Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 11:35 am | By: Radical Russ
(New Scientist) IF THERE is one thing that politicians can and should do to limit the damage caused by illegal drugs, it is to take careful note of the evidence and develop a rational drug policy. Some politicians find it easier to ignore the evidence, and pander to public prejudice instead.
I can trace the beginning of the end of my role as chairman of the UK’s official advisory body on drugs to the moment I quoted a New Scientist editorial (14 February, p 5). Entitled, fittingly enough, “Drugs drive politicians out of their minds”, the editorial asked the reader to imagine being seated at a table with two bowls, one containing peanuts, the other the illegal drug MDMA (ecstasy). Which is safer to give to a stranger? Why, the ecstasy of course.
I quoted these words in the Eve Saville lecture at King’s College London in July. This example plus other comments I have made – such as horse riding is more harmful than ecstasy – prompted Alan Johnson, the home secretary, to say that I had crossed the line from science to policy. This, he said, is why I had to go.
But simple, accurate and understandable statements of scientific fact are precisely what the advisory council is supposed to provide. Why would any scientist take up some future offer of a government advisory post when their advice can be treated with such disdain?
The results of a government inventing its own reality and acting on it can be seen in the appalling consequences the George W. Bush presidency had for world peace, the environment and human rights. The message for the British government is a simple one: don’t exclude rational argument in order to exploit a visceral public response. Politicians have to win the hearts and minds of their electorate. If your policy is informed by an underlying moral imperative, be open about what that is, and don’t try to disguise it with a veneer of pseudo-science. We ignore scientific evidence at our peril.
David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, was chairman of the UK government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs until he was dismissed last week by the UK home secretary
It’s a message President Obama needs to hear as well. He promised to return us from the George W. Bush presidency’s disdain for rational thought and scientific evidence. Obama promised to base our policies on sound science with respect to global climate change and other issues. But stubbornly, this administration’s drug czar is still out parroting the completely unscientific falsehood that “the raw cannabis plant is certainly not medicine”. Obama himself is laughing off the notion of marijuana legalization as having any economic benefit to cash-strapped states, despite the rational analysis by many prominent economists. And despite the evidence of reduced social farms in the Netherlands, Portugal, and other countries that have experimented with drug decriminalization and tolerance, Obama continues to push a federal policy that relies heavily on interdiction and incarceration.
For over a century now, every time hard scientists, social scientists, economists, and policy experts gather to take a rational and scientific look at marijuana policy, they recommend decriminalization and tolerance or they recognize medical usage of cannabis, from the 1894 British East India survey to the 1942 Laguardia Commission to the 1972 Shaffer Commission to the 1999 Institute of Medicine study. Cannabis can no longer be the exception to the “we believe in science” rule!
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 1:08 pm | By: Radical Russ
Former President George W. Bush
George W. Bush quoted in the Washington Post
APRIL 1, 2009: The DEA and the Border Patrol, acting on anonymous tips from an informant calling himself “Tennessee Tuxedo”, have arrested former president of the United States George W. Bush at the Texas/Mexico border crossing at Juarez for allegedly trafficking large amounts of marijuana.
Border Patrol agents announced the seizure of 420 lbs. (190.5 kg) of high quality indoor hydroponic marijuana from a large Winnebago travel trailer driven by the 43rd president and his wife, Laura, as they attempted to cross the border into Mexico. According to Border Patrol spokesperson Lt. April Phewls, agents became suspicious when the former president appeared groggy and unresponsive to their attempts to speak with the former world leader.
“Our agents were excited to meet Mr. Bush,” said Lt. Phewls, “and quickly gained permission from attending Secret Service agents to approach the driver’s side window of the Winnebago. Upon speaking with the president, however, our sharp-eyed agents noticed the tell-tale orange fingertips of a compulsive Cheetos habit. Mr. Bush’s eyes were glazed and somewhat bloodshot, and he kept inviting agents into his Winnebago to listen to ’some killer jams from my band’s new demo’.”
Lt. Phewls continued, “Mrs. Bush also seemed out of sorts, giggling uncontrollably once she discovered one of our agents was named Harold Balz. We asked the former president and first lady to exit the vehicle, which they did, somewhat clumsily. Upon searching the Winnebago with drug-detecting K-9 units, we found the 420 pounds of contraband hidden in various professionally-manufactured hidden compartments.”
