UN claims Colombian coca production reduced

Touting it as a great success in the war on some drugs, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime recently released a report stating coca cultivation had declined by 20% in Colombia. However, coca eradication experts meeting in Peru, disputed that claim calling the drop in cultivated acres misleading. They report traffickers are simply developing new and more potent and higher yield strains, while growers are moving to smaller and more remote tracts that are harder to detect and more hazardous to spray.

The Colombia government, aided by the US, did manage to successfully poison 116,000 hectares of land in the Amazon Rain Basin, while displacing thousands of indigenous peasants, ruining legitimate crops and sickening the few local residents who would not or could not leave. However, despite all the damage, the Andes still managed to produce three times more cocaine than the US market consumes.

The Incomprehensible Lie of the Week award though goes to drug czar John Walters, who said in a statement that the report shows ``when democracy, stability and security flourish in drug-producing nations, progress can be made against the narco-terrorists who threaten our way of life.''

Meanwhile, the OAS blamed the Colombian paramilitary group AUC for colluding with FARC in killing 34 peasants on a coca farm this week, while FARC vehemently denied the allegations claiming the peasants were actually members of AUC. Keep in mind that your tax dollars are partly funding this atrocity.

If Walters calls this stability, one wonders what in his mind constitutes chaos?

Send in the clowns

Speaking of that fun loving prohibition profiteer Walters, he appears to have discovered the blogosphere and started a blog of his own. It's a lot better than you might expect. Check it out and be sure to leave him some comments.

news.com.au
Davies vow to stand their ground

I don't know how the prohibition profiteers sleep at night. In yet another example of forfeiture run amok, 81 year old David Davies, a WWII vet and his wife Florence had their life's worth of assets seized because their son was storing 19 kilos of cannabis in the ceiling. In an blatantly apparent miscarriage of justice, the couple received, "16-month suspended jail sentences last month after being convicted on two counts of possessing marijuana with intent to supply." I mean really, intent? Who on earth did the prosecution contend they were intending to supply it to?

To add insult to injury, the Australian government with obvious US inspired prosecutorial greed, took possession of the family home (because they could) and intend to charge them rent. The couple, who built the house with their own bare hands, will not go without a fight.

"They will have to drag us off," Mrs Davies said.

Meanwhile, the parties' lawyers are hashing it out and it appears the government might be willing to offer free rent. What a joke. They should be returning the Davies assets and offering an apology.

Communication Breakdown

Jeeez. Yahoo is still screwed up. I can't even get into the help menu to rag on the support guys this morning. I think I liked it better when I was stressing out about bouncing mail with the 4 meg storage. I mean really, I didn't ask for the upgrade and at the moment, after years of virtually trouble-free use, this does not feel like an improvement. If they don't fix it soon I'll have to start a new account somewhere else. I can't live like this.

Meanwhile, everything else seems to be working again, so before I forget let me say thanks to Jessica's Well for giving me such great placement on last week's updated COTV. I hope to hell it wasn't there the whole time after I did all that whining about being missed in the first round. Not impossible considering my current state of computer confusion. These are the times I really wish I was a technogeek instead of a technodope.

And finally, in an attempt to make amends for my self-absorbed wailing in the last week, I just checked Dispatches from the Culture Wars and let me say Ed Brayton is right, I probably need serious help. The hypochondria takes up enough of my time without adding paranoid delusions into the mix however, not to split hairs but I don't think it's impossible to instinctively dislike a person. Not to mention if the criteria for posting about someone is actually knowing them personally, then we had all better give up blogging. I mean for instance, how many bloggers actually "know" George Bush?

In any event, no one can accuse Ed of "knowing" me (as he clearly does not, since as my friends can attest -- to know me is to love me) but in my own defense, I was trying (and apparently failing) to be amusing. Believe it or not, a lot of people find me uproariously funny but my sense of humor is apparently an acquired taste and my jokes seem to lose a lot in translation without the voice inflections.

Meet at Tully O'Reilly's for a beer any week night at 6:00 though and I promise to make you laugh....

NASA.com
Stardust gets in your eyes

My communication problems continue unabated. I can't find anything in my archives. My yahoo account is a mess. I can only access email intermittently and while I can publish, I can't link to graphics and I can't view the blog for some reason. Must be a residual effect from the Venus transit thing or maybe it's got something to do with this "Comet Wild 2".

They say it's a completely unexpected celestial object, unlike anything known. It was scanned by NASA's Stardust spacecraft in January and the data analysis has reportedly left astronomers astounded.

The mission also collected thousands of pristine bits of the comet that could yield answers to the origins of this universe. The lab scientists will be receiving comparative data as soon as July 4, 2005 when, "NASA's Deep Impact will slam a probe into comet Tempel 1."

Sounds a little ominous but very cool, doesn't it?

Microgram Bulletin

The DEA doesn't say where you can get these candy bars but I hear through the grapevine that they are really good.

The newsletter itself is fascinating reading. I don't know if anyone can subscribe for future updates, but, check out the entire April issue anyway. It covers everything smuggled from candy to cocaine to African yopo seeds. There's even a jobs section.

This is one for the archives.

Happy Father's Day

I'm sending my love out to my own "World's Best Dad" today. Unfortunately I won't get to see him for a few weeks but he knows how much I cherish him always. My Dad is not a fancy guy. He's not rich or famous but he can grow anything, tame wild animals and he's the most trustworthy person I've ever known.

Our physical resemblance is not strong but I'm clearly my father's daughter. I inherited his stubborn tenacity, tactless honesty and gruff kindness, not to mention a strong sense of adventure and a superior sense of direction. I'm so lucky to have been raised by this man.

However, as Pete Guither's moving post at Drug War Rant reminds us, not every child enjoys such good fortune, particularly under mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent drug offenders. There's something wrong with a policy that creates more victims than it protects and today, hundreds of thousands of children will not see their Dads because the ill-advised war on some drugs imprisoned their parent for a victimless crime. My heart -- goes out to them.

cannabisfarm.org
Nol Van Schaik lands in jail

We've spoken before about Nol Van Schaik and his Willie Wortel cannabis coffeeshops. Nol, who evaded arrest in France by literally jumping off a cliff, has been busy for these last fifteen years, what with advocating for sensible drug policy, running the coffeeshops and moving to Spain to become a became a public pot grower. (Information on all his enterprises can be found on his site, www.hempcity.net.)

But there's bad news. He's in a Spanish jail awaiting a decision on whether he will be extradited to France to satisfy the outstanding warrant for smuggling hash in 1989. With a Dutch decree prohibiting his extradition, he felt safe enough to travel. However he became a victim of heightened security when some panicked passport person had him arrested on the warrant. Spanish officials are now arguing about what to do with him.

As Nol's friends, family and admirers wait anxiously for the court's decision, long-time business associate Marcel de Worte suggests the best way to show support for Van Schaik is to, "visit Haarlem, Holland and enjoy the super Willie Wortels coffeeshops and the Dutch summer."

Or I guess you could just buy something from the Hempcity Webshop.

cannabisculture.com
Rich and famous come out for cannabis

Some of the names won't surprise you. I mean, who wouldn't expect that Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson or Louis Armstrong smoked pot? But Newt Gingrich? World renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead? There's a sea change in the air these days around cannabis. Even as we poor and unknown folks are standing up to be counted in the ranks of responsible cannabis consumers, so are a wide spectrum of celebrities coming forward to say it's time to end the war on our plant.

