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Feds toss Jan Brewers bogus Medical Marijuana Lawsuit

Judge dismisses medical marijuana suit by Arizona

by Mary K. Reinhart - Jan. 4, 2012 06:00 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

A federal judge dismissed Arizona's medical-marijuana lawsuit Wednesday, saying the state couldn't show workers were at risk of prosecution for following the voter-approved state law.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton's ruling removes the obstacle that Gov. Jan Brewer and state health officials said prevented the state from issuing permits for medical-pot dispensaries.

Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson said the governor would consult with Attorney General Tom Horne before deciding whether to appeal.

"What this court has essentially said is that it won't hear the state's lawsuit unless and until a state employee faces federal prosecution for enforcing Proposition 203," Benson said. "The federal court has essentially punted on the issue."

Brewer filed suit in May, just days before the dispensary-permit process was to begin, asking the court to clarify whether U.S. drug laws override Prop. 203 and, if not, whether state workers are immune from federal prosecution for implementing it.

In her order, Bolton said the state could file an amended complaint, but would have to satisfy two key problems: Federal prosecutors have not threatened to prosecute state or municipal employees for following the law; and the state can't show that any harm will come absent a court ruling.

"Plaintiffs do not challenge any specific action taken by any defendant," Bolton wrote. "Plaintiffs also do not describe any actions by state employees that were in violation of (the Controlled Substances Act) or any threat of prosecution for any reason by federal officials.

"These issues, as presented, are not appropriate for judicial review."

The ruling came in response to a motion to dismiss filed by the ACLU.

ACLU Attorney Ezekiel Edwards said Brewer could solve the dispute by implementing the law that voters approved.

"The majority of voters in Arizona passed a statute to regulate marijuana as medicine," Edwards said. "They're just obstructing the will of the voters."

Five other medical-marijuana lawsuits are still pending in Maricopa County Superior Court, including two filed by would-be dispensary owners against the state for failing to fully implement the law.

Sheriff Joe's goons are now selling marijuana???

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Anthem couple arrested, accused of trying to buy pot

by John Genovese - Jan. 6, 2012 07:16 PM

The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

Maricopa County deputies seized over $800,000 and arrested an Anthem couple, accusing them of planning to purchase and then distribute more than 1,200 pounds of marijuana, officials said.

Christian Vivola, 41, and his wife Laura Behnke, 32, were taken into custody Tuesday after meeting twice with undercover detectives, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

A court document said that Vivola sampled the marijuana at the first meeting in the parking lot of the Outlets at Anthem, near Interstate 17 and Anthem Way. He apparently planned to purchase more than 1,200 pounds of the drug the following day, records said.

Deputies said Behnke then met with detectives to "flash" the money at a home near Anthem Way and Daisy Mountain Drive.

Both were stopped and arrested in their vehicles shortly afterward, a court document states.

According to a news release, deputies obtained a search warrant and seized more than $800,000 in cash and two "high-dollar vehicles" from their Anthem home.

The couple was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to possess marijuana for sale.

Supreme Court to rule on drug-sniffing dog case

Supreme Court to rule on drug-sniffing dog case

By David G. Savage, Washington Bureau

January 6, 2012, 4:43 p.m.

Reporting from Washington— The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether police may use a drug-sniffing dog at the front door of a house or an apartment to detect marijuana, even if the officers have no evidence of criminal conduct.

The decision in a Florida case will be the latest test of the 4th Amendment's protection against "unreasonable searches" in drug cases. It also will be the third in a trilogy of rulings on drug-sniffing dogs.

In the past, the court has upheld the use of dogs to sniff luggage at airports and to sniff around cars that were stopped along the highway. The justices said that using trained dogs in public areas didn't violate anyone's right to privacy.

The Florida Supreme Court, however, said homes are different. The 4th Amendment "applies with extra force where the sanctity of the home is concerned," the state justices said last year.

Based on that rationale, they overturned a Miami man's conviction for growing marijuana at home. Acting on a tip, officers had taken Franky, a Labrador, to the front porch of a home owned by Joelis Jardines. The dog detected the odor of marijuana and sat down as he was trained to do. The police then used this information to obtain a search warrant. They found 179 marijuana plants inside the house.

Throwing out the evidence, the state justices said they were unwilling to permit "dog sniff tests … at the home of any citizen" unless the police had probable cause of criminal wrongdoing.

But the Supreme Court voted to hear the appeal of Florida prosecutors who contend that a dog's sniffing for drugs is not a "search" under any circumstances.

"Because a dog's alert tells the officer one thing, and one thing only — that the house contains illegal drugs — it cannot constitute a search," said Florida's state attorneys. [ Frequently the cop who handles the dog will lie and say the dog is smelling drugs, giving the cop a lame excuse to get a search warrant. Of course it is impossible to order the dog on the witness stand and find out if the cop lied about the dog saying it sniffed drugs. ]

Eighteen states supported Florida's appeal and argued that police dogs are a valuable tool for detecting drugs and explosives.

The high court usually sides with the police in search cases. In May, the justices ruled police were justified in breaking down the door of an apartment in Lexington, Ky., because they smelled marijuana and believed the occupants were about to destroy the evidence. In an 8-1 decision, the court reasoned the police did not have time to obtain a search warrant.

But not every search method wins approval. The justices rejected the use of thermal imagers, which can detect the heat of powerful lights used to grow marijuana. In that case, the court decided that the device allows police to look into a house, and thereby violates the privacy rights of the homeowners.

The court said Friday it would hear the case of Florida vs. Jardines in April and issue a ruling on drug-sniffing dogs by late June.

david.savage@latimes.com

Holy koalas! Aussies and Kiwis are top pot users

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Holy koalas! Aussies and Kiwis are top pot users

January 7, 2012 | 1:16 am

REPORTING FROM SEOUL -– There’s a reason that Australians’ boomerangs won’t come back these days: They forgot they threw them.

Everyone knows the partying reputation of those rollicking denizens Down Under -– that upside-down, winter-in-July continent where women are called shielas and men guzzle beer by the case.

But a new study published in the British medical journal The Lancet gives more insight into why Australian culture is so laid-back, why the phrase “G’day” is usually the first thing out of people’s mouths.

Well, everyday is a good day Down Under because Australians, as it turns out, smoke more marijuana than anyone else on the planet, according to The Lancet.

Imagine the possible new entries for the Aussie urban dictionary:

“Don’t wallaby that joint, my friend.”

“Welcome to the Great Barrier Reefer.”

“Roll me another joey, will ya mate?”

"Now there’s a whole new meaning to the phrase 'Gettin’ down by the billabong.'"

"What do you mean ‘Why do koalas move so slowly?' "

Actually, it’s not just the Aussies who are partying down with their bad selves. The study reported that New Zealanders join Australians as top worldwide consumers of both pot and amphetamines -– an entirely different version of the Southern Cross.

The study showed that 15% of Aussies and Kiwis ages 15 to 64 used marijuana.

Talk about a walkabout to the back side of beyond.

By comparison, 11% of North Americans in the same age group used the drugs; and only 2.5% in Asia.

The study’s authors said the preponderance of secret out-of-the-way places (read Outback) in both nations meant that it was easier to cultivate the illegal marijuana plants, driving down the price.

In Australia, marijuana is often considered an acceptable form of mental recreation, and several states there have sought to decriminalize small quantities of the drug.

The new Land of Oz –- a place where they’ve figured out how to go from black-and-white to Technicolor in an alternative way.

Marijuana Use Most Rampant in Australia

Marijuana Use Most Rampant in Australia, Study Finds

By MATT SIEGEL

Published: January 6, 2012

SYDNEY — A study published Friday in a British medical journal may have finally uncovered the secret behind Australia’s laid-back lifestyle, and it turns out to be more than just sun and surf: The denizens Down Under, it turns out, consume more marijuana than any other people on the planet.

The study, an analysis of global trends in illegal drugs and their effect on public health published in The Lancet, a prestigious journal, found that Australia and neighboring New Zealand topped the lists globally for consumption of both marijuana and amphetamines, a category of drugs whose use the study found to be growing rapidly around the world.

The study’s co-authors, Professors Louisa Degenhardt of the University of New South Wales and Wayne Hall of the University of Queensland, reported that as much as 15 percent of the populations of Australia and New Zealand between the ages of 15 and 64 had used some form of marijuana in 2009, the latest year for which data were available.

The Americas, by comparison, clocked in at 7 percent, although North America batted above the neighborhood average with nearly 11 percent of its population partaking. Asia demonstrated the lowest global marijuana use patterns at no more than 2.5 percent, the study said, although difficulties in obtaining accurate data in less developed countries were cited as one possible reason for the low figures.

The results were not surprising and reflected trends that have been in place for more than a decade, Mr. Hall said in an interview on Australian radio Friday. Despite the high figures in the report, he said, the rate of marijuana use in Australia has actually been dropping “steadily for the better part of a decade.”

Mr. Hall blamed both the ubiquity of the drug — Australia and New Zealand have no shortage of remote rural areas where policing is difficult and the plant grows like, well, a weed — and cultural mores that place the consumption of intoxicants at the center of social life.

“Just look at the way we take alcohol as an integral part of everyday life. I think a lot of young people see cannabis in the same way that we see alcohol: as no big deal, as a drug just to use to have a good time,” he said.

Stepping back for a global perspective, the study found that marijuana was the world’s most widely consumed illicit drug, with anywhere from 125 million to 203 million people partaking annually. Use of the drug far outstrips that of other illicit drugs globally, with 14 million to 56 million people estimated to use amphetamines, 14 million to 21 million estimated to use cocaine and 12 million to 21 million estimated to use opiates like heroin.

Still, despite marijuana’s significantly outpacing other illicit drugs in terms of the volume of use, the study found that it was the least likely of all illicit drugs to cause death. Additionally, barely 1 percent of deaths in Australia annually can be attributed to illegal drugs, the report said, compared with almost 12 percent from tobacco use.

The prevalence of marijuana use in Australia is widely accepted if not openly condoned, and at least three states have moved to decriminalize the possession of small quantities for personal use.

But the findings in the report most likely to cause concern to the Australian government were those relating to the use of amphetamines, and particularly methamphetamine, which has become a major public health concern over the past two decades. As much as 3 percent of the Australian population has used amphetamines like speed, compared with just 0.2 percent to 1.4 percent in Asia.

Kyrsten Sinema wants to spend YOUR money!!!!

Kyrsten Sinema is the tyrant who wanted to slap a 300 percent tax on medical marijuana, which would make a $50 bag of weed cost $200, with the state of Arizona getting $150!

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Political Insider: Everyone knows Kyrsten Sinema's favorite sport is shopping

Jan. 7, 2012 08:49 PM

The Arizona Republic

Calling L.L. Bean ... It wasn't her announcement for Congress that floored us. It was Kyrsten Sinema's claim of being an "avid outdoorswoman."

The colorful, quotable Democrat resigned her central Phoenix Senate seat Tuesday to run for the new Congressional District 9. It's true that Sinema has taken up running with a vengeance and is training for next Sunday's P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon.

But c'mon. Everyone knows Sinema's favorite sport is shopping. So even though her campaign announcement says she enjoys mountain biking and trail running, we know her ideal way to explore the great outdoors involves outdoor places like Kierland Commons and Desert Ridge Marketplace.

Sure, she may hike and bike and run. But Sinema's jones for clothes, bags and shoes shows pure dedication. And the real question remains: With Sinema gone, who will provide fashion policing with fellow clotheshorse and GOP Sen. Michele Reagan? Here's hoping the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chooses someone with both style and substance to replace her.

<SNIP>

U.S. Agents Aided Mexican Drug Trafficker to Infiltrate His Criminal Ring

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U.S. Agents Aided Mexican Drug Trafficker to Infiltrate His Criminal Ring

WASHINGTON — American drug enforcement agents posing as money launderers secretly helped a powerful Mexican drug trafficker and his principal Colombian cocaine supplier move millions in drug proceeds around the world, as part of an effort to infiltrate and dismantle the criminal organizations wreaking havoc south of the border, according to newly obtained Mexican government documents.

The documents, part of an extradition order by the Mexican Foreign Ministry against the Colombian supplier, describe American counternarcotics agents, Mexican law enforcement officials and a Colombian informant working undercover together over several months in 2007. Together, they conducted numerous wire transfers of tens of thousands of dollars at a time, smuggled millions of dollars in bulk cash — and escorted at least one large shipment of cocaine from Ecuador to Dallas to Madrid.

The extradition order — obtained by the Mexican magazine emeequis and shared with The New York Times — includes testimony by a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent who oversaw a covert money laundering investigation against a Colombian trafficker named Harold Mauricio Poveda-Ortega, also known as “The Rabbit.” He is accused of having sent some 150 tons of cocaine to Mexico between 2000 and 2010. Much of that cocaine, the authorities said, was destined for the United States.

Last month, The Times reported that these kinds of operations had begun in Mexico as part of the drug agency’s expanding role in that country’s fight against organized crime. The newly obtained documents provide rare details of the extent of that cooperation and the ways that it blurs the lines between fighting and facilitating crime.

Morris Panner, a former assistant United States attorney who is an adviser at the Center for International Criminal Justice at Harvard, said there were inherent risks in international law enforcement operations. “The same rules required domestically do not apply when agencies are operating overseas,” he said, “so the agencies can be forced to make up the rules as they go along.” Speaking about the Drug Enforcement Agency’s money laundering activities, he said: “It’s a slippery slope. If it’s not careful, the United States could end up helping the bad guys more than hurting them.”

Shown copies of the documents, a Justice Department spokesman did not dispute their authenticity, but declined to make an official available to speak about them. But in a written statement, the D.E.A. strongly defended its activities, saying that they had allowed the authorities in Mexico to kill or capture dozens of high-ranking and midlevel traffickers.

“Transnational organized groups can be defeated only by transnational law enforcement cooperation,” the agency wrote. “Such cooperation requires that law enforcement agencies — often from multiple countries — coordinate their activities, while at the same time always acting within their respective laws and authorities.”

The documents make clear that it can take years for these investigations to yield results. They show that in 2007 the authorities infiltrated Mr. Poveda-Ortega’s operations. Mr. Poveda-Ortega was considered the principal cocaine supplier to the Mexican drug cartel leader Arturo Beltran Leyva. Two years later, Mexican security forces caught up with and killed Mr. Beltran Leyva in a gunfight about an hour outside of Mexico City.

As for Mr. Poveda-Ortega, in 2008 he escaped a raid on his mansion outside Mexico City in which the authorities detained 15 of his associates and seized hundreds of thousands of dollars, along with two pet lions. But the authorities finally captured him in Mexico City in November 2010.

According to the newly obtained documents, Mexico agreed to extradite Mr. Poveda-Ortega to the United States last May. But the American authorities refused to say whether the extradition had occurred.

“That’s how long these investigations take,” said an American official in Mexico who would speak only on the condition that he not be identified discussing secret law enforcement operations. “They are an enormously complicated undertaking when it involves money laundering, wires, everything.”

The documents, which read in some parts like a dry legal affidavit and in others like a script for a B-movie, underscore that complexity. They mix mind-numbing lists of dates and amounts of illegal wire transfers that were conducted during the course of the investigation.

One scene described in the documents depicts the informant making deals to launder money during meetings with traffickers at a Mexico City shopping mall. Another describes undercover D.E.A. agents in Texas posing as pilots, offering to transport cocaine around the world for $1,000 per kilo.

Those accounts come from the testimony by a D.E.A. special agent who described himself as a 12-year veteran and a resident of Texas. There is also testimony by a Colombian informant who posed as a money launderer and began collaborating with the D.E.A. after he was arrested on drug charges in 2003. The Times is withholding the agent’s and the informant’s names for security reasons.

In January 2007, the informant reached out to associates of Mr. Poveda-Ortega and began talking his way into a series of money-laundering jobs — each one bigger than the last — that helped him win the confidence of low-level traffickers and ultimately gain access to the kingpins.

A handful of undercover D.E.A. agents, according to the documents, posed as associates to the informant, including the two who offered their services as pilots and another who told the traffickers that he had several businesses that gave him access to bank accounts that the traffickers could use to deposit and disperse their drug money.

In June 2007, the traffickers bit, asking the informant to give them an account number for their deposits. And over a four-day period in July, they transferred tens of thousands of dollars at a time from money exchange houses in Mexico into an account the D.E.A. had established at a Bank of America branch in Dallas.

According to the testimony, the traffickers’ deposits totaled $1 million. And on the traffickers’ instructions, the informant withdrew the money and the D.E.A. arranged for it to be delivered to someone in Panama.

Testimony by the informant suggests that the traffickers were pleased with the service.

“At the beginning of August 2007, Harry asked my help receiving $3 million to $4 million in American money to be laundered,” the informant testified, referring to one of the Colombian traffickers involved in the investigation. “During subsequent recorded telephone calls I told Harry I couldn’t handle that much money.” Still, the informant and the D.E.A. tried to keep up. On one occasion, they enlisted a Mexican undercover law enforcement agent to pick up $499,250 from their trafficking targets in Mexico City. And a month later, that same agent picked up another load valued at more than $1 million.

The more the money flowed, the stronger the relationship became between the informants and the traffickers. In one candid conversation, the traffickers boasted about who was able to move the biggest loads of money, the way fishermen brag about their catches. One said he could easily move $4 million to $5 million a month. Then the others spoke about the tricks of the trade, including how they had used various methods, including prepaid debit cards and an Herbalife account, to move the money.

The next day, the informant was summoned to his first meeting in Mexico City with Mr. Poveda-Ortega and Mr. Beltran Leyva, who asked him to help them ship a 330-kilogram load to Spain from Ecuador. The documents say the shipment was transported over two weeks in October, with undercover Ecuadorean agents retrieving the cocaine from a tour bus in Quito and American agents testing its purity in Dallas before sending it on to Madrid.

The testimony describes the informant reassuring the traffickers in code, using words like “girlfriend” or “chick” to refer to the cocaine, and saying that she had arrived just fine. But in reality, the testimony indicates, the Spanish authorities, tipped off in advance by the D.E.A., seized the load shortly after its arrival, rather than risk losing it

Cops use trivial traffic violations to search bicyclists for drugs

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Mesa police: Bicyclist had meth in ring box

by Caitlin Cruz - Jan. 9, 2012 02:22 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

When an officer questioned a Mesa bicyclist about a silver ring box with methamphetimine in it, the man turned around to be handcuffed and said he was "going to get five years in jail" because it was not his first offense.

The incident occurred about 11 p.m. Saturday when Mesa Police saw two men riding bicycles without headlamps near Lindsay Road and University Drive and detained them.

David Hall, 25, voluntarily emptied the contents of his pockets which included a silver ring box, according to court documents.

Hall told the officer he just found the box but had not looked inside.

When the officer opened the box, a white crystalline substance was inside. The substance was later identified to be methamphetamine.

Hall told the officer that the substance "looks like meth."

The officer told Hall it was odd to take a box from the street and not open it.

Instead of responding, Hall turned around to be arrested by the officer. Hall told the officer he was "going to get five years in jail" because it was not his first offense. Court documents listed multiple prior arrests and convictions.

Hall was charged with one count of possession of a dangerous drug.

Almost 50,000 deaths in Mexico from the "drug war"

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47,000 people killed in drug violence in Mexico

Jan. 11, 2012 11:31 AM

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY -- The Mexican government says more than 47,000 people have been killed in drug violence since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown against drug cartels in December 2006.

The Attorney General's Office says 47,515 drug-related killings occurred from December 2006 through September 2011.

Prosecutors say in a statement Wednesday that the number of killings rose 11 percent in the first nine months of 2011 over the same period in 2010.

They say 70 percent of the killings happened in eight of Mexico's 32 states.

The Mexican government last released the number of drug violence victims a year ago.

Jan Brewer a sadistic b*tch who enjoys keeping people in pain????

Of course the over paid police thugs who round up the people the commit the victimless crime of smoking marijuana will disagree with me on this issue.

But of course without the insane "drug war" most of these police thugs wouldn't have their jobs. After all the "drug war" accounts for about two thirds of the people in American prisons. End the "drug war" and you will automatically stop about two thirds of the crime.

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A little guy's plea to our governor/savior

Now that Jan Brewer has elevated her professional status from governor to savior, I'm wondering if she could perform a small miracle for a constituent named Mike Neil.

According to the e-mail Neil sent me, he has written to Gov./Sav. Brewer but has not heard back.

Since Brewer declared in her State of the State speech that “Arizona has been saved” (by her, apparently) we might hope that the all-powerful governor could spare a few moments for a little guy.

Neil wrote in his e-mail to me, “I am one of the medical marijuana card patients that I hear so many people making jokes about. Believe me, it's not funny.”

No, it's not.

Not for the many potential patients who cannot get medical marijuana because Brewer will not allow dispensaries to be licensed, in spite of what voters want and in spite of assurances from federal prosecutors that no state employees would be at risk.

Neil wrote, “After enduring a radical head and neck dissection, I was (thank God), cancer free. (I had been previously given 2 months to live.) However, the pain associated with this operation has been extreme to say the least.

“After my operation, I was put on (pain killers). I had to endure 6 weeks of daily radiation treatments as well. Up until this point, I had tried marijuana in high school and did not like it so I did not use it. But when I started getting nauseous and dizzy I did use it (tea), to get through my radiation treatments. I also lost my sense of taste as well as a good part of my saliva glands (which never came back) so it helped me eat also. I also discovered (by accident), that the marijuana also helped stop my pain.”

Neil said that he then remained on one type of pain killer for nearly 10 years, until it stopped working. He was sent to pain clinics to seek help. Nothing worked. He tried going without medication, but couldn't deal with the discomfort. He's now on another powerful medication but finds that it also doesn't help much. He wants to try marijuana.

“I thought that when the medical marijuana law was passed that I would finally be OK but I was wrong,” he wrote. “My doctor okayed me for the medical marijuana card but I have no dispensary. As someone who endured the 60's, I do know people who have used marijuana throughout the years. Not one of them goes through withdrawal when they don't have any to use.