Unlike the typical border seizure of Mexican “brick weed” coming into the United States, DEA noted the rarity of transporting quality American and Canadian marijuana into Mexico. Sgt. Ray L. Stedenko of DEA commented that “it appears the former president and first lady were headed to Spring Break in Cancun and had brought the quantites of marijuana along in an attempt to curry favor with the young Americans who flock to the Mexican resort destination. We found hastily scribbled plans on a Cheetos-stained 7-Eleven napkin entitled ‘Operation Cool Ganja Dude’ which detailed the idea of distributing ‘killer green buds’ to all of the ‘dudes and shorties’ attending Spring Break, so that the students would find Mr. Bush ‘gnarly’.”
Federal and Texas state authorities released Mr. & Mrs. Bush on their own recognizance, but gave Mr. Bush an Xbox video game machine and a copy of the online collaboration game “Halo” and asked him to “just chill out in Houston for a bit.” The DEA and Border Patrol agents then took all 416 pounds of the marijuana and destroyed all 408 pounds of it by fire. It is not expected that authorities will file any charges against Mr. & Mrs. Bush for trafficking in 402 pounds of high-quality marijuana.
The DEA is trying to identify informant “Tennessee Tuxedo”. The caller spoke with a southern accent and seemed to sigh often during his call. One clue that might aid in the search is that everytime DEA said the former president’s name, the caller would blurt out profanities, call him “loser”, and every so often he would mutter, “f***in Scalia!” Anyone with any information as to “Tennessee Tuxedo”‘’s identity is asked to call the DEA at 1-800-APR-FOOL.
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 2:42 pm | By: Radical Russ
John Walters once said, “The fact is today, people don’t go to jail for the possession of marijuana. Finding somebody in jail or prison for possession of marijuana is like finding a unicorn. It doesn’t exist.”
When the US taxpayers no longer fund your demonizing of the sick, disabled, dying, and sense-threatened people who use medical marijuana, what do you do? If you’re former drug czar John “Marijuana Unicorns” Walters, you get yourself a cushy job at the Hudson Institute, a think tank founded by Herman Kahn. Kahn’s work was part of the dogma of cold war ideology, having coined the term “mutually assured destruction” regarding nuclear capabilities of the US and then USSR. (He also coined the term “megadeath”, meaning “one million deaths”, which since has been appropriated and misspelled by the band Megadeth.) Kahn is reportedly one of the inspirations for the character of Dr. Strangelove in the 1964 film of the same name.
In recent months, more Americans have learned what those living on the border have known for several years: the Mexican government is in a deadly fight with extremely violent gangs.
The administration should be fighting for full funding of the Merida Program of assistance from the United States. Our vital equipment and training will protect innocent lives in both our countries. But the White House has been unengaged as Congress is on a path to cut $100 million in support beyond the $100 million reduction of the last Congress. At a time when Mexico knows as well as we do that Congress is recklessly stimulating and earmarking billions, slashing funding for our national security is grossly irresponsible.
On the key issue of illegal drugs–the widely recognized source of criminal power in Mexico–the Obama administration is lurching dangerously in reverse. In his first statement on drug policy, Attorney General Eric Holder suggested he may no longer enforce federal law against trafficking marijuana if the traffickers call their marijuana medical. Both U.S. and Mexican officials at all levels know that medical marijuana is an utter fraud used to undermine drug enforcement in the United States. Mexican officials also know (as does the Justice Department) that much of the marijuana sold in the “dispensaries” of California funds the mafias of Mexico.
Marijuana sales are the single largest source of drug profits for these criminals–on top of funds from kidnapping, protection rackets, alien smuggling, and car theft. Not enforcing our marijuana laws makes these terrorists stronger. Pretending to take legalization seriously makes them stronger still. What do we think the brave officers risking their lives in Mexico feel when our attorney general sounds like he is going to do less to help? Is it too much to expect him to make clear that enforcing our marijuana laws reduces addiction here and saves lives in Mexico?
I hope that this will change. The recently released Forbes list of wealthiest people in the world includes one of Mexico’s most dangerous criminal leaders. President Obama should make it his goal to help President Calderon apprehend this man and those like him as soon as possible.
John P. Walters is executive vice president of Hudson Institute and former director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George W. Bush.
Walters offers no proof that California dispensary medicine is funding Mexican mafias, but evidence and proof were never his strong suit, anyway. I find it interesting that a stimulus package intended to reverse the economic damage from eight years of laissez-faire policies of the previous administration – Walters’ administration – is considered “recklessly stimulating”, but throwing another $100M-$200M at the failed Meridia policies is “vital equipment and training”. I’d say something about pots and kettles, but considering this blog’s subject and the president’s race, that’s too many puns for one day.
