j u s t c r i m

Drug War Has Failed And Governments Should Explore Legalizing Marijuana, Says Report

NEW YORK -- The global war on drugs has failed and governments should explore legalizing marijuana and other controlled substances, according to a commission that includes former heads of state, a former U.N. secretary-general and a business mogul.

A new report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy argues that the decades-old "global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world." The 24-page paper will be released Thursday.

"Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won," the report said.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

WHO | PREVENTION OF ACUTE DRUG-RELATED MORTALITY

PREVENTION OF ACUTE DRUG-RELATED MORTALITY IN PRISON POPULATIONS DURING THE IMMEDIATE POST-RELEASE PERIOD (WHO 2010):

The rate of acute drug-related mortality, or overdose deaths, among prisoners in the immediate post-release period is unacceptably high. Such incidents result from many factors, including decreased tolerance after a period of relative  abstinence during imprisonment and the concurrent use of multiple drugs which, with every additional illicit drug consumed in combination with opioids, nearly doubles the risk of death from opioids. Other important factors are the lack of pre-release counselling, post-release follow-up and failure to identify those at risk. Substance dependence is a chronic disorder with high relapse rates and often requires long-term continuous treatment. There is good evidence from trials and cohort studies that opioid substitution treatment reduces the risk of overdose among opioid users.

Very Tough Love | This American Life

Part One. Ira reports from Glynn County Georgia on Superior Court Judge Amanda Williams and how she runs the drug courts in Glynn, Camden and Wayne counties. We hear the story of Lindsey Dills, who forges two checks on her parents' checking account when she's 17, one for $40 and one for $60, and ends up in drug court for five and a half years, including 14 months behind bars, and then she serves another five years after that—six months of it in Arrendale State Prison, the other four and a half on probation. The average drug court program in the U.S. lasts 15 months. But one main way that Judge Williams' drug court is different from most is how punitive it is. Such long jail sentences are contrary to the philosophy of drug court, as well as the guidelines of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. For violating drug court rules, Lindsey not only does jail terms of 51 days, 90 days and 104 days, Judge Williams sends her on what she calls an "indefinite sentence," where she did not specify when Lindsey would get out. (30 minutes)

via www.thisamericanlife.org

"drug warrior-in-chief"

 

This Is The Motor City. This Is What We Do | The Truth About Cars

Chrysler’s extended Super Bowl ad for its 200 sedan is making waves in the American auto business, for “bringing back the pride” in America’s automakers and the city that hosts them. But, as with most things Detroitean, there’s a cruel irony lurking just below the veneer of pride reborn. ...

via www.thetruthaboutcars.com

 

Handlers' beliefs influence drug-sniffing dogs' performance : Tails Of The City

The accuracy of drug- and explosives-sniffing dogs is affected by human handlers' beliefs, possibly in response to subtle, unintentional cues, UC Davis researchers have found.

hamptonroads.com

The study, published in the January issue of the journal Animal Cognition, found that detection-dog teams erroneously "alerted," or identified a scent, when there was no scent present more than 200 times — particularly when the handler believed that there was scent present.

via www.sfgate.com

unenlightened policy observations of eric holder

"We will vigorously enforce the CSA against those individuals and organizations that possess,  manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law,..."  Eric Holder

drug addiction is a health issue not a criminal justice issue

Lindsay Lohan is caught up in our _______ criminal justice system ... A system that treats drug addiction as a crime ... A parole system that drops innocent people who have served their time back into the prison industrial complex without trial, without due process, with nothing more than a "technical" parole violation.  I wish her the best.  She has a right to live in LA without constant court and police harrassment. 

"Now I'm back in the land of worthless cash ... Non stop cops and no ____.  Such a down my hometown.  You know i love [LA CA].  It's getting harder each year drinking watered down beer in the late great U.S.A..."

Lindsay Lohan expected back in court this week after failing drug test

from L.A. Times - Entertainment News

Officials are expected to schedule a hearing for this week after Lindsay Lohan failed a court-mandated drug test, which could send the actress back to jail.

prosecuting roger clemens for lying about ped use is a shameful waste of resources

Anyone who  cares about performance-enhancing drug (ped) use in sport and society understood that Roger Clemens was a ped user ... His testimony before Congress was absurd ... But having  Rocket testify before Congress was even more absurd, so why compound the absurdity with a show trial?  

"A federal grand jury has indicted Roger Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.  The 19-page indictment charges Clemens with three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. According to the United States attorney’s office, Clemens faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine, but under the current sentencing guidelines, a conviction would likely bring 15-21 months.

Clemens’s allegedly false testimony came in a public hearing in which Clemens and his former trainer Brian McNamee, testifying under oath, directly contradicted each other about whether Clemens had used the banned substances..." [Roger Clemens Is Indicted on Perjury Charges, By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT.  Published: August 19, 2010 New York Times]

"the same supply-and-demand allocation as under president bush"

ACSBLOG: "As Ethan Nadelmann, head of the Drug Policy Alliance, has pointed out, contrary to the administration's effort to paint the strategy as a major step toward treatment and away from incarceration-oriented policies, 64 percent of the $15.5 billion federal drug control budget will be spent on interdiction and law enforcement while only 36 percent will go to treatment and prevention. This is virtually the same supply-and-demand allocation as under President Bush's final drug control strategy ..."  [ACSBLOG]

Conservative Republican proponent of disastrous Drug-Free Student Loan Provision Resigns

Conservative Republican proponent of the disastrous Drug-Free Student Loan Provision (20 U.S.C. §1091(r)) resigns in shame -- via SSDP on Twitter

http://bit.ly/bgPdSz

"We've never worked the drug problem holistically"

US drug war has met none of its goals (AP) – 1 day ago. MEXICO CITY — "After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread.  Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn't worked.

"In the grand scheme, it has not been successful," Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. "Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified." 

This week President Obama promised to "reduce drug use and the great damage it causes" with a new national policy that he said treats drug use more as a public health issue and focuses on prevention and treatment.

Nevertheless, his administration has increased spending on interdiction and law enforcement to record levels both in dollars and in percentage terms; this year, they account for $10 billion of his $15.5 billion drug-control budget.

Kerlikowske, who coordinates all federal anti-drug policies, says it will take time for the spending to match the rhetoric.

"Nothing happens overnight," he said. "We've never worked the drug problem holistically. We'll arrest the drug dealer, but we leave the addiction..."

[An earlier post on the  2010 National Drug Control Strategy (ONDCP)]

 

2010 National Strategy | The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)

Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP):   "The 2010 National Drug Control Strategy was developed by ONDCP with input from Federal, State, and local partners. It provides a collaborative and balanced approach that emphasizes community-based prevention, integration of evidence-based treatment into the healthcare system, innovations in the criminal justice system, and international partnerships to disrupt drug trafficking organizations.

Because nearly all Americans are impacted by the consequences of drug use, the Strategy is designed to be relevant at the local level. Whether you are a parent looking for information, a community member interested in treatment resources, a police officer or local elected official searching for new approaches to drug-related crimes, or someone who wants to know more about the Administration's drug policy, the National Drug Control Strategy will serve as a useful resource."

Video Message from the Director

behind bars II

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University releases "Behind Bars II: Substance Abuse and America's Prison Population Report"  -

Lowlight:  "65 Percent of all U.S. Inmates Meet Medical Criteria for Substance Abuse Addiction, only 11 Percent Receive any Treatment..."