemp must also obtain permission from the US Drug Enforcement
Agency (DEA). It will be up to the DEA to allow producers to
compete with other countries for the profits from this
potentially valuable crop."

Under the North Dakota rules, producers must consent to a
criminal background check and document the amount of harvested
hemp sold. Their fields must be provided with geopositioning
instruments to track their location, and planted hemp seed must
contain less than 0.03% THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient
in cannabis.

Johnson told the Associated Press
(http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8LQADC01) he
had no illusions of hempen hills in North Dakota anytime soon,
but that he hoped to pressure the DEA to act. "We'll see where
it goes," he said. "Hopefully, North Dakota will be the first
state where producers can grow hemp for legitimate uses. Nobody
has ever put something like this in front of the DEA," he said.
"We want to make industrial hemp happen. We have put these rules
together in such an airtight fashion that we know we are not
going to have illicit drugs being grown in North Dakota,"
Johnson said.

The DEA doesn't care. Hemp contains traces of THC and thus falls
under the purview of the Controlled Substances Act, DEA
Washington spokesman Steve Robertson told the AP. "There is no
differentiation between hemp and marijuana," Robertson said.
"The regulations for hemp are the same as they are for
marijuana." [Ed: Robertson of course is lying -- yes, lying --
the CSA clearly gives DEA the authority to grant hemp growing
licenses.]

But perhaps some frustrated North Dakota farmer with a hemp
license will take the agency to court. And then perhaps the US
can join the list of civilized countries that allow hemp
production, with North Dakota in the vanguard.

================

10. Medical Marijuana: County Lawsuit Challenging California Law
Thrown Out
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/california_judge_throws_out_lawsuit_challenge_medical_marijuana_law

San Diego Superior Court Judge William Nevitt, Jr. on Wednesday
threw out a challenge to California's medical marijuana law,
saying there was "no positive conflict" between state and
federal law. The ruling came against a lawsuit filed by San
Diego County in February and later joined by San Bernardino and
Merced counties. County officials in all three jurisdictions
were hostile to Proposition 215 (the Compassionate Use Act) and
SB 420, which set up a state Medical Marijuana Program (MMP)
with a system of county-administered ID cards.

The medical marijuana defense group Americans for Safe Access,
or ASA (http://www.safeaccessnow.org), the ACLU Drug Law Reform
Project (http://www.aclu.org/drugpolicy), and the Drug Policy
Alliance (http://www.drugpolicy.org) jointly intervened to block
the lawsuit. It was a September 1 motion argued by ASA Chief
Counsel Joe Elford that resulted in the favorable ruling.

In his ruling, Judge Nevitt concluded that "neither the
Compassionate Use Act nor the MMP is preempted by the Supremacy
Clause, by the CSA (Controlled Substances Act), or by the Single
Convention." Nevitt also found that, contrary to the arguments
by the recalcitrant counties, the voluntary ID card program
"does not interfere" with the stated purpose of the
Compassionate Use Act, which is to "ensure that seriously ill
Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for
medical purposes."

ASA executive director Steph Sherer declared the decision a
victory for California's medical marijuana patients. "For the
tens of thousands of seriously ill Californians who depend on
medical marijuana, this victory could not be more significant,"
she said. "San Diego Supervisors sought clarification from the
courts and now, with this ruling, we encourage San Diego and
counties across California to move forward with implementing
state law."

================

11. Harm Reduction: New Jersey Needle Exchange Bill Moves to
Final Floor Votes Next Week
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/new_jersey_needle_exchange_bill_final_votes_next_week

After more than a decade of struggle and thousands of
preventable HIV/AIDS cases, New Jersey is on the brink of
passing the first bill that would allow needle exchanges to take
place in the state. After winning a final Assembly committee
vote Monday, the measure now advances to final floor votes in
the Assembly and the Senate next Monday.