“As a 61 year old grandfather I certainly don't want my children and grandchildren using drugs, but this is supposed to be for patients that go through a doctor. So what is the problem?”

It's a good question.

There is no medical problem. Plenty of other states allow for medical marijuana to be dispensed. Thousands of patients have been helped to deal with pain and recover their appetites.

And there is no legal problem (in spite of what the governor and her associates say.) No state bureaucrats in any of the states with a medical marijuana law in effect have been arrested.

Besides, Brewer believes herself to be the savior of ALL states, not just Arizona, when it comes to standing up to the federal government? The citizens in her state voted for medical marijuana. Why now would she defer to the feds?

Neil told me, “I have e-mailed and written our Governor, (Attorney General Tom) Horne, Vice President Biden, and even President Obama but not one of them even wrote back. I did receive a nice letter from Senator McCain telling me that he at least appreciated hearing my point of view. For a minute it was nice knowing that someone at least heard me.”

I have been in contact with a number of suffering people like Neil. They wait for the governor to do what they know to be right and allow Arizona's medical marijuana law to go fully into effect.

Neil writes, “If the government is of, for, and by the people, then what is happening here? The people voted this in to help people.”

They did.

It was one of those times when we gathered together and decided that this one simply thing would alleviate some of the suffering being endured by our less fortunate brothers and sisters.

It wasn't about the legalization of drugs. It was about easing pain.

“Take a big broom and sweep every one of our elected officials out of office,” Neil wrote, adding, “Thank you for reading this. If nothing else I at least feel better for a little while.”

Reading a man's note and giving it a little exposure is the least a lowly news writer can do. A self-proclaimed savior can do a lot more.

I'm told we have such a person.

Mexico government sought to withhold drug war death statistics

Mexico government sought to withhold drug war death statistics

By Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times

January 11, 2012, 5:25 p.m.

Reporting from Mexico City— Six months before a presidential election that his party is widely expected to lose, President Felipe Calderon is on the defensive about the government's blood-soaked drug war, with new revelations that it sought to conceal death toll statistics from the public.

By unofficial count, at least 50,000 people are believed to have been killed since Calderon deployed the military in the first days of his presidency in December 2006.

A year ago, the government released an official death toll up to that point — 34,612 — and pledged to periodically update a database and make it public. But official documents show that the offices of both the president and the attorney general late last year refused formal requests for updated statistics filed under the Mexican equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act.

After the reports first surfaced on the Mexican news website Animal Politico, a Calderon administration official told The Times that the government wanted to verify the numbers before releasing them. "It is not a lack of transparency on our part," the official said.

Under pressure, the attorney general's office Wednesday released a partial death toll for 2011. As of Oct. 1, it reported, 12,903 people had been killed in incidents tied to "rivalry among criminal organizations."

Until now, without official data, the public had to rely on tallies kept by Mexican newspapers. The partial official numbers show a notably higher death toll than the newspapers had calculated and suggest that the overall count since Calderon came to office will easily surpass 50,000.

As the Calderon administration claims a measure of success in the drug war, a burgeoning peace movement, academics and opposition politicians keen to take power have all asserted that the military offensive was flawed from the start and has caused violence to soar.

Although the government maintains that its reluctance to divulge the numbers was simply a matter of verification, some Mexicans suspect other motives. For one, the government may have been loath to draw attention to the high death toll in the lead-up to an election that will choose Calderon's successor. His conservative National Action Party is expected to take a drubbing, in part over his handling of the violence.

The government also saw damage to its credibility in 2010 when different agencies released contradictory statistics.

"The lesson we got from releasing figures is that no one believed them," said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and did so on condition of anonymity.

The failure to disclose the statistics, meanwhile, had the effect of fueling greater doubt and suspicion.

"It can create the perception that the number of murdered is alarmingly higher than what is thought," said Ciro Gomez Leyva, a journalist and radio host. "And that instead of releasing solid and reliable reports, [the government] is opting to hide cadavers."

The majority of the dead are traffickers and their henchmen, but civilians, human rights defenders, migrants and children are increasingly being slain.

One such victim was the son of poet Javier Sicilia, who was killed in late March along with six other people who had been at a bar in the bougainvillea-filled town of Cuernavaca. That killing propelled the elder Sicilia into a crusade as arguably Mexico's most successful peace activist and one of the most outspoken critics of Calderon's drug war policies.

The government said the 2011 numbers showed that the pace of killing had slowed. The attorney general's statistics, though partial, indicate that killings were up by 11% in 2011, compared with a staggering 70% increase in 2010. Still, the aggregate numbers of dead, plus the brutality, have reached levels unthinkable just a few years ago.

The deadliest city, according to the new government figures, remains Ciudad Juarez, on the border across from El Paso, although its homicide rate has dropped. Juarez was followed by Acapulco, the tourist mecca hit by a surge of killing among gangs battling for market shares.

At the same time, violence spread to other parts of the country, such as the eastern coastal state of Veracruz, where the dumping of large numbers of bodies became a hallmark of gang warfare in the last half of the year.

Behind much of this mayhem is the intensifying struggle between the two dominant cartels, the vicious Zeta paramilitary force and the more businesslike, albeit ruthless, Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's largest.

The government's strategy of arresting leaders of drug-trafficking organizations has triggered a fragmentation of many of the bigger groups into smaller factions that have turned increasingly to other crimes, such as extortion, protection rackets, kidnapping and human smuggling.

Scores of clandestine mass graves have been discovered in the last year, yielding hundreds of victims, many of whom were poor immigrants from Central America, while others simply go unidentified, further complicating the amassing of accurate statistics.

wilkinson@latimes.com

aaa_police.html

Door in an ASU dorm magically opens itself and lets the cops in!

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Police Beat: Jan. 12

By Shawn Raymundo January 11, 2012 at 7:55 pm

ASU Police reported the following incidents on Wednesday:

Two 18-year-old women were arrested Friday on suspicion of marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession, according to a police report, after community assistants at the Palo Verde East dormitory continually smelled an odor of marijuana from the women’s room.ASU Police officers were notified and sent to investigate, police reported. After the officers knocked on the door, it opened by itself, but there was nobody in the room, according to the report.When officers searched the room, they found a water bong and sploofer tube, which is used to cover up the smell of marijuana, police reported.

The police then searched the adjoining bathroom of the dormitory when they found the women, who allowed the officers to search through the other room, according to the report.

After searching through the room, officers found a bag of marijuana located in the top drawer of a desk, police reported.

When asked if the marijuana and paraphernalia belonged to either of the women, they both denied ownership and said they didn’t know whom it belonged to, according to the report.

The women were arrested and transported to ASU Police Department, but released pending drug charges, police reported.

Bill would make possession of hookah by minor illegal

Bill would make possession of hookah by minor illegal

by Alia Beard Rau - Jan. 12, 2012 04:45 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

It's already illegal in Arizona to sell or give cigarettes, cigars or tobacco to a minor.

But the Legislature may soon make hookahs, water pipes or any other item used for consuming tobacco illegal for minors as well.

House Bill 2034 proposes to make it a petty offense to sell or give such an item to a minor or for a minor to buy or possess such an item. The penalty for a minor would be a $100 fine or 30 hours of community service.

Bill sponsor Rep. Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, said constituents asked her to propose the measure because of a growing concern with kids smoking hookahs at local cafes.

Yee said reports have indicated that one hour of hookah inhalation is equal to smoking 100 to 200 cigarettes. She said the tobacco used in hookahs does include toxins linked to cancer. She said the mouthpiece often shared by several people also spreads diseases.

The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, but it still must get through the House Health and Human Services Committee before going before the full House.

Judiciary Committee members had some concerns about the wording in the bill.

Rep. Albert Hale, D-Window Rock, asked that Yee change the bill to exclude instances where juveniles may have a pipe for religious or ceremonial purposes.

"A minor who is a practitioner and a believer in the Native American way and ceremonies will have that," Hale said.

Other lawmakers were concerned that the bill could penalize an adult who bought a hookah on a trip overseas and brought it home as a souvenir gift for a family member.

Yee said she will make changes before the bill goes to the full House, including creating exceptions for ceremonial circumstances.

"This bill is about creating safer public-health standards for our teenage population and sending a clear message that hookah smoke is not a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes," she said.

Obama jackbooted thugs shake down medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado

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Feds crack down on Colorado medical pot dispensaries

By Keith Coffman | Reuters

DENVER (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors in Colorado launched a crackdown on Thursday against nearly two dozen medical marijuana dispensaries located within 1,000 feet of schools, giving the proprietors 45 days to cease operations or face civil and criminal penalties.

U.S. Attorney John Walsh issued the ultimatum in letters to 23 dispensaries and landlords he said were in violation of federal and state law, a statement from the U.S. Justice Department said.

The move makes Colorado the latest battleground pitting federal prosecutors against storefront distributors of pot in states that have decriminalized marijuana for medical purposes.

"When the voters of Colorado passed the limited medical marijuana amendment in 2000, they could not have anticipated that their vote would be used to justify large marijuana stores located within blocks of our schools," Walsh said.

He cited a 2011 memo from U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole that allows individual federal prosecutors to "exercise their discretion to handle marijuana trafficking matters."

The Colorado move followed an announcement in October by federal prosecutors in California that they were mounting a crackdown against medical pot dispensaries they said were fronts for large-scale, for-profit drug trafficking.

Last March, federal agents also raided greenhouses and dispensaries in 13 cities in Montana cited by authorities as operating illegally under the guise of that state's medical marijuana law.

A month later, U.S. attorneys in Washington state issued a legal opinion threatening to prosecute not only dispensary owners and growers but state officials who would have enforced a proposed state licensing system for medical marijuana.

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire cited that warning in her decision to veto a bill to establish a new regulatory system for state-sanctioned suppliers of medicinal cannabis.

A total of 16 states and the District of Columbia have enacted some sort of legalized medical-marijuana statutes, according to the National Drug Policy Alliance. But cannabis remains classified as an illegal narcotic under federal law, a point Walsh underscored in his letter to Colorado dispensary operators.

"The dispensary is operating in violation of federal law, and the Department of Justice has the authority to enforce the federal law ... even when such activities may be permitted under state law," the letter said.

Walsh did not identify any of the letter's recipients, except to say the businesses were located throughout the state.

Denver lawyer Robert Corry, who represents clients charged with marijuana offenses, said in recent testimony before the Denver City Council that "there should be no arbitrary distance limits" for legal marijuana businesses.

"There is no documented case of any child ever purchasing or obtaining medical marijuana from a dispensary," he said.

Nevertheless, Walsh said law enforcement will be on the lookout for other violators, and offenders could be subject to asset seizure and property forfeitures.

"Those who do not comply will be subject to potential criminal prosecution and civil enforcement actions," Walsh said. "Because the stores are operating within 1,000 feet of a school, enhanced penalties apply under federal law."

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Cynthia Johnston)

Mexican star Kate del Castillo shocks with praise for drug lord

Mexican star Kate del Castillo shocks with praise for drug lord

January 12, 2012 | 1:45 pm

REPORTING FROM MEXICO CITY -- She played a major drug trafficker in a hit TV series. And now popular Mexican actress Kate del Castillo has sympathetic words for a real one.

In a provocative letter that has unleashed shockwaves across Mexican radio talk shows and social media, Del Castillo said this week that she regarded billionaire drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman more credible than "governments that hide truths from me, even when they are painful ones."

"Senor, Chapo," she continues. "Wouldn't it be really cool if you started trafficking for the good?" She goes on to suggest the fugitive capo of the Sinaloa cartel could spread cures for disease and food for street children. "Traffic with corrupt politicians, not women and children who end up as slaves," she says. "Go for it, sir. You would be the hero of heroes."

The missive would be easy to dismiss if it weren't for Del Castillo's fame, both here and in the U.S. She starred as a drug boss in "La Reina del Sur" (The Queen of the South), a Telemundo production whose finale in the U.S. last year was a Spanish-language television record-breaker. She also starred in a recurring role in the quirky American series "Weeds," and recently did a guest turn on "CSI: Miami," as a Mexican police chief.

The full letter, in Spanish, can be seen here.

"What was she thinking? ... I don't know," Javier Poza, a radio host, said after reading the text on the air (link in Spanish). His was one of dozens of chat shows consumed by speculation over the actress' motives and meanings.

"Was that Kate talking, or Teresa Mendoza," read one of the many social network comments, alluding to the title trafficker in "Queen of the South."

Del Castillo's letter came on the same day the U.S. Treasury Department, in adding three Guzman associates to its "kingpin" blacklist, called the fugitive capo "the world's most powerful drug trafficker."

http://twextra.com/a4t17t

Hoy quiero decir lo que pienso y pues al que le acomode bien. Hoy 2012 me divierto más. Escucho más la música que me gusta como @ChavelaVargas @manuchao @Calle13Oficial @BuikaMusic leo @lydiacachosi #Galeano #sabines #Neruda ·#carlosfuentes y dejo de escuchar a los políticos. Y es que ya me cansé de hacer lo que no quiero. Muchas veces he sido feliz pero no me di cuenta. Amo. Me amo.

No creo en la manipulación, me tiene adormecida. El gobierno. La religión. La política. Los medios. La sociedad. La suciedad. Los que me juzgan y señalan pero también me exigen y me aplauden.

No creo en el matrimonio, creo en el amor. No creo en la idea de que DEBO estar con alguien por el resto de mi vida, eso sólo me crea culpa e infelicidad cuando he fracasado, de hecho, no creo en el fracaso, creo en salir adelante, en tomar decisiones buenas o malas, creo en cambiar de opinión tan seguido como sea necesario.

Añoro la primera vez de todo. Por eso creo que no importa cuanto ame a mi pareja necesito sentir eso que se siente las primeras veces en el estómago y que te recorre todo el cuerpo, no importa cuanto lo ame o que tan bello sea, necesito esa sensación a la cual soy adicta. Todos lo añoramos pero no nos atrevemos a decirlo. No será que las relaciones deberían de durar hasta que “eso” se acaba?

No creo en la monogamia, creo en la lealtad, en mis sensaciones, en lo que siento y dejo sentir a mi cuerpo.

No creo en el castigo ni en el pecado, no creo en como crecí creyendo que todo era pecado, hasta mi cuerpo, de hecho no creo en como la Biblia nos manipula en algunos de sus pasajes (los cuales seguro leyó Peña Nieto) para tener remordimientos, culpa y sobre todo MIEDO. Es más, no creo en nada que haya sido hecho por el hombre que me haga sentir perversa, que me haga sentir menos, culpable o avergonzada de mi sexualidad..

No creo en la Iglesia y en cualquier caso, no creo en la religión, pero si creo en Dios puesto que lo veo en mis ojos a través del espejo todos los días.

No creo en las enfermedades porque he aprendido como sus curas me han sido negadas, escondidas.

No creo en ninguna institución o ley que se dedican a aterrorizarme y quitarme mi dinero.

No creo en al Papa ni en el Vaticano con todo y su riqueza como tampoco creo en los sacerdotes ya que creo que el ser humano debe disfrutar del amor carnal, del sexo y de preferencia sin esconderse ni lastimando a nadie.

Nací desnuda sin leyes ni religión, esas las creó el hombre, como la Biblia y tengo la ligera sospecha de que se la inventaron sólo para seguir la manipulación y lucrar a favor de unos cuantos.

Creo en lo que siento y es por eso que creo en el miedo, me mantiene alerta, todo lo que experimente con mis 5 sentidos es lo que importa, lo que es real.

No creo en la sociedad ya que me ha hecho sentir avergonzada de quien soy, incompleta, pero es un hecho de que trato con todas mis ganas de entenderla y vivir en paz dentro de ella. Creo en mi y en mi única verdad, por que soy con quien tengo que lidiar cada segundo, aparte de mi, creo que no creo…

No creo en juzgar ya que sólo yo soy responsable de mi actuar y me faltaría vida.

No creo en la moral ya que varía enormemente entre el ser humano, creo en lo que me hace sentir bien o mal de mi misma para poder ir a dormir tranquila pero no en lo que la sociedad quiere hacerme sentir.

Creo en el bien.

Creo, a pesar de todo lo que acabo de escribir, en la raza humana, por que amo, odio, me arrepiento, me equivoco, lastimo, ayudo, siento, “fracaso”, lloro, sufro, envidio, tengo dolores profundos, tengo sexo, tengo sueños, fantasías, deseos, pido ayuda, recibo, doy, lucho, salgo adelante, me olvido, me enfurezco, me río, espero, soy paciente, soy impaciente, aguanto…estoy viva y por eso agradezco a Dios todos los días, por ser quien soy, bien o mal.

Hoy creo más en el Chapo Guzmán que en los gobiernos que me esconden verdades aunque sean dolorosas, quienes esconden la cura para el cáncer, el sida, etc. para su propio beneficio y riqueza.

SR. CHAPO, NO ESTARIA PADRE QUE EMPEZARA A TRAFICAR CON EL BIEN? CON LAS CURAS PARA LAS ENFERMEDADES, CON COMIDA PARA LOS NIÑOS DE LA CALLE, CON ALCOHOL PARA LOS ASILOS DE ANSIANOS QUE NO LOS DEJAN PASAR SUS ULTIMOS AÑOS HACIENDO LO QUE SE LES PEGUE LA REVERENDA CHINGADA, CON TRAFICAR CON POLITICOS CORRUPTOS Y NO CON MUJERES Y NIÑOS QUE TERMINAN COMO ESCLAVOS? CON QUEMAR TODOS ESOS “PUTEROS” DONDE LA MUJER NO VALE MAS QUE UNA CAJETILLA DE CIGARROS, SIN OFERTA NO HAY DEMANDA, ANIMESE DON, SERIA USTED EL HEROE DE HEROES, TRAFIQUEMOS CON AMOR, USTED SABE COMO.

“La vida es un negocio, lo único que cambia es la mercancía” que no?

-no a la culpa

-no al remordimiento

-no a la vergüenza

-no a la impunidad

-no a las diferencias raciales

-no a la política

-no a la religión

-no a señalar

-no al silencio

-no a la corrupción

-no al enriquecimiento ilícito

-no a coartar nuestros sueños

-no más sangre

-si a la vida

los quiero,

kate

Tyrant Jan Brewer still dragging here feet on medical marijuana law

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Brewer lifts hold on medical pot dispensaries process

by Mary K. Reinhart - Jan. 13, 2012 11:21 AM

The Republic | azcentral.com

Gov. Jan Brewer said Friday she will begin processing applications for medical marijuana dispensaries.

In a released statement, the governor said she will drop her federal lawsuit seeking clarification on the conflict between federal drug laws and the state's voter-approved medical pot law.

But Brewer said she will not issue dispensary licenses until other legal challenges are resolved.

Several lawsuits are pending in Maricopa County Superior Court seeking to force Brewer to allow dispensaries. She put the process on hold in June just days before it was to begin, saying she needed assurance from federal officials that state employees would not be prosecuted.

"Know this: I won't hesitate to halt state involvement in the (medical marijuana act) if I receive indication that state employees face prosecution due to their duties in administering the law," Brewer said in a statement.

Brewer said she still wants that assurance and sent a letter to the acting U.S. attorney for Arizona, Ann Scheel.

"If there are certain actions state employees should avoid or specific licensing and regulatory activities that concern the Department of Justice, I ask that you communicate those concerns to me immediately," she wrote.

'Gentle ban' on pot shops sought by L.A. City Atty. Trutanich

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'Gentle ban' on pot shops sought by L.A. City Atty. Trutanich

January 13, 2012 | 2:49 pm

The Los Angeles city attorney is calling on the City Council to implement a “gentle ban” on marijuana dispensaries that would forbid businesses from selling the drug –- but still allow patients who are seriously ill and their caregivers to cultivate it.

At a council committee meeting on Friday, City Atty. Carmen Trutanich and several of his top lawyers recommended that officials revoke the current ordinance regulating marijuana dispensaries, which calls for a lottery to choose which dispensaries to allow.

In October, the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles ruled that Long Beach, which carried out a lottery similar to the one proposed in L.A., violated federal law on the grounds that the city was, in essence, sanctioning the distribution of an illegal drug.

Jane Usher, a special assistant city attorney, told the Public Safety Committee that the decision, which Long Beach has appealed to the state Supreme Court, limits what municipalities can do to control dispensaries. “They left very, very little for cities to lawfully do,” she said.

Usher said L.A.'s ordinance has been challenged in more than 60 lawsuits filed by marijuana dispensaries and patients, and has cost the city millions of dollars to fight. She warned that if the city does not revoke the ordinance “it is simply a manner of time, from a risk management point of view, before we have a ruling against the city of Los Angeles on the same grounds.”

Under Trutanich's proposal, the city would not prosecute ill patients or their caregivers who were growing marijuana, as long as there was no third party involved and no money was changing hands. The proposal will come before the full council eventually, but not before it is first heard in the Planning and Land Use Management Committee.

One medical marijuana dispensary worker decried the proposal and said she and others have been trying for years to get the city to adopt a workable ordinance.

Sarah Armstrong, a medical marijuana advocate who helps run a dispensary in Reseda, said hundreds of “rogue” dispensaries that have opened up in recent years have given a bad rap to older, more responsible operations that want to follow the law and cooperate with the city. At the meeting on Friday, police officers and other city officials gave testimony about crime surrounding some dispensaries.

“We’re tired of being tarred with the same brush,” she said.

She dismissed the proposed prohibition as politically motivated -- Trutanich is considering a run for Los Angeles County district attorney -- and said medical marijuana activists were prepared to resort to a voter referendum to reaffirm the right to use dispensaries.

Armstrong said “there’s no such thing as a gentle ban,” since many primary caregivers don't have the time to grow marijuana.

Marijuana Express????

Arizona officials find pot on trains from Mexico

Jan. 14, 2012 08:27 AM

Associated Press

NOGALES -- U.S. customs officers in Nogales say they've found three loads of marijuana inside railroad cars entering the country from Mexico in the last week.

The Nogales International reports the largest of the marijuana seizures came Wednesday when officers found 14 bundles of marijuana inside a railroad car loaded with fish meal. The officers noticed something unusual on an X-ray scan and then located the bundles with a probe.