Rodney Dangerfield has been a consumer for half a century. Montel Williams swears to its medicinal properties. Michelle Phillips, Bill Maher, Jesse Ventura, Dr. Andrew Weil, and former US Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders sit on the board of the Marijuana Policy Project. And putting the lie that cannabis use permanently impairs your intellectual processes to rest, noted scientists Richard Feynman and Carl Sagan admit their use. Sagan even said it inspired his work. New York City Mayor Bloomberg says he smoked it and enjoyed it.

These are only a few of those profiled on Very Important Potheads. Can this many accomplished citizens be wrong? Larry Hagman in his autobiography says it all.

Hagman writes, "Why that stuff should be illegal is beyond me. It's so benign compared to alcohol. When you come right down to it, alcohol destroys your body and makes you do violent things. With grass you sit back and enjoy life."

Amen. It's long past time for our government to stop stuffing our prisons with responsible cannabis consumers and show us all some respect.

plgrove.org
Mad Dad

Well, you can't really blame this Dad for being angry. He did trust his son to take care of his (no doubt lovingly restored) 69 Ford convertible, and he trusted him to keep his word and not drink and drive. Dad gave him the keys to this cool ride so he could arrive at his prom in style.

The kid really screwed up. He didn't go to the prom. He and his girlfriend got shit-faced drunk, went joyriding down some backwoods roads (no doubt to fool around - hey weren't you a teenager once?) and smashed the car into a tree.

Meanwhile the Dad had put a couple of Phish tickets on his credit card for the kid. The kid was supposed to pay him back out of his paycheck on his summer job. He won't be keeping that job now that he's grounded so Dad decided to recoup his losses by selling the tickets on EBay.

This is where it gets a little weird. The Dad posts the whole sordid story on the auction site. He calls the kid a son-of-a bitch, repeatedly. He figures to make a profit on the commiseration factor I guess, but it didn't quite work out that way. Instead he was bombarded with emails scolding him for calling his wife a bitch and advising that scalping tickets is against the law. He revised the terms and pledged to donate anything over the ticket price to MADD (his wife's choice) and Phish's charitable organization called the Mockingbird Foundation.

He has since closed the auction early and there is no indication what happened with the bidding. Fortunately, Last One Speaks has an inside track at Mockingbird and we hope to deliver the details on how much the auction made for them later.

avilacigars.com
Free Richard Connors

Here's another example of the price of prohibitions. Richard Connors, an attorney who formerly worked as a public defender, is facing a three-year jail sentence, a $60,000 fine and three years probation for importing certain plant-based products from the Caribbean.

What drug could warrant that kind of sentence? Oh it's worse than cocaine or opium folks -- he was caught attempting to smuggle 1,150 Cuban cigars across the Canadian border. He apparently had a thriving little business making surrepitious trips to Cuba for the contraband and was making a tidy profit selling $60 boxes of cigars for $400. If you've ever smoked one, you would understand why people are willing to pay that kind of markup.

Okay so he was violating the increasing meaningless US embargo on Cuba, but as Steve Sebekius points out:

In case anyone hasn't noticed, our Kennedy-era embargo on Cuba hasn't exactly brought dictator Fidel Castro to his knees. And the notion that American citizens can be punished simply for touring a nation that the government doesn't really like is ridiculous. It's fine for the State Department to issue travel advisories, warning Americans that they won't have U.S. government protection in hostile nations. But Foggy Bottom shouldn't be telling us where we can and can't go, as if they were our national collective parents.

Shouldn't our border patrols be concentrating on intercepting terrorists? I mean really, do you want to spend your tax dollars on keeping Connors in jail for having good taste in cigars?

immly.org
Oakland pulls the plug on "Oaksterdam"

The city of Oakland apparently doesn't know a good thing when it sees it as city officials decided last week not to issue permits to several "compassion clubs." Only three of the dozen clubs that offered a safe source for medical marijuana patients will be licensed to operate.

Granted, some of the clubs were also selling to recreational users who did not possess patient ID cards but there is no report that even these clubs or their patrons created trouble for law enforcement. It appears the city, although legitimately concerned about regulating the market, is mostly concerned about appearances.

Meanwhile certified patients are suddenly left without a safe source for their medicine.

"All that you see around us will be gone,'' Jeff Jones, executive director of Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, said Monday. "They're shutting almost everyone down, and I don't think that's good for the patients. I'm glad the city is involved in regulation, but it's also driving away businesses that could be paying revenue" to the city.

Councilwoman Nancy Nadel, whose district includes Oaksterdam, vows to work on getting more permits issued. One would think the council would appreciate the clubs' role in revitalizing an formerly fading downtown and consider well their actions before forcing thriving businesses to close.

vh1.com
Chance encounters

It's funny. Every time I meet sort of famous musicians that I don't recognize, they give me an assumed name. I met Sean Danielson from the band Smile Empty Soul at the bar formerly known as City Cafe after work last night. He changed his hair cut from the photo and he told me his real name was David and that his stage name was "My son is my music." (He wrote it down for me on the back of a Keno form. Really.) He shouldn't have been worried. I actually did lose track of big label contemporary artists in 1976 so I only recognize dead people, defunct bands and local musicians.

That being said, we had a very interesting conversation and I found him to be a surprisingly thoughtful young man. He had some great stories about meeting his heros and how it feels to meet someone that holds him up as one. I liked his take on his life and luck and his sense of responsibility to warn the upcoming generations. After hearing his story I understood how his words could resonate with a bewildered peer group.

"I tell them," he said "you have a choice. Don't become an asshole."

After that I didn't even have to read the lyrics to his songs to believe he was -- as he modestly claimed he might be -- a poet.

webjericho.com
Say what?

It must be the planets. My world has been fraught with communication breakdowns in the last 24 hours. To begin with the Detroit News site is completely off line. I'm a little concerned about my new friends in the Motor City. I hope it's not some disgruntled conservatives waging a DNS attack on account of my posts. (Yeah, I know it's probably just a server meltdown. So sue me, I'm not being self-important, I'm just sort of an alarmist.)

The discussion between my usually even-tempered (though opinionated) cohorts on the newsroom discussion list has devolved into nearly a screaming match about fundamentalist religions and the myth of the liberal press and of course there was the small matter of being omitted from the Carnival this morning.

Not to mention that Yahoo (in response to Google's threat of Gmail) changed my world by upgrading my free account from 4 to 100 megs of storage space. I went from my perpetual red (you about to start bouncing mail) alert to using 4% of my space overnight. Now this is sort of a good thing. I mean I don't have to do mad purges to save space anymore but being a deadline driven person who only really functions well under pressure, this means my email will accumulate for way too long. Very dangerous for a procrastinator like me. This will definitely take some getting used to.

The bright spot in all this however, is that Pete at Drug War Rant is back from New York and posting again and Talk Left seems to be equally unaffected by the current confusion and has put up a long list of great posts in the last couple of days. They both have a lot worth scrolling for up on their blogs. Check them out while I try to instill some order into my personal chaos here.