The bill, A1852, the Bloodborne Disease Harm Reduction Act
(http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/A2000/1852_I1.PDF),
would allow up to six Garden State municipalities to begin
needle exchange programs for injection drug users in a bid to
reduce HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C infection rates. It also
appropriates $10 million in "seed money" for drug treatment
programs.

With legislative action in Maryland and Delaware in recent
years, New Jersey is the only state that allows neither needle
exchanges nor the non-prescription sale of needles. A bill that
would allow for non-prescription needle sales, A2839
(http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/Bills/A3000/2839_I1.PDF), has
also passed all committee hurdles in both houses and will go to
an Assembly floor vote next Monday, but is unlikely to be voted
on in the Senate until next year.

Roseanne Scotti, director of the Drug Policy Alliance
(http://www.drugpolicy.org) New Jersey office was guardedly
optimistic about the needle exchange bill's chances for passage
in e-mails to supporters. While noting that the bill had already
passed the Assembly once in 2004 and would probably pick up
support in that chamber this time around, the Senate fight will
be "very tough."

"This is a positive development that could put New Jersey back
into the mainstream of other states that have approved
clean-needle exchanges and other strategies to reduce the
transmission of AIDS among drug addicts, their partners and
children," said the bill's sponsor, Assembly Speaker Joseph
Roberts Jr. (D-Camden).

================

12. Law Enforcement: Rev. Al Sharpton Calls for Congressional
Hearings into Police Killings of Civilians
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/reverend_al_sharpton_calls_for_congressional_hearings_on_police_killings

Standing at a rally in front of the home where Atlanta senior
citizen Kathryn Johnston
(http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/463/atlanta_police_killing_kathryn_johnson_continues_to_unravel)
was shot and killed by police serving a "no-knock" drug warrant
after she opened fire on the intruders, the Rev. Al Sharpton on
Sunday called for congressional hearings into the police killing
of civilians. The case of Johnston, who was killed November 21,
along with that of Sean Bell
(http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-12-07T005613Z_01_N06484085_RTRUKOC_0_US-NEWYORK-SHOOTING.xml&WTmodLoc=USNewsHome_C1_%5BFeed%5D-2),
the New York City man gunned down by police on his wedding date
a few days later, and the case of Patrick Strickland
(http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/04/teen.shot.ap), the North
Carolina man killed by police investigating the robbery of a
Playstation3, have once again put the simmering issue of police
violence on the front burner.

"Something stinks in this case. And something stinks to high
heaven," Sharpton said. "In fact, it smells so bad, I smelled it
in New York and came to Atlanta this morning." Sharpton
condemned "this new sense of police recklessness, whether it is
a 88-year-old mother here in Atlanta, with questionable
circumstances that led to the warrant that gave them entry into
her home, or whether it is over 50 bullets shot at three unarmed
men in Queens," said the prominent black activist and former
presidential candidate.

"There seems to be a new spirit in law enforcement that they can
become the judge, jury and executioner of the law on the scene,"
Sharpton said. "Police apprehend suspects; they don't kill them.
This cannot be tolerated in a civilized society."

While the Justice Department is conducting investigations of
both the Johnston and Bell killings, Sharpton said they were
only the latest in a pattern of killings and individualized
inquiries were not enough. "The pattern is not under
investigation," Sharpton said. "They are investigating whether
there was criminal activity. The pattern of policing, which
should be set by the US Congress in a federal standard, is not
going to come out of either one of those investigations."

Sharpton said he had been talking with US Rep. John Conyers
(D-MI), the incoming head of the House Judiciary Committee about
holding hearings on what he called a national pattern of police
shootings. He isn't the first to ask Conyers to act on the
issue. Outgoing US Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) sent Conyers a
letter last week asking him to hold hearings.

According to the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice
Statistics, police kill between 300 and 400 people each year
(http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/justify.htm). After
peaking at nearly 450 police killings of civilians in 1994, the
number declined to just over 300 in 2000 before climbing again
to about 370 last year. Only a tiny fraction of police killings
are found by police to be questionable; most are found to be
"justifiable homicides." In only a tiny fraction of cases are
officers indicted in a killing, and then, only a tiny fraction
are convicted.

