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Don't Give Your Marijuana to the Police
This remarkable New York Times piece exposes New York City's out of control marijuana policy, which has produced 374,900 misdemeanor marijuana arrests since 1998, despite a decrim law that's been in effect for 30 years. This is a rare example of professional-quality drug war coverage from the mainstream media and should be read in its entirety, as it raises several interesting issues.
I found this passage, which describes one particular arrest, quite revealing:
"I came out of the building, and this unmarked car, no light, no indication it was police, was right on me," said the man, a Latino who asked that his name not be used because he was concerned about his job. "Right on my tail. An officer got out, he said, 'I saw you walking from that building, I know you bought weed, give me the weed.' He made it an option: 'Give me the weed now and I will give you a summons, or we can search your vehicle and can take you in.' "He opened the console and handed them his marijuana â making it "open to public view."
"I was duped," he said. But the deception was legal, and his pot wasnât.
The officers escorted him in handcuffs to the unmarked car.
Amazingly, police must actually trick citizens into displaying their marijuana in order to make an arrest, since the decrim law requires plain view discovery. NYPD officers have become quite adept at initiating this through the typical threats and coercion that have long been the hallmark of petty drug war police practices.
Fortunately, the most obvious and effective antidote to New York's overzealous marijuana policing is really pretty simple: don't give them your marijuana. Don't admit having marijuana. Don't give them consent to search you or your vehicle. Ask if you're free to go.
Ending this obscene spectacle, which violates the spirit of New York's marijuana laws and wastes precious law-enforcement resources, is vitally important. But until that happens, citizens can protect themselves by not idiotically turning over their illegal drugs to the police. Seriously, stop giving them your drugs.
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In The Trenches
Press Release: Medical Marijuana Bill Lead Sponsor Announces Law Enforcement Requested Changes to Bill
[Courtesy of Illinois Compassion Access Network]Â
MEDIA ADVISORY: APRIL 30, 2008
Medical Marijuana Bill Lead Sponsor Announces Law Enforcement Requested Changes to Bill
CONTACT: John Walker, Illinois Compassion Access Network, (847) 769-1772
SPRINGFIELD, IL. â In a press conference today, Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), lead sponsor of a bill to protect from arrest seriously ill Illinoisans who use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, announced significant changes to the legislation based on input from law enforcement.
   Although members of the law enforcement community have been among the most vocal opponents of the bill, Cullerton said the recent amendments reflected specific objections law enforcement officers raised in good faith in a meeting with bill proponents last month.
   "I'm grateful to the members of the law enforcement community who sat down with us to help us craft this improved medical marijuana bill," he said. "Thanks to their help, I'm confident we have legislation here that protects our most suffering patients while ensuring law officers are able to do their jobs and keep our streets safe."
   A comprehensive list of the amendments made at the request of law enforcement representatives can be viewed online here: http://www.mpp.org/states/illinois/ChangesToSB2865.html
   Also at the press conference, medical marijuana activist and Chicago multiple sclerosis patient Julie Falco announced a new campaign to reach out to representatives by sending personal video appeals by seriously ill patients asking for support on the medical marijuana bill.
   Many of the videos are available online here: www.illinoiscan.com/videos.html
   "I think it's important for people like me â who are counting on compassion to prevail â to let legislators know who we are and why we need this law, especially those whose conditions prevent them from appearing in person," Falco said. "It's very easy for hysteria and fear to take over the debate, but this medical cannabis bill is about only one thing: easing the suffering of seriously ill people with a medicine that is proven safe and effective."
   Despite opposition from some elements of the law enforcement community, medical marijuana enjoys great support among the medical community and among Illinois voters. In February, the American College of Physicians â the second largest physician organization in the country with 124,000 members â became the latest major medical association to endorse laws protecting patients and doctors from arrest for using medical marijuana.
   Also in February, a Mason-Dixon telephone poll of 625 randomly selected Illinois voters â commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. â found that 68 percent of respondents agreed that "seriously and terminally ill patients should be allowed to use and grow medical marijuana for personal use if their doctors recommended it." Full poll results are available here: http://www.mpp.org/states/illinois/2008poll
   SB 2865 â the medical marijuana bill â is expected to reach the Senate floor within weeks.
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In The Trenches
Send A Fax: Don't Deny Transplants To Medical Marijuana Patients!
