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Nation's Mayors Take a Stand For Harm Reduction
The United States Conference of Mayors has put saving lives ahead of drug war politics and rejected the Drug Czar's dangerous public policy ideas. Via the Drug Policy Alliance:
None of this should be even remotely controversial, and yet it is. Shockingly, the Drug Czar's office is actually opposed to distributing overdoses prevention kits based on the callous theory that bad outcomes will teach users to behave:
The USCM last year declared the war on drugs a failure and called for a âNew Bottom Lineâ in U.S. drug policy, which should be measured by the number of lives saved rather than the number of people imprisoned. This yearâs resolution sets forth a comprehensive strategy for cities and states to reduce overdose morbidity and mortality by:
*Supporting local programs that distribute naloxone â an opiate antagonist medication effective in reversing the respiratory failure that typically causes death from opioid overdose â directly to drug users, their friends, families and communities;*Urging state governments to adopt emergency âGood Samaritanâ immunity policies that shield from prosecution people who are experiencing or have witnessed an accidental or intentional drug overdose and who have contacted 911 to request emergency medical treatment for the victim of drug toxicity or overdose;*Calling on the National Institute of Drug Abuse and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to urgently fund research to evaluate scientifically the effectiveness of overdose prevention interventions and develop model programs; and*Calling on the Food and Drug Administration to take all necessary and reasonable steps to facilitate the testing and approval of nasal and/or over-the-counter formulations of naloxone and to consider recommending prescription naloxone concurrent with prescribing strong opioid analgesics
None of this should be even remotely controversial, and yet it is. Shockingly, the Drug Czar's office is actually opposed to distributing overdoses prevention kits based on the callous theory that bad outcomes will teach users to behave:
Madras says the rescue programs might take away the drug userâs motivation to get into detoxification and drug treatment.
"Sometimes having an overdose, being in an emergency room, having that contact with a health care professional is enough to make a person snap into the reality of the situation and snap into having someone give them services," Madras says. [NPR]
Thinking about this, I can't get over how sad and embarrassing it is that our mayors are forced to take a leadership role in developing sensible drug policies at the national level when we have a White House office that's supposed to be doing that. The public officials in Washington, D.C. who've been tasked with addressing the nation's drug problem have abdicated that role, arguing instead for malicious restrictions on proven life-saving interventions.
America's mayors deserve our gratitude for stepping forward and doing what they can to fill the gaping hole created by the Drug Czar's pitiful lack of leadership with regards to preventing overdose deaths.
Update: SSDP has a page where you can contact your state legislators about Good Samaritan policies. It only takes a second, do it.
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And the Winner of the War on Meth isâ¦Cocaine
Anytime you apply pressure in the war on drugs, the market just shifts to accommodate the new conditions. Thus, efforts to crack down on domestic methamphetamine production by limiting access to precursor chemicals may have reduced meth cooking, but they have not stopped people from snorting drugs and getting all tweaked out:
Of course, we were already going after cocaine, so now what? We've restricted access to pseudo-ephedrine based cold medicines in order to stop people from getting high, but all it did was boost the cocaine market. It seems the only people who can't get the drugs they need are allergy sufferers.
While methamphetamine remains a problem in Oregon City, arrests for possession have been declining. Arrests for cocaine possession, however, increased from 2006 to 2007. That trend is mirrored statewide.
â¦
Officials point to the similarity of the effects of the drugs as a major reason for cocaine's comeback.
"Meth addicts have a need for a certain amount of energy," said Detective Jim Strovink of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. "Heroin makes people laid-back, so that's not really for them. They're finding they can get the same high with cocaine. That's where they're getting their jolt." [The Oregonian]
Of course, we were already going after cocaine, so now what? We've restricted access to pseudo-ephedrine based cold medicines in order to stop people from getting high, but all it did was boost the cocaine market. It seems the only people who can't get the drugs they need are allergy sufferers.
In The Trenches
Order MPP's "newspaper" for your event
Dear David Guard:
Is there an event coming up in your community where you'd like to distribute literature about the need to reform our nation's disastrous marijuana laws?
MPP's "Marijuana Policy Monitor" makes for a great giveaway at conferences, concerts, festivals, and other events.
This four-page newspaper, printed on newsprint, contains a comprehensive overview of marijuana prohibition â and why it should be brought to an end. It includes information on the victims of the government's war on marijuana users, taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol, and safe access to medical marijuana for patients. You can find more information and view a copy here.
To place an order, contact MPP's Membership Department at [email protected] or (202) 462-5747, ext. 2015. Payment by credit card (American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa) is preferred, but we can also accept checks or money orders through the mail. Copies are 3 cents each, and a minimum order of 1,000 copies (or $30) is required. The price includes shipping and handling.
Orders are shipped one a week from our fulfillment center in Maryland, so please allow time for delivery.
I hope you'll consider distributing MPP's newspaper at your next event and spread the word about the urgent need to reform our nation's marijuana laws.
Thank you, as always, for your support ...
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2008. This means that your donation today will be doubled.