================

13. Weekly: This Week in History
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_war_history

December 8, 1929: Col. Levi G. Nutt, Head of the Narcotics
Division of the US Treasury Dept., declares, "I'd rather see my
children up against a wall and see them shot down before my eyes
than to know that any one of them was going to be a drug slave."

December 11, 1942: The Opium Poppy Control Act is enacted,
making possession of the opium poppy plant or seeds illegal.

December 12, 1981: The report of the Task Force on Cannabis
Regulation to the Center for the Study of Drug Policy --
Regulation and Taxation of Cannabis Commerce is issued, reading
"It has been observed that marijuana is one of the largest
tax-exempt industries in the country today and regulation would
end that exemption."

December 12, 1995: Director Lee P. Brown announces his
resignation as head of the US Office of National Drug Control
Policy.

December 13, 1995: In response to a December 1 rally held
outside the offices of Boston radio station WBCN to protest the
airplay of the NORML benefit CD Hempilation, the National
Writers Union and the Boston Coalition for Freedom of Expression
issue statements condemning the actions of rally organizers, the
Governor's Alliance Against Drugs (GAAD). Both groups are highly
critical of the overall nature of the protest and specifically
of the alleged use of state power and finances to help institute
the rally. Reports note that protesters arrived in state
vehicles, attendees were encouraged to "bring their squad cars,"
and an individual identified as a Boston liaison to the DEA
accompanied Georgette Wilson, Executive Director of the GAAD, as
she entered the station. "These sort of actions, when performed
[and sponsored] by government agents, are specifically
[prohibited] by law," charges Bill Downing, president of NORML's
Massachusetts chapter.

December 14, 2001: While signing a new anti-drug bill that
expands the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, President
George W. Bush makes his first official mention that the
Administration would begin leveraging its political successes
with the War on Terrorism back into the War on Drugs when he
says "If you quit drugs, you join the fight against terrorism¿
It's so important for Americans to know that the traffic in
drugs finances the work of terror, sustaining terrorists, that
terrorists use drug profits to fund their cells to commit acts
of murder."

December 9, 2002: The Canadian House of Commons Special
Committee on Non-medical Use of Drugs releases reports that call
for safe injection sites, pilot heroin maintenance programs,
decriminalization of cannabis, among other reforms.

December 13, 2002: A disabled, deaf, wheelchair-bound British
charity worker returns home after spending two years in a
primitive Indian prison after being found guilty of trafficking
drugs even though it was a physical impossibility. Stephen
Jakobi, director of Fair Trials Abroad, described the case
against him as absurd. "There are things that just scream out to
you," he said. "I have never actually been presented with a case
where the guy is physically incapable of acting in the manner
suggested by police."

December 9, 2004: Rep. Barney Frank keynotes DRCNet Foundation's
John W. Perry Fund reception in Boston, MA, delivering a
humorous yet passionate address. He says repeal could be
achieved, even in a Republican-controlled Congress, if his bill
to do just that could actually get to the floor. He mentions,
"This issue is ripe¿ My colleagues in Congress are ready to move
on this and other issues." Also addressing larger national drug
policy, Frank notes, "The damage done by this mindless assault
on drug users is a terrible, terrible problem."

December 13, 2004: Hungary's Constitutional Court restricts the
use of diversion to drug treatment for some drug offenders,
narrowing the scope of reform legislation enacted in 2003. In so
doing, it also explicitly rejects an argument that the laws
against drug possession are unconstitutional.