Send A Fax: Don't Deny Transplants To Medical Marijuana Patients!
I can't stop thinking about Tim Garon, who was removed from the list to receive a liver transplant due to his legal, physician-recommended use of medical marijuana.
Four days ago, Tim, a talented musician (you can get his music on Amazon.com: <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016XDSCW/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1209409177&sr=8-1>) and by all accounts a great guy, was told he wouldn't be receiving a liver due to his "illicit drug use."
This is unconscionable and inhumane. Beyond that, it's simply barbaric.
I've listened toTim's song, "Goodbye Baby," <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJDihYn_fJA> dozens of times over the past two days and I don't mind telling you that there have been a few tears.
It's hard to believe this kind of thing is still happening, even in states where voters have legalized medical marijuana when recommended by a physician.
The back story, for those not already familiar with Tim Garon's plight:
<http://realitycatcher-alapoet.blogspot.com/2008/04/seattle-medical-marijuana-patient-near.html>
This amounts to a death sentence for using legal medical marijuana.
This isn't the first time this has happened -- but we need to do all we can to make sure that it's the last.
I just spoke with a very nice and helpful person at the UW Medical Center who has given me a fax number:
Liver Selection Committee
Fax 206-598-0628
If we could all send reasonable, respectful and short messages to this fax number explaining that we disagree with legal, physician recommended medical marijuana use being used as a basis for disqualifying patients from the list to receive livers, we very well might make some positive impact on the way they think about and handle this.
I'm going to send a message like this:
"I realize that the types of decisions you have to make regarding transplants are very difficult. But at the same time, Iâd like to register my sincere opinion that denying a patient a liver transplant on the basis of his or her use of legal medical marijuana as recommended by a physician is not a good decision, nor a humane one."
I strongly encourage all of you who have access to a fax machine to send a message of your own.
For those without reasonable fax access, here are some phone numbers, but be aware that last time I tried, voicemail boxes tended to be full, preventing messages from being left. If you do get through, please be respectful but firm:
UW Medical Center Transplant Services
Jorge? D. Reyes?,? direc?tor,? 206-?543-?9738
Liver Transplant
Mary Kester, clinical coordinator, 206-598-4838
Theresa Hernandez, program coordinator, 206-598-4902
JoAnn Williams, patient care coordinator, 206-598-0017
Thanks for caring and blessed be...
Steve
http://www.realitycatcher.com
In The Trenches
LEAP on the Hill: Stories from Week of April 25, 2008
Doctors make the worst patients: Now in my 12th year in the struggle to end drug prohibition, I tell beginners to pace themselves, donât go too fast all the time. âIt is a marathon, not a 100 yard dash.â
My speed the nearly two years on the Hill? Like a 100 meter dash. LOL. This week I received a message from a LEAP member. It caused a profound reaction. It was the catalyst I needed to take my own advice. I rode Misty twice this week, instead of the usual once. I have slowed down = a bit closer to 40/week. My spirit needs the healing time. Thank you James.
This is my response to his note:
Hello James,
Just finished yet another 1 day conference here in DC. One of presenters came up on break to encourage me to continue the anti-prohibition message.
Earlier another panelist had told me to focus on what could be done in next 5 years. (and not waste time on the broad policy of drug prohibition).
I readily admit that those are the times which try my soul. Later, another VIP in a quiet voice (in private natch) said that my message is vital to be heard.
And I shoulder on. I thank you for the kind and encouraging words. I am a pretty tough hombre but this mentality in DC is a killer to the human spirit.
Off to the 5 - 7 reception. At least the food is usually excellent.
Cowboy
In The Trenches
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At the Shrine to San Malverde, Mexico's Narco-Saint
You don't find Culiacan, the capital city of Sinaloa, in the tourist guide books for some reason. But it is a thriving city of more than a million, and it is the home of one of the stranger manifestations of the drug wars of the last few decades: The shrine to San Malverde, (unofficial) patron saint of bandits, and now, drug traffickers.
shrine to San Malverde, patron saint of the narcos (and others), Culiacan, Sinaloa -- plaque thanking God, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and San Malverde for keeping the roads cleans -- from "the indigenous people from Angostura to Arizona" (more pictures below the fold)
I visited the shine in the heat of the afternoon sun today. During the half hour or so I was there, a few dozen people came to light candles to the santo, pay their respects, or otherwise recognize his alleged powers of protection. A handful of musicians for hire hung around, waiting for someone to pay them to play a tune to the saint, and about a dozen vendors sold San Malverde memorabilia--candles, plaques, good luck amulets, prayer cards, and the like. (Hmmm, do I feel an idea for a StoptheDrugWar.org premium gestating?)