Oh, and belated congratulations to Jerilyn for Talk Left's second blogiversary which occurred yesterday.

teddchurch.com
This is funny - Carnival #91

Snubbed by the COTV? I clearly sent my entry in time.

carnival@jessicaswell.com COTV entry Mon 06/14 2k

When I first started submitting to the Carnival I was pretty sure this would happen every week. Then I figured out that there was obviously some rule that requires the host to post all entries, but I didn't take advantage of that. I try to send in my more non-partisan posts rather than offend the right-wing sensibilities of the regs at this party.

Interestingly, although I disagree with her politics, I like Jessica's dry sense of humor. However, I guess that she's probably one of those few people out there that just doesn't like me. Come to think of it, I think she and Ed Brayton are friends.

Speaking of Ed, I see he left a comment on my link to his Carnival post. Sorry for the late reply Ed, my comment section is so underused that I rarely check to see if anyone has actually said anything but whether you say our politics are the same or not, I know the chill of a cold shoulder when I feel it. No hard feelings though. I don't take it personally, even if it is.

Actually I know our politics are not that far apart, I figured it was just a personality clash. And my apologies to John Scalzi for getting his name wrong. Chalk that up to dyslexia I guess.

Anyway folks, I've resubmitted my entry to Jessica and await with interest to see what she does with it. Details to follow.

Meanwhile, check out the bloggers that got into Jessica's party. It's always interesting.

Witness for peace

Sanho Tree, in conjunction with Witness for Peace, will be leading a drug policy delegation to Colombia on August 15-27. The program will be based in Bogota and include field trips to the coca fields and meetings with representatives of the various players in Colombia's war on some drugs. The trip is designed for safety, fluency in Spanish is not necessary and the cost of $1,400 includes all ground services but not airfare. Looking at the photos of last year, I wish I could I go myself. More info is available here.

Friends at the court

If you're reading this in the San Francisco area tonight, please turn out to support Brian Epis at his hearing before the 9th Circuit tomorrow. Currently serving a ten year sentence for growing medical marijuana, he's arguing for release based on the court's landmark decision in Raich v. Ashcroft.

The case will be heard at The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Courtroom 3, Third Floor, 95 Seventh St (at Mission), San Francisco, California.

For interviews or more information, contact William Dolphin at (510)919-1498 or check the ASA website.

rogers.com
New neighbor in the Bloggerhood

I guess I have Pete at Drug War Rant to blame, 'um I mean thank, for introducing us. Goddess help me, I have no free time but I've added the Vice Squad to my list of daily reads. I had to do it, Jim and the VS team are doing some great posting over there. For instance, you can find out how slot machines are regulated in Las Vegas. Let me tell you if voting machines were as well monitored as slots, we wouldn't have to be worried about the Bush brothers finding a way to queer the next election with those Diebolds.

I also particularly enjoyed (well enjoyed is not quite right but I found it interesting) reading about Alcohol Prohibition Deaths in Iran. Jim notes that as alcohol was prohibited in 1979 there, so was a black market created and since it's unregulated, (not unlike the current prohibition against some drugs in this country), the quality and the safety of the product is uneven at best.

At least 19 have died and 60 have been poisoned from drinking bootleg booze distilled from methanol (an ingredient in anti-freeze). And as fabled in the history of alcohol prohibition in the US, several have gone blind in Iran from drinking this poison.

It's not unlike the unregulated chemical drugs that flood the underground markets in our own inner cities. Take Anchorage - a place I wouldn't expect to have a heroin problem - where they had 5 overdose deaths in the month of May alone. Whether it's because the dope is tainted or simply too pure, either way people are dying unnecessarily.

As Anchorage Police Lt. Caroline Stevens puts it, "This is not a product that's controlled by the FDA. This is a product that you have no idea what is going into it. It's made on the street, there's toxins in it." And you the taxpayer, are footing the bill for the social costs, the medical costs and the related crime costs that come with an unregulated industry.

You might as well face it, they're addicted to drugs out there. You can't force them to stop with threats of incarceration (or in some countries, even death.) Why not try to help them instead by providing a safe and legal environment and health counseling?

ablongman.com
Putting on the hits

I don't know why I waited so long to install the Sitemeter as my hit counter but now that I finally have done it, I can now figure out to some extent where you folks are coming from and how you got here. I was surprised to find how many of you arrived by search queries -- a whole lot of you are trying to find those nude photos of Marcie Betts, the tattooed prison guard. I leave to draw your own conclusions about that.

Many of you arrive by referral from other sites though and I just want take a moment to offer a long-overdue thanks to the bloggers who have been kind enough to link to me. Pete at Drug War Rant and Jerilyn at Talk Left have been my biggest supporters since the beginning of course. I can never thank them enough for helping me get started but I didn't realize how many others of you have sent me readers.

So thanks a bunch to Jim and the rest of the Vice Squad and welcome to your many friends that regularly come to visit here. Also thanks to Mike Kantor at the Calico Cat, Jed at Freedom Sight, Annie's Annuals, Alec at Purple States, Chip Taylor, Dr. Beeper, Dratfink, Dr. Menlo at Abuddha memes, The Frank, Matthew Holt at Are You Outraged, Crescat Sententia, and Silflay Hraka and all the hosts of Carnival of the Vanities for sending readers over. Also thanks to Pardon My English for all that hate mail a couple of months ago.

I know I've missed at least a couple of more of you because I've lost the links somehow but thanks again to all of you for the mention and welcome to all your readers. I hope you all like what you see and please come back again.

Euro 2004 - Soccer Update

Following up on this story, England lost to arch rival France in a dramatic injury time finale (whatever that means. Drunken fans rampaged throughout England frightening the remaining patrons and staff at the local pubs. In Boston two police cars were overturned and set on fire.

However, in Lisbon where they instituted the alcohol intolerant/ cannabis friendly entrance policy at the stadium, there were no reported incidents of violence except for one lone England fan who was deported after attacking a French supporter on the day before the match.

Proving once again that cannabis consumers are more fun.

We get (hate) mail

Now I don't hate Ronald Reagan. I always thought of him as kind of a hapless dupe being manipulated by his handlers but that's not to say that I liked him or his policies either. I might have just kept my mouth shut if the media had not turned his funeral into such a vapid love-fest but I couldn't stand the hypocrisy in the end and I posted this at the Detroit News blog.

That's show biz - The Reagan Years

I've been trying to wait to weigh in on Ron Reagan until a respectable amount of time after his funeral -- it was a long wait. The extravanganza is finally over and by the way it cost 400 million of your tax dollars to deify the man, which I guess is appropriate for a guy who invented "trickle-down" economics. He and his cronies got the money and we working stiffs got the shaft.

Ron Reagan presided over a Cabinet filled with thugs. More members were criminally indicted out of those ranks than in any other in the history of the presidency. He illegally fomented a war in Nicaragua that is said to have been partly funded by a CIA drug dealing operation. He fired the air traffic controllers, he contended ketchup should count as a vegetable in fulfilling the nation's commitment to feeding hungry children and he refused to release funding for AIDS research because at the time it was mainly occuring only within the gay community. As for ending the Cold War - baloney - Harvey Wasserman explains.

They rightly called him the great communicator. He was an actor and he played the press like a virtuoso. He was the first to perfect the concept of governing by soundbite. But Reagan wasn't really a great president - he just played one on TV.

As you can imagine this generated a few responses from my readers. I don't why but I always like the hate mail best. Makes me feel like I'm doing my job. This was my favorite.

