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Official: Mexico Drug War Imagery Popping Up in US

Dark imagery associated with the Mexican drug prohibition war, including images of the unofficial patron saints of death and smuggling, are showing up north of the border, a sign of the drug trafficking organizations' growing influence among American smuggling networks, a U.S. marshal said. Images of the skeletal black-robed figure of Santa Muerte, the Death Saint, are showing up in areas that don't have large Mexican populations, said Robert Almonte. He is traveling the country instructing law enforcement officials about Mexican folk icons associated with the drug prohibition war, hoping to raise "red flags so they will know that if they see some of this, they will be more cautious."
Felipe Calderon -- already a lame duck?
Felipe Calderon -- already a lame duck?

Calderon's Drug War Agenda Stymied By Politics

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said money laundering and police reforms are key to winning victory over the drug cartels. But with the jockeying already beginning for the 2012 elections, their prospects are fading.

Cops Under Pressure to Deny They Support Legalizing Marijuana

During California gubernatorial debates last week, Meg Whitman was asked about her position on Proposition 19 and marijuana legalization and said: "Every single law enforcement official in this entire state is against Proposition 19." "She's absolutely wrong...A lot of police officers both retired and on duty are in favor of passing it because they realize that the 'war on drugs' has failed and is going to fail," said former San Jose Chief of Police Joseph McNamara. Scores of former officials recently signed a letter saying that marijuana prohibition only fuels more dangerous crime by enriching Mexican drug traffickers who put guns on American streets -- but every member of the California police department waited until after they'd retired to sign.
lioness statue, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (courtesy wikipedia.org)
lioness statue, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (courtesy wikipedia.org)

Drug Policing Not a Very Dangerous Job, Stats Again Show

Some 48 law enforcement officers were murdered doing their job last year, according to the FBI. None of them died enforcing drug laws, despite how scary police like to make the drug war sound.

Portland Wants Random Drug Testing of Officers

The union representing Portland police officers is pushing back against a proposal that would require random drug testing of police officers. Portland Police Association attorney Will Aitchison said the random testing proposal would violate the officers’ right to privacy.

Adios! Mexican Town's Police Force Quits Because of Danger

No mas. That's what the police force in the Mexican town of Purepero said when all 45 of it members resigned en masse. Purepero isn't the first town to experience a mass resignation of officials afraid to continue their role in the nation's prohibitionist war on drug traffickers.

National Black Police Association Endorses Marijuana Legalization (Press Release)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 19, 2010

CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or [email protected]

National Black Police Association Endorses Marijuana Legalization

African American Cops Say California's Prop. 19 Will Protect Civil Rights & Public Safety

SACRAMENTO, CA -- A national organization of African American law enforcement officers has announced its endorsement of Proposition 19, California's initiative to legalize marijuana.

The National Black Police Association (NBPA), which was founded in 1972 and is currently holding its 38th national conference in Sacramento, is urging a yes vote on legalization this November 2.

"When I was a cop in Baltimore, and even before that when I was growing up there, I saw with my own eyes the devastating impact these misguided marijuana laws have on our communities and neighborhoods. But it's not just in Baltimore, or in Los Angeles; prohibition takes a toll on people of color across the country," said Neill Franklin, a 33-year veteran police officer and executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international group of pro-legalization cops, judges, prosecutors and corrections officials who have been organizing to support Prop. 19. "This November, with the National Black Police Association's help, Californians finally have an opportunity to do something about it by approving the initiative to control and tax marijuana."

On Thursday, Franklin spoke alongside California NAACP president Alice Huffman at the NBPA conference on a panel about criminal justice issues like marijuana legalization.

Many cops and civil rights leaders are now speaking out against marijuana prohibition because it is not only ineffective at reducing marijuana use and results in the arrest and incarceration of people of color at a highly disproportionate rate, but also because making marijuana illegal has created a lucrative black market controlled by violent gangs and cartels. LEAP has organized a group of more than 30 California police officers, judges, prosecutors and other criminal justice professionals who support Prop. 19.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and its 30,000 supporters represent police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence.

According to NBPA, there are 80,000 black law enforcement officials in the U.S.

For more information, visit http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com or http://www.BlackPolice.org

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