Marijuana weighing 345 pounds was found when the car was unloaded.

Officers had found 120 pounds of pot in a rail car on Monday. A single bundle weighing more than 20 pounds was found later in the week in an empty car on a train headed into the U.S

America’s Longest Ongoing War: The ‘Race’ War on Drugs

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America’s Longest Ongoing War: The ‘Race’ War on Drugs

By John W. Whitehead

January 09, 2012

“The drug war is not to protect the children, save the babies, shield the neighborhoods, or preserve the rain forests. The drug war is a violent campaign against black men and by extension the black family, among many others.”— Wilton D. Alston, “How Can Anyone Not Realize the War on (Some) Drugs Is Racist?” LewRockwell.com (June 24, 2011)

After more than 40 years and at least $1 trillion, America’s so-called “war on drugs” ranks as the longest-running, most expensive and least effective war effort by the American government. Four decades after Richard Nixon declared that “America’s public enemy No. 1 in the United States is drug abuse,” drug use continues unabated, the prison population has increased six fold to over two million inmates (half a million of whom are there for nonviolent drug offenses), SWAT team raids for minor drug offenses have become more common, and in the process, billions of tax dollars have been squandered.

Just consider—every 19 seconds, someone in the U.S. is arrested for violating a drug law. Every 30 seconds, someone in the U.S. is arrested for violating a marijuana law, making it the fourth most common cause of arrest in the United States. Approximately 1,313,673 individuals were arrested for drug-related offenses in 2011. Police arrested an estimated 858,408 persons for marijuana violations in 2009. Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89 percent were charged with possession only. Since 1971, more than 40 million individuals have been arrested due to drug-related offenses. Moreover, since December 31, 1995, the U.S. prison population has grown an average of 43,266 inmates per year, with about 25 percent sentenced for drug law violations.

The foot soldiers in the government’s increasingly fanatical war on drugs, particularly marijuana, are state and local police officers dressed in SWAT gear and armed to the hilt. These SWAT teams carry out roughly 50,000 no-knock raids every year in search of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia. As author and journalist Radley Balko reports, "The vast majority of these raids are to serve routine drug warrants, many times for crimes no more serious than possession of marijuana... Police have broken down doors, screamed obscenities, and held innocent people at gunpoint only to discover that what they thought were marijuana plants were really sunflowers, hibiscus, ragweed, tomatoes, or elderberry bushes. (It’s happened with all five.)"

No wonder America’s war on drugs has increasingly become an issue of concern on and off the campaign trail. Back in 1976, Jimmy Carter campaigned for president on a platform that included decriminalizing marijuana and ending federal criminal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of the drug. Thirty-six years later, the topic is once again up for debate, especially among Republican presidential contenders whose stances vary widely, from Ron Paul who has called for an end to the drug war, to Govs. Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman who have said that states should be allowed to legalize medical marijuana without federal interference, to Rick Santorum who has admitted to using marijuana while in college but remains adamantly opposed to its legalization.

Americans are showing themselves to be increasingly receptive to a change in the nation’s drug policy, with a Gallup poll showing a record-high 50% of Americans favoring legalizing marijuana use, nearly half of all Americans favor legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use, 70% favoring legalizing it for medical purposes, and a 2008 Zogby poll which found that three in four Americans believe the war on drugs to be a failure. “As an active duty jail superintendent, I've seen how the drug war doesn't do anything to reduce drug abuse but does cause a host of other problems, from prison overcrowding to a violent black market controlled by gangs and cartels,” said Richard Van Wickler, the serving corrections superintendent in Cheshire County, N.H. “For a long time this issue has been treated like a third rail by politicians, but polls now show that voters overwhelmingly agree that the drug war is a failure and that a new direction is sorely needed.”

A growing number of law enforcement officials and national organizations are also calling for an end to the drug wars, including the US Conference of Mayors, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former US Secretary of State George Schultz, and former presidents of Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, and the NAACP. In fact, at their national convention in July 2011, the NAACP voiced their concern over the striking disparity in incarceration between whites and blacks, particularly when it comes to drug-related offenses.

In terms of its racial impact, the U.S. government’s war on drugs also constitutes one of the most racially discriminatory policies being pushed by the government in recent decades, with African-Americans constituting its greatest casualties. As the ACLU has reported, “Despite the fact that whites engage in drug offenses at a higher rate than African-Americans, African-Americans are incarcerated for drug offenses at a rate that is 10 times greater than that of whites.” Indeed, blacks—who make up 13% of the population—account for 40% of federal prisoners and 45% of state prisoners convicted of drug offenses.

Moreover, a November 2011 study by researchers at Duke University found that young blacks are arrested for drug crimes ten times more often than whites. Likewise, a 2008 study by the ACLU concluded that blacks in New York City were five times more likely to be arrested than their white counterparts for simple marijuana possession. Latinos were three times more likely to be arrested. The Drug Policy Alliance and California NAACP released a report claiming that between 2006 and 2008 “police in 25 of California's major cities arrested blacks at four, five, six, seven, and even 12 times the rate of whites.”

This disproportionate approach to prosecuting those found in possession of marijuana is particularly evident in California, where black marijuana offenders were imprisoned 13 times as much as non-blacks in 2011. In fact, between 1990 and 2010, there was a 300% surge in arrests for marijuana possession for nonwhites. As the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice concluded, “California’s criminal justice system can be divided into two categories with respect to marijuana: one system for African-Americans, another for all other races.”

Thus, while the government’s war on drugs itself may not be an explicit attempt to subjugate minority groups, the policy has a racist effect in that it disproportionately impacts minority communities. Moreover, the origins of drug prohibition have explicitly racial justifications. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, prohibitionists clamoring to make drugs illegal tapped into common racial prejudices to convince others of the benefits of drug prohibition. For example, opium imports to America peaked in the 1840s, with 70,000 pounds imported annually, but Chinese immigrants did not arrive in large numbers until after the 1850s. Thus, Americans were using opium in copious amounts before Chinese immigrants arrived. Once they arrived however, they became convenient scapegoats for those interested in making opium illegal. Prohibitionists portrayed opium smoking as a habit below the respectability of “white” men. In a similar manner, marijuana was later associated with blacks, Latinos, and jazz culture, making marijuana an easy target for prohibition.

Yet despite 40 years of military funding to eradicate foreign drug supplies, increased incarceration rates, and more aggressive narcotics policing, the war on drugs has done nothing to resolve the issue of drug addiction. Consumption of cocaine and marijuana has been relatively stable over the past four decades, with a spike in use during the 1970s and 80s. And a European Union Commission study determined that “global drug production and use remained largely unchanged from 1998 through 2007.” In fact, the only things that have changed are that drugs are cheaper and more potent, there are more people in prison, and the government is spending more taxpayer money.

So what’s the solution?

As Professor John McWhorter contends, problems of addiction should be treated like the medical problems they are—in other words, drug addiction is a health problem, not a police problem. At the very least, marijuana, which has been widely recognized as medically beneficial, should be legalized. As a society, we would be far better off investing the copious amounts of money currently spent on law enforcement in prevention and treatment programs. Of course, the pharmaceutical industry doesn’t want marijuana legalized, fearing it might cut into its profit margins. However, as California has shown, it could be a boon for struggling state economies. Marijuana is California’s biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion a year in sales. Were California to legalize the drug (it legalized medical marijuana in 1996) and allow the state to regulate and tax its sale, tax collectors estimate it could bring in $1.3 billion in revenue. Prior to the Obama administration’s crackdown on the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries, which has cost the state thousands of jobs, lost income and lost tax revenue, California had been raking in $100 million in taxes from the dispensaries alone.

As Neill Franklin, the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition who worked on narcotics policing for the Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police Department for over 30 years, remarked in the New York Times:

In an earlier era it may have been a smart move for politicians to act “tough on drugs” and stay far away from legalization. But today, many voters recognize that our prohibition laws don’t do anything to reduce drug use but do create a black market where cartels and gangs use violence to protect their profits.

While some fear that legalization would lead to increased use, those who want to use marijuana are probably already doing so under our ineffective prohibition laws. And when we stop wasting so many resources on locking people up, perhaps we can fund real public education and health efforts of the sort that have led to dramatic reductions in tobacco use over the last few decades — all without having to put handcuffs on anyone.

I have spent my entire adult life fighting the war on drugs as a police officer on the front lines. I have experienced the loss of friends and comrades who fought this war alongside me, and every year tens of thousands of other people are murdered by gangs battling over drug turf in American cities, Canada and Mexico. It is time to reduce violence by taking away a vital funding source from organized crime just as we did by ending alcohol prohibition almost 80 years ago.

The goals of reducing crime, disease, death and addiction have not been met by the “drug war” that was declared by President Nixon 40 years ago and ramped up by each president since.

The public has waked up to the fact that we need to change our marijuana laws. Savvy politicians would do well to catch up.

Student defends teacher caught with pot

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Student defends teacher caught with pot

By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times

January 16, 2012

When the police were leaving a Thousand Oaks high school campus after a routine search of student lockers for contraband, one of their drug-sniffing dogs paused at a vehicle in the staff parking lot.

The car belonged to a special education teacher, and police said the marijuana found inside the vehicle did too.

Since Courtney Stockton was placed on leave from his teaching duties at Westlake High School, one of his former students — a 17-year-old academic standout who took a summer school health class from the teacher — has come to his defense. Loudly.

In a column published in the town's community newspaper, Dashiell Young-Saver urged district officials to show restraint in punishing Stockton, saying he had a rare ability to turn what should have been a mundane yawner of a health course into something inspirational.

"His teaching methods were as ordinary as his first name is masculine," wrote the senior, who is sifting through college offers that include Harvard. "He talked, just talked, for whole class periods about the nature of life, as if it was a course in philosophy.

"His lectures may have started off with health-related topics like the negative effects of drugs, but he eventually would find a tangent and run with it. The class never got bored."

Stockton told stories as he taught, Young-Saver wrote in the Dec. 22 commentary published in the Thousand Oaks Acorn, capturing students' attention with philosophical flights of fancy like a modern Socrates.

Young-Saver, who is also editor of the school's student newspaper, said he felt compelled to rally to his former teacher's defense because "drug hysteria" in the Conejo Valley might put an early end to the career of a skilled, if unorthodox, instructor.

"He did one thing that was stupid,'' the lanky track runner said from his parent's airy living room in Thousand Oaks. "I hope the district doesn't take rash action and fire him."

Stockton's troubles began Dec. 8 when one of the drug-sniffing dogs randomly searching the campus hit on Stockton's vehicle as they were preparing to leave, said Ventura County Sheriff's Capt. Bill Ayub. Police recovered less than an ounce of marijuana that the teacher had hidden out of sight, Ayub said.

Officials found no indication that Stockton was selling or supplying pot to students, but possession of any illegal drugs or alcohol on school campuses is forbidden under state and federal laws, he said. Stockton didn't have a medical marijuana card, Ayub said.

Ayub said he couldn't recall another teacher being nabbed for possession during the random searches that have been carried out in the district for decades. The dogs walk around student lockers and in student parking lots, sniffing out banned substances, he said.

"We are normally not searching teachers' property. But the dogs were returning to their vehicle and one of them just alerted to this car,'' he said. "It was just happenstance."

The 35-year-old instructor, who teaches special education students during the regular academic year, was issued a misdemeanor citation that could bring a fine of up to $500 or 10 days in jail. District officials placed him on a one-week suspension and said other disciplinary action could follow.

Stockton could not be reached for comment.

Conejo Valley Unified School District Supt. Jeff Baarstad said he couldn't discuss Stockton's case specifically but that any employee caught with marijuana would face suspension for a first offense and possible termination if it happened again.

"We want to set an example for kids. We believe that teachers and support services employees and superintendents should set an example,'' he said. "This isn't a good example."

Thousand Oaks and its surrounding communities have been shaken by the growing abuse of prescription drugs and heroin by teenagers and young adults. In October, Griffen Kramer, 18, a quarterback on the Thousand Oaks High School football team and son of former NFL player Erik Kramer, died of a heroin overdose after a night of partying with friends.

Young-Saver says he's aware of the problem — at the school newspaper he has overseen coverage of drug abuse. But in the case of Stockton, he said, administrators would be making a mistake if they fired him. And missing out on a rare teaching moment.

"His alleged drug possession has led to his suspension, a true testament to his health lessons of how drug use will hurt someone in the long run," Stockton's sharp-quilled defender wrote.

"And I'm sure he will use this story of his suspension to teach kids in the future before moving on to some memorable tangent in his lectures."

catherine.saillant@latimes.com

Mexico’s 2012 vote is vulnerable to narco threat

The only solution to the drug war is full re-legalization of drugs thru out the world.

Remember drugs were legal in the USA till 1914 when the 1914 Harrison Narcotic Tax Act was passed. Marijuana wasn't made illegal till 1937 with the passage of the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act. After that the USA exported our drug war to the rest of the world. Mostly by paying other countries money to lock up their citizens that sold or used drugs.

Source

Mexico’s 2012 vote is vulnerable to narco threat

By Nick Miroff and William Booth, Published: January 15

MEXICO CITY — With Mexico’s presidential vote and other key elections less than six months away, both the government and its watchdogs fear that the black hand of organized crime will manipulate the process to install puppet candidates as servants of the drug cartels.

According to Mexican prosecutors, little has been done to keep the narcos and their drug money out of the July 1 election, and U.S. officials worry that tainted campaigns could bring new leaders to city halls and federal offices who might undermine the ongoing war against Mexico's powerful crime gangs.

Political analysts say that the drug lords could corrupt the presidential race even without having to meddle directly in those campaigns and that their attempts to boost local candidates or suppress votes could contaminate the process at every level.

Such threats appear to put Mexican democracy at a critical juncture, as the country struggles to escape from the decades-long shadow of corrupt, one-party rule while new, darker forces angle for power.

Five governorships, hundreds of congressional seats and nearly 1,000 local-level races are at stake, but the top prize is Mexico’s presidency, an office that the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, dominated for much of the 20th century and appears poised to recapture.

Despite concerns that drug gangsters will bankroll some candidates while intimidating — or assassinating — others, a package of new laws targeting election-related crimes has stalled in Mexico's National Congress since April. That leaves little time to safeguard the upcoming vote, Juan Luis Vargas, Mexico’s chief prosecutor for electoral crimes, said in an interview.

“The appetite of these criminal groups is infinite,” said Vargas, explaining that the cartels operate by an “economic logic” not unlike any business interest looking to gain influence. “They want certain guarantees from the authorities: that their monopolies will be protected and their competitors won't be allowed to operate in a given territory.”

Mexico's 2012 vote is even more at risk from pernicious influences than the last presidential election in 2006, Vargas said, because the country's mafias have honed their methods of corruption, opting to finance campaigns rather than buy off officials after they are in power.

“They say: ‘Why would I want to pay off the authorities if I can own them from the start?’ ” he said.

Elections held Nov. 13 in Mexico’s troubled state of Michoacan are viewed as an ominous sign of what could happen to the vote this summer. Polls showed the sister of President Felipe Calderon, Luisa Maria Calderon, with a solid lead in the governor's race, but she ended up losing to PRI candidate Fausto Vallejo Figueroa amid multiple allegations of voter intimidation.

Local news media revealed audio recordings of a La Familia drug cartel leader allegedly threatening to kill voters' family members if they cast ballots for a candidate who was supposedly backed by the rival Knights Templar gang. Federal authorities say they are investigating, as candidates in other towns also reported threats.

“We cannot allow organized crime to decide at the ballot box,” said Josefina Vazquez Mota, a leading contender to be the 2012 presidential candidate of the National Action Party (PAN), which ended 71 years of PRI-party rule with Vicente Fox's election in 2000.

Mexican presidents are limited to one six-year term, and the PAN held on to power in 2006 with Calderon's narrow win over leftist challenger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who will top the ticket for the Democratic Revolutionary Party, or PRD, again in 2012.

 Mexico's ongoing drug war continues to claim lives and disrupt order in the country.

This time around, analysts expect PAN candidates to be hobbled by public dissatisfaction with Calderon's military offensive against the drug cartels. At least 50,000 people have been killed since he took office in December 2006, and gangland violence has spread misery to parts of the country that were previously considered safe.

Outdated election laws

Calderon has angered rival lawmakers by suggesting that a presidential victory by PRI candidate Enrique Pena Nieto would represent a capitulation to the criminals. But many Mexicans seem nostalgic for the relative tranquility of life under the PRI, whose network of patronage and corruption once kept organized crime in check.

PRI leaders have bristled at allegations by Calderon and others that they aren’t as committed to fighting the cartels. But political observers say the party deserves the most blame for holding up a package of proposals that would stiffen penalties for election-related crimes, expand investigative powers and mandate greater transparency and oversight for campaign financing, among other changes.

Pena Nieto has called on candidates to sign a “pact” agreeing to shun any offer of assistance or cash from criminals. “I don’t want a single vote or bit of help from those who are outside the law,” he said. “I want to win the trust of good Mexicans.”

Mexico has not updated its election-crimes laws since 1996, despite the intensified pressure on its political system from the cartels as well as conventional influence-seekers.

“We have federal election laws that are made to prevent outside interference, but the reality is that if you get a million pesos to put up campaign posters, there is very little authorities can do about it,” said Jose Carreño, a political analyst and resident scholar at Mexico’s Tecnologico de Monterrey.

“We have a problem, but until there is reform, there isn’t much that can be done,” he said.

Cartels’ local influence

Local elections are viewed as especially vulnerable to cartel interference, because it takes relatively smaller acts of fraud, corruption and political violence to sway the outcome. And some observers of the drug war doubt the gangsters’ ability to have significant influence beyond their immediate surroundings.

“Mexican narcos don’t have the ability to sway elections on a national scale,” said Mexican security analyst Alejandro Hope. “And why would they need congressional deputies anyway? They don’t control the local police.”

But a presidential victory by the PRI could still be marred by perceptions of illegitimacy if there are widespread reports of vote-buying, violence and other shenanigans at the local level.

“I think a lot of people want to give the PRI the benefit of the doubt, because they think it may be in a stronger position to get the [cartels] under control, given its history and reputation,” said Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue, a policy think tank based in Washington. “But the penetration of the drug trade into the political system appears to be deepening, and it’s very hard to get precise information.”

Jeffrey Davidow, who was the U.S. ambassador to Mexico when the PRI lost the presidency in 2000, said that although Mexico’s political parties are often quick to throw around accusations of underworld ties, their campaign operations are so opaque that the allegations rarely stick.

“All of these charges and insinuations seem to argue strongly that the Mexican political system ought to be more transparent about how elections are funded,” Davidow said.

Medical marijuana reduces traffic accidents???

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Pot predicament: Can marijuana use actually save lives on the road?

Kathryn Hawkins

Proponents of legalizing marijuana have long argued that criminalization of the drug causes more problems than it solves. For instance, taxpayers spend between $7.5 billion and $10 billion a year on arresting and prosecuting Americans for marijuana-related crimes. Supporters of legalized marijuana maintain that this money would be better spent cracking down on violent criminals.

Now, pro-legalization backers have yet another point in their favor: According to a new study from the University of Colorado-Denver, the 16 states that have legalized medical marijuana have seen an average 9 percent drop in traffic deaths since their medical marijuana laws took effect. The study analyzed data from 1990 through 2009.

“We went into our research expecting the opposite effect,” says study co-author Daniel Rees, a professor of economics at the University of Colorado-Denver. “We thought medical marijuana legalization would increase traffic fatalities. We were stunned by the results.”

When it comes to traffic safety, can marijuana really save lives?

Is marijuana an alcohol substitute?

Is this a sign of the times? A new study ties legalization of medical marijuana to a decrease in fatal car crashes in 16 states. One possible reason: Motorists who are high tend to drive slowly.

It’s long been known that alcohol is a primary contributor to deadly car crashes. According to estimates from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers with a blood-alcohol level above 0.15 percent are 385 times as likely to be involved in a fatal crash as sober drivers are. In every state, the legal limit for driving while intoxicated is 0.08 percent.

The University of Colorado-Denver study found that the increase in legal use of medical marijuana often leads to a reduction in alcohol consumption. The study cites data from the Beer Institute, an industry trade group, indicating that beer purchases go down by an average of 5 percent after medical marijuana laws are passed. In these states, the researchers theorize, some people are smoking marijuana rather than downing booze.

A 2009 study from the University of California, Berkeley, backs up that finding. Four of every 10 patients at the university’s medical marijuana dispensary said they used marijuana to curb alcohol cravings.

Are high drivers better than drunken drivers?

The differences between drivers under the influence of alcohol and those who’ve smoked weed are stark, says Mason Tvert, executive director of the marijuana legalization advocacy group SAFER (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation).

“People who abuse alcohol take more risks, drive faster and are less likely to recognize that they’re impaired,” Tvert says. “They feel like Superman when they’re drunk.”

By contrast, motorists who’ve puffed pot “drive slower, are less likely to take risks, and are more likely to recognize when they’re impaired and decide not to drive,” he says.

Studies support Tvert’s view: A clinical trial conducted in Israel compared the simulated driving skills of people who’d consumed alcohol and those who’d smoked marijuana. The researchers found that alcohol caused these people to speed up their driving, while smoking marijuana prompted the drivers to slow down. An analysis by the U.S. Department of Transportation found marijuana rarely is the only drug found in the bodies of drivers who’ve died in car crashes.

Is driving under the influence of marijuana safe?

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) advocates against impaired driving of any form, and that includes smoking marijuana and getting behind the wheel. Emily Tompkins, MADD’s executive director for Colorado, says the group is keeping tabs on marijuana legalization and how it affects traffic safety.

MADD isn’t interested in determining how much marijuana someone can consume to remain within a legal limit, but Tompkins urges people who smoke marijuana (medical or otherwise) to be aware of when their driving is impaired. Tompkins claims marijuana-impaired drivers often show their medical marijuana cards to police officers who pull them over, as though the card legally entitles them to drive under the influence of drugs — which it does not.