Posted: Sun. 06/13/04 12:51 PM
From: Alex
City: Commerce twp, USA
Subject: Weblog: Libby Spencer
Comments: Its sad that the Detroit News employs such a raging nutcase like Libby Spencer.

You gotta love it.

They Filled the Hill

I was really sorry to miss this event while I was on my little road trip but thanks to Richard Lake of Media Awareness Project for sending in the line-up on Pot-TV's coverage of Fill the Hill. I haven't watched the video yet myself but I hear it's great and you can see it here.

The roster of speakers boasts some of the best minds in the reform movement including, Philippe Lucas, from Canadians for Safe Access, the Vancouver Island Compassion Society and DrugSense, Eugene Oscapella, director of the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy, Judith Ann Newbergher-Renaud, director of Educators For Sensible Drug Policy, Loretta Nall, president of the U.S. Marijuana Party, Jack Cole, executive director of LEAP and of course Marc Emery.

Pot-TV has come a long way in the last year. The production values on the latest videos are really quite professional so if you've been put off in the past by jumpy footage, give them another try.

libertythink.com
Science Fictions

Oh please spare me these fiction disguised as science articles. Let's see -- they want you to believe that contrary to 5000 years of use, all of a sudden young people are becoming addicted to smoking pot? And citing US Bush-funded figures to boot?

Yeah, these kids are addicted all right. Addicted to laziness and evading responsibility. I've addressed the reasons that the reported numbers of teenage users have increased before. It's our court system that allows a teenager to either take rehab or face the legal consequences for small time busts. Of course they are going to plead dependency to avoid jail. For some kids, it also becomes a convenient catch-all excuse for acting out but that doesn't mean they really couldn't stop.

And although it's certainly possible that depressed and schizophrenic people may have been self-medicating with the herb, the theory that cannabis use is causing psychosis was debunked a long time ago. Shame on the Guardian for publishing bad science as if it were fact. It's precisely this kind of shoddy reporting that causes young people to disbelieve warnings about the drugs that really are dangerous.

Sending out an S.O.S

If you're reading this in the eastern parts of Massachusetts, please help Mass Cann collect signatures to put cannabis initatives on our state ballots this year. Time is running out but it's not too late to make a difference. Help is needed in First Suffolk and First Essex counties.

Assistance is especially needed for staffing tables. They will have a table at the Northshore Mall in Peabody on Sunday June 13 from 11am to 6 pm, and from 10 am to 10 am on Tuesday, June 15, Thursday, June 17, Saturday, June 19, Monday, June 21 and Wednesday, June 23.

Contact masscannbenorml@aol.com if you can lend a hand.

ACLU fights for student's civil rights

It's funny how all these little cosmic connections are happening between my life here in lovely downtown Noho and my cyberlife in Detroit. A couple of days ago, Detroit joined the growing list of communities with anti-Patriot Act resolutions. That movement started here.

I'm an integral part of the ACLU here in WMass. Now, the Michigan chapter of the ACLU filed suit against the City of Detroit over illegal searches of the students during random drug sweeps. The school claims they are searching for weapons but the results of the sweeps belie that notion and do not justify the mass violation of civil rights.

Conducting commando style SWAT team raids in public schools is the single most dunderheaded tactic in the war on some drugs. I have long maintained that treating school children like criminals without any probable cause makes them less safe - not more. It may nominally keep them from bringing drugs to school but it will not stop them from experimenting with mood-altering substances and it will stop them from asking for help. Not to mention that a child will live up (or down) to your expectations. A teenager who is unjustly treated with suspicion will see no reason to later behave in a trustworthy manner.

Drug War Vigil Film Festival

The Drug War Vigil Memorial Group is looking for entries for its 3rd Annual Film Festival. Registration is free and the entries are not due until September but you need to email your intent to enter immediately. Send videos of 30 minutes or less on the topic of any aspect of cannabis and/or the war on some drugs in VHS, high-8 or digital-8 format. Prizes range from $2,000 to $500 US dollars. Details are available here.

This year's festival will be held in conjuction with the Toker's Bowl on September 24-25 in Vancouver. It should be fun to attend even if you don't enter a video.

Beautiful dreamers

My dear friend Mark Bode was interviewed by the NYTimes this week. He's publishing a book this month done in tribute to his father, the late Vaughn Bode. Those of you my age will remember his dad's underground comics but anyone will be able to appreciate Mark's unique interpretation of his Dad's style.

Mark and his lovely wife Molly are two of my favorite people in the world and it's nice to see him get some recognition for his work. The article is already archived so I can only give you excerpts:

... When Vaughn Bode, the maverick cartoonist and graffiti guru, died in 1975 at 33, he left behind a son and some of the most original and influential cartoon art done in the 1960's and 70's.

[Mark] Bode, ...peered over his Ray-Bans ... and spoke about his father and the forthcoming book. "That's about where we dropped Dad's ashes from the Cessna," he recalled with a laugh. "I
ripped the bag open at exactly 2:22 p.m., just like he wanted." But when 12-year-old Mark looked down, he saw a big yacht passing below, filled with half-naked women sunbathing on the deck. "I figured it was Vaughn's last joke."

At the age of 41, Mark has continued to fullfil his dad's legacy and has taken it full circle to complete Vaughn's last unfinished work.

Kim Thompson, vice president of Fantagraphics, said, "We told Mark, `When you complete it, we'll publish it.' " Over the course of 15 years, he added, the company has published 15 volumes of Vaughn Bode's work, and the books have been very popular among graffiti and tattoo artists.

Vaughn Bode's characters have had a seminal influence, and it was often a rite of passage for graffiti artists to do a Bode character... "My father never even heard of graffiti," Mr. Bode said, shaking his head.

Mark should know. His father's spirit is never far from his art or his dreams.

"Vaughn was still one of the most creative forces I've ever met," Mr. Bode said. "To this day I've never had a religion. But my father represents a sanctuary, waiting for me."

cannabisculture.com
Can't keep a good woman down

Loretta Nall's marijuana case is back in the news. With her arrest based on an investigation fraught with misconduct, misinformation and manufactured evidence, Loretta is appealing her conviction on two misdemeanor drug charges.

I think she should also file child endangerment charges against the police officers, one of whom was the husband of her 5 year old daughter's schoolteacher, for luring her child into remote areas of the schoolyard and attempting to elicit testimony from her. Believe it or not, a search warrant was issued based on the child's alleged statements. The irony is that if the child had accused the cop of molesting her, the court would most likely have discounted her statements based on her tender age.

We wish Loretta a successful appeal on these bogus charges. Meanwhile she's been in touch with Last One Speaks and sends this link to Part II of her hard-hitting series on prison abuse right here in the US. If you haven't seen Part I yet, we suggest you watch them in order. It's 75 minutes well spent, but once again the material is graphic and will leave you outraged at the inhumane treatment of our own citizens at the hands of private prison guards.

cannabisculture.com
Tokers welcome here

I love this one. Police in Portugal, showing extraordinary good sense, have instituted a “Here We Blow” policy for an upcoming soccer game they are hosting between rivals England and France. In an effort to head off the ubitiquous violence that accompanies these games, cannabis consumers will not be hassled or arrested but anyone intoxicated on alcohol will be refused entry to the stadium.

Dutch police used a similar policy in Euro 2000 and England’s hooligan element were too stoned to fight.

