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bupenorphine,another great white(powder)hope

Several months ago I read an article about how this drug was the best hope for drug addicts to come down the pike in years.Now,I can recall the exact same things being said about methadone so I was no
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Needle Exchange Saves Lives. Why Are We Still Arguing About It?

AP has a good story reminding us of the plight of Bill Day, whose effort to reduce AIDS in San Antonio has been blocked by overzealous local drug warriors.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Bill Day is a familiar face out under the San Antonio viaducts, where skinny addicts shoot drugs into their bruised arms.

Day, 73, is the source of something many of them desperately need: clean syringes, which Day sees as his calling from God to prevent the spread of disease.

Authorities see it differently. Backed by an opinion from the Texas attorney general, District Attorney Susan Reed says she can prosecute anyone in possession of drug paraphernalia, regardless of the reason they have it.
…

"I am really angry," Day said, pointing to piles of used needles in the brush under a bridge on the city's West side. "Every day we're not out here, someone is getting HIV."

How can anyone possibly dispute that? The drug czar's office continues to maintain that needle exchange enables drug use and makes the problem worse, to which Day responds:

"No one says to themselves, 'They're giving away syringes, let's go get some heroin,'"

The reality that addicts will shoot up with or without clean needles shouldn't have to be debated or even explained. It is deeply disturbing to witness opposition to proven AIDS prevention practices from the very people who are supposed to be protecting our society from the harms of drugs. For the thousandth time, I find myself shaking my head in amazement that the people in charge of our drug policy want to reduce the availability of clean needles.
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A Revealing Remark From the Deputy Drug Czar

Deputy Drug Czar Scott Burns visited Arcata, CA last week to see "America’s grow house capitol" firsthand. After meeting with local authorities and accompanying police on a few marijuana raids, he said this:

…regarding enforcement, Burns seemed to offer a mixed message. While unyielding in asserting that federal law holds marijuana illegal under all circumstances and trumps all state and local medical cannabis laws, Burns nonetheless advised Arcatans to “defer 100 percent good judgment of the people who have been elected and appointed” while motioning to those present in the APD conference room. But most of them are working on guidelines under which medical marijuana may be safely cultivated and dispensed. [Arcata Eye]

I just cannot possibly point out often enough that the conflict between state and federal drug laws doesn't marginalize the value of state-level reforms. The deputy drug czar doesn’t arrive in California with a convoy of DEA super-narcs to slash and burn everything in sight. He can't do that and he knows it, as his remark clearly illustrates.

The federal war on medical marijuana is a political strategy designed to create the appearance of chaos in order to deter other states from implementing medical marijuana laws. Medical marijuana is more available than ever before, notwithstanding sporadic DEA activity in California. Yet we still hear folks suggesting that "the DEA will just swoop in and ruin everything" if we pass new marijuana reforms at the state-level. To be clear, the DEA has ruined many lives, but it has not ruined California's medical marijuana law. That should be obvious to all of us.

The DEA cannot overcome the will of voters and I'm tired of seeing the press and even some reformers helping them pretend they can.
In The Trenches

Marijuana Policy Project Blog Debuts

[Courtesy of MPP] Dear friends, With the world desperately short of blogs and clamoring for more, the Marijuana Policy Project has come to the rescue with our very own blog, at http://blog.mpp.org/. Seriously, we expect to post news and analysis you're unlikely to see anywhere else, including little-reported events and research studies that deserve notice but escape the attention of the mass media. Please check it out, sign up for a feed if you're so inclined, and let me know what you think. Regards, -- Bruce Mirken, Director of Communications -- Marijuana Policy Project -- P.O. Box 77492 -- Capitol Hill -- Washington, D.C. 20013
In The Trenches

4:20 Drug War NEWS 07/21/08

Drug Truth Network Update: 4:20 Drug War NEWS from 90.1 FM in Houston and dozens of radio affiliates in the US and Canada & on the web at www.kpft.org. John Stossel, ABC NEWS: "Alcohol prohibition created Al Capone and the Mafia. Drug prohibition is worse. It's corrupting whole countries and financing terrorism." - John Stossel our guest on Tuesdays Century of Lies. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US and Canada. 4:20 Drug War NEWS 07/14/08 to 07/20/08 now online (3:00 ea:) Select online at www.drugtruth.net Sun - Jim Hightower, Texas/American Icon Sat - Glenn Greenway with Poppygate Report Fri - Brother Robert Muhammed 5/5 Thur - Brother Robert Muhammed 4/5 Wed - Brother Robert Muhammed 3/5 Tue - Brother Robert Muhammed 2/5 Mon - Brother Robert Muhammed of the Nation of Islam discusses the impact of the drug war on the Black community 1/5 Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed (Now With Transcripts): - Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: Reports from Netroots Nation - Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: Rick Noriega Cand. for US Senate + Roger Goodman running for reelection as state rep in Washington Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net. Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker: Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, Drug Truth Network Producer Dean Becker 713-849-6869 www.drugtruth.net
In The Trenches

LEAP on the Hill: Stories from Weeks of July 11 & July 18, 2008

Soirée in the Land of Enchantment: Karen and I flew to Santa Fe, New Mexico on the 9th at the invitation of Sallie Bingham. Good food and conversation flowed for 3 hours as like-minded citizens met to share stories and support the Drug Policy Alliance. (http://www.drugpolicy.org/homepage.cfm) Misty donated about 14 books to anyone who contributed. Her hoof print signature graced the inside cover. Karen and I enjoyed 2 and one half days traveling by car in New Mexico. We enjoyed the magnificent landscape as we played tourist and scouted possible retirement locations. Me retire??!! Yikes!! Booked: I am scheduled to make a presentation to ‘by invitation only’ group of VIP conservatives this July 30th. Grover Norquist, Executive Director of Americans for Tax Reform (www.atr.org) made the arrangements. I am excited. Howard – radio host: My brother Frosty has a twice weekly, one hour radio program. As he went on vacation, he asked me to host it on the 8th. I had two guests, Richard Mack and Paul Armentano. LEAP speaker Sheriff Mack spoke passionately of his opposition to policy & specific problems it causes in Arizona. NORML deputy director Paul Armentano educated the audience on the practical uses of medicinal cannabis. I have been interviewed over 100 times by radio. It is fun. However, it is definitely a separate skill to be the interviewer. It is work. Concerned Senator: Jim Webb (D-VA): Bob in Colorado sent me the link to Senator Webb’s remarks, as Webb opened the 2nd Senate hearing on Mass Incarceration. The link follows: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/540/congress_joint_economic_committee_jim_webb_drug_policy_hearing. Senator Webb is the first MOC to call for hearings on our issue, EVER. Boy Scout motto: be prepared: Upon my arrival in DC, my mentor Eric Sterling advised me to always be ‘camera ready.’ In this town one never knows where or when a camera will shine on you or you meet a VIP unexpectedly. Thus I was in coat and tie on Wednesday evening at the Heritage Foundation event, though half the 100 gathered were w/o coat and tie. I engaged in conversation a person who had asked a question during the Q& A session. An hour later we exchanged business cards & a commitment to go to a shooting range and target practice (pistols). He was a fellow Texan and an advisor to President Bush. Thanks Eric. Note: before the program began, I was chatting with a retired oil executive. Upon learning I had been in Egypt, he asked, “Enta tatkallem Arabi?” I whipped off two decent sentences in Arabic. He wants me to speak to his Republican Club in Virginia. It was fun. Like riding Misty, speaking foreign languages is fun, a pleasant diversion and helps me from burning out.
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