The vendors told me that dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people arrive each day, some to pray, some to light candles, some to make donations, some to put up plaques:
shrine to San Malverde, patron saint of the narcos (and others), Culiacan, Sinaloa -- plaque thanking God, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and San Malverde for keeping the roads cleans -- from "the indigenous people from Angostura to Arizona" (more pictures below the fold)
I visited the shine in the heat of the afternoon sun today. During the half hour or so I was there, a few dozen people came to light candles to the santo, pay their respects, or otherwise recognize his alleged powers of protection. A handful of musicians for hire hung around, waiting for someone to pay them to play a tune to the saint, and about a dozen vendors sold San Malverde memorabilia--candles, plaques, good luck amulets, prayer cards, and the like. (Hmmm, do I feel an idea for a StoptheDrugWar.org premium gestating?)
The vendors told me that dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people arrive each day, some to pray, some to light candles, some to make donations, some to put up plaques:
"Thanks to God and San Malverde for favors received." "Thanks to God, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and San Malverde for helping us move forward." "O miraculous Malverde, O, Malverde my Lord, Concede me this favor, And fill my heart with happiness."Given the way Mexico's drug war is raging these days, I would imagine the good saint is getting a real work-out. Mexicans are so inured to the daily drug war death toll that the newspapers generally relegate it to box score-type accounts, but when you or a friend or a family member is working in the trade, you probably figure some supernatural help can't hurt. I'll spend the next few days here in Culiacan. I had wanted to go up to the drug-producing areas in the mountains nearby, but so far, everyone is demurring--it's too dangerous, they say. Nonetheless, I'll keep working that and see what happens. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I'll be attending and "International Forum on Illicit Drugs: The Merida Initiative and the Experiences of Decriminalization," organized by the brave journalists of the Culiacan news weekly Riodoce. While the other Sinaloa papers have largely gone silent in the face of threats and killings, Riodoce keeps plugging away. I'll be meeting with some of the Riodoce staff tomorrow, right after I meet with Mercedes Murillo, head of the local human rights organization the Sinaloa Civic Front, which just a couple of days ago filed what could be a historic court motion to have military personnel accused of crimes against civilians tried in civilian--not military--court. There have been several nasty incidents of soldiers killing civilians here since Calderon sent in the troops, and under current Mexican law, they seem to get away with it. Stay tuned. It should be an interesting week. And then it's back to Mexico City to visit Saint Death and attend the Global Marijuana Day demonstration at the Alameda. (more pictures below the fold)
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Denying Organ Transplants to Medical Marijuana Patients is Evil
Remember when John McCain said we never arrest dying patients for medical marijuana? He asked for documentation and here it is. This man wasn't just arrested, he is now also being denied a liver transplant, without which he will die:
Meanwhile, U.S. News & World Report covers new research aimed at developing cannabinoid-based medicines that won't produce intoxication. The very existence of this research demonstrates once again that marijuana has long been understood to have remarkable medical potential. Now that even the drug warriors have conceded that point, and the scientific community has stopped debating and initiated product development, what justification exists for continuing to persecute patients who are already using this plant to treat their own illnesses?
This controversy should be over now. Instead, patients are still dying in the war over medical marijuana and politicians are still pretending not to notice.
SEATTLE (AP) â Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant.This is the legacy of the government's political war on medical marijuana. Patients are dying simply because some of our political leaders are afraid that showing compassion for the sick will lead to marijuana legalization. Healthcare and employment discrimination are the inevitable symptoms of our flawed federal policy, yet those who defend the war on patients couldn't be more oblivious to the brutal consequences of their intransigence.
His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.
But Garon's been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons.
Meanwhile, U.S. News & World Report covers new research aimed at developing cannabinoid-based medicines that won't produce intoxication. The very existence of this research demonstrates once again that marijuana has long been understood to have remarkable medical potential. Now that even the drug warriors have conceded that point, and the scientific community has stopped debating and initiated product development, what justification exists for continuing to persecute patients who are already using this plant to treat their own illnesses?