A Lisbon police spokeswoman said: “If people cause a problem through drugs and become a menace then police will take action. But when this doesn’t happen why should the police be the ones making the fuss?”

So much for the theory of Reefer madness.

teddchurch.com
Carnival's over

The show went on without me at Ambient Irony this week since I was on the road with nothing poetic to post but as always, it's worth cruising through to see the latest attractions.

Athena is not a drug sniffer

My apologies to Anthony Citrano and his pup for inadvertently implying that Athena was a drug dog by using her picture at this post. She's obviously a fine dog but she is not, nor will she ever be involved in law enforcement and if you check his blog you can see that Anthony clearly does not support the war on some drugs either.

Surprise Visit

No time to post this afternoon. An old dear friend was unexpectedly coming through town so I actually had a lunch date. Will be back later tonight.

alertnet.org
Update on Colombia

It's been a while since we looked south of the border. Unfortunately not much has changed in Colombia, certainly no changes for the better.

Uribe has managed to railroad legislation through his Congress allowing him to run for re-election in 2006 while the decades-old civil war continues unabated causing the ongoing displacement of thousands of indigenous Colombians every month. The U.S. Committee for Refugees reports 250,000 people were displaced last year, down from the record 400,000 in 2002, but still an obscene number of refugees caused by a war already being underwritten in part by millions of your tax dollars.

Meanwhile, our government has just pledged 50 million more to pay for military radar equipment to help Colombia track aircraft smuggling cocaine and weapons. Interestingly, in light of the Bush administration's dislike of Hugo Chavez and his democratically elected government, one of the two U.S.-funded radars will be set up next year near the northwestern border with Venezuela, which is not really a popular smuggling route.

More disturbing is the Colombia government's approval of an "antiterror" bill that allows wiretapping without a warrant and gives the military many policing powers. Am I the only one who notices that the destruction of our own civil rights at home under the auspices of the Patriot Act has emboldened foreign governments world wide to also enact similarly intrusive and undemocratic laws against their own populations?

You have to admire the Latino spirit though. I can't quite read this article (it's in Spanish) but it appears that protesters in Ecuador staged a mock fumigation at Colombia's embassy in Quito to protest aerial spraying of drug crops along the border. Brave move as they don't use rubber bullets to quell demonstrations in these countries. We in the US could take a lesson in courage from them.

continentalweather.com
Thunder / Lightning

We're having a wonderful little thunderstorm here in lovely downtown Northampton this evening. Just the right ration of rain to save me from having to lug the watering cans out tomorrow and it turned the sunset into a black and white film of clouds and light. I took some photos with the instacamera that I'm trying to shoot out but I doubt if it captured the magic of the moment. It will be a miracle if I actually caught those great forks of lightning.

There were no colors except for where the roiling green of the trees and the dull red brick of the building across the parking lot was illuminated by a single sodium light and you can just about smell the sea off the river this time of year. For just a moment it felt like I was at the beach.

Now that I'm thinking of leaving it, I realize that this is what I'd miss about New England.

New poll - Vote now
I love these things even though I know they're unscientific and have no effect on public policy, I like to think they have some on public perceptions.

There's a poll up today at CTV.ca asking if the use of marijuana should be legalised and taxed, decriminalised but not taxed, or, remain an offence under the criminal code?

I'm sure no one will be surprised that I voted for the first choice which is currently ahead but not by much. It only takes a few seconds to click in here and cast your vote at the upper right corner of the page.

cannabis.net
Pot Politics

Unlike the US where the candidates do their best to avoid taking a stand, cannabis is a real issue in the Canandian parlimentary elections this year. Thanks to the relentless efforts of Marc Emery, this is an issue that just won't go away north of our border.

Ever the pragmatist, Emery is promoting the most electable candidates who have the courage to come out solidly behind sensible cannabis policy, no matter what their party affliation. Thus his organization is supporting NDP candidates in some ridings, while backing Green Party candidates in others.

It appears however, that the rift between the Marijuana Party and Emery's forces continues unabated as Marc is calling on party leader Boris St. Maurice to resign on the basis of ineffective leadership. And all is apparently not rosy in the alliance between the NDP and Emery either as it's reported that NDP Federal Secretary is threatening to sue Marc for promoting the party's pro-pot position without their express permission.

We'll be watching with interest to see if the NDP keeps its word to reform current Canandian policy on our plant and if Emery can deliver the votes to elect the cannabis friendly candidates.

albinator.com
Revenue lost

I'm back from my trip and while slogging through my email I ran across this brief item that once again demonstrates the potential for tax relief in a legal cannabis market.

Seventeen people were arrested in what authorities are calling the largest drug bust ever seen in their area. They are charged with running an operation dealing in hydroponic cannabis that spanned both the US and Canada, and is alleged to have generated one million dollars a month for several years.

Arrests have been made in Toronto, Michigan, Mississippi, Maryland and California. Law enforcement agents say they seized $5 million in cash, 1,700 pounds of marijuana and 3,000 ecstasy tablets.

A one shot seizure of cash goes only to the prohibition enforcers, not to your public treasuries. A million dollars every month on the other hand could provide for a lot of education, health care and municipal services. Doesn't it really make more sense to allow the market to operate legally than to spend hundreds of thousands on arrests and incarcerations?

Would you like to swing on a star?

Just got home to find that tonight's the night that Venus will cross the face of the sun. Here's the live feeds to all the celestial action. They say it's a six hour show.

Not to be missed. This is once in your lifetime folks. The last occurrence was 122 years ago.

Link thanks to What Really Happened via Talk Left.

On our way home

The wifi was installed here a couple of days ago but there was heavy competition for the laptop and believe it or not there are actually one or two things more important than blogging to other people so I didn't get to post as much as I had hoped. However I did have a lovely time here and I'll be flying home tonight so we'll be back on our usual blogging schedule by tomorrow afternoon.

If I haven't answered your email in the last week, it's nothing personal - it just got lost in the 200 messages I haven't been able to wade through yet but I'll be looking at it all in the next couple of days.

Meanwhile, I'm off for one last day of sightseeing and enjoying the company of my friends and the warm and sunny weather.

Let's review

I'll be back blogging regularly on Tuesday but I'm about out of time for the moment so I'm going to leave you with this week's DRC newsletter which is always worth reading in full.

Check out their interview with the Grand Old Man of drug policy reform, Arnold Trebach, a nice tribute to another long time drug policy reformer, the late Sam Dash and their corrupt cop of the week feature. This week they report on Louisiana sheriff's deputies arrested for selling the prescription drug Vicodin and payroll fraud.

I might remind you that the DEA justifies it's insupportable war on pain management doctors on the basis of black market abuse and sales of these legal medications. It seems to us the black market is more driven by this kind of police corruption rather than career criminals or people obtaining the drug by "doctor shopping." You would think the DEA would take note of the repeated instances of arrests within the ranks of law enforcement and start investigating the real illegal purveyors of these drugs and keep their nose out of the legitimate practice of medicine.

Changing the Climate

I'm still on the road and have had some access problems so I'm behind on the news. I'm sure by now everyone knows about this but I just want to offer my congratulations to Joe White and Change the Climate, the ACLU and the rest of the legal team for their recent victory in federal court against the Tranportation Department and Washington Metro's censorship of political speech.