But suppose that Walters is right and some Mexican-grown and Mexican-trafficked marijuana makes it onto dispensary shelves. What’s keeping American farmers from supplying those dispensaries, John, and cutting the Mexicans out of the marketplace? “Pretending to take legalization seriously” scares the hell out of Mexico’s drug criminals! Do you suppose Al Capone circulated many petitions in support of the 21st Amendment?
Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 10:40 am | By: Radical Russ
The White House office responsible for fighting illegal drug use has focused for nearly a decade on youths smoking marijuana instead of a broader strategy that would sufficiently target adult drug users, according to a new study.
The nonprofit National Academy of Public Administration says the $1.2 million study, which it planned to release Thursday, found that the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George W. Bush relied on selected data to show progress in combating illegal drug use by youth.
The office did not highlight less positive results among adults or pursue a comprehensive anti-drug strategy across age and demographic groups, the report found.
And with that California report I posted about how youth drug use is seriously underestimated by not counting misuse of cough syrup and prescription drugs, the Bush Administration’s focus on youth marijuana use at the expense of other drugs seems particularly wrong-headed.
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 2:17 pm | By: Radical Russ
A Stasher wrote to me asking how he should respond when someone who knows you’re a stoner makes a smart-ass comment that denigrates your use of cannabis. The example would be if someone at your work or school or club said something like, “Hey, Russ, what are you gonna do this weekend, smoke a lot of pot and get high?”
Here’s one snappy answer to a stupid pot question I might throw down:
“No, actually I was going to write a paper this weekend on how the last five presidential elections have been won by a former pot smoker (Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush, Obama), and how in two of the last three elections, both major party candidates were former pot smokers (Bush/Gore, Bush/Kerry), and how the largest state in America and the largest city in America are run by former pot smokers (California’s Schwarzenegger and New York City’s Bloomberg).”
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 6:47 pm | By: Radical Russ
LOS ANGELES — Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided at least two Westside marijuana dispensaries Tuesday, and a spokesperson defended their actions, despite President Barack Obama’s opposition to such raids.
One of the raids was at the Marina Caregivers at 730 W. Washington Blvd. about noon, said Sarah Pullen of the DEA.
Marina Caregivers was served with a search warrant, she said, declining to say if anyone was arrested.
A Los Angeles police spokesperson said the department, which is normally notified of such operations, got no advance warning from DEA.
A medical marijuana activist told City News Service another dispensary called The Nile was raided at 1505 Pacific Ave. in Venice.
Asked about Obama’s comments that he did not want to waste Justice Department resources on raiding medical marijuana shops, Pullen said that “marijuana is still illegal under federal law.
“The law is still that it is illegal to possess, distribute or cultivate marijuana in any way,” she said.
It does not cost you money in this economic crisis to stop DEA raids; it saves money.
It does not cost you difficulty in solving the health care crisis to stop DEA raids; it helps people get health care.
It does not cost you popularity with the people to stop DEA raids; it fits with the views of 2 out of 3 Americans.
I can only assume that, as a brilliant politician, you calculate that it will cost you political capital to stop DEA raids. For in the penultimate paragraph of what now seems to be your false promise in Medford, you said,
“I will tell you that – I want to be honest with you – whether I want to use a whole lot of political capital on that [laughs] when we’re trying to get health care passed or end the war in Iraq is, yeah, the likelihood of that being real high on my list is not likely.”
President Obama, I supported you. I stood among 75,000 in Portland just to see you in person. I gave money that I really can’t afford to support your campaign. I proudly displayed bumper stickers and yard signs and an Obama hat on my head for you. I drove from Portland, Oregon, to Denver, Colorado to attend your nominating convention. I believed you in Medford, Oregon. I believed you in Nashua, Hew Hampshire. I keynoted for you at a Portland fundraiser. I supported you openly on my talk radio show. I voted for you.
But mostly, I voted for CHANGE. As far as this issue goes, for patients and caregivers, growers and dispensaries, you might as well be George W. Bush. And to paraphrase the departed “decider”, I think you misunderestimate how many of us there are, how much money we have and contribute to the economy, and how sick and tired we are of being ignored, following vote after vote, poll after poll, study after study that confirms that WE ARE RIGHT! In addition to being right, we are the majority — actually, a super-majority — and you are not following our will!