In The Trenches
Drug Truth Update 06/26/08
The Unvarnished Truth About the Drug War From the Drug Truth Network:
(To downlad these 29:00 files, click on links below. To simply listen, go to www.drugtruth.net and select the arrow below the shows description.)
Cultural Baggage for 06/25/08 Nurse Mary Lynn Mathre of Patients Out of Time discusses medical cannabis + Terry Nelson for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Drug War Facts with Doug McVay & Glenn Greenway with the Poppygate report.
MP3 LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1942/FDBCB_062508.mp3
TRANSCRIPT: (To be posted by Friday)
Century of Lies for 06/24/08 Richard Watkins a former Texas warden and current member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition + Eugene Fields, reporter with Orange County Register. MP3 Link: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1943/COL_062408.mp3
TRANSCRIPT: (Tramscript on Saturday)
PLEASE NOTE: We now have transcripts, potcasts, searchability, CMS, XML, sorts by guest name and by organization.
Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed, listen online at www.kpft.org:
- Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD
- Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD
Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net.
We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US, Canada and Now Australia!!!
Programs produced at Pacifica Radio Station KPFT in Houston. www.kpft.org
Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker: More than 55 Drug Policy Videos online)
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
The Sentencing Project Responds to Inaccurate Column by George Will
In a recent syndicated column ("More Prisons, Less Crime), commentator George Will argues that the world record incarceration rate in the United States has produced safer streets and has been beneficial in particular to African Americans, who are disproportionately victims of crime. Will's selective use of data and limited vision provide an inaccurate portrayal of current criminal justice policy and its effects.
In a briefing paper, The Sentencing Project refutes Will's argument on prison racial disparities, federal crack cocaine sentencing and the impact of incarceration on crime.
Do Prisons Equal Less Crime? provides an assessment of some of the key arguments raised in the Will column. We hope you find this analysis useful in your work.
-The Sentencing Project
In The Trenches
The European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies: Trekt Uw Plant Acquitted
Dear friends,
Good news from Antwerp:
Today, Thursday June 26th, 2008, the Belgian Cannabis Social Club Trekt Uw Plant and 5 of its members have been acquitted for the establishment of a cannabis plantation.
On July 27th 2006 in the Botanic Gardens of Antwerp, with the permission of the local authorities and the police, we planted a cannabis seed that would become the first mother plant of our club. On December 12th 2006, again in the Botanic Gardens and again with the permission of the local authorities and the police, 6 members of Trekt Uw Plant each cut a clone of this motherplant. The 6 plants formed the first collective cannabis plantation of the association, on the basis of the principle 1 plant for each adult member.
The aim of Trekt Uw Plant was to make concrete use of the possibility created by the Belgian legislation to grow cannabis for personal use. In January 2005 a ministerial guideline has been established according to which the possession of max. 3 grammes and 1 cannabisplant is no longer prosecuted.
In the establishment of the plantation, Trekt Uw Plant has strictly implemented the rules of the ministerial guideline. In spite of that, the legal authorities decided to prosecute.
In the end of October 2006, a member of Trekt Uw Plant was approached by a representative of the Antwerp District Attorney, who warned him for the fact that the planned activities of Trekt Uw Plant could lead to a prison term of max. 5 years.
During the courtcase for the local court of Antwerp, on 27 March 2008, District Attorney Lins demanded max. 80 hours of community work for the members of Trekt Uw Plant, as well as the dissolution of the club, which he considered to be a criminal organisation.
The Antwerp court finally judged that Trekt Uw Plant is not a criminal organisation, and condemned the members for nothing else than the possession of cannabis.
On June 12th 2008, during the courtcase for the court of appeal, the District Attorney announced, in an unexpected move that surprised everyone who followed the case, that he would drop the charges against Trekt Uw Plant because the possession of cannabis is not a crime but an an offense, and too much time has passed since the offense was committed.
This sentence has been provoked by the District Attorney himself, when during the first session of the court of appeal on January 24th 2008, when there was still time to condemn the offense, he asked for a delay of 5 months to deal with the case. It has been a trick of the District Attorney in order to cover up his defeat in this case. The charges have been dropped but a debate on the core question - can cultivating cannabis for personal use be prosecuted or not - has been avoided.
This sentence implies an acquittance. The District Attorney stops the persecution it has started against us. This is a political message that the ministerial cannabis guideline of 2005, according to which the possession of max. 3 grammes and 1 cannabis plant for personal use is not persecuted, is still valed and can be applied. From this sentence, we conclude that the actions of Trekt Uw Plant fit completely within the ministerial guideline and these actions can be permitted in the future.
We now consider the next steps that Trekt Uw Plant will take. New actions will follow in the autumn.
Joep Oomen / Philippe De Craene
TREKT UW PLANT (vzw )
Lange Lozanastraat 14
2018 Antwerpen
Tel. +32 3 293 0886
GSM: +32 495-122644 / +32 494 - 807350
E-mail:[email protected]
Website: www.trektuwplant.be
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