Judge Paul Friedman noted in his decision that, "just as Congress could not permit advertisements calling for the recall of a sitting mayor or governor while prohibiting advertisements supporting retention, it cannot prohibit advertisements supporting legalization of a controlled substance while permitting those that support tougher sentences."

Rather well said don't you think?

Long and winding road

It's been a long day on the road. I'm helping friends move and am driving one of their cars half way across the country. The traffic was heavy and the weather was bad so this little convoy I'm on has been pretty exhausting so far, particularly because the car has a standard transmission.

The highlight of the day was getting stuck in line at a toll booth while the trucker in front of me decided to argue about the cost of the toll and decided to simply sit there in protest until hell freezes over. The lines at the toll were already almost a quarter of a mile long and this of course happened when I was four spots away from getting through. There was no way to jump lanes at that point, there was a steady line of 10 wheelers on either side of us and you certainly can't back up with a lane of a fifty vehicles and have you ever noticed how when two big trucks are moving forward on either side of you while you're stationary, it actually feels like you're rolling backwards?

It was great to get to the hotel and our suite at the Marriott Residence Inn at least is really fab. It even has a fireplace. However, there's a lot of miles left on this trip and the road call will come early so I'm just going to post this short item tonight.

In 1978, Greg Ott was convicted of fatally shooting Ranger Bobby Paul Doherty in the course of an undercover marijuana deal and was sentenced to life in prison. Greg was fired upon by this agent and when he went to get his own gun it accidentally discharged, the bullet passing through the door and ultimately killing the agent. Greg has no idea he was on the other side of the door and has been an exemplary inmate since his incarceration, having saved a guard from an attack by another inmate and helping avert a prison outbreak.

He has been recommended for release by the Texas parole board but the board reversed its vote twice after protests by the Texas Rangers. His attorney Catherine Crier believes Greg should be freed.

If you support Catherine Crier's efforts to parole Greg Ott, please write to:
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
1212 N. Velasco, Suite 201
Angleton, TX 77515
(979) 849-8741 (fax)

or to:

Governor Rick Perry
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711
(512) 463-1849 (fax)

For more on the Greg Ott story, read Gary Cartwright's August 2000 article in The Texas Monthly.

pdxnorml.org
DEA in a dither

I'm not one to take pleasure in other's misfortune but I can't deny feeling some delight in this story. It appears as many as 100 Drug Enforcement Administration investigations around the country could be compromised because a laptop computer that contains sensitive data, including information about many informants, is missing.

The computer was first reported stolen three weeks ago by an auditor for the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General, which was conducting a routine review of DEA payments to informants.

The auditor at first said the computer which contained more than 4,000 pages of case-file data was stolen from his car but has since changed his story and said he disposed of it in a dumpster after he accidentally damaged it. Either way, DEA are reported to be livid.

The incident is a particular embarrassment for Inspector General Glenn Fine's office, which has taken on an expanded watchdog role under Attorney General John Ashcroft. Only two years ago, the IG issued a blistering report criticizing Justice agencies, including the DEA and the FBI, for failure to maintain adequate controls on sensitive items—including their laptop computers.

One official said, "This is a sin in our business."

I don't know, it kind of feels like an act of God to me.

[link via Drudge]

Selling War

The Department of Homeland Security spent 226 million in 2003 on an ad campaign designed to prepare the public for another possible terrorist attack. No one involved in the project appears to be able to explain why the campaign was in the works for over a year and didn't launch until February 2003, only one month before Bush invaded Iraq. I mean really, it took 17 months for them to decide to tell us to buy batteries and duct tape?

Dan Forbes, with his usual meticulous research, makes a credible case that the Bush administration used your tax dollars to promote their long planned attack on Iraq. It's certainly not the first time they have used public money to support a private political agenda.

There's the 69 million spent on the U.S. Army's "Operation Graduation" campaign. As Dan points out, although at first glance this may seem to be a politically neutral program, the person managing the campaign admits it aids recruitment efforts since the Army does not accept high school dropouts.

And of course there is the 65 million the ONDCP spent last year on those ineffective anti-marijuana ads -- much of which went to promoting prohibition profiteering groups affiliated with the privately held Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America. This is in addition to the regular federal grants these private agencies receive to protect prohibition policy. It is through these agencies that current drug czar John Walters uses your tax dollars to defeat drug policy reform initiatives brought forward by the taxpaying public.

Interestingly the Ad Council, a private non-profit in existence since 1942, invents the slogans and oversees 1.5 billion a year in advertising buys, but makes no mention of their three biggest clients on the website. You would think that since the CEO of the council serves on the board of directors of the Partnership for a Drug Free America they would at least mention the ONDCP campaign somewhere on the site.

Maybe they're afraid they will lose an account ultimately worth 2 billion dollars if the public does the math and comes to the same conclusion as Dan Forbes did. And after all they did invent the phrase, "Loose lips sink ships."

Road trip

We'll be on the road for the next week but our traveling companions have a laptop so we expect to be checking in pretty often. Be back later.

Bubba
Might as well face it...

...you're addicted to blogs. There's a lot of denial going on out there but I've admitted my "problem" months ago. Things haven't changed much since then except that I now also post regularly on the Detroit News blog. (Hey, at least it keeps me out of the bars.)

I did get better at returning phone calls but the rest of my life is still pretty much centered around this computer screen. I turn down invitations to parties regularly and the closest I've come to a having a date this year is flirting with Bubba. I keep waiting for him to ask me to dinner but he doesn't talk much.

agri-ed.com
Justice served

A federal jury showed some common sense in refusing to allow prosecutors to expand the "Len Bias law" to extend a drug dealer's liability to a user who did not die from an overdose, and refused to convict 24 year old Tomas Cubilette for causing bodily harm to a teenager who went into a coma for two days after taking an ecstasy tablet.

According to testimony, others who took the same drug suffered no bad reactions. Tomas, who was facing 20 years under mandatory minimums wept as the verdict was read.

Good for the jury for not ruining this young man's life over one consumer's unusual reaction and possibly irresponsible use of a mind altering substance.

Justice gets busted

It's simply human nature to alter our consciousness and no one is immune. Case in point, the Hon. W. John Brennan, 57, chief judge of state district court in Albuquerque, was arrested for drunk driving after attempting to flee a police checkpoint last week. He appeared to be "extremely intoxicated" and was carrying what appeared to be cocaine when he was stopped.

Brennan was booked on charges of possessing a controlled substance and evidence tampering, and was released on his own recognizance, according to jail records. A charge of drunken driving was pending results of a blood-alcohol test, Ahrensfield said.

A passenger, Patricia Ann Mattioli [who works for the state Commission on Higher Education], also was arrested on a charge of possession of a controlled substance, Ahrensfield said. Mattioli, 43, was released after posting a $2,500 bond midday Saturday, jail records show.

The judge claims he will take full responsibility for his actions, but one can't help but wonder why his passenger had to post bail and spend the night in jail when he didn't. Sounds to me like he sold her out.

His fellow jurist, Judge James Blackmer, describes him as "a truly outstanding judge and a fine, wonderful person." He goes on to say, ""I would hope that everyone keeps an open mind on this and all other investigations in general and not prejudge anything."