The U.S. Department of Transportation found that although the harm of marijuana for drivers is minimal compared with that of alcohol and other drugs, it may be dangerous in certain situations, such as when quick thinking is required or when a driver has combined marijuana with alcohol or other drugs.

No one is advocating that driving while stoned is better than being alcohol- or drug-free, but experts agree that marijuana use while driving presents far less danger than many other drugs as well as alcohol.

Meanwhile, more Americans appear to be embracing marijuana. A Gallup poll released in October 2011 found that a record-high 50 percent of Americans favor legalizing marijuana. In 2009, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed 16.7 million Americans age 12 and older had smoked pot at least once in the month before being surveyed.

Could widespread legalization boost road safety? Dan Rees, an economics professor at the University of Colorado-Denver, says he was “stunned” by the findings of the medical marijuana study.

While the University of Colorado-Denver study presents striking evidence of marijuana’s effect on road safety, the research was limited to motorists who have access to medical marijuana. In some states, that’s a relatively significant portion of the population. In Montana, 3 percent of the state’s population has access to medical marijuana; in Colorado, it’s 2.5 percent. Actual percentages for marijuana use may be considerably higher than that, however.

“Under medical marijuana laws, caregivers and patients can grow marijuana, and there’s very little policing of this,” Rees says.

Rees believes that authorized marijuana users often sell or give pot to others for recreational use. He says many of those recreational users probably are young adults — a group who’s responsible for a disproportionately high number of alcohol-related car crashes. Marijuana advocacy group NORML says pot is the third most popular recreational “drug” in the United States, behind alcohol and tobacco.

Rees teamed up with D. Mark Anderson, assistant professor of economics at Montana State University, on the marijuana study.

For now, medical marijuana is legal in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia. In those places, doctors prescribe marijuana to ease pain and suffering for patients with conditions like cancer.

Federal law prohibits the growth and sale of marijuana for any purpose. Opponents of legalizing the drug maintain that marijuana is a “gateway” to harder drugs like cocaine and heroin, and argue that the dangers posed by stoned drivers would rise.

While widespread legalization of marijuana isn’t likely in the near future, such a move might have a dramatic effect on road safety if drivers — particularly young adults — flock to marijuana instead of alcohol to get buzzed.

“When you see fewer traffic accidents in every state that legalizes medical marijuana, that’s strong proof,” Rees says.

Mirrors but no smoke (yet) in medical marijuana case

Mirrors but no smoke (yet) in medical marijuana case

The judge issuing the latest smack down of the Brewer administration’s attempt to stall or thwart implementation of the voter-approved medical marijuana law did NOT go for an obvious metaphorical admonition like: “What are you people smoking?”

Instead, Judge J. Richard Gama on Tuesday simply declared invalid a series regulations in the law and ordered the state to “implement the lawful provisions.”

Gama said the state couldn’t require dispensary applicants to have been Arizona residents for three years, or to never have filed for personal or corporate bankruptcy and a few other things.

So, does that finally end the stalling tactics by Brewer and company?

Not really.

The governor’s folks now say that it will take months to retool the old rules and regulations (which only have to be retooled because the administration didn’t implement them in the first place.)

We can’t describe the strategy as smoke and mirrors because there’s no smoke. Not yet.

Not as long as the will of the voters is ignored and people who should have been helped by now are left needlessly to suffer.

The Republican candidates on drugs

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The Republican candidates on drugs

By Al Kamen, Published: January 17

Folks, these are your Republican candidates on drugs.

Yes, we know that jobs and the economy are the marquee issues for this campaign. Even major topics such as war and education are getting short shrift among the wannabe nominees.

But those reefer-mad kids over at Students for Sensible Drug Policy are trying to, uh, smoke the candidates out on their favorite subject.

In a series of videos posted to YouTube, student volunteers have caught the candidates — sometimes awkwardly — on the campaign trail, explaining their stances. Squirm alert.

Watch Mitt Romney try to dodge a question and claim not to know what industrialized hemp is. Behold Rick Santorum explaining why most of the time he’s for states’ rights and small government, but when it comes to drugs, he’s with the feds.

“Federal government does have a role in making sure states don’t go out and legalize drugs,” Santorum tells a young woman attending a speech who identifies herself as a marijuana user.

Pass the chips, dude. This is some entertaining TV.

In another video, though, Newt Gingrich indicated that he’s not in favor of harsh jail time for drug users. “You shouldn’t be arrested,” Gingrich says when a woman who says she’s a recreational drug user asks whether she should be arrested.

You can practically see the gears in his head spinning as he calculates how much of a jerk he’d seem if he went hard-line on such a nice young lady — on camera. And then he turns paternal. “You also shouldn’t do it,” he admonishes the youthful pot enthusiast.

But let’s put policy positions and questions of penal codes and states’ rights aside and get to the really juicy stuff. Have any of the candidates sampled the goods themselves?

Unclear for the other major candidates, but Santorum and Gingrich have both fessed up to having used. Santorum smoked pot in college, something he says he later came to regret. Gingrich says his toking took place in graduate school.

Both painted their dabbles in illegal drugs as a product of youthful indiscretion — and in Gingrich’s case, nothing more than a sign of the times — much like the thick glasses he sported back in the day. Gingrich told the Associated Press in 1994 that his pot use was “a sign we were alive and in graduate school in that era.”

In the 20 years since Bill Clinton claimed he didn’t inhale, drug use among presidential candidates has become almost a non-issue — but it clearly still gets some people fired up.

SNIP

Chicago narc convicted of DUI and reckless homicide

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Off-duty cop guilty in fatal DUI

Chicago officer convicted in 2009 collision with 13-year-old riding bike on South Side

By Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune reporter

January 19, 2012

Trenton Booker's family cried silently behind a glass partition in a Cook County courtroom Wednesday as Chicago police Officer Richard Bolling was convicted in the 13-year-old boy's death in a hit-and-run.

The boy's father, Terrence Booker, clutched a wet tissue and silently pumped his fist. Seated in the bench behind him, Trenton's mother, Barbara Norman, held hands with her sister and cried.

A jury deliberated about nine hours over two days before convicting Bolling of aggravated drunken driving, reckless homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal accident in the crash that killed Trenton as he rode his bike late one night in May 2009.

"We feel vindicated," Booker said shortly after the verdict was announced. "We got justice for Trenton after all these years."

Judge Matthew Coghlan revoked Bolling's bond. The decorated 17-year veteran narcotics officer was booked into Cook County Jail, where he will remain in protective custody until his scheduled sentencing in February. He faces up to 15 years in prison, but is also eligible for probation.

Bolling's family, including his father, retired Chicago police Cmdr. Douglas Bolling, left the Criminal Courts Building without comment. But Needham described the younger Bolling as a church-going family man. "This is a good man, and he does not belong in prison," he said.

Bolling was suspended from the department after his arrest and the city is moving to fire him, Needham said.

Prosecutors argued Bolling received preferential treatment from police the night his Dodge Charger struck and killed Trenton at 81st Street and Ashland Avenue. Bolling was arrested a few blocks away driving the wrong way down a one-way street with an open beer in the front console of his car and alcohol on his breath. He immediately announced he was a police officer, according to the officers who stopped him.

A video camera in a squad car picked up an undisclosed superior officer telling Bolling about 30 minutes after he was stopped that "I'm gonna try to help you out as much as possible." Jurors did not hear that evidence, however.

One of the officers testified that she was ordered to "hold off" on field sobriety tests by her watch commander. Those tests weren't administered until two hours after the crash — but not before Bolling was taken to a washroom and allowed to freshen up.

The two arresting officers reported at the time that Bolling passed the sobriety tests, but both officers changed their opinions at trial, testifying that they now felt he had flunked key parts of the "walk-and-turn" test after reviewing the squad car video. One officer said she was "nervous" when she administered the tests because of all the superior officers at the scene.

It wasn't until 4 1/2 hours after the crash that Bolling, on orders of an internal affairs sergeant, took a blood-alcohol breath test, registering just below the legal limit of 0.08 percent. A forensic toxicologist told jurors that she estimated Bolling's blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash was as high as twice the legal limit.

Needham denied that Bolling ever asked for or received special treatment.

"That doesn't matter now," Terrence Booker said when asked about the allegations of police favoritism. "He's been convicted of all counts. … Today the justice system worked."

jmeisner@tribune.com

Mexico’s Drug War Bloodies Areas Thought Safe

Of course the "drug war" is nothing more then a jobs program for cops and other government thugs.

H. L. Mencken was right:

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

Mexico’s Drug War Bloodies Areas Thought Safe

By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD

Published: January 18, 2012

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican drug war that has largely been defined by violence along the border is intensifying in interior and southern areas once thought clear of the carnage, broadening a conflict that has already overwhelmed the authorities and dispirited the public, according to analysts and new government data.

Last week, two headless bodies were found in a smoldering minivan near the entrance to one of the largest and most expensive malls in Mexico City, generally considered a refuge from the grisly atrocities that have gripped other cities throughout the drug war.

Two other cities considered safe just six months ago — Guadalajara and Veracruz — have experienced their own episodes of brutality: 26 bodies were left in the heart of Guadalajara late last year, on the eve of Latin America’s most prestigious book fair, and last month the entire police force in Veracruz was dismissed after state officials determined that it was too corrupt to patrol a city where 35 bodies were dumped on a road in September.

The spreading violence, believed to largely reflect a widening turf war between two of the biggest criminal organizations in the country, has implications on both sides of the border, putting added pressure on political and law enforcement leaders who are already struggling to show that their strategies are working.

“It is a situation ever more complicated and complex,” said Ricardo Ravelo, a Mexican journalist who has written several books on criminal organizations. “Resources are and will be stretched to deal with this.”

American officials here acknowledge that the mayhem is unpredictable but contend that they have a way to help tackle it, spreading word that the $1.6 billion Merida Initiative, Washington’s signature antidrug program, will step up training and advising for the Mexican state and local police and judicial institutions this year, rather than emphasizing the delivery of helicopters and other equipment.

In a year in which President Felipe Calderón’s party, in power since 2000, may struggle to hang on to the presidency in July elections, the expanding violence is giving political rivals, all promising a more peaceful country, much to run on.

Discerning patterns of violence in the drug war can be perilous; it is often like a tornado skipping across terrain, devastating one area while leaving another untouched.

But government statistics released last week showed a surge in deaths presumed to be related to drug or organized crime in Mexico State, which surrounds the capital and is the nation’s most populous state, in the first nine months of last year. The government data also show that violence has now afflicted 831 communities nationwide, an increase of 7 percent.

Although questions have emerged about the government’s tally, many analysts agree that the violence is widening.

“There has been a definite shift of violence away from the border and back to the interior states,” said David A. Shirk, director of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego, who closely tracks drug crime.

In a way, he said, the shift is a stark reversal of the trend of six years ago, when violence exploded in more southerly states and migrated north along drug-trafficking routes, accelerating a drug war that has now left more than 47,000 people dead, according to the government.

In response, the Mexican government deployed its military and the federal police, arresting and killing more than two dozen cartel leaders and splintering or dismantling several groups. Their push has been backed by American aid in the form of helicopters, remotely piloted drones and the deepening involvement of American drug agents in investigations and raids.

The violence slackened in many areas along the border, including Ciudad Juárez, the bloodiest city, where homicides have been declining. Mexican officials say the decrease is proof that they are making headway, but analysts say it may have more to do with one rival group’s defeat of another, reducing competition and the bloodshed that comes with it.

As for the violence in other areas — Acapulco, in the south, is now the second most violent city — that, too, may reflect the shifting contours of the fights between criminal organizations.

The drug war, Mr. Shirk and other analysts say, is increasingly coming down to a fight to the death between the Sinaloa cartel, a more traditional drug-trafficking organization widely considered the most powerful, and Los Zetas, founded by former soldiers and considered the most violent as it expands into extortion, kidnapping and other rackets in regions far off the drug route map. A third, the Gulf Cartel, remains well armed and rises to attack from time to time.

Many of the clashes have been in central or more southern areas where the two main rivals have not previously fought each other so violently, analysts say. George W. Grayson, a longtime researcher of Mexican violence and co-author of a coming book on Los Zetas, said the group had spread to 17 states from 14 a year ago.

Though experts have said that Mexico City’s size, complexity and police force, considered better trained than many others, make it unlikely to fall into the mayhem of other locales, there have been alarming signs that violence is encroaching on the capital.

At the mall where the bodies were found, a banner proclaiming it was the work of the Sinaloa cartel appeared nearby, though experts say the killings could have been carried out by any number of offshoots operating in the region.

The murders were not the first in or near the capital to bear the signature of a cartel; in October two human heads were found on a busy road near the Defense Ministry headquarters.

But as the government, buttressed by United States drug agents and military advisers, deploys its armed forces and the federal police to dismantle criminal organizations and causes them to splinter, it has grown difficult to determine which criminal group is doing exactly what.

The conflict has undergone “Zetanification,” as all manner of criminal outfits copy the cartel’s brutal tactics and claim its name, said Mr. Grayson, a professor at the College of William and Mary.

Mexican officials continue to assert that they are getting the upper hand. In Washington last week, Mexico’s public safety secretary, Genaro García Luna, warned that violence would probably not decrease significantly for five more years. But he insisted that progress was being made, saying the rate of increase in homicides believed related to organized crime was showing signs of slowing. “You have to give the process more time to measure its efficiency,” he said.

At the mall in Mexico City, in the high-end Santa Fe district, known for its financial buildings and apartment towers, shoppers said they were worried but growing accustomed to gruesome violence in the country.

“We are living in a terrible situation,” said Jasia Grinberg, 65, who runs a hair salon at the mall, Centro Santa Fe, “and meanwhile, we are getting used to it.”

Judge rules silly medical marijuana rules unconstitutional.

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Judge to Brewer: Follow voters' will, proceed on pot dispensaries

by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Mary K. Reinhart - Jan. 19, 2012 12:45 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

State officials must allow dispensaries under the voter-approved medical marijuana law, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled.

In his Wednesday ruling, Judge Richard Gama struck down some restrictions state officials planned to use to determine who was eligible for dispensary licenses.

Gerald Gaines, CEO of a for-profit group Compassion First AZ, challenged those rules.

The rules require applicants to be state residents for three years; to file personal income taxes in Arizona for three years and to have no history of personal or corporate bankruptcy. The rules also required applicants to not be delinquent on child support, taxes, parking tickets, student loans and other government debts.

"The rules, we felt, were unfair and illegal," Gaines said. "The judge agreed with that, so we're very pleased with the ruling, and look forward to the state moving forward with the dispensary process as quickly as they can."

Under the law, state workers issue special ID cards to people with certain medical conditions, authorizing patients to use marijuana. Proposition 203 also allows the state Department of Health Services to issue permits for a limited number of pot dispensaries.

Gaines' lawsuit was one of several challenges after Gov. Jan Brewer failed to fully implement the law, approved by voters in 2010.

In May, she filed a lawsuit in federal court and stalled the dispensary permitting process, saying she wanted to clarify whether U.S. drug laws override Prop. 203 and, if not, whether state workers are immune from federal prosecution for implementing it.

Brewer last week dropped her federal lawsuit and said she will allow state health officials to start the process for licensing dispensaries. However, the governor said she would not allow workers to complete the process by issuing licenses until the courts resolve a separate legal challenge over the rules governing dispensaries.

DHS had called the case a "stumbling block" to begin the dispensary process, but now that the judge has ruled, they are analyzing "the best way to responsibly begin accepting applications" for dispensaries.

The governor allowed the health department to continue issuing ID cards to qualified medical marijuana users. Nearly 18,000 Arizonans have permission to use pot to treat a variety of debilitating conditions, including cancer and chronic pain, and about 15,000 of them have requested permission to grow the plant.

Brewer can appeal Gama's ruling. A spokesman said she is reviewing the judge's decision and, together with state health officials and legal counsel, will figure out to proceed.

Among other things, the state must go back through the rule-making process to change the application dates. Under the new timeline, officials had estimated that permits would be issued in mid-November.

Judge to Brewer: Follow voters' will

Judge to Brewer: Follow voters' will, proceed on pot dispensaries

by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Mary K. Reinhart - Jan. 19, 2012 09:55 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

The state must allow medical-marijuana dispensaries and cannot restrict who operates them based on where they live or their financial history, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled.

Judge Richard Gama's decision Wednesday broadens the pool of potential dispensary owners, who have been eager to set up shop since voters approved the law in 2010. And the ruling clears what may be the last obstacle for the state's medical-pot industry.

Would-be dispensary owner Gerald Gaines sued over state dispensary regulations and Gov. Jan Brewer's failure to fully implement the law.

"The Court finds that DHS (Department of Health Services) exceeded its statutory authority in promulgating these challenged regulations, and therefore they are invalid," Gama wrote.

Gama upheld regulations that protect against theft and require dispensary applications to comply with state law.

But the judge threw out state rules requiring dispensary applicants to be state residents for three years; to file personal income taxes in Arizona for three years; to have no history of personal or corporate bankruptcy; and to have no "government debts," such as child support, taxes or parking tickets.

"The rules, we felt, were unfair and illegal," Gaines said. "The judge agreed with that, so we're very pleased with the ruling, and look forward to the state moving forward with the dispensary process as quickly as they can."

Under the law, state workers issue special ID cards to people with certain medical conditions, authorizing patients to use marijuana. Proposition 203 also allows the state Health Department to issue permits for up to 126 pot dispensaries across the state.

Brewer filed a federal lawsuit in May and stalled the dispensary licensing process, saying she wanted to clarify whether U.S. drug laws override Prop. 203 and, if not, whether state workers are immune from federal prosecution for implementing it.

Brewer dropped her federal lawsuit last week and said she will allow state health officials to start the process for licensing dispensaries. However, the governor said she would not allow workers to issue licenses until the courts resolved Gaines' lawsuit.

DHS had called the case a "stumbling block" to begin the dispensary process. After the ruling, the agency said it is "analyzing the best way to responsibly begin accepting applications for medical-marijuana dispensaries."

The Health Department has continued to issue ID cards to qualified medical-marijuana users. Nearly 18,000 Arizonans have permission to use marijuana to treat a variety of debilitating conditions, including cancer and chronic pain, and about 15,000 of them have requested permission to grow the plant.

Brewer can appeal Gama's ruling. A spokesman said she is reviewing the judge's decision and, with state health officials and legal counsel, will figure out how to proceed.

Arizona's medical-marijuana law spawned a total of six lawsuits, including the federal suit and Gaines' challenge. Two suits involved "compassion clubs," which sprang up in the months after the state stalled dispensaries. Two others, filed by potential dispensary owners, sought to force Brewer to issue dispensary licenses and are now considered moot.

The state must go back through the rule-making process to change the application dates, since the original rules required that dispensary applications be submitted during June 2011.

Under the new timeline, officials had estimated that the state would make applications available in September and issue permits in mid-November.

Unless Brewer appeals, the Health Department will have to scrap four rules governing who can qualify to run dispensaries. The remaining qualifications require that applicants not be convicted felons, be at least 21 years old and comply with state law. In addition, people with 20 percent or more interest in the dispensary must be listed as the applicant, principal or board member.

The changes could to lead to a wide-open lottery system to determine who will run the state's 126 dispensaries, rather than vetting applicants based on other criteria.

"ADHS went beyond the scope of what they were allowed to do under the initiative," said attorney Ty Taber, who represents Gaines. "The way to remedy this is to have a system in place where all of the applicants have a fair, even, balanced opportunity to get a dispensary license."

Joe Yuhas, who helped write Prop. 203 and supported the original rules, said the criteria was intended to ensure that the best applicants received dispensary permits. While rules on residency, bankruptcy and delinquent debt will be eliminated barring an appeal, he said the state could establish additional criteria since the rule-making process is being re-opened.

"There's a limited number of dispensaries," said Yuhas, of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association. "There's no reason to have to settle for those who meet minimum criteria."

xxx

http://www.statepress.com/2012/01/20/arizona-medical-marijuana-act-moves-forward-following-recent-court-rulings/

Arizona Medical Marijuana Act moves forward following recent court rulings

By Alyssa Lee January 20, 2012 at 12:38 am

Last week Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer retracted her lawsuit against the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, which will allow prospective medical marijuana dispensaries to apply for their licenses.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton dismissed Gov. Jan Brewer’s lawsuit against the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act on Jan. 4. Brewer announced in a Jan. 13 press release she would not file her lawsuit again.

In reaction to Brewer’s delay on the implementation of the AMMA, Compassion First LLC filed a lawsuit in July 2011 seeking to change the proposed restrictions for dispensary applicants.

Compassion First is a for-profit group that aids those inquiring about opening a dispensary in Arizona.

On Thursday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Richard Gama issued a verdict in favor of Compassion First, which overturned rules in AMMA that restricted who can apply and run a medical marijuana dispensary.

PROPOSITION 203

Voters approved Proposition 203, AMMA, in November 2010.

The proposition allows a patient, whose “debilitating condition” meets a set of criteria specified in the law, to obtain marijuana with the permission of a doctor. It also established an application system for a maximum of 125 nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries in Arizona.

The dispensaries are to be monitored by the Arizona Department of Health Services.

The approval of Proposition 203, which passed by a narrow margin, was met with both criticism and praise.

In a press release issued Jan. 13, Brewer clarified her stance on Proposition 203 and what action the state will take.

“It is well-known that I did not support passage of Proposition 203,” Brewer said, “(However), the state of Arizona will not re-file in federal court a lawsuit.”

LAWSUIT AGAINST THE ARIZONA MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACT

Brewer, with the support of Attorney General Tom Horne, filed a lawsuit two days before Arizona was to begin accepting dispensary applications on May 29, 2011.

Brewer filed her case in an effort to protect state employees from possible federal prosecution based on their activities in administering the medical marijuana law.

She said Arizona began implementing Proposition 203 on April 14, 2011 and continued its implementation until the state received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice in May.

According to the letter, “growing, distributing and possessing marijuana in any capacity, other than as part of a federally authorized research program, is a violation of federal law regardless of state laws that purport to permit such activities.”