You ignore us at your peril, sir. The perfect storm of marijuana law reform is building. Michael Phelps just shattered one of the few remaining “reefer madness” myths of amotivation. Michigan and Massachusetts just proved The People are way ahead of the politicians on marijuana reform. The economy is in tatters and states are desperate for new tax revenues and jobs and cutting costly programs like eradication and interdiction. Out of control health care costs have people clamoring for cheap safe effective alternative medicine. Pineapple Express grossed $87 million. I’m telling you, Mr. President, if you get on the right side of this issue, not only will you win re-election, you’ll win bigger than 2008.
Stay on the wrong side of this issue and I’m dogging you like a rabid hungry pit bull / wolf hybrid on steroids and meth. And I want my money back.
Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 4:13 pm | By: Radical Russ
The Justice Department announced that Bush has granted clemency to former Texas-based [Border Patrol] agents Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio “Nacho” Ramos. As is usually the case in such executive grants, the announcement included no explanation, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Compean and Ramos were convicted of shooting admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks as he fled a van full of marijuana. They argued at trial that they thought Davila was armed and that they shot in self-defense, but the prosecutor said no evidence linked the van to Davila and that the agents didn’t report the shooting and tampered with evidence by picking up several spent shell casings.
They were fired after their convictions, and all charges but obstruction of justice were upheld on appeal.
Bush could have pardoned Compean and Ramos, which essentially would have wiped away their underlying convictions. Instead, he chose to commute their prison terms, which keeps their underlying convictions intact.
Even so, one former Justice Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of criticizing the president, decried the commutations today. “These men were totally unrepentant, there was obstruction of justice, they shot a man in the back. I am speechless. These are terrible clemency cases,” he said.
The commutations come on Bush’s last full day in office.
So let’s see if I’ve got this straight: If you’re a cop, and you shoot an unarmed fleeing man in the back, and then you don’t report it and try to cover up the crime, you get a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card because the man did run away from a van full of marijuana. Besides, the man was a Mexican crossing the border, so he deserved to die anyway, right?
But if you’re a citizen and police burst into your house at night, unannounced, in a bad neighborhood, serving a warrant on the wrong address, and you fire in self-defense, killing an armed but unidentified police officer who was coming for you and your infant daughter, it’s life without the possibility of parole for you because the cops were looking for the house next door that was full of marijuana. Need I mention the citizen is black?
The last day of George W. Bush has proven once again his compassion… for those in power who break the laws that suit his political agenda. Out a CIA agent in time of war or shoot an unarmed drug smuggler in the back and you get a commutation of sentence. Spy on Americans without warrants and go to war on faulty intelligence and you get a Medal of Freedom. Let an entire city drown and you’ve done a “heckuva” job. By these measures of success, I’m expecting Bush to nominate John Walters for sainthood any minute now.
Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 2:35 pm | By: Radical Russ
I don’t like to stray too far from the cannabis topic here on the Stash, but this little bit of news from Iraq caught my eye:
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq rally for Bush shoe attacker
An Iraqi official was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the journalist was being interrogated to determine whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at President Bush.
He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Really? Throwing your shoes (the greatest insult in Arabic culture) at George W. Bush is probable cause for a drug test? You really think an Iraqi man would have to be bribed, drunk, or high to express anger and disgust at George W. Bush? If you ask me, it was one of the finest displays of rational and sane action I’ve seen in some time.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Recent declines in marijuana use by U.S. teens appear to have stalled this year and their abuse of prescription drugs remains at worrisome levels, researchers said on Thursday.
The annual survey of U.S. teen drug use, conducted by University of Michigan researchers for the U.S. government, also found continuing declines in cigarette smoking and alcohol use.
Marijuana is the most commonly used of the illicit drugs and its use had been in a slow but steady decrease this decade, but that appeared to halt this year, researchers said.
The survey found that marijuana use by students in two of the three grades measured increased slightly. The researchers said 11 percent of eighth graders, 24 percent of 10th graders, and 32 percent of 12th graders reported using the drug in the prior year.
But the annual survey has shown an overall downward trend in teen drug use this decade, and President George W. Bush, in comments at the White House, cited progress on the issue during his presidency.
“No question there’s still work to do in America, but we are making progress. And one way to note the progress is this statistic — since 2001, teen-age use has declined by 25 percent. That means 900,000 fewer teens on drugs.”
It is interesting that George W. Bush would attribute fewer teens smoking marijuana to any drug policies he has enacted. It’s not the silly anti-marijuana ads your Drug Czar has been running, like the ones where cannabis users shot their friends, run over little girls on bikes, or let their sisters drown. Studies have shown that those ads haven’t worked and may have made kids more likely to try cannabis.