Tell it to the hundreds of thousands of inmates languishing in our prisons under mandatory minimums. One wonders if what's good for the public will also apply to the judge. We're predicting he won't do a day in jail but his passenger will not get off as lightly as he will.

cogeco.ca
DOJ report released

The US Department of Justice Statistics division released its Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2003 report late yesterday. Highlights of the report include:

Prison population increased by 40,983, the largest increase in 4 years.

At midyear 2003, a total of 3,006 State prisoners were under age 18. Adult jails held a total of 6,869 persons under age 18.

Local jails were operating 6% below their rated capacity. In contrast, at yearend 2002 State prisons were operating 1% and 17% above capacity, and Federal prisons were 33% about their rate capacity.

In the year ending June 30, 2003, the smaller State prison systems had the greatest percentage increase: Vermont (up 12.2%), Minnesota (up 9.4%), and Maine (up 9.1%).

A pdf version of the full report is available here.

Overall it adds up to 1 out of every 75 men in the United States are presently incarcerated, the majority being non-Caucasian.

[thanks to JackL and Vig Haufniensis for the links]

Anti-drug ads just don't work

There's a new study out once again proving that John Walters is wasting that $145 million he plans to spend this year on the ONDCP's anti-marijuana ads. The study proves the ads play favorably to parents but do not work on their target audience. Echoing the results of a previous study done in 2002, this study also found that in fact, these ads make drugs more enticing to teenagers.

A national survey conducted in 2002 by Westat Inc. and the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania for the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that most parents and youth surveyed recalled seeing the anti-drug ads, and that the ads had a favorable effect on parents.

But, the government-funded survey concluded, "There is little evidence of direct favorable campaign effects on youth." It went on to note, "For some ... analysis raises the possibility that those with more exposure to the (ads) ... had less favorable outcomes over the following 18 months."

Unsurprising, the ONDCP, (in an effort to protect their funding) as in 2002, claims the study is flawed and cites statistics they paid for suggesting teenage use is down. If that was true one wonders why law enforcement is so keen on also spending our tax dollars locking down schools and terrorizing our children with drug dogs.

[Link via Talk Left]

cherrycomm.com
Every vote counts.

To use my pal Harry McColgan's trademark expression, "Are you shitting me?" In the last 34 years I have failed to vote once, and that was on purpose to make a political statement. I was working at the polls that day.

Well, that is until last Tuesday. I worked late doing a ACLU training and got home ten minutes before the polls closed. I probably could have jumped in the car and still just made it but I was tired and thought, oh just this once, I'll skip it -- It's only an over-ride vote. I would voted for it of course.

Well wouldn't you know it, the over-ride lost by just one vote. Now I feel really guilty for shirking my civic duty. My vote would have made a real difference.

kamleshayurveda.com
Madana Modaka

Following up on our previous post about the proposed legalization of marijuana in Sri Lanka, the estimated 16,000 Ayurvedic practitioners are watching developments with interest. There is no Bill pending in their legislature as yet. According to a government spokesman, "Our first step is to formulate a National Policy document for the indigenous medicine sector which will become part of the National Health Policy."

Presently, the locally registered Ayurvedic practitioners obtain cannabis by applying to the Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation, an agency that distributes cannabis seized from unauthorized consumers.

Cannabis is known by many names in the country and its medicinal and pain-relieving properties have long been touted in ancient Hindu literature and in the local Ayurvedic practice. Creating a reasonable policy on its use is a complicated proposition.

Going by the opinions of the Ayurvedic practitioners and officials of the Ayurvedic Drug Corporation as well as the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, the effective way of dealing with cannabis seems to hang in the balance between defining its value in Ayurvedic medicinal preparation and its abuse as a "dangerous narcotic" in unauthorised productions.

Such products like Madana Modaka gulis (globlets), sold in "petti kades" (vendor huts) near schools, are known to be purchased by school boys for "kicks." On the other hand, Madana Modaka is a legitimate medicinal preparation in Ayurvedic practice and is sold by the Ayurvedic Corporation and other reputable Ayurvedic practitioners, while its preparation method is clearly stated in the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of Sri Lanka - its ingredients being cannabis leaves and seeds fried in ghee, among other local herbs such as thipal, kottan, corriander, asamodagam and namal renu. Madana Modaka is usually recommended as a sexual stimulant and for flatulence and loss of appetite, among other things.

Among over 20 medicinal preparations mentioned in the Ayurvedic
Pharmacopoeia that contain cannabis, are Buddharaja kalka, Jathipalaadi choornaya, Hinguladhi rasaya (watee), Kameswara modakaya and Ranahansa rasayanaya (pindi).

Rural peasants and low-income people in urban areas were traditionally the major users of these medicines, however now that their use is being adopted by the upper classes, the Sri Lankan government seeks to consolidate the source.

He explains that the purpose of the proposed legislation is to allow only the Commissioner of Ayurveda of the Ayurvedic Department to grow cannabis in one central location, after estimating how many kilos would be needed by the country's Ayurvedic practitioners per year and how many acres could produce that amount, with due protection being accorded to the area. A parallel can be drawn with opium, which is imported by the Ministry of Health and issued to medical practitioners.

The US prohibition profiteers can deny it all they like, but history talks and thousands of years of medicinal use can't be wrong. Our own legislators would do well to take notice of this model.

floridapirg.org
Zero Tolerance run amok

This one is just beyond the pale. A 69-year-old woman may lose her government-subsidized studio apartment because of a federal policy punishing her for the actions of an uninvited guest.

Olive McKibben suffered severe back injuries resulting from an automobile accident nine years ago and her only income is the $800 she receives from Social Security. She's lived in her apartment at Marina Manor for about a year, having moved there to be closer to her family.

She took a two week trip out of town to visit another daughter and lost her home to our government's dunderheaded zero tolerance policies.

During the visit, she received a telephone call from an officer with the Marina Department of Public Safety informing her that her neighbors reported someone was in her apartment.

McKibben said she was shocked by the news and asked the officer to arrest the man.

It turned out the intruder was her home health aide, who agreed to come over and feed her pet and water her plants. He had taken up residence in her absence, without her permission and when police arrived they reportedly found the place in shambles and some undetermined amount of drugs belonging to the guy.

Under federal mandate, which apparently has no provisions for such extenuating circumstances, she will be tossed out on the street within a month.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that operators of public housing projects can legally evict families because of a family member's drug use. But McKibben said her home health-care worker was not a family member, not an invited guest and certainly not under her control.

Nonetheless, legal aid attorneys told her she should drop the matter and find another apartment.

This miscarriage of justice is what your government calls fighting the war on drugs. Looks to me like just another attack on the poor, disabled and otherwise disadvantaged members of our society and it's being underwritten with your tax dollars.

Disgusting.

pmlive.com
Castles made of sand

Here's an update on our story about Operation Sandshaker. Domingo "Chino" Gonzalez, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lacey Collier to a 17-year, seven month federal prison sentence for supplying the so-called cocaine ring that consisted mainly of middle-aged, middle-income drug users.

Of the 53 arrests, ten were charged federally and received sentences from probation to the 15 years given to "Jackie" Seale III, the other alleged "king pin" while Linda Taylor Murphy, owner of the Sandshaker Lounge & Package Store for which the drug sting was named, remains to be sentenced.

The other 41 defendants are facing state charges. Six have pleaded no contest to possession and other charges and two have been sentenced, one to 60 days in jail and the other to 30 days on work release.