DISMISSING BREWER’S LAWSUIT

In her Jan. 4 ruling, Bolton said there is no active case in which to intervene and a “generalized threat” was not enough to warrant a ruling in Brewer’s favor.

“(Brewer’s) complaint details no concrete or imminent threat of enforcement,” Bolton wrote in her judgment. “Nor does it describe with any credible detail a state employee at risk of federal prosecution.”

Bolton granted Brewer 30 days to amend her case.

BREWER’S RESPONSE

Although Brewer withdrew her lawsuit against the law on Jan. 13, she warned she would take action should anything arise that is potentially threatening to state employees.

“Know this: I won’t hesitate to halt state involvement in the AMMA if I receive indication that state employees face prosecution due to their duties in administering this law,” Brewer said in a Jan. 13 statement.

Following the withdrawal of her lawsuit, Brewer said the Arizona Department of Health Services would begin accepting and processing medical marijuana dispensary applications once the lawsuit filed by Compassion First was resolved, though the process for accepting these applications has yet to be determined.

COMPASSION V. ARIZONA

In the lawsuit, Compassion v. Arizona, Compassion First challenged rules in Proposition 203 that would restrict who can manage a medical marijuana dispensary. Such rules included state residency requirements and an exclusion of those who have previously filed bankruptcy.

On Tuesday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Richard Gama issued a ruling that overturned these proposed restrictions for dispensary applicants. However, he did uphold rules that require dispensaries to comply with state laws.

Judge Gama also ordered that Brewer and the state proceed with the application process to approve dispensaries.

In his ruling, which became available to the public Wednesday, Gama sided with Judge Bolton and said the state had no right to further delay the implementation of AMMA.

“Defendants cite no authority for this proposition and the court has found none,” Gama said in his ruling. “The voters intended the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act to be implemented within 120 days. This has not been done.”

Allan Sobol, operations manager at Marijuana Marketing Strategies and founder of Arizona Cannabis University, said that he was excited about the legal progress AMMA has made within the last two weeks.

“The law was 100 percent on our side,” Sobol said. “You have to have damages if you are going to file a lawsuit and (Brewer) had no merits to her case.”

ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES

Will Humble, ADHS Director, said in a statement on Thursday that ADHS is contemplating the best way to responsibly begin the application process for dispensaries following Gama’s ruling.

“ADHS is working to determine the next steps to begin accepting dispensary applications,” Humble wrote on his blog.

In response to the hold on AMMA’s progression in Arizona over the last year, Steven Proctor, one of the four leaders of NORML at ASU, a college chapter of NORML whose goal is to educate students about cannabis and marijuana laws, said that state representatives are procrastinating on implementing AMMA.

“We should be more critical of (the Brewer administration and the ADHA) at this point because they’re seeking a judgment with an argument that was said (by Judge Bolton) to be fruitless,” Proctor, an economics junior, said. “It’s time for them to implement Prop. 203.”

There are currently 18,000 Arizonan medical marijuana cardholders, 15,000 of which are legally allowed to grow their own marijuana.

To be eligible to grow legalized medical marijuana, one must live outside of the 25-mile radius of the nearest dispensary, as set by AMMA. However, since Brewer’s lawsuit temporarily suspended the dispensary portion of AMMA, more people have been given approval by ADHS to grow within the comfort of their own home since there are currently no legal dispensaries in Arizona.

Nonetheless, as a result of increased federal pressure, there have been raids in California and Washington on people who have legal permission to grow marijuana.

“Right now, people are sort-of living under fear that the federal government will bust them,” Proctor said.

Though there is no set date for when dispensary applications will be available, AMMA requires the ADHA to accept applications that would add new medical conditions not currently approved. Those whose conditions are accepted would qualify for a medical marijuana card.

In order for an application to be approved, the submitter must provide evidence that the condition impairs daily life, that marijuana would provide medical relief from said condition, and if other medical treatments would provide benefits for the condition. Not every submitted medical condition is approved.

The applications are available every July and January. This year, the ADHA will accept applications from Jan. 23-27.

Following the last week of January, the ADHA will review the applications with the help of teams from UA’s College of Public Health and Biomedical Campus.

In a Jan. 13 blog post, Humble said that ADHS could begin accepting dispensary applications this summer.

Reach the reporter at aklee8@asu.edu

Border Patrol Agent busted for smuggling coke and meth

Arizona border agent, jail officer arrested in drug case

Jan. 20, 2012 12:50 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

A U.S. Border Patrol agent stationed in Yuma and an Arizona Department of Corrections officer from San Luis were arrested on Thursday and charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Border Patrol agent Ivhan Herrera-Chiang, 29, and corrections officer Michael Lopez-Garcia, 28, who works at the Arizona state prison in Yuma, were accused in a criminal complaint of conspiring to smuggle drugs into the U.S. between September 2010 and January 2012.

The complaint alleges that Herrera got sensitive information about Border Patrol operations and shared it with the smugglers. The information allegedly included maps of border-sensor locations, combination to gates located on the border and the identities of confidential informants.

Lopez took the information from Herrera and delivered it people Lopez thought were affiliated with Mexican drug-trafficking organizations but the supposed drug buyer's were actually undercover agents, according to the complaint.

Lopez also personally smuggled two pounds of methamphetamine through a Border Patrol checkpoint and guided cocaine traffickers around patrols and checkpoints, according to the complaint.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the investigation and arrests were made through the FBI's Southwest Arizona Border Corruption Task Force.

Officials from a wide range of federal agencies lauded the investigation and arrests.

"When a law enforcement officer taints their badge, it erodes public confidence and threatens national security. The FBI, along with our partners in law enforcement, will continue to combat public corruption at all levels," James L. Turgal Jr., special agent in charge of the Phoenix FBI, said in a statement.

Drug war: Time for an exit strategy

Drug war: Time for an exit strategy [Blowback]

January 19, 2012 | 4:38 pm

Daniel Robelo, a research associate for the Drug Policy Alliance, responds to The Times' Jan. 11 article, "Mexico government sought to withhold drug war death statistics." If you would like to write a full-length response to a recent Times article, editorial or Op-Ed, here are our FAQs and submission policy.

The Mexican government's reluctant release of updated homicide statistics reveals the grim costs of the failed drug war -- and the growing need for an exit strategy.

As The Times notes, at least 50,000 people have been killed because of the drug war in the last five years -- nearly as many casualties as the U.S. suffered in Vietnam. Many of these victims had no connection to the drug trade.

Though the Mexican government announced a slightly lower figure (47,515 people as of September), experts and advocates suggest the actual death toll may already be much higher, as only 2% of crimes in Mexico even get investigated. Further, the government has shown a total lack of transparency, exemplified by its drawn-out refusal to make these damning data public.

Regardless of the exact figure, the death toll is incomprehensible and unacceptable. And to this toll must be added the thousands of people disappeared, the hundreds of thousands displaced and the hundreds of thousands of children left orphaned during this same five-year period.

This crisis will only continue unless the U.S. works with Mexico to address the root cause: drug prohibition.

These murders are not drug-related, they are prohibition-related -- committed by cartels that were spawned by drug prohibition, that derive their power from the inflated profits of prohibited but highly demanded commodities, and that operate in an underground economy in which violence is routinely employed to resolve disputes or remove business opponents. It's similar to what occurred in the U.S. during alcohol prohibition, but on a far more horrific scale.

Meanwhile, Mexico's U.S.-backed military response, rather than reducing violence, has resulted in systematic and documented violations of human rights, including rape, extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture. Abuses have been so grave and widespread that human rights attorneys have asked the International Criminal Court to investigate President Felipe Calderon for crimes against humanity.

What are Mexicans getting in return for this unthinkable price? Not much. Cartels show no signs of weakening, while drugs remain as widely consumed and available in the U.S. as ever before.

The numbers, of course, cannot tell the true story of what this violence means for Mexico. Each person killed was, after all, a son or daughter, brother or sister, father or mother. The Times' article highlights one such person, Juan Francisco Sicilia, a 24-year-old student killed last March, whose father, Javier, has become a leader of the national popular movement against the war on drugs. United with family members of other victims, along with everyday citizens fed up with being afraid, the elder Sicilia's movement seeks to humanize each victim. Drawing inspiration from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, this growing movement has been commemorating each victim by nailing a plaque with his or her name to the walls of public buildings across Mexico.

Sicilia has also proposed the regulation of drugs as a way to reduce the devastation that prohibition has inflicted on Mexico.

Regional leaders agree that many of these deaths could have been prevented -- not by hitting the cartels harder but by being smarter about U.S. and global drug policy. In late December, Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Chile and all of Central America issued a joint declaration urging the U.S. to rein in its demand for drugs or, if it cannot do so, "explore the possible alternatives to eliminate the exorbitant profits of the criminals, including regulatory or market oriented options to this end."

The American public is ready for such a change. According to a Gallup poll in October, 50% of Americans favor legalizing marijuana like alcohol -- a modest step that could deprive cartels of their leading source of revenue, diminishing their ability to buy weapons, hire recruits, corrupt officials and terrorize the Mexican people.

These U.S. citizens, no longer the minority, wait impatiently for their government to join the rest of the hemisphere in rethinking the failed drug war. Our southern neighbors cannot afford to wait any longer.

Pot-based prescription drug looks for FDA OK

Lets fact it, the "drug war" is just a jobs program for over paid cops, prosecutors, public defenders, judges, probation officers and prison guards. Two thirds of the people in American prisons are there for victimless "drug war" crimes.

Source

Pot-based prescription drug looks for FDA OK

Jan. 23, 2012 10:09 AM

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - A quarter-century after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves, according to drug companies, small biotech firms and university scientists.

A British company, GW Pharma, is in advanced clinical trials for the world's first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana instead of synthetic equivalents-- a mouth spray it hopes to market in the U.S. as a treatment for cancer pain. And it hopes to see FDA approval by the end of 2013.

Sativex contains marijuana's two best known components -- delta 9-THC and cannabidiol -- and already has been approved in Canada, New Zealand and eight European countries for a different usage, relieving muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.

FDA approval would represent an important milestone in the nation's often uneasy relationship with marijuana, which 16 states and the District of Columbia already allow residents to use legally with doctors' recommendations. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration categorizes pot as a dangerous drug with no medical value, but the availability of a chemically similar prescription drug could increase pressure on the federal government to revisit its position and encourage other drug companies to follow in GW Pharma's footsteps.

"There is a real disconnect between what the public seems to be demanding and what the states have pushed for and what the market is providing," said Aron Lichtman, a Virginia Commonwealth University pharmacology professor and president of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. "It seems to me a company with a great deal of vision would say, 'If there is this demand and need, we could develop a drug that will help people and we will make a lot of money.'"

Possessing marijuana still is illegal in the United Kingdom, but about a decade ago GW Pharma's founder, Dr. Geoffrey Guy, received permission to grow it to develop a prescription drug. Guy proposed the idea at a scientific conference that heard anecdotal evidence that pot provides relief to multiple sclerosis patients, and the British government welcomed it as a potential way "to draw a clear line between recreational and medicinal use," company spokesman Mark Rogerson said.

In addition to exploring new applications for Sativex, the company is developing drugs with different cannabis formulations.

"We were the first ones to charge forward and a lot of people were watching to see what happened to us," Rogerson said. "I think we are clearly past that stage."

In 1985, the FDA approved two drug capsules containing synthetic THC, Marinol and Cesamet, to ease side-effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients. The agency eventually allowed Marinol to be prescribed to stimulate the appetites of AIDS patients. The drug's patent expired last year, and other U.S. companies have been developing formulations that could be administered through dissolving pills, creams and skin patches and perhaps be used for other ailments.

Doctors and multiple sclerosis patients are cautiously optimistic about Sativex. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society has not endorsed marijuana use by patients, but the organization is sponsoring a study by a University of California, Davis neurologist to determine how smoking marijuana compares to Marinol in addressing painful muscle spasms.

"The cannabinoids and marijuana will, eventually, likely be part of the clinician's armamentarium, if they are shown to be clinically beneficial," said Timothy Coetzee, the society's chief research officer. "The big unknown in my mind is whether they are clearly beneficial."

Opponents and supporters of crude marijuana's effectiveness generally agree that more research is needed. And marijuana advocates fear that the government will use any new prescription products to justify a continued prohibition on marijuana use. .

"To the extent that companies can produce effective medication that utilizes the components of the plant, that's great. But that should not be the exclusive access for people who want to be able to use medical marijuana," Americans for Safe Access spokesman Kris Hermes said. "That's the race against time, in terms of how quickly can we put pressure on the federal government to recognize the plant has medical use versus the government coming out with the magic bullet pharmaceutical pill."

Interest in new and better marijuana-based medicines has been building since the discovery in the late 1980s and 1990s that mammals have receptors in their central nervous systems, several organs and immune systems for the chemicals in botanical cannabis and that their bodies also produce natural cannabinoids that work on the same receptors.

One of the first drugs to build on those breakthroughs was an anti-obesity medication that blocked the same chemical receptors that trigger the munchies in pot smokers. Under the name Acomplia, it was approved throughout Europe and heralded as a possible new treatment for smoking cessation and metabolic disorders that can lead to heart attacks.

The FDA was reviewing its safety as a diet drug when follow-up studies showed that people taking the drug were at heightened risk of suicide and other psychiatric disorders. French manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis, pulled it from the market in late 2008.

Given that drug companies already were reluctant "to touch anything that is THC-like with a 10-foot- pole," the setback had a chilling effect on cannabinoid drug development, according to Lichtman.

"Big companies like Merck and Pfizer were developing their own versions (of Acomplia), so all of those programs they spent millions and millions on just went away..." he said.

But scientists and drug companies that are exploring pot's promise predict the path will ultimately be successful, if long and littered with setbacks.

One is Alexandros Makriyannis, director of the Center for Drug Discovery at Northeastern University and founder of a small Boston company that hopes to market synthetic pain products that are chemically unrelated to marijuana, but work similarly on the body or inhibit the cannabinoid receptors. He also has been working on a compound that functions like the failed Acomplia but without the depressive effects.

"I think within five to 10 years, we should get something," Makriyannis said. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

We don't need no stinking search warrant!!!

"They refused to allow a search of the semitruck" ... "the officers used a narcotics detection dog to search around the truck"

Source

2 arrested after 100 pounds of pot found on semi, police say

by Matt Loper - Jan. 23, 2012 04:30 PM

The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

Two men from Missouri were arrested after police seized 100 pounds of marijuana from a semitruck traveling along Interstate 17 in northern Arizona, authorities said.

Terrance Blakey, 37, and Kevin Jones, 38, were arrested last week after being pulled over for suspected equipment violations near Cordes Junction, said Dwight D'Evelyn, a spokesman for the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.

They refused to allow a search of the semitruck, police said, so the officers used a narcotics detection dog to search around the truck.

After being alerted by the dog to the passenger side of the semi, deputies searched the cab and found four bales containing marijuana weighing more than 100 pounds, D'Evelyn said.

The wholesale value of the marijuana was estimated at $70,000, and the street value was estimated at several times the wholesale, according to officials.

Yavapai County Sheriff's Office uses four K-9 units to do drug patrol on state routes, as well as in routine traffic stops, D'Evelyn said.

Agents seize more than 300 pounds of pot in Yuma

Agents seize more than 300 pounds of pot in Yuma

Jan. 24, 2012 05:59 AM

Associated Press

YUMA -- U.S. Border Patrol agents in the Yuma Sector say they've seized more than 300 pounds of marijuana valued at more than $155,000.

Wellton Station agents announced Monday that they discovered 14 bundles of abandoned marijuana near the Sierra Pinta Mountains.

After searching the area and finding no suspects, the marijuana was seized for destruction in keeping with Yuma Sector guidelines.

Gabrielle Giffords is a "drug war" tyrant

Giffords says she'll vote on smuggling bill

by Erin Kelly - Jan. 24, 2012 05:01 PM

Republic Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will vote on her final piece of legislation Wednesday before resigning from office to continue her rehabilitation.

The Arizona Democrat will vote in favor of a bipartisan bill she introduced with Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., that would impose tougher penalties on drug smugglers who use ultralight aircraft to transport their illicit goods over the Southwest border. The Ultralight Aircraft Smuggling Prevention Act of 2012 is expected to pass easily. It has already been approved by the Senate, and President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law shortly after it passes the House.

"Congresswoman Giffords is committed to taking this crucial step that would help secure the border against drug smugglers," said Pia Carusone, the congresswoman's chief of staff. "That's why she decided this would be the last bill she introduces before she steps down."

Giffords and Flake introduced the bill this week. Similar legislation sponsored by Giffords was passed by the House in 2010. It died in that session of Congress, when the Senate failed to take it up.

Passage of the bill will be the last victory of Giffords' congressional career. She announced Sunday that she would step down this week. A special election will be scheduled for this spring to fill the seat, which Giffords has held since 2007.

The bill would close a loophole in the current law that punishes drug smugglers who use ultralights less harshly than smugglers who use airplanes or motor vehicles. Smugglers who use ultralights would be subject to up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. It also would allow the pilot's ground crew to be charged with conspiracy for catching the drugs dropped from the aircraft.

The legislation also directs the Defense and Homeland Security departments to collaborate in identifying equipment and technology used by the Pentagon that could be used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to detect ultralights.

Phoenix will hear request for medical-pot facility

Phoenix will hear request for medical-pot facility

by Michael Clancy - Jan. 24, 2012 01:36 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

A new request for a medical-marijuana dispensary in northeast Phoenix is the city's first to have a permit hearing since legal issues surrounding state law apparently have been resolved.

The hearing is at 9 a.m. Thursday at Phoenix City Hall, 200 W. Washington St.

The site needs at least two variances from the city law governing location of dispensaries -- variances that hearing officers have been reluctant to grant.

The dispensary applicant, Linda Sonder of American Healthcare Alternatives, has identified a vacant building on the southeastern corner of Cactus and Cave Creek roads as her site. The building formerly housed a convenience store and a payday-loan operation.

But the location is closer than permitted to a residential area and the Phoenix Mountain Preserve.

City law requires dispensaries to be 250 feet from homes and a quarter mile from parks.

The city also requires it be a mile from another dispensary, and another dispensary was previously approved a quarter-mile to the north.

Medical-marijuana dispensary operators have had a tough time finding suitable locations throughout northeast Phoenix, with many facing distancing hurdles. Only one of the five was approved for a city permit, at 12620 N. Cave Creek Road, about a quarter mile north of the intersection with Cactus.

Far enough away from the preserve, homes or schools, the site at 12620 N. Cave Creek Road faced only the hurdle of being too close to other sites.

But the other locations all were turned down, withdrawn or failed to meet deadlines.

Petition: poor eaters should have access to medical marijuana

Petition: poor eaters should have access to medical marijuana

Attention all tokers: This is your week, that hallowed time when you can march to the Arizona Department of Health Services and offer up all manner of explanation for why a bit of weed would ease your considerable suffering.

Already we have two petitions in, hoping to add six new ailments to the list of debilitating diseases and conditions that would allow you to legally (under state law, anyway) smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Medical marijuana eked its way into Arizona in 2010, winning a whopping 50.13 percent of the vote. The law allows anyone with a doctor’s recommendation to obtain a state-issued card, entitling them to 2.5 ounces of pot every two weeks.

They can grow it themselves, which explains all those hydroponics stores popping up. (You didn’t really think there was that big of a sudden demand for growing tomatoes, did you?) If they don’t want to grow their own reefer, they can have a licensed “caregiver” – and by caregiver I mean anyone who isn’t a felon -- grow it for them or they can get it from a non-profit dispensary once they’re up and running, probably later this year.

Cost of the card is $150, the state’s cost to administer the program. But if you’re on food stamps, the state will cut the price in half. Think of it as discount doobie.

In approving the program, voters envisioned medical marijuana helping with granny’s glaucoma or a loved one’s battle with cancer.

In fact, only 2 percent of those using marijuana have glaucoma and 4.5 percent have cancer. Meanwhile, 87 percent are smoking dope to battle “severe and chronic pain”.

Of the 18,000 Arizonans using marijuana for medicinal purposes, nearly 75 percent are male.

“I guess we suffer so much more pain, don’t you think,” said DHS Director Will Humble, who opposed the law but now must administer it.

It is, of course, curious that three quarters of Arizona’s officially sanctioned pot smokers are men. Especially when you consider that women seem to suffer more than men, reporting more intense pain in virtually every category of disease, according to a new Stanford University School of Medicine study.

Then again, maybe it’s not so curious when you consider that men are twice as likely as women to smoke weed, according to the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

According to state statistics, only 13 percent of Arizonans smoking a joint for medicinal purposes are age 61 or older while 24 percent are under 30.

Humble says he expects to have 25,000 medical marijuana users by March, at the end of the program’s first year. Expect that number to jump once dispensaries come on line.

Humble says his department has done as much as it can, given the way the law is written, to hold the line on recreational use -- such things as requiring doctors to do actual physical examinations as opposed to the virtual exams allowed in some states and requiring that they document the need for pot and attest to it.

How you document pain is beyond me, other than the patient’s say-so.

If the “chronic pain” loophole isn’t large enough, the law requires the state to periodically consider adding new “debilitating medical conditions” to the ones already specified for pot use.

Which brings us to this week – the first time that DHS is accepting petitions for new illnesses for which a toke might take the edge off. Humble says he plans to have any legitimate requests analyzed by the University of Arizona College of Public Health and doctors on staff at DHS before he decides whether to hold a public hearing.

He’s expecting a petition to add Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is already a pot-approved condition in New Mexico. As of Tuesday, no PTSD petition had been filed.

Instead, a Sun City man is petitioning to allow anyone with Bipolar disorder to smoke weed. And a Black Canyon City man wants to add those suffering from anxiety, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, severe sleep disorder, poor appetite or depression.

As proof that marijuana provides a therapeutic or palliative benefit in treating poor appetites and such, he offers an article from that well-known and highly respected medical journal:

Elle magazine.