================

14. Job Opportunity: MPP New Hampshire Medical Marijuana
Campaign
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/granite_staters_for_medical_marijuana

The Marijuana Policy Project is hiring a campaign manager to run
Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana (GSMM), MPP's year-long
effort to influence the presidential candidates to take positive
positions on medical marijuana during the presidential primary
campaign in New Hampshire. The position is based in New
Hampshire, begins in early 2007 (no later than April) and will
terminate after the January 2008 New Hampshire primary. Salary
is $40,000 to $60,000, depending on experience. Benefits are
negotiable.

The campaign manager must have excellent oral and written
communication skills, an understanding of politics and public
policy, and experience working with reporters and doing media
interviews. In addition, the campaign manager must be highly
organized, energetic, a hands-on manager, and able to work the
long hours that a campaign requires.

Campaign experience -- particularly experience working for a
candidate or on statewide field programs -- is strongly
preferred.

The campaign manager is responsible for executing the campaign's
field plan and directly overseeing all field operations,
including:

* Recruiting, organizing, and managing a volunteer workforce of
perhaps several hundred people throughout the state;
* Ensuring that the candidates are asked for their positions on
medical marijuana at every available opportunity, with the goal
of garnering public statements on the issue;
* Coordinating a campaign presence at candidate forums in the
state, including volunteers with signs outside and volunteers
inside asking the candidates questions;
* Directly lobbying campaign staffers and providing candidates
with documentation on the medical benefits of marijuana;
* Acting as spokesperson for media interviews, pitching stories
to reporters, and generating positive news coverage;
* Writing a weekly e-newsletter for campaign volunteers; and
* Writing and issuing news releases every time a candidate
issues or changes his or her position on medical marijuana.

While MPP's headquarters in Washington, DC will be able to
provide a small amount of staff support for the campaign's
activities, ultimately the campaign manager is responsible for
executing all aspects of the campaign. The campaign manager will
report to MPP's director of government relations in DC, who
reports to MPP's executive director in DC. Visit
http://www.mpp.org/jobs/process.html for information on applying
for the campaign manager position.

================

15. Announcement: New Format for the Reformer's Calendar
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/464/drug_reform_calendar

With the launch of our new web site, The Reformer's Calendar no
longer appears as part of the Drug War Chronicle newsletter but
is instead maintained as a section of our new web site:

* Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org each day and you'll see a
listing of upcoming events in the page's righthand column with
the number of days remaining until the next several events
coming up and a link to more.

* Check our new online calendar section at to view all of them
by month, week or a range of different views
(http://stopthedrugwar.org/event).

* We request and invite you to submit your event listings
directly (http://stopthedrugwar.org/node/add/event) on our web
site. Note that our new system allows you to post not only a
short description as we currently do, but also the entire text
of your announcement.

The Reformer's Calendar publishes events large and small of
interest to drug policy reformers around the world. Whether it's
a major international conference, a demonstration bringing
together people from around the region or a forum at the local
college, we want to know so we can let others know, too.

But we need your help to keep the calendar current, so please
make sure to contact us and don't assume that we already know
about the event or that we'll hear about it from someone else,
because that doesn't always happen.

We look forward to apprising you of more new features of our new
web site as they become available.

-----------------------------------------------------------

DRCNet needs your support! Donations can be made by credit card
at http://stopthedrugwar.org/donate or sent by mail to P.O. Box
18402, Washington, DC 20036-8402. Donations to the Drug Reform
Coordination Network are not tax-deductible. Deductible
contributions supporting our educational work can be made by
check to the DRCNet Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
organization, same address.

PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents
of Drug War Chronicle is hereby granted. We ask that any use of
these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a
link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication
customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable
to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all
cases, we request notification for our records, including
physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact:
Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC
20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail
drcnet [at] drcnet.org.

Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle
appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

***********************************************************
DRCNet DRCNet DRCNet DRCNet DRCNet DRCNet DRCNet DRCNet
***********************************************************

- TO SUBSCRIBE, VISIT: http://stopthedrugwar.org
- TO CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS, SWITCH TO THE LONG, FULL TEXT EDITION,
OR SWITCH TO THE HTML EDITION, VISIT