So essentially, the government ruined 53 lives, spent hundreds of thousands of your tax dollars to "protect" you from these small time recreational users and for what? Well there is this:

Gonzalez also has agreed to forfeit property used to facilitate the conspiracy, as well as all proceeds he derived from it.

The cops get a thousands of dollars in forfeited assets for their own benefit and the taxpayer foots the bill not only for the arrests but also the incarceration costs and in lost tax revenues from defendants who no doubt lost jobs as a result of being arrested.

Meanwhile, since your law enforcement officers are so busy busting small time consumers, your government wants to create a police state by using military personnel to fill civilian enforcement positions. This is how fascism begins...

Carnival of the Vanities #88

Our host this week, the lovely Karol, of Spot On looks to be just about as politically on the right as I am on the left but she graciously presides over the festivities with great equanimity. I only have a minute left in my lunch hour to post, so I've only read Zero Tolerance who posts an infuriating story about a kid who was suspended from school for a toy bat locked in his trunk.

Otherwise it looks to be the same delicious mix of viewpoints as always. I'll go back later to read more of my favorite regs over there. Check it out.

Global Decrim sweeps the world!

Running late this morning so I'm just posting a link to this enlightening look at the "Reform Fever" that's sweeping the globe.

The war on weed is failing worldwide, and some states and countries are seeking new alternatives. Russia, Venezuela, Canada and the US state of Alaska are the latest to jump on the reform bandwagon.

The model throughout seems to be to allow possession of small amounts for personal use while increasing penalties for trafficking. Not entirely a practical solution in my mind, since someone has to provide the herb to those who can't grow their own and often these proposed measures don't even allow for cultivation so essentially decrim allows use while keeping the supply illegal.

The truth of decriminalization is that it is an absurd answer to an unsolvable problem. Governments around the world are starting to realize that the drug war cannot be won. Prohibition's only function now is to criminalize marginalized cultures and feed economies based on prison-slavery, but still our rulers don't know how to let it die gracefully.

And what to do all those who depend on the prohibition for their livelihood? Reverend Damuzi has a suggestion.

In Nebraska, based on a law against children belching in church, there could be a war on burps. In New Hampshire, based on a law against keeping time to music, there could be a war on foot tapping. In New Jersey, based on a law against men knitting during fishing season, there could be a war on homemade sweaters and socks. In Ohio, based on a law against getting fish drunk, there could be a war on boozing aquarium owners. In New York, based on a law against looking at women lustfully, there could be a war on flirting. In North Carolina, based on a law against having sex in anything but the missionary position, there could be a war on doing it "doggie style".

Sound silly to you? It is. It makes as little sense as this fruitless and unnecessary war on some drugs.

Happy Valley

One of the things I love about the Valley in the summer is the musicians I know who travel, come home for a while. The Drunk Stuntmen are here for longer this year because they're preparing for a European tour in September. Thus it was that I had the good fortune to run into Scott twice yesterday and Alex Johnson again today. Al, who as I recall was the one who inspired the name for the band after he fell down some stairs without spilling his beer, tells me yesterday's party at Harry's (aka 11s) was fun and blurry. In Noho that translates to a good time was had by all.

The Eurotour will start in Rotterdam for several days where they will open for the Young at Heart Chorus, (a group that needs a separate post to explain), then they're off to Portugal, Poland and perhaps another country.

Local readers should catch a gig before they leave. Around here you never know when a local band will get so famous that they don't come home again. Which reminds me, I still haven't run into Chris Collingwood in a really long time.

Michael and Irma

The big news this weekend was in the backyard. Mike and Irma are having a garden together. Well, mostly Michael is having a garden. He's very excited about it.

He worked hard all afternoon digging up the soil and planting his 10 packages of bean seeds in a 3 x 8 foot patch. This week we taught him that a plastic leaf rake will not work on raking out soil. Fortunately we had an iron rake with which to demonstrate. I think next week a lesson in thinning will be in order but one guesses it will be a hard sell. He's already imagining eating the beans and is attached to the mere idea of the plants.

His transplanting left a little to be desired, (the basil and cilantro will be coming up in one big chunk) but the beauty of their spot is no matter what you do, it seems to grow. Morning sun is everything back there and they get a lot of it.

Meanwhile, my own little plot struggles to find the afternoon sun through the tree and never does as well as the others even though I work twice as hard at it. Still I found a heartening number of volunteers from last year's perennial experiments and have high hopes for the weekend's transplant operation since we just had the perfect rain to keep the little buggers happy.

We'll be photoblogging this as the summer progresses.

Beautiful days in the neighborhood

Big changes in the hood, the gorgeous weather brought everyone out to the stoops and I met a lot of the new neighbors and a lot of my old ones are moving away. I'm sorry to see Jonathan go, he's been great and was incredibly quiet. His tag sale was a great success, perhaps because Steve was out there playing those exquisite licks on his acoustic guitar.

David, was holding court all weekend on his stoop and introduced me to the girls from Holland staying in July's apartment. Why are Dutch people always so beautiful and healthy looking? Marianna is quite young, she can't be more than mid 20s and Teanna is a little older and pregnant. And to debunk the idea that legalization of marijuana will corrupt our youth, I asked them how they felt about the herb. Both of them tried it once, didn't like it but don't think allowing its use is any big deal. As Marianna said, "It's always been there, I don't even think about it."

I also got to meet Mark, the owner of the Buddha truck that I want to get a picture of when I finally get a digital camera, (which I hope to do in the next couple of weeks.) I don't think you can do it justice in a few words but it's very colorful and looks kind of like a rolling Buddhist temple with a really nice Buddha statute for a hood ornament.

Also in this group was our neighborhood celebrity (who knew we even had one), Hugh, who co-owns the new coffee shop around the corner. By the way, to dispel any mistaken notions from the press accounts, these guys are from Great Barrington and not Pittsfield.

Best of all I ran into the Drunk Stuntmen again this weekend. They are my favorite local group and also my favorite kids from my days bartending at the Baystate Hotel. I've come to think of them as part of my chosen family.

I didn't get to see them play last night. They were doing a private bachelor party for Roger's friend. It was treat to see Roger though(my old favorite bartender at City) who came back from Oakland for the wedding. He and Umni are starting a catering business out there and he tells me they are loving the California lifestyle.

I did get to see the Stuntmen play last weekend however. It was a small miracle. I was awake enough at midnight to go out, I remembered they were playing and the gig was remarkably uncrowded so I actually snagged a table right up front. Those boys get better every time I see them and Al's guitar work especially continues to impress and astound. Fabulous gig. How lucky is that?

I was also really glad to see Terry Flood's partner, Tall Girl at the gig, who I always felt especially close to. I came to consider her as kind of a daughter and of course she looked as gorgeous as ever. I was also happy to finally congratulate Steve on his marriage - almost a year after the fact. I have got to get out of the house more.

POT-TV's Toker's Corner

Relentless reformer Tim Meehan is as busy as ever in the North Country organizing NDP events and this video forum to be debuted early this week in Oakville, Ontario. According to the press release, POT TV will be uploading the comments on a regular basis.

And don't forget Fill the Hill coming up on June 5. Unfortunately I'll be heading in another direction on that week, but if you're free, this march is an opportunity to meet some nice people and make a cross-border political statement that could resonate around the world.

I hear the weather is gorgeous there this time of year.