This controversy should be over now. Instead, patients are still dying in the war over medical marijuana and politicians are still pretending not to notice.
In The Trenches
Press Release: Law Enforcement Objections to Medical Marijuana Bill at Odds With Reality, Advocates Say
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ Â Â
APRIL 29, 2008
Law Enforcement Objections to Medical Marijuana Bill at Odds With Reality, Advocates Say
Bill Supporters Refute Demonstrably False Statements, Unveil New AdÂ
CONTACT: Neal Levine, MPP director of state campaigns, (612) 424-7001
   MINNEAPOLIS â In a press conference held today at the statehouse, advocates offered a point-by-point refutation of misleading-to-outright false statements made by some law enforcement officials during testimony before the legislature and in the media regarding the medical marijuana bill pending on the House floor.
   Proponents of S.F. 345, the bill to protect from arrest seriously ill Minnesotans who use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, said certain aspects of the law enforcement community were relying on misstatements and untruths to derail the bill.
   "Some legislators, as well as the governor, have indicated they may not be willing to support this sensible and compassionate legislation, based on the words of certain aspects of the law enforcement community," said Neal Levine, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project. "Therefore, we feel itâs important to look at those words."
   For example, Dakota County Attorney James C. Backstrom stated in legislative testimony that "there is no proven medicinal value in using marijuana to treat illnesses or disease.â In fact, the 124,000-member American College of Physicians has noted "marijuana's proven efficacy at treating certain symptoms and its relatively low toxicity."
   For a detailed list of false and misleading statements made by Minnesota law enforcement officials, along with sourced refutations of each one, visit: http://www.minnesotacares.org/media/law_enforcement.pdf.
   Also during the press conference, Levine announced the latest in a series of TV ads airing statewide, featuring Minnesota medical marijuana patients urging Gov. Tim Pawlenty not to veto the medical marijuana bill as he has threatened to do if the House passes it.
   The new ad features K.K. Forss of Ely, who suffers constant debilitating pain caused by a ruptured disk in his neck and nerve damage from subsequent surgeries. The ad is available online here: http://minnesotacares.org/Ads_video.html.
   "This doesn't have anything to do with culture wars," Forss says in the ad, noting that he is a registered Republican and a born-again Christian. "We have people suffering in horrible pain, and we talk politics â it doesn't have to be that way."
   With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.
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In The Trenches
Media Advisory: Medical Marijuana Advocates to Announce Significant Changes to Bill
[Courtesy of Illinois Compassion Access Network]Â
MEDIA ADVISORYÂ Â Â
APRIL 29, 2008
Law Enforcement Input Means Significant Changes to Medical Marijuana Bill, Advocates to Announce
Press Conference Scheduled to Explain Bill Amendments
CONTACT: John Walker, Illinois Compassion Access Network, (847) 769-1772
SPRINGFIELD, IL. â After a meeting with law enforcement officials to address their specific objections to Illinois' medical marijuana bill, advocates will announce significant changes to the legislation in a Wednesday press conference at the statehouse.
   The amendments, adopted earlier this month, reflect what bill proponents said they hope is a shared goal: to allow safe, legal access to medical marijuana for suffering Illinoisans who have a doctor's recommendation while ensuring police and prosecutors aren't hindered in enforcing laws involving illicit marijuana use.
   At the press conference, patients will also unveil their latest effort to convince legislators to support the medical marijuana bill under consideration in both chambers of the General Assembly: personal online video testimonies. For the past month, seriously ill Illinoisans â many of whom cannot travel to Springfield â have been sending the videos to their elected representatives so that they can explain the urgency of passing a sensible medical marijuana law in their own words.
   Examples of these videos â which average about 2 minutes each â are available online here: www.illinoiscan.com/videos.html
               -   WHAT: Press conference explaining changes to the medical marijuana bill requested by law enforcement officials
               -   WHO: The following people are scheduled to appear at the press conference:
                        o   Zale Glauberman, veteran Springfield lobbyist
                        o   Julie Falco of Chicago, a multiple sclerosis patient who uses medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation
               -   WHEN: Wednesday, April 30 at 9:15 a.m.
               -   WHERE: State Capitol Press Blue Room
   The Senate medical marijuana bill is expected to reach the Senate floor within weeks.
   Copies of some of the patient video testimonies will be available on CD for members of the press.
   ###