Chronicle AM -- November 14, 2013

Years in prison for growing weed in Missouri, life in prison for drug smuggling in Singapore -- we still have a long way to go. There's more drug policy-related news as well today. Let's get to it:

Canadian addicts are suing Ottawa over its moves to block prescription heroin.

Missouri Brother and Sister Get 20+ Years for Growing 12 Pot Plants. If anyone still wonders why marijuana law reform is needed, here's why: An eastern Missouri brother and sister, ages 24 and 36, have been sentenced to 22 years and 15 years in prison, respectively, for growing 12 pot plants and eight seedlings. Prosecutors sought the harsh sentences, saying it was a "large-scale" grow and that guns and bullet-proof vests were present in the home. But neither guns nor vests are illegal, and the couple wasn't charged with a weapons enhancement; they got a combined 37 years in prison for growing a few plants.

NORML Endorses Pennsylvania Governor Candidate. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) has endorsed John Hanger for governor. Hanger is running for the Democratic Party nomination and won NORML's endorsement in part because of his three-point plan to legalize marijuana in the Keystone State by 2017. "NORML PAC is pleased to endorse John Hanger in his campaign to become Pennsylvania's next governor," said NORML Communications Director Erik Altieri. "Mr. Hanger is the only candidate who isn't afraid to openly discuss and campaign on a platform that calls for widespread reform of Pennsylvania's marijuana laws."

Medical Marijuana

I-502 Leader Calls for Medical Marijuana Home Grows to Remain. Alison Holcomb, architect of Washington state's successful marijuana legalization campaign, has called on state regulators to continue allow medical marijuana patients to grow their own. I-502, the legalization initiative, does not allow home cultivation for non-patients, and regulators have proposed ending home cultivation for patients as well, but have run into considerable flak for that and other proposals that impinge on the existing medical marijuana system. Holcomb's statement came Wednesday, the last day for public input on the issue.

Criminal Justice

Virginia's Criminal Justice System Cruel, Ineffective, and Crisis-Bound, Report Says. The Justice Policy Institute released a report Wednesday bemoaning the state of criminal justice in the Old Dominion. The report's title pretty much says it all: Virginia's Justice System: Expensive, Ineffective, and Unfair. While the state has made some recent progress, it "continues to suffer under misguided policies and practices of the past," the report concluded. The report made a number of reform recommendations, including reintroducing parole and reducing the focus on drug offenses.

International

Canadian Addicts Sue for Prescription Heroin. Five Vancouver heroin addicts and Providence Health Care have launched a constitutional challenge to the federal government's ban on prescribing the drug. Health Canada's special access program (SAP) had recently approved applications from BC doctors to give diacetylmorphine (heroin) treatment to about 20 patients who were completing their participation in a Vancouver-based clinical trial -- the first time it had ever done so, but the federal health ministry denounced the decision and immediately changed policies to ensure it was never allowed again.

Mexican Cartel Pays $25 Million a Year in Bribes, Newspaper Says. The Knights Templar (Los Caballeros Templarios) drug trafficking organization in Michoacan is paying nearly $25 million a year to different officials in the state, the Mexico City newspaper El Milenio reported. The group also spends about $5 million a year in bribes in other states where it has a smaller footprint. In Michoacan, federal police commanders are getting more than $25,000 a month, state police commanders are getting more than $18,000 a month, and so are some officials in prosecutors' offices. Journalists are also on the cartel's payroll, with print reporters getting $3,000 a month and radio reporters getting nearly $2,000 a month. The numbers come from an intelligence report made available to reporters.

Colombia's FARC Ready to Deal with Coca Issue. As the leftist guerrillas of the FARC and the Colombian government enter the next phase of their negotiations to end the nearly half-century-old armed struggle there, the FARC's top leader, Timoleon Jiminez, said the issue of illicit drug cultivation, which is next on the agenda, could be addressed, but only in the context of social justice for the peasantry. "We understand that if rural communities are satisfied in their basic aspirations as a result of agreements in dialogs and many negotiation tables taking place in the country, the problem of illegal crops would have disappeared forever in Colombia," he said. "Our satisfaction for a Colombia without coca will be enormous, much more, if the way leads to a Colombia without poverty that can make use of its political rights without any threats and violence." Peace talks resume next week in Havana.

First Singapore Drugs Death Row Inmate Re-Sentenced. The first person to benefit from Singapore's reform of its draconian death-penalty-for-drugs law was re-sentenced Thursday. Yong Vui Kong had been sentenced to death for bringing less than two ounces of heroin into the country, but under the sentencing reform, he was re-sentenced to life in prison and 15 lashes of the cane. The changes allow judges the discretion to sentence a courier to life imprisonment and caning if he is found to have substantively assisted the authorities in the fight against drug-trafficking.

(This article was published by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also shares the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)