It’s not arresting more adults for cannabis. Bill Clinton doubled marijuana arrests and teen use went way up. While George W. Bush has arrested more cannabis consumers per year than Clinton, Bush actually slowed down the rate of arrests.
Personally, I think teen use goes down when the economy gets tight. Marijuana is expensive. Gas costs more and the minimum wage stayed stagnant for years. Perhaps the slight increase this year matches the slight increase in the minimum wage.
Whatever the reasons, the fluctuation in drug use by teens is a very complex issue. One place that has consistently lower rates of teen drug use – about half of American rates – is the Netherlands, where you can buy marijuana in a coffee shop. If you’re really concerned about teen use, Mr. Bush, why not try regulated sales to adults? Coffee shops in Amsterdam check IDs – teen pot dealers don’t.
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Tere Joyce comes through again with a huge interview score when Not George W. Bush joins us for our 420 Comedy segment. You’ll learn the real reason the Not Commander-In-Chief keeps the weed illegal.
NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre and I discuss the fifth record year for marijuana arrests in the United States.
And just a stray random thought about this whole government $700 billion Wall Street bailout in terms I think some of us can better understand. It’s like you promised a whole bunch of weed to some guys who were also frontin’ a whole bunch of weed who were promising to put that weed together with some other fronted weed, and everybody all along the line was frontin’ weed that didn’t exist and payin’ for it with money they were borrowing from the other guys who were frontin’ who were gettin’ their money on loan from a rich Chinese kid and the rich Saudi kid who deals the real drug, and then eventually, some big time players started wantin’ to know where the actual weed was, and there was none, but instead of everyone freakin’ out and shootin’ each other and blowin’ up the place, the whole neighborhood bands together and chips in $700 billion dollars for all these frontin’ dealers if they promise to keep the neighborhood peaceful and forever forgo a life of weed dealin’.
Or maybe not. I shouldn’t mix metaphors and medicine this late at night.
RevRayGreen: I'll post a pic of me and my son....gimme a minute
Missippi Hippy: Guess what... I'm gonna be a new... ummmmm well, my pet piggie Ganja is in labor and they ain't mine in the same sense. See what your wife [...]
RevRayGreen: days they didn't talk back..or act disrespectful..
RevRayGreen: feel so lucky my son is 18 going 19 and my daughter 16 going on 17..relish the days that can't talk back
Urb Age: Congrats Spof thats awesome. My little Clara is about to hit 20 months. Im not the activist I used to be, but its made me a better man.
Urb Age: Heck I was gonna go up there, but just not feeling well this weekend..Dang it, I hate it when that happens..
RevRayGreen: wishing I was hanging at NORML cafe...
JohnH: Just a quick comment about tokin' and sperm motility....been tokin since age 14 and have 8 kids ranging in age from 30 to 9...(what can I say, I found 2 [...]
slash5city: really ..oprah 35 yr or more in the closet toker ...outed ....o my god !!
SneakerPimp: that would be huge news just imagen the headline
RevRayGreen: maybe Oprah smokes and keeps it on the DL...
SneakerPimp: and good afternoon
mr reuben: I could do without seeing Rob K. on tv. But Bruce and Eithan get a big thumbs up from me.
Marijuana-Related Health Costs Minimal Compared To Those Of Alcohol, Tobacco; California Medical Association Says Pot Prohibition Is A "Failed Public Health Policy"; Oregon: State NORML Affiliate Opens First 'Cannabis Café'. […]
American Medical Association Calls For Scientific Review Of Marijuana's Prohibitive Status; Dutch Marijuana Use Lower Than European Average, Study Says […]
"Truth In Trials Act" Reintroduced In Congress; Maine: Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters Overwhelmingly Decide To End Pot Penalties. […]
Some of the nation’s top athletes discuss why today's pros are turning to cannabis — and away from alcohol and painkillers — off the field, and question why pro sports leagues are continuing to sanction those who do. Moderator: Steve Bloom, Author, Pot Culture; editor, celebstoner.com * Toby Grear, MMA fighter * Sean Neumann, Documentary Filmm […]
Cannabis Law Reform's Missing Link: Law Enforcement Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper; LEAP and NORML Advisory Board; Author of Breaking Rank Putting the Mexican Cartels Out of Business Mexican drug cartels now employ over 100,000 soldiers and are responsible for nearly ten thousand deaths per year. Their largest source of income is marijuana. […]
Recently sacked UK drugs advisor: “We ignore scientific evidence at our peril.”
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