State won't appeal medical marijuana court ruling

State won't appeal medical marijuana court ruling

Posted: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 5:32 pm

By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services

The state's first medical marijuana dispensaries could be up, running and selling the drug by mid July.

State Health Director Will Humble announced Tuesday he will not appeal a court ruling invalidating some of the rules he had crafted limiting who can own and operate the shops, including a requirement to be a resident for at least three years. Those rules also gave favorable treatment to applicants who had never declared bankruptcy.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Richard Gama said last week that the 2010 voter-approved initiative creating a medical marijuana system in Arizona did not allow for such restrictions.

Humble said his next step is to recraft the rules to account for the judge's ruling, with applications accepted in mid April. He said that paves the way for a lottery to see who gets each of the estimated 125 dispensary licenses permitted under the law.

He figures that the first dispensaries could open their doors in July.

Marine gets no jail time in killing of 24 Iraqi civilians

I wonder, when this guy gets back to the civilian world will he get a job as a cop and help the government murder pot smokers. I suspect the government feels the same way about drug users as they do about brown skinned Muslims.

Source

Marine gets no jail time in killing of 24 Iraqi civilians

January 24, 2012 | 3:11 pm

Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will serve no time in the brig for his guilty plea in the killing of 24 Iraqis in 2005, a military judge said Tuesday.

The announcement by Lt. Col. David Jones came after a sentencing hearing at Camp Pendleton in which Wuterich took responsibility for the killings and expressed his remorse to the families of those killed.

Jones said the plea bargain approved by Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser called for no jail time.

Jones said that he planned to recommend 90 days in the brig, the maximum as requested by the prosecution, but that Waldhauser's approval of the details of the plea bargain trumps that recommendation.

“Words cannot express my sorrow for the loss of your loved ones,” Wuterich said in an apology to the family members of the 24 Iraqis killed by Marines. “I know there is nothing I can say to ease your pain.”

Wuterich said he takes responsibility for what happened when, as the squad leader, he ordered his Marines “to shoot first, ask questions later” as they stormed two houses in search of a gunman in the Euphrates River town of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005, after a roadside bomb had killed one Marine and injured two others.

“When my Marines and I cleared those houses that day, I responded to what I perceived as a threat and my intention was to eliminate that threat in order to keep the rest of my Marines alive,” Wuterich said in a strong voice.

“So when I told my team to ‘shoot first and ask questions later,’ the intent wasn’t that they would shoot civilians, it was that they would not hesitate in the face of the enemy.”

On Monday, in the middle of his court-martial, Wuterich pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty, in exchange for other charges being dropped. Prosecutors had asked Jones to impose the maximum penalty of 90 days in the brig for the killings.

“This was the horrific result of that order to ‘shoot first, ask questions later,’ ” prosecutor Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan said in asking Jones to impose the maximum sentence under the plea bargain.

No comment was made at the hearings Monday or Tuesday about what kind of discharge Wuterich will receive.

Jones said he will recommend that Wuterich be reduced to a private, a recommendation that will be reviewed by Waldhauser, the commander of Marine Forces Central Command and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

Arizona could have pot dispensaries by summer, official says

Arizona could have pot dispensaries by summer, official says

Jan. 24, 2012 06:39 PM

Associated Press

Arizona is not appealing a court ruling on medical marijuana and there could be licensed dispensaries established around the state as soon as this summer, Health Services Director Will Humble announced Tuesday.

The state is going to revise its dispensary rules to delete provisions struck down by a court ruling that said the state had to proceed with allowing establishment of dispensaries, Humble said in an interview.

Dispensaries are businesses that would sell medical marijuana to people who hold cards issued by the state under its voter-approved law.

Humble said the decision to not appeal the ruling removes the last legal obstacle to full implementation of the state's medical marijuana law, though he acknowledged there's still a cloud over the state law because marijuana remains illegal under federal drug laws.

Gov. Jan Brewer last year balked at allowing dispensaries, saying she feared state employees could face federal criminal prosecution.

However, Judge Richard Gama of Maricopa County Superior Court ruled Thursday that the state had no discretion on implementation of the dispensary portion of the medical marijuana law approved by Arizona voters in 2010.

The state previously implemented other parts of the law, allowing thousands of people to obtain qualified patient cards. Versions of those cards allow people to possess medical marijuana and to grow their own marijuana. Once a dispensary is established, people in that area no longer can grow their own.

Even before Gama ruled on a lawsuit filed by would-be dispensary operators, Brewer had directed state health officials to begin preparations for implementing the dispensary part of the law pending resolution of the court case.

Gama's ruling came after a federal judge on Jan. 4 dismissed a separate lawsuit in which Brewer asked for a ruling on whether the state's medical marijuana law conflicted with federal law and could be implemented.

With the two court rulings, "it was time to implement," Humble said of the decision announced Tuesday. "There's really nothing holding it up now."

However, with local zoning restrictions, the possibility of federal prosecution and the improving economy making landlords more selective about tenants, it could be difficult for some dispensary operators to find suitable locations, Humble said.

The Arizona law legalizes medical marijuana use for people with chronic or debilitating diseases. It was approved by voters by just 4,341 votes out of more than 1.67 million votes counted.

Humble said his agency believes it can have rules done in time to start accepting dispensary applications in April and start awarding licenses by mid-June. That means dispensaries could open in the summer "if someone was really ready to execute," he said.

Licenses will likely be awarded through a random lottery, though there would be some advantage provided for operators with at least $150,000 of startup capital, he said.

Did the dogs handler make up the whole thing????

Source

Drug-detection dog leads to Gilbert man's arrest

Jan. 25, 2012 11:16 AM

The Republic|azcentral.com

A Gilbert man on Tuesday was booked on possession of marijuana and other crimes after a drug-detection dog helped police during a suspicious-vehicle call.

Joshua Logan Woltman, 20, was arrested around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday after police responded to the call in the 200 block of Amoroso Drive.

Gilbert police spokesman Sgt. William Balafas said the police dog sensed something in the suspect's vehicle and a search discovered 50 grams of pot, baggies, a scale, $1,800 in cash, and a shotgun.

Woltman was also booked on possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. A juvenile passenger was cited for littering but not taken into custody.

Drug war shootout in Mesa, Arizona

Source

1 dead, 2 hurt in officer-involved shooting at Mesa Fry's

by Liz Kotalik - Jan. 24, 2012 09:29 PM

The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

One person is dead after gunfire erupted in a Mesa parking lot between undercover police and five drug suspects Tuesday evening, authorities said.

Detective Steve Berry with the Mesa Police Department said one suspect is dead, one is hurt and in the hospital and three are in custody. Berry said an officer was hospitalized after being shot in the lower leg but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

According to officials, the undercover officers met the five suspects at the Ellsworth Plaza Fry's parking lot at Broadway and Ellsworth roads. Berry said the officers staged a drug deal in order to bust one of the suspects who was wanted on a felony parole violation. Police said two of the suspects "came out firing," prompting the officers to fire back.

The wanted parolee had just been released from prison and was not injured in Tuesday's shooting. The hospitalized suspect's condition was not immediately available.

The "drug war" is the problem, not the solution to the problem!!!!

Source

Mesa PD sees rise coinciding with drug use

by Jim Walsh - Jan. 25, 2012 09:32 AM

The Republic | azcentral

Violent and property crime both rose slightly in Mesa during 2011, but police don't consider either increase alarming and say the city is relatively safe considering its population.

The most telling crime statistic of all may be a 34 percent increase in drug arrests during the past two years.

Mesa police say drug addiction is the root cause of most property crimes, including burglary and theft, and that many criminals are high on methamphetamine and other drugs when they commit armed robbery, murder and other violent crimes.

"You will rarely find a burglar who doesn't have some sort of chemical-abuse issue,'' Mesa Assistant Chief Heston Silbert said. "You want to deal with the root cause of the crime.''

He said it is much easier to prevent burglary and other crimes by arresting suspects for drug possession rather than catching them in the act of burglary, a crime usually committed when no one is home.

An arrest at least gives the drug user an opportunity to seek treatment and break the cycle of addiction, Silbert said.

"If we didn't have a 34 percent increase in drug arrests in the past two years, I think we would be in a worse situation,'' he said.

Statistics released by the department's Compstat unit show drug arrests rising from 1,994 in 2009 to 2,295 in 2010 and 2,663 in 2011.

"With these numbers trying to creep up, our officers are keeping them at bay,'' said Silbert, who was recruited to Mesa two years ago by Chief Frank Milstead. The two worked together for many years at the Phoenix Police Department.

Sgt. Ryan Russell, president of the Mesa Police Association and a former gang squad detective, said he is not alarmed about uptick in crime but he is concerned.

All indicators point toward an upswing in crime when the small increase is lumped together with five Arizona officers losing their lives while on duty last year, a record of seven officer-involved shootings in Mesa during 2011 and 13 percent increase in officer fatalities nationally, he said.

"All of the little things are starting to add up. In law enforcement, you don't want to be completely reactive,'' Russell said.

He said the drug arrests, a high-priority response to domestic violence and a top crime lab are all helping police keep crime numbers down, but the department also needs more officers, with staffing having slipped from 855 four years ago to more than 760 today. The city authorized hiring 10 more officers last month.

Mesa's latest crime statistics include the entire 2011 calendar year and will be the basis of numbers submitted to the FBI for the national Uniform Crime Report, an annual snapshot of crime from coast to coast.

The statistics document a 2 percent increase in violent and property crime. Three out of four catagories of violent crime rose marginally, including homicide, rape and assaults. Robbery was the only category to drop.

But overall, Mesa recorded 39 additional violent crimes and 227 more property crimes than a year ago, relatively small increases compared with the city's population of nearly half a million people.

When the violent and property crime categories are combined, Mesa recorded 16,933 criminal incidents compared with 16,669 a year ago, a 2 percent increase.

Residential burglaries rose 3 percent, with 72 more incidents reported. Thefts, including shoplifting incidents fueled by organized rings and the economy, rose 5 percent, or 413 additional incidents.

Significant reductions in crime included a 7 percent decline in stolen cars and trucks, a 6 percent decline in commercial burglary and a 5 percent decline in thefts from vehicles.

Mesa is Arizona's third-largest city with a population of more than 468,000 and covers more than 133 square miles.

After several years of declines, Silbert said, the uptick in crimes experienced in Mesa may be the start of a reversal of the trend.

One possible factor is a large number of career criminals being released from state prisons after their sentences expire, Silbert said.

"We have all been prepared for the ebb and flow. I would say it's starting to flow again,'' he said.

Phoenix marijuana-cultivation center soon to open is 1st in nation

Phoenix marijuana-cultivation center soon to open is 1st in nation

by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez - Jan. 26, 2012 10:08 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

Inside a freshly-painted office building in north Phoenix, Lynette Shockley unpacked pieces of a black canvas tent to assemble so she can grow medical pot for patients and herself.

Around her, dozens of other registered caregivers erected their own grow tents and hauled in boxes of high-pressure sodium lights and duct systems to prepare for the opening of the 5,000-square-foot medical-marijuana cultivation center, soon to be a headquarters of sorts for 45 caregivers and 500 green leafy plants.

The center, near Seventh Avenue and Loop 101 is the first of its kind in the nation, its operators said, and provides a central location for caregivers to grow cannibus for patients with maladies ranging from cancer to chronic pain. Compassion First Caregivers Circle Inc. set up the center.

At 64, Shockley has lived with pain for a decade or so. Her hands are swollen with arthritis, a disease she inherited from her mother. Shockley can't make a fist, and sometimes her joints hurt so badly it's difficult to write.

She's tried everything to numb the constant aching -- over-the-counter pills, cortisone shots and high-powered prescription pain relievers.

Eventually, she discovered the only remedy that numbed the pain -- pot. For years, she self-medicated by secretly toking on a joint or eating pot brownies. She bought the pot from friends and neighbors. But now, she will grow her own at the cultivation center.

With the voter-approved medical-marijuana law, she can legally grow the drug for herself since she is registered as a caregiver with the state Department of Health Services, and she can distribute it to other cardholders.

"Nothing has touched the pain except for marijuana," she said. "Now, I can finally help myself legally, and help other patients who need it."

Under the law, passed by voters in 2010, people with certain debilitating medical conditions can use pot. They must register with the state, which issues ID cards to qualified patients and caregivers.

The state has been embroiled in legal disputes over application of the law, but it appears most of those fights are over. Since there are not yet any licensed pot dispensaries, caregivers and patients can grow their own marijuana, up to 12 plants per person.

Several marijuana "clubs," which provide patients with medical marijuana, already have opened up in the Valley. They immediately drew concern from state officials, who filed suit to close them.

About 1,065 caregivers and 18,000 patients are registered with the state.

This cultivation center is operated by Scottsdale philanthropist and businessman Gerald Gaines.

The center will open with a soft launch on Saturday, and will be fully up and running on Feb. 18. Gaines plans on opening a center in south Phoenix and a third in Tempe.

Under the center's model, caregivers will charge patients market rate for the pot, about $300 per ounce, Gaines said. Under state rules, caregivers can sell to five patients. Caregivers cannot make a profit on the pot and cannot charge for their time. The growers will donate extra monetary proceeds or the marijuana itself to charity, he said. Generally, he said, patients use one-eighth of an ounce per week while heavier users can consume three-fourths of an ounce per week. One plant typically generates four ounces of marijuana.

During a recent tour, jars of the dried drug with names like "white queen," "purple urkle" and "Afghan kush" sat on a table. Growers can manipulate the drug's potency through different strains to treat different conditions and ailments.

"That's why medical marijuana has so much promise," Gaines said. "And this center is a way to get as many patients as much medicine as they need."

On-hand expertise from pot consultants drew Jeff Moriarity to the center.

A licensed patient and caregiver, the 67-year-old said he can learn how to grow marijuana right.

On this day, Moriarity is really hurting. He suffers from hardening of the arteries and lactic acid build-up in both legs. It's hurts to vacuum, and he has to rest after walking 100 feet.

"I thought 'What the heck?' and tried it at a friend's house once," he recalled. "Then, I went for a long walk -- and my legs didn't hurt. So, I decided to grow it so I can make sure it's fine and dandy with no pesticides."

Armed guards, security cameras and alarms will protect the marijuana plants around the clock, Gaines said, adding that he also doesn't expect local law enforcement to hassle them.

"We're abiding by the law so we don't expect any problems," he said.

Phoenix police Sgt. Steve Martos said law enforcement are cautioning people to closely follow the medical-marijuana law to prevent run-ins with the police.

"This is a new kind of program, a new kind of business, and so we're just telling folks to read the law and follow the law," Martos said.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery would not comment on the opening of the center, a spokesman said, citing potential future litigation regarding medical marijuana.

Angel Rodriguez, a caregiver, grow consultant and former medic with the military, set up shop at the center partly because of a run-in with the cops.

His patients' maladies range from kidney failure to cancer.

"I grew it out of my home for a little bit, but now I'm trying to help other people grow," said Rodriguez, 34. "I want to help patients any way I can."

Reach the reporter at 602-444-4712.

How does Hudspeth County, Texas spell revenue? Marijuana busts!!!

Cops can't just stop and search every car and look for illegal drugs. That would violate the 4th Amendment.

But La Migra, INS, the Border Patrol, ICE or whatever you want to call it claims they can stop anybody that is within something like 50 miles of the border and search them for any reason. [ Last time I check I didn't see anything in the US Constitution or Bill of Right's that said the 4th Amendment is null and void within 50 miles of the Mexican border, but I think the Supreme Court has approved of these illegal searches which are almost certainly unconstitutional. ]

Yuma, Arizona got the INS to set up one of their checkpoints on Interstate 8 in Yuma, County and the Border Patrol goons search any and all cars they think might have illegal drugs. While it would be illegal for Yuma cops to search all these cars the Border Patrol claims it is legal for them to search the cars.

Anyone found with illegal drugs is arrested and turned over to the Yuma County authorities and fined for breaking Arizona drug laws.

Of course the Yuma County cops split the loot from these victimless drug war crimes and both the Yuma government the the Border Patrol make money from using this outrageous technique to rob American citizens.

I suspect the government tyrants in Hudspeth County use a similar scheme to rob American citizens.

Source

Celebrity pot busts put tiny Texas county on map

By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA, Associated Press Writer

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Sierra Blanca, Texas (AP) --

Nestled among the few remaining businesses that dot a rundown highway in this dusty West Texas town stands what's become a surprise destination for marijuana-toting celebrities: the Hudspeth County Jail.

Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg and actor Armie Hammer have been among the thousands of people busted for possession at a Border Patrol checkpoint outside town in recent years, bringing a bit of notoriety to one of Texas' most sparsely populated counties.

"Once I was in Arizona, and when I said where I was from, they said, `That's where Willie Nelson was busted,'" said Louise Barantley, manager at the Coyote Sunset souvenir shop in Sierra Blanca.

Hudspeth County cameos aren't only for outlaws: Action movie star Steven Seagal, who's already deputized in Louisiana and Arizona for his reality show "Steven Seagal Lawman" on A&E, has signed on to become a county officer.

Locals already have found ways to rub shoulders with their celebrity guests.

Deputies posed for pictures with Snoop Dogg after authorities said they found several joints on his bus earlier this month. When Nelson was busted here in 2010, the county's lead prosecutor suggested the singer settle his marijuana charges by performing "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" for the court. Nelson paid a fine instead, but not before county commissioner Wayne West played one of his own songs for the country music legend.

West acknowledged he's a big fan of Nelson and wanted to capitalize on a golden chance to perform for such a noted "captive audience."

"Willie loved the song, he is a real outgoing individual" he added.

The once-thriving town of Sierra Blanca began to shrink to its current 1,000-person population after the construction of nearby Interstate 10 — a main artery linking cities from California to Florida — offered an easy way to bypass the community.

Now the highway is sending thousands of drug bust cases Sierra Blanca's way, courtesy of a Border Patrol checkpoint just outside of town where drug-sniffing dogs inspect more than 17,000 trucks, travelers — and tour buses — daily for whiffs of contraband that may have made its wait inland from the border.

Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West, younger brother of the musically inclined commissioner, said his office handled about 2,000 cases last year, most of them having to do with drugs seized at the checkpoint.

Border Patrol agents say people busted with small amounts of pot often say they have medical marijuana licenses from California, Arizona or New Mexico — three states along I-10 that, unlike Texas, allow for medicinal pot prescriptions — and claim to believe the licenses were valid nationwide.

Nelson's publicists declined to comment about the specifics of the singer's case. Representatives for Snoop Dogg, who will pay a fine and court costs after being cited for possession of marijuana paraphernalia, did not return several messages seeking comment.

County authorities have not yet decided whether to prosecute or issue a citation for Hammer, who starred in the 2010 film "The Social Network" and more recently played FBI's number two man in "Edgar J." He was arrested in November after authorities said they found marijuana-laced brownies and cookies on his way to his wife's bakery in San Antonio. His attorney Kent Schaffer has called the case a "total non-issue."

Local officials say they're not on a celebrity witch hunt, but some residents are enjoying the publicity from the high-profile arrests. They say the once forgotten town of Sierra Blanca should take pride in not pandering to famous people caught breaking the law.

"We get attention because something is being done right," resident Adolfo Gonzalez said while shopping at a local convenience store. "It'd be worse if we'd let them go because they are celebrities."

That's not expected to change when Segal comes to town. Sheriff West insists the "Under Siege" star hasn't indicated any plans to film his show here — but the sheriff isn't ruling it out.

"If he wants to, we can do it but that's not what he said this was about," West said.

West's spokesman, Rusty Flemming, said Seagal will patrol the area and train colleagues in martial arts and weapons techniques. The actor is expected to arrive in Hudspeth County within months, once he's done filming a new movie in Canada.

Segal's management agency did not return calls and emails seeking comment about his plans in Texas.

Commissioner West, meanwhile, is keeping his musical skills sharp — just in case another performer pays a surprise visit to the county jail. The lead guitarist and vocalist of a local band, West said he regrets not having a chance to sing for Snoop Dogg, but wasn't sure if the rapper would have enjoyed the performance anyway.

"Our stuff is laid back," he said. "Mas o menos (more or less) country."

San Jose to drop pot club rules

San Jose to drop pot club rules

By John Woolfolk

jwoolfolk@mercurynews.com

Posted: 01/27/2012 06:57:48 PM PST

Mayor Chuck Reed called Friday for suspending San Jose's two-year odyssey to regulate medical marijuana clubs, citing a successful referendum drive to repeal rules the city approved last fall and pending decisions that may clarify state law.

"Unfortunately, the law is simply unclear and unsettled," Reed said Friday. The agenda-setting committee he is chairman of is expected Wednesday to schedule a Feb. 14 City Council discussion on the recommendation.

Marijuana activists who called the city regulations unworkable cheered the mayor's recommendation to drop them and await decisions that clarify state law. The city rules have been suspended since critics collected more than 31,000 valid signatures in October to qualify a referendum that would allow voters to repeal the city ordinance if the city refused to do so.

"It is a sensible solution for San Jose today -- and for other California cities too," said James Anthony, an Oakland attorney who along with John Vasconcellos, the former state senator from San Jose, led the city referendum drive by the Citizens Coalition for Patient Care. The clubs, Anthony said, also are seeking legal clarity from the state.

The San Jose ordinance approved in September would have pared the number of medical marijuana collectives allowed in the city to 10, about a 10th of the current total. The first 10 to submit qualified applications would be chosen, and they would have to grow all of the marijuana they distribute on site.

Critics said 10 clubs is too few and that making them grow on site would require massive indoor farms that would be shut down by federal drug raids. And they said the selection process wouldn't ensure responsible operators.

Reed, who supported the law, had initially signaled he would let voters decide its fate in June if a referendum qualified, and would ask the council to raise a marijuana business tax voters approved in 2010 from 7 percent to 10 percent to cover election costs. But earlier this month, Reed said he'd seek modifications to satisfy the law's critics, such as allowing up to 25 clubs, some off-site cultivation and a different selection process.

But the mayor said Friday that it is "impossible to draft an ordinance that meets state law and allows the dispensaries to operate based on the business model they want to use." He put off the call for raising the city's pot tax.

Voters in 1996 made California the first state to allow marijuana for the sick. Federal law still bans the drug, but pot clubs have proliferated throughout California under the Obama administration's stated policy of tolerating medical marijuana use that complies with state laws.

California's laws are unclear whether cities can either authorize over-the-counter pot dispensaries or ban them altogether. The state Supreme Court this month agreed to review cases out of Long Beach and Riverside that raised those questions.

The state's attorney general recently called on the Legislature to make statutory changes that clarify whether dispensaries comply with state law and how marijuana could be legally grown and transported. Meanwhile, marijuana activists are seeking a ballot measure to establish a medical marijuana tax and regulation regime statewide.

Reed said that with so many changes in the works, the city should hold off on its own regulations. Other local governments including Santa Cruz County have taken a similar approach.

The more than 100 San Jose pot clubs remain illegal under city zoning codes and subject to closure, Reed said, though they still must pay the marijuana business tax. With a limited staff, the city has closed few to date. But Reed said he'd ask the council to prioritize enforcement, targeting nuisance operations.

"We can focus on those that are causing trouble," Reed said.

Colorado medical marijuana shops in federal crosshairs

Colorado medical marijuana shops in federal crosshairs

January 28, 2012 | 8:14 am

Earlier this month, federal prosecutors sent letters to 23 medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado, ordering them to shut down or face criminal charges. Now the owners must decide: stay and fight, or go?

"I feel like fighting," Diane Irwin, owner of Highland Health dispensary, told The Denver Post. "But I don't want to go to jail, either."

Irwin’s Denver business, which recently added a yoga room and more space for a hypnotherapist, is within 1,000 feet of a school. So were the others targeted by Colorado U.S. attorney John Walsh, who gave them until Feb. 27 to close.

Walsh told the Post that the dispensaries were a potential “threat to kids” because schools had seen a spike in drug-related violations as more medical cannabis outlets opened. Marijuana advocates said prosecutors were overreaching, particularly since the state has some of the nation’s toughest medical cannabis regulations.

Medical pot has strong backing in Colorado. The state was the nation's first to issue state-level business licenses for marijuana-related operations. Meanwhile, advocates are trying to get an initiative on the November ballot that would allow people 21 and older to legally posses up to an ounce of pot.

Authorities Seize Massive Pot Haul From Boat in Malibu

Authorities Seize Massive Pot Haul From Boat in Malibu

8:22 a.m. PST, January 28, 2012

MALIBU, Calif. (KTLA) -- Deputies arrested three people early Saturday morning after a boat carrying at least 3,000 pounds of marijuana docked illegally in the Point Dume State Preserve.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies responded sometime after 1 a.m. to reports that the 25-foot boat drove close to shore and docked. They arrived and searched the boat, finding it filled almost to capacity with plastic-wrapped bales of marijuana, sheriff's officials said.

Four suspects fled in different directions when the deputies arrived at the scene, heading into the cliffs and trails of the state park. Deputies quickly established a perimeter and used flashlights to search through the thick brush and cliff crevices for the suspects.

The deputies managed to find three of the four suspects by 8 a.m. Saturday.

The captured suspects may be Mexican citizens, officials said. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents are now trying to verify their identities

Sheriff's officials believe the fourth suspect is hiding somewhere in the park's hilly terrain.

Meanwhile, authorities confiscated the bales of marijuana from the boat, placing them in back of a pickup truck. A Department of Homeland Security agent said the load in the truck was "just a fraction" of the load the boat was carrying.

Officials at the scene said the confiscated drugs are estimated to weigh between 3,000 to 4,000 pounds.

"War on terrorism" merges with "War on Drugs"???

Source

Counter-terrorism chemical labs test for synthetic pot

By Brian Bennett, Washington Bureau

January 28, 2012, 6:23 p.m.

Reporting from Little Rock, Ark.— When Jeffery H. Moran goes to work each day, he swipes his security badge, passes into an airtight chamber, opens a bombproof door and enters a lab full of deadly toxins.

As chief of the counter-terrorism laboratory at the Arkansas Department of Health — one of 62 such federally funded labs in the country — he heads two dozen chemists who are on constant alert for the release of pestilence or poisons in the United States.

Armed with $2 million worth of new equipment, Moran concocts gruesome tests to keep his team sharp. He has laced samples of baby formula with lethal ricin. Poured rat poison into water bottles. Tainted blood with cyanide gas.

None of those are based on real plots, thankfully. So he's added a new task — helping police in half a dozen states identify "Spice," a chemical substance that produces a marijuana-like high and has sent hundreds of users to emergency rooms.

"It's an unknown chemical," Moran said. "That's exactly what we would have to deal with in a terrorist attack."

Using a counter-terrorism lab to test for synthetic marijuana is the latest sign of how a multibillion-dollar national infrastructure built to detect or respond to chemical or biological attacks over the last decade has adapted to the lack of any actual attacks.

Stewart Baker, former head of policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said he wasn't surprised that Little Rock's high-tech lab is helping police ferret out potheads.

"Otherwise they would be like the Maytag repairman, just sitting there waiting for the phone to ring," Baker said.

Congress has given more than $5 billion to states and territories since 2001 to prepare public health facilities, laboratories and first responders for a chemical or biological attack. About $600 million is still issued in grants each year, including $7 million to Arkansas.

The impetus came shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, when letters laced with anthrax powder killed five people and sparked widespread fear of bioterrorism. The FBI later concluded that a scientist at an Army research facility in Maryland, not an Al Qaeda operative, was responsible.

U.S. authorities have foiled or prevented several dozen bomb plots and other threats over the last decade, but none involved chemical or biological substances. Authorities also respond to hundreds of false alarms and hoaxes each year, usually involving suspicious white powder, but none have involved dangerous pathogens.

Ali S. Khan, an assistant surgeon general at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, said the huge investment has helped build a far more robust public health network than there was a decade ago. And it's only common sense to keep the counter-terrorism labs busy, he added.

"What we've learned over time is that if you respond to routine threats, then you can respond to a really large threat," he said.

Oregon recently used federal bioterrorism funds to build a $35-million public health laboratory in Portland, for example. The facility is now considered a national leader in testing foods for E. coli and salmonella bacteria, which can cause sickness and death.

In California, the Humboldt County Public Health laboratory spent federal bioterrorism funds to buy a DNA-sequencing machine. The lab began using the device this month to test for bacteria in oysters harvested off the state's coastline.

"We don't just purchase the equipment and it sits in the corner," said Jeremy Corrigan, who manages the lab and is state bioterrorism coordinator for Northern California. "I use it for dual purposes."

Scott Becker, executive director of the nonprofit Assn. of Public Health Laboratories, said the federal support that flows to state public health labs "is a lifeline."

But critics say the bonanza of federal spending has added little tangible benefit to national security.

"Pork, pork, pork, pork, pork," said Edward Hammond, a Texas-based researcher who studies how federal anti-terrorism funds are spent. "These state departments of health have become addicted to extra federal bioterrorism dollars."

No one denies that Spice is a public health problem.

Last year, people who smoked Spice or other fake pot variations made 6,955 calls to poison control centers across the country, more than twice the number of calls in 2010, according to the nonprofit American Assn. of Poison Control Centers.

Arkansas officials turned to Moran's team two years ago after a wave of teens began appearing in hospitals suffering from seizures, hallucinations and vomiting. They had smoked packets of herbs bought in local shops under names like Head Trip, Purple Haze and Mad Hatter.

The herbs had been sprayed with chemicals that affect the brain in ways similar to tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana. And because the chemicals were not well understood, they were not revealed by urine tests, as THC is.

Moreover, unlike THC and marijuana, some of the compounds weren't listed by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration as illegal, frustrating police and prosecutors who saw a growing danger.

Partly in response, Arkansas, California and at least nine other states last year banned a list of compounds used in Spice.

Moran's team helps law enforcement agencies in Arkansas, Arizona, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York identify new versions of Spice, also called K2, because street chemists regularly produce new chemical formulas to sell synthetic marijuana in shops and on websites.

"You don't really know what's in it," said Kim Brown, a forensic chemist in the Arkansas State crime lab. As proof, she showed her analysis of the contents of two foil packets found in a car during a traffic stop.

The label read, "Bayou Blaster, a swamp-filled potpourri," and had a cartoon of a dancing alligator. It promised that no illegal chemical compounds were inside, and that the packet was "USA lab certified legal."

Brown's tests showed it contained JWH73, one of the illegal chemical compounds. "A lot of it," she said.

brian.bennett@latimes.com

Drug dealers get creative in pursuit of oxycodone

Source

Drug dealers get creative in pursuit of oxycodone

By Donna Leinwand Leger, USA TODAY

Drug dealers are finding creative ways around new laws that crack down on "pill mills" dispensing powerful painkillers such as oxycodone.

In Florida, hundreds of people tried to open pharmacies after the state barred doctors from dispensing the narcotics directly from their clinics and forced patients to fill their prescriptions at pharmacies. Others moved their operations to Georgia, state police and federal agents say.

"Traffickers adapt to situations," says Mark Trouville, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's field offices in Florida. "We knew once we put pressure on the pill mills, the wrong people would start opening pharmacies."

Florida was the nation's epicenter of prescription-painkiller distribution until the state enacted laws last year aimed at pill mills — clinics where doctors perform cursory examinations on people with dubious injuries and dispense addictive painkillers.

Since then, the number of Florida doctors among the nation's top 100 oxycodone-purchasing physicians has fallen to 13 from 90 in 2010, DEA Special Agent David Melenkevitz says.

Applications for non-chain pharmacies jumped about 80% in 2011 — to 381 — from a typical year before the crackdown, Trouville says.

A pharmacy must register with the DEA and be licensed by the state to dispense controlled substances, which include many drugs that require a doctor's prescription. The DEA can deny a registration if an applicant has been convicted of a drug-related crime or agents find a connection to a pill mill or some other activity that poses a threat to public health and safety.

At least 37 pharmacy applicants withdrew their applications in 2011, Trouville says. "They feel the squeeze and move on," he says.

Still, questionable pharmacies are selling thousands of oxycodone and hydrocodone pills to people recruited by drug dealers to get prescriptions from pain clinics. "They're not selling Band-Aids and aspirin," Trouville says. "There's nothing but an empty room with a bullet-proof window."

Pharmacy applicants turned down in Florida often try their luck in Georgia, says Rick Allen, director of the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency. Of new non-chain drugstore applications, about 95% have some connection to Florida, he says.

"The people come completely out of left field without any pharmacy background and open a pharmacy in a sleazy strip mall right down the road from a pain clinic," Allen says. "You do a cursory background on them, and they're living in a doublewide in Pembroke Pines, Fla."

The DEA is working with the state to inspect pharmacies, says Barbara Heath of the DEA's Atlanta field division. She expects problem pharmacies to emerge in North Carolina and Tennessee as they are pushed out of Georgia.

States target prescriptions by 'pill mills'

States target prescriptions by 'pill mills'

By Donna Leinwand Leger, USA TODAY

Updated 10/25/2011 11:45 AM

When federal agents arrested a man with 6,000 oxycodone pills in a Stamford, Conn., hotel room in April, they stumbled onto an expansive criminal ring that exposed a growing trend: drug tourism.

The man, whom the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has not identified because he is a witness in the case, told agents he traveled to Florida several times a week, taking advantage of lax laws governing pain clinics to purchase large quantities of prescription painkillers. His suppliers in Florida would send large groups of people into pain clinics with cash and medical cards to feign illness and buy the pills.

The man would return to Connecticut to sell them for a huge profit, bribing airport security officers and police so he could transport as many as 8,000 pills each trip.

He made more than 65 trips from November to April, court papers say. The ring involved more than a dozen people who sold "tens of thousands" of pills to addicts in Connecticut during the past year, U.S. Attorney David Fein said.

The case illustrates how drug dealers and addicts in search of potent prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin are traveling to Florida and other states with lax prescription-drug laws to get their fix. Police say they have found drug "tourists" dead of overdoses in hotels and rental cars.

Now states are trying to outsmart the criminals by tracking prescriptions through statewide databases and by toughening their laws to make it more difficult for unscrupulous clinics to dispense large numbers of prescription pain pills. And in the latest move against drug tourists, states are linking their databases to try to stop dealers from roaming state to state.

Selling such prescription drugs is so profitable that dealers and operators of the high-volume pain clinics — known to authorities as "pill mills" — quickly find ways around the new laws or set up shop in another state to avoid them.

"We have to adapt and overcome and improvise. We have to stay one step ahead of them," says Florida Surgeon General Frank Farmer. "We've all determined that this is a problem that must be solved."

About 7 million people regularly use prescription drugs for non-medical purposes, the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls prescription-drug abuse a "national epidemic." Prescription drugs, including narcotic pain relievers and anti-depressants, cause more overdose deaths than "street drugs" such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, the CDC says.

In Florida, the problem has been devastating: The death rate from oxycodone increased 265% from 2003 to 2009, the CDC found. By 2009, the number of deaths involving prescription drugs was four times the deaths involving street drugs, the CDC said in a July report.

All but two states — Missouri and New Hampshire— have enacted laws that set up prescription drug monitoring programs.

The databases track prescriptions so doctors can access patients' records to determine whether they already have multiple orders for a narcotic. Pharmacists can flag police if they suspect a doctor or clinic is dispensing an unusually large amount of painkillers. Police can use the records to bolster their cases against "pill mills" that dispense massive quantities of pain pills with little or no examination of patients.

In August, Kentucky and Ohio became the first states to link their databases to make it tougher for addicts in one of the states to avoid detection by visiting a doctor in the other. Those states joined with West Virginia and Tennessee in an interstate alliance to coordinate databases, laws and investigations to try to keep pill mills shut down in one state from popping up across the border.

"Kentucky and Ohio have already broken the code," says Bruce Grant, former executive director of the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy in Florida. "By agreeing to provide information to pursue investigation, you won't have people jumping back and forth over state lines and doing this with impunity."

Last month, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy launched a database hub that allows a doctor or pharmacist to retrieve painkiller prescription data from any state linked into the hub, Executive Director Carmen Catizone says. Ohio, Indiana and Virginia have linked in and 20 other states have agreed to do so this year, he says.

"The states came to us," Cantizone says. "They wanted a way to talk to one another."

Addicts and dealers are clever, says Sherry Green, CEO of the National Alliance of Model State Drug Laws. They will cross borders to escape their state's tracking system or move a pill mill to another state if they think law enforcement is nosing around, she says.

"There are people from Kentucky going down to Florida all the time, and it's not just the person who is addicted. You also have people who make a profit on it," Green says.

Dealers are willing to travel long distances "if they feel they can make money selling the drugs on the black market," she says.

Pills purchased in a Florida pharmacy cost $4 to $6 for a 30-milligram tablet, DEA Special Agent Oscar Negron says. That tablet would sell for $30 on the street in Connecticut, says DEA Special Agent Steven Derr, who is in charge of the DEA's New England office.

'It's been a disaster for Florida'

Until Florida enacted tough laws on Sept. 1, the Sunshine State was the undisputed epicenter of prescription-painkiller distribution. Of the estimated 53 million oxycodone doses sold in 2010 to medical practitioners in the USA, nearly 45 million were purchased in Florida.

"It's been a disaster for Florida," says DEA Special Agent Mark Trouville.

Drug tourism emerged as a major problem, Trouville says. His agents routinely saw out-of-state license plates jamming the parking lots outside the rogue clinics. The state averaged seven deaths a day from prescription-drug overdoses, and local police chiefs "had their hands full with related crime," Trouville says.

"People would do deals right outside the pill mills," says Lt. Richard Pisanti, a commander of the strategic investigations division at the Broward County sheriff's office. "Other people would feed off them. We had burglaries, thefts of pills from cars. It even resulted in a murder."

Terry Williams, 46, of Johnson City, Tenn., was beaten and strangled for his stash of oxycodone pills, police said. A maid at the Red Roof Inn in Oakland Park, Fla., found Williams dead in his hotel room on April 29, 2010.

Williams had arrived from Tennessee three days earlier with his ex-wife, Sandy Bulla, their 5-year-old son and a friend, Gregory Brummitt, 20, to buy narcotics at a pill mill, sheriff's deputies said in their report. With the child in the room, Bulla and Brummitt allegedly beat Williams to death, took his 200 pills and $1,600 and fled in Williams' pickup truck. Bulla and Brummitt are charged with murder and are being held without bail in Broward County Jail.

"If you're in Tennessee, you've got to have a reason to drive to Florida. You're not doing it for the scenery," Trouville says. "These people will try to find the path of least resistance. Florida used to be the path of least resistance."

Florida's laws were so lax that dealers and addicts created elaborate, organized networks to obtain the pills and bring them back to Kentucky, says Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy.

The Florida Legislature had passed a law to establish the drug database, but Florida Gov. Rick Scott's budget did not include funding for the program and included a provision that would repeal the law.

Pressure increased. The governors of West Virginia and Kentucky and four U.S. senators wrote a letter in February to Scott urging him to fund Florida's prescription-drug monitoring system. In March, Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, offered Florida $1 million to support the prescription-drug database.

Meanwhile, local police teamed with the DEA to identify hundreds of clinics and conduct dozens of raids.

"In just six months, we have attacked from every angle what can only be described as a homegrown prescription drug epidemic," says Wilfredo Ferrer, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

In June, Scott signed a compromise law that requires doctors to use tamper-proof prescription pads or electronic prescribing, toughens penalties for doctors who overprescribe painkillers and bans most doctors from dispensing the drugs.

The new law allows the prescription-drug database to operate and shortens from 15 days to seven the amount of time pharmacists have to report prescription information. It prohibits pharmaceutical companies from funding the database. A private foundation is paying for it with $750,000 in federal grants and donations.

The law "marks the beginning of the end of Florida's infamous role as the nation's pill mill capital," Scott said.

"We now have some of the best laws in the country," Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said. "We want to put the pill mills out of business. It's not going to be worth it for them to do business in our state."

The database "is going to catch some, it's going to deter some others," Grant says. "But it's not an instant fix. It's going to take a few months for the database to build to a point where it's useful."

Because the new law prohibits doctors and clinics from dispensing the pain medicine on-site, patients must go to a pharmacy to fill their prescriptions. Now federal agents say they will be focused on rogue pharmacies.

"Applications for pharmacies have doubled over the past year," Trouville says. Pill mill operators "just go next door and try to open up a pharmacy."

Ingram of Kentucky says Florida's big busts and new laws are beginning to discourage Kentucky's drug shoppers.

"We are starting to see a shift from the Florida tourism," Ingram says. "More Kentucky residents are going to Ohio, West Virginia and Michigan."

Concerns rising in New England

As pill mill operators felt the heat in Florida, some headed north, and problems emerged in Georgia.

During the past 18 months, Georgia has seen a steady increase in pill mills setting up shop in Atlanta-area strip malls and near interstate highways, says Inspector Fred Stephens of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Georgia's Legislature has approved a prescription drug monitoring program, but it won't be ready until January 2013.

Addicts and dealers come from Ohio, Tennessee, Maryland, Kentucky and other states to visit the clinics, which usually accept all walk-in patients and want to be paid in cash, Stephens says. Often, large groups will come in vans, old medical records tucked under their arms, he says.

Last year, prescription-drug overdoses in Georgia increased at least 10% — to 560 — from 2009, a study by the bureau's medical examiner found. The study did not include the Atlanta area.

Now, Derr of Connecticut worries that with the Southern states cracking down on drug tourism, pill mills will emerge in New England. He recently saw an ad on Craigslist in Connecticut from a clinic looking to hire doctors.

"They were looking for three doctors to work at this pain clinic, guaranteeing them $600,000 a year salaries," Derr says.

"That was definitely a red flag.

LAPD shuts down pot store in Chatsworth

LAPD shuts down pot store in Chatsworth; 3 arrested

January 30, 2012 | 8:57 pm

LAPD shuts marijuana shop in Chatsworth

Police said Monday night that officers have shut down a final medical marijuana dispensary in an area where dozens of pot shops once thrived.

Narcotics officers from the Devonshire Division served a search warrant at Herbal Medicine Care in the 10100 block of South Topanga Boulevard in Chatsworth, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

Three people were arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale, the LAPD said, and officers seized 50 pounds of marijuana, 156 marijuana plants and more than $6,000.

Officers also confiscated documentation detailing marijuana transactions.

In late 2008, more than 60 medical marijuana stores were in the Devonshire Division, according to the LAPD.

"They quickly became the center of various crimes," the LAPD said in a statement.

Illegal activity included tax evasion, money laundering, witness intimidation and narcotics possession, according to police. [Make that victimless crimes that harm absolutely NO one, victimless crimes that should be legalized!]

The stores were shuttered after LAPD investigations, which have led to dozens of arrests and the seizure of dozens of weapons and more than a ton of marijuana.

Congress gets behind breath-test ignition devices

Source

Drunk drivers: Congress gets behind breath-test ignition devices

January 31, 2012 | 3:28 pm

An effort to get more states to require convicted drunk drivers to test their breath for alcohol before they can start their cars is gaining support in Congress.

A House transportation bill unveiled Tuesday would offer additional highway funds to states that require ignition interlock devices for DUI offenders. A similar measure is expected to come before the Senate.

Fifteen states require all convicted drunk drivers, including first-time offenders, to use the devices, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which has promoted use of the devices. The ignition interlock prevents a driver from starting the engine if his or her blood-alcohol content exceeds a preset limit.

In a pilot project that runs through 2016, DUI offenders in Los Angeles County and three other California counties were required to install the devices in their cars beginning in 2010.

The idea of requiring the devices for all drunk drivers is opposed by the American Beverage Institute, a restaurant trade association.

The group said in a statement that making all DUI offenders use the interlocks would "deny judges the ability to distinguish between a driver one sip over the limit and high-BAC, repeat offenders."

Spokeswoman Sarah Longwell said the association supports the route taken by a number of states to "target the hard-core offenders" by requiring the devices for those convicted with high blood-alcohol contents.

Dangling money in front of financially strapped states to nudge them into requiring the devices has emerged as one area of agreement in a divided Congress trying to write a new transportation spending bill in a politically charged election year. The House bill, like the measure headed for the Senate, also includes a big increase in a federal loan program that has been crucial to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s efforts to speed local transportation projects.

Lawmakers from both parties have portrayed the transportation funding measure as a jobs bill.

But plenty of disagreements have emerged that could make it difficult to pass a bill this year, perhaps most significantly over how highway projects should be funded at a time when gas tax funds have fallen because of more fuel-efficient cars.

Senate Democrats have come out against a Republican proposal to open up more of the coast to oil drilling in order to generate more money for highway projects. A fight also is emerging over efforts to allow larger and heavier trucks on interstate highways.

In unveiling the House Republicans’ five-year, $260-billion measure, Transportation Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-Fla.) said it "cuts red tape and bureaucracy that delays projects across the country" and "gives states more flexibility to determine their most critical transportation needs," among other things.

He also boasted that the bill has none of the earmarks eagerly sought by lawmakers in the past, such as Alaska's much-derided "bridge to nowhere" that was among more than 6,300 earmarks in a previous transportation bill.

"Do any of you have any idea how difficult it is to do a transportation bill without earmarks?" he joked.

Making it illegal to use medical marijuana on college campuses

As I have said many times the "drug war" is a jobs program for over paid cops, prosecutors, judges, prison guards and probation officers and this silly law would continue the jobs program for these government thugs.

Last but not least if the Arizona medical marijuana laws cause Arizona colleges and universities to stop receiving federal funds that's great. The people voted for the medical marijuana laws and the twits in the Arizona legislator should accept it.

Source

Legislation would deny college students the right to use medical marijuana on campus

Posted: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 11:47 am

By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services

State lawmakers are moving Wednesday to deny university and college students living on campus the right to use medical marijuana even if they have the legally required doctor's recommendation for the drug.

Legislation crafted by Rep. Amanda Reeve, R-Phoenix, would make it illegal not only to use but even to possess marijuana on the campus of any public or private post-secondary institution. That would include not only the state university system and network of community colleges but also various private schools that offer degrees or certificates.

And that means not only keeping it out of classrooms and open areas.

HB 2349, set for debate in the House Committee on Higher Education, also would preclude students from using the drug in dorm rooms, even if the person is drinking an infusion rather than lighting up a joint. And it would mean not having the drug among personal possessions for use somewhere off campus.

"This is an attack on patients ... who are abiding by state law," said Joe Yuhas, spokesman for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association. More to the point, he said the move is illegal and vowed to sue if the measure is enacted.

The 2010 initiative spells out a list of ailments and conditions that qualify an adult to seek a doctor's recommendation to obtain up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks.

Yuhas, whose group represents those who crafted the initiative, said the law was crafted to ban the use of the drug on public school campuses. But nothing in the voter-approved law precludes adults who have the legally required doctor's recommendation from using it elsewhere.

He said the Arizona Constitution specifically bars legislators from altering anything approved at the ballot unless the legislation "furthers the purpose" of the underlying measure. And this, he said, does not.

The problem, said Reeve, is federal regulations governing universities require that they forbid students from having illegal controlled substances. She said schools that do not comply lose federal funding and financial assistance for students.

Regents spokeswoman Katie Paquet said those federal rules do have exemptions for students who have prescriptions for otherwise illegal drugs, including codeine and other narcotics. But she said - and Reeve agreed - that's no help for a student with a state-recognized doctor's recommendation.

"The federal Controlled Substances Act prohibits the possession, use or production of marijuana, even for medical use," Reeve said.

And what of students who live in a dorm, who a doctor says can benefit from marijuana?

"They're not going to be able to use or possess marijuana on campus," Reeve responded. "That's how we deal with the issue so we can stay in compliance" with federal laws.

In any event, Reeve said the needs of a majority of students who depend directly or indirectly on federal funds outweigh those of a few students who need medical marijuana.

"Do we punish all the students so a few can have their ability to do this?" she said. "Why should all the students suffer?"

Yuhas said Reeve and others are making too much out of this particular conflict between state and federal law. He said the same conflict exists elsewhere, yet Arizona is going ahead and implementing its medical marijuana law.

"Universities aren't being asked to dispense (the drug) or host a dispensary," Yuhas said. That, he said, would raise other issues.

Yuhas also brushed aside Reeve's concern that the federal government is suddenly going to cut off aid to Arizona colleges and universities simply because they do not actively ban students with medical marijuana recommendations from having the drug, saying 15 other states have similar medical marijuana laws.

"This has not been an issue," Yuhas said. "This is a solution in search of a problem."

Opps, wrong house - Sorry about cutting your door down and holding you at gun point

FBI cuts down Mass. mom's door in wrong-home raid

Associated Press

FITCHBURG, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts mother says the FBI used a chain saw blade to cut through her door and held her at gunpoint for at least 30 minutes before agents realized they were conducting a raid at the wrong home.

Judy Sanchez, of Fitchburg, says she awoke to heavy footsteps in the stairwell on Jan. 26 and walked into her kitchen in time to see a blade chop through her door.

She says she was held facedown on the floor at gunpoint while her 3-year-old daughter cried in another room.

It turns out agents were after the other tenant on the floor of the multiunit building who is suspected of dealing drugs.

Sanchez says she and her daughter now have trouble sleeping.

The FBI has apologized and is paying for the damage.

No free speech for tobacco companies?

Source

Feds argue for graphic images on cigarette packs

WASHINGTON – The federal government fought an uphill battle Wednesday to convince a skeptical judge that tobacco companies should be required to put large graphic photos on cigarette packs to show that the habit kills smokers and their babies.

Cigarette makers told U.S. District Judge Richard Leon at a hearing that they can't be forced to spread the government's anti-smoking advocacy with "massive, shocking, gruesome warnings" on products they legally sell. Attorneys for the Obama administration countered that the photos of dead and diseased smokers it wants on all cigarette packs are "factually uncontroverted."

Leon has already ruled that the cigarette makers are likely to succeed in their lawsuit to stop the requirement, which was supposed to go into effect next year. Leon blocked the rule from taking effect until after the lawsuit is resolved.

Leon found in his earlier ruling that the nine graphic images approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June go beyond conveying the facts about the health risks of smoking or go beyond that into advocacy — a critical distinction in a case over free speech.

Leon also ruled the size of the labels suggests they are unconstitutional — the FDA requirement said the labels were to cover the entire top half of cigarette packs, front and back and include a number for a stop-smoking hotline. The labels were to constitute 20 percent of cigarette advertising, and marketers were to rotate use of the images.

The judge showed no sign that he was changing his position in favor of the government after the hour-long hearing Wednesday. "It sounds like they are headed to a place where you have to watch a 10-minute video before you can even buy a pack of cigarettes," he said.

The packaging the government wanted to require included color images of a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a tracheotomy hole in his throat; a plume of cigarette smoke enveloping an infant receiving a mother's kiss; a pair of diseased lungs next to a pair of healthy lungs; a diseased mouth afflicted with what appears to be cancerous lesions; a man breathing into an oxygen mask; a cadaver on a table with post-autopsy chest staples; a woman weeping; a premature baby in an incubator; and a man wearing a T-shirt that features a "No Smoking" symbol and the words "I Quit"

The Obama administration has appealed Leon's preliminary injunction stopping the rule from taking effect. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is scheduled to hear the case April 10.

Attorney Mark Stern, representing the government, told Leon they don't expect he'll change his mind after siding so strongly with the tobacco companies in his initial ruling. But he said the government disagrees and argued the images factually show what can happen to smokers. "This will kill you," Stern said. "This will kill your baby."

Tobacco lawyer Noel Francisco said the government is free to try to tell Americans how to live their lives, but not to require cigarette manufacturers "to serve as the government's unwilling spokesman in that paternalistic endeavor."

Congress instructed the FDA to require the labels by a wide bipartisan majority, following the lead of the Canadian regulations that require similarly graphic images on cigarette packs. But Leon said Wednesday "there's just nothing — nothing — on the record" to indicate lawmakers consider the First Amendment implications of compelling commercial speech.

The cigarette makers that sued the FDA are R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. of Winston-Salem, N.C., Lorillard Tobacco Co. of Greensboro, N.C., Commonwealth Brands Inc. of Bowling Green, Ky., Liggett Group of Mebane, N.C., and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. of Santa Fe, N.M.

Chicago schools search students phones to make drug war arrests

Source

Students' text messages used in north suburban drug probe

By John Keilman and Susan Berger, Chicago Tribune

9:54 p.m. CST, February 1, 2012

A north suburban high school is cracking down on campus drug sales by confiscating the cellphones of student suspects and using their text messages to identify others, an investigative technique that has raised questions among some legal experts and unnerved students who said they assumed texting to be private.

Stevenson High School spokesman Jim Conrey said the ongoing investigation, in which Lincolnshire police are also participating, has resulted in multiple suspensions, though he would not provide the number. He said examining student text messages was a legal and appropriate way to gather information about the alleged sales.

"That's perfectly within our rights within the school," he said. "If schools have credible evidence that cellphones are being used in some kind of trafficking … we have every right to take the phones."

As the lives of teens become increasingly intertwined with the technology they carry, investigators are finding revelations about alleged criminal behavior on cellphones, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. In a twist, some parents complained that because the school wasn't saying much about what was happening, their primary source of information became those same social media sites.

And though Conrey said the privacy and legal issues were clear, some experts said courts and legislators are falling behind the galloping technologies.

Kimberly Small, assistant general counsel for the Illinois Association of School Boards, said theU.S. Supreme Courthas decided that school officials need only "reasonable suspicion" to search students' belongings, a lower standard than the "probable cause" that applies to police.

But she noted that a more recent federal law established that owners of electronic devices have a legitimate interest in the confidentiality of their messages. The law has yet to determine exactly how school administrators' search power intersects with that privacy concern, she said.

"It's such a gray area for everyone — students, parents, school officials, even law enforcement," she said.

Conrey offered few details of the origin or scope of Stevenson's investigation, saying that it started in December with one student suspected of being involved with drugs on campus, and went on to include others involved in the alleged sale of marijuana and other drugs.

Lincolnshire police were equally reticent, though Deputy Chief Greg Duffey said the department had obtained a court order to get text messaging records from cellphone carriers. Conrey said school officials were not involved in that aspect of the investigation.

Lincolnshire police Chief Peter Kinsey said no students have been arrested but that the state's attorney's office would decide any possible charges when the investigation is completed.

Those who attend the school described tense scenes on campus this week, with students called out of class to be confronted by police and administrators. Some students said they had seen a boy run from a school office and smash his phone before he was caught.

Junior Chris Geppert said many students were nervous, wondering if they would be unjustly accused.

"What if someone took your phone and texted you as a joke?" said Geppert, 16, of Riverwoods. "How can they do this with no hard facts?"

Conrey said school lawyers had approved the conduct of the investigation. But Matt Cohen, a Chicago attorney who represents students in disciplinary matters, said thorny legal issues can arise when administrators review students' text messages, particularly when the content of those messages could lead to criminal charges.

"It raises a real serious concern about the scope of the seizure, the scope of the intrusion on the private messages and whether there's any concrete basis for suspicion of the particular student," he said. "Kids say a lot of different things. They might have suggestive language (in their text messages) but it's not reflective of behavior."

Conrey said Wednesday morning that Stevenson officials, in accordance with their usual practice of keeping misconduct investigations private, had not informed parents about what was happening. By the afternoon, though, Superintendent Eric Twadell issued a statement that criticized "misinformation" in the media but provided no facts, saying only that the school took drug issues seriously.

The lack of information bothered Cathy Belmonte, whose son is a senior at the school.

"Parents and students alike are searching the Internet and Twitter feeds for information and spreading gossip and misinformation," she said. "With a school this large, it is dangerous to think that this could be contained and not result in gossip. Parents and students alike should be informed."

The suspensions spawned a Twitter hash tag — #SHSDrugBust2012 — and comments ranged from jokes to warnings about surveillance to expressions of disgust over drug use at the school. One student took to YouTube to issue an earnest plea about following the law.

"We go to a school that's one of the most highly regarded in the country, and we need to realize that we can't abuse that privilege," the student said. "Stevenson trusted (the accused students), and they broke that trust."

Conrey would not detail the punishments the school was handing out, but Stevenson's code of conduct calls for a five-day suspension for students caught with paraphernalia, a 10-day suspension and loss of various privileges for those caught with drugs, and a recommendation of expulsion for those accused of dealing.

The school board must agree to expel a student, and Conrey said no hearings have been set.

This is only the second year in which cellphones have been allowed on Stevenson's campus, and Conrey said there were no plans to change that policy. But sophomore Nick Moller, 16, who said several of his friends had been suspended, said the episode had thrown a chill into the school's student body.

"No one texts anymore," he said. "Some people don't bring their phones to school anymore. They're worried (administrators) can find one little thing from months ago and they'll get in trouble."

John Keilman is a Tribune reporter. Susan Berger is a freelance reporter. Freelance reporters Andrea L. Brown and Ruth Fuller contributed.

jkeilman@tribune.com

Twitter @JohnKeilman

Police torture to get confessions is a 'harmless error'

Source

Illinois high court to rule in police torture case

Associated Press

5:45 a.m. CST, February 2, 2012

An inmate who says Chicago police officers tortured him into confessing to a brutal rape could learn todayd whether the Illinois Supreme Court will allow him to present evidence of coercion that was denied at trial, a ruling that could have implications for as many as 20 other inmates seeking similar appeals.

Stanley Wrice, 57, is among dozens of men - almost all of them black - who have claimed since the 1970s that former Chicago police Lt. Jon Burge and his officers used torture to secure confessions in crimes ranging from armed robbery to murder. Allegations persisted until the 1990s at police stations on the city's South and West sides.

While several of the incarcerated men with torture claims have been released, Wrice's case could have far-reaching impact on how Illinois deals with such cases in the future. Wrice, who is serving a 100-year sentence, insists he's innocent.

Allegations of abuse and torture have plagued the Police Department and the nation's third-largest city for decades and was a factor in former Gov. George Ryan's decision to institute a moratorium on the death penalty in 2000. Gov. Pat Quinn abolished the death penalty in Illinois last year.

An appeals court has already sided with Wrice, ruling that he should be granted a new hearing on his claim that Burge's officers used a flashlight and rubber hose to beat him in the face and groin until he confessed to a 1982 sexual assault at his home. Prosecutors are asking the state Supreme Court to overturn that ruling.

Wrice's defense attorney, Heidi Lambros, said she'll be looking for one word Thursday on the high court's opinion: "If it says 'affirm,' that's golden."

Burge is serving a 4 1/2-year sentence in federal prison following his conviction last year of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying in a civil suit when he said he'd never witnessed or participated in the torture of suspects.

Prosecutors have not disputed that Wrice was tortured but say they had enough evidence of his guilt to convict him even without the allegedly coerced confession, including testimony from two witnesses and the fact that an iron used in the attack was found in Wrice's bedroom, as were the victim's clothes.

But during oral arguments in September, justices challenged prosecutors on the strength of their evidence, noting that no physical evidence tied Wrice to the crime. The victim never identified him as one of her attackers, and a witness who did identify him has since recanted, claiming that police tortured him too.

In asking justices to reverse the appellate court's ruling, prosecutors have argued that the confession was the legal equivalent of "harmless error."

"Hopefully, the Supreme Court will clarify the law," said Myles O'Rourke, who argued the case for the special prosecutor's office. "We're just hoping that there's resolution."

Attorneys and legal experts say it's difficult to predict what the high court will do. Justices could affirm the lower court's decision, deny the decision or send the case back for a procedural step that was skipped, among a range of options. The court could also order that all inmates with credible torture claims get new hearings, as defense attorneys have asked in an amicus brief. Or justices could allow the cases to work their way through the courts one-by-one on their merits, as prosecutors want.

Just six of the seven justices considered the Wrice case after Justice Robert Thomas recused himself and did not hear oral arguments. No reason has been given for the recusal. In the event of a 3-3 split, the lower court ruling giving Wrice a new hearing would stand.

Joey Mogul, one of the defense attorneys representing men with pending torture claims against Burge and his officers, said the high court's ruling could have broad implications on her clients and others.

"I hope the Illinois Supreme Court recognizes that torture is so egregious that it never can be harmless error and that it takes the principled step of not only granting relief to Stanley Wrice but to the 15 other torture survivors who have never had the opportunity to present evidence of torture," Mogul said.

30 bales of pot found floating off Marina del Rey

30 bales of pot found floating off Marina del Rey

February 2, 2012 | 9:50 pm

More than two dozen bales of marijuana were found floating in the waters off Marina del Rey, authorities said Thursday night. [Marina del Rey is just north of LAX, which is the Los Angeles Airport]

The 30 bales were estimated to be worth $500,000 on the street, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

A boater on Wednesday spotted the bales, which were recovered about 6 nautical miles northwest of the marina harbor entrance, authorities said.

The Sheriff's Department, with the aid of lifeguards, fished out the pot. It was turned over to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.

Raise the tax on booze???

Raise tax on Arizona alcohol sales, group proposes

Feb. 3, 2012 09:04 AM

Associated Press

TUCSON -- Supporters of a higher tax on alcohol say it's needed to pay for programs that fight alcohol abuse. In their application to the Secretary of State, the group Pennies for Prevention says they want to tax beer and wine an extra dollar per gallon.

The added tax would be about 9 cents for a can of beer and 20 cents for a bottle of wine. Arizona taxes beer at 16 cents per gallon, and wine at 84 cents per gallon.

The federal government taxes beer at about 58 cents per gallon and wine at $1.07 per gallon.

Critics say alcohol is already overtaxed.

Narcocorridos violence?

Narcocorridos are ballads about dope dealers and dope smugglers and are very popular in Mexico. Sometimes the musicians that compose and sing the narcocorridos get killed in the drug war violence.

Source

Mexico: 5 norteno musicians among 9 killed

Feb. 4, 2012 11:02 AM

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican authorities say a masked man opened fire against a band playing popular norteno music in a Chihuahua city dance hall, killing five musicians, four customers and injuring 10 others.

Chihuahua prosecutors spokesman Carlos Gonzalez says the attack appeared to target members of the La Quinta Banda music group but the motive behind the early Saturday shooting wasn't clear. The suspect fired around 40 times with a high-caliber weapon in the Far West disco.

Among the dead was an off-duty police woman, Gonzalez said.

Norteno singers in Mexico have been targeted before apparently for getting involved with drug cartels who pay them to compose narcocorridos, or ballads that glorify drug lords.

LAPD shutting down medical marijuana stores

Source

A compassionless crackdown

By Sandy Banks

February 4, 2012

Forget years of conflicting rules, hazy regulations, hard lines and soft bans.

An LAPD narcotics squad has made an end-run around the city's fumbling efforts to regulate medical marijuana, shutting down every dispensary in its San Fernando Valley division in a three-year campaign whose success just might signal the end of legal pot sales in Los Angeles.

The closure this week of Herbal Medicine Care in Chatsworth ended a string of Devonshire Division busts that netted 30 guns, $2 million in cash and nine kilos of cocaine, in addition to a ton of marijuana.

Seventy-four people were arrested, including several whose dispensaries were operating with the city's regulatory blessing.

"It was like a little private pogrom," said Joao Silverstein, whose CannaMed dispensary in Northridge was shut down in August by police.

"We fought for years to meet the requirements," he said. "Every hoop the city put in front of us, we jumped through like trained seals, with the belief that we were operating within the law. Legally."

But narcotics Det. Robert Holcomb contends that every dispensary in the city is engaged in illegal drug dealing.

The state law that legalized marijuana for medical use does not allow its retail sale, he said. Neither does the city ordinance that allows collectives to exist.

His team handled the operation like any other drug bust: Identify the target, conduct surveillance, make an undercover buy, arrest the sellers. They closed down 37 shops. Everyone arrested faces felony charges.

"I've been working narcotics for 25 years," Holcomb said. "It used to be, the hardest thing was to find the dealer. Now they put a big green cross on the door and advertise on the Internet."

::

More than 15 years have passed since California voters approved the Compassionate Use initiative that allows adults with a doctor's recommendation to possess and cultivate marijuana. It's hard to believe that its application is still such a legal muddle.

Los Angeles lawmakers spent years avoiding the issue, while hundreds of dispensaries cropped up, sometimes two or three on one block.

Two years ago, the City Council approved an ordinance that was supposed to shut most dispensaries down. It limits the number and favors those that have been around the longest. The owners would pay taxes, get business licenses and apply for building permits.

But that's been stalled by legal challenges; there are hundreds of dispensaries selling marijuana in L.A. now. The council is about to consider revoking those rules and adopting a temporary ban that would forbid dispensaries but let patients and caregivers grow their drugs.

"That would allow us to clear the deck and ask 'What is the right approach to allowing access to medical marijuana?'" said Councilman Jose Huizar, the ordinance sponsor, whose Eagle Rock district has been overrun by pot shops.

Local prosecutors have always taken a hard line: Any sale of marijuana to anyone is a crime.

But the crackdown in the Devonshire Division "has been particularly harsh," said attorney SaraLynn Mandel. Her clients have had their business assets seized and personal bank accounts blocked. Those who want to go to trial are being pressured by prosecutors to plead guilty, she said, or risk having proceedings dragged out.

"These are people who were adhering to what the city told them was acceptable," she said. "In Devonshire, they don't distinguish between people obeying the law and people who are not."

Councilman Mitchell Englander, whose district includes Devonshire, isn't bothered by that conflict. "Our political will was 'We don't want this in our community,' and if we can find any kind of law that says storefront sales are not allowed, we would use it to shut them down."

::

Holcomb said the raids have done their job, sweeping the northwest Valley clean of "cash and carry storefronts."

But the detective has discovered at community meetings that not every resident likes the process. "The ones that live around [dispensaries] love the fact that they're not plagued with these places anymore," he said. "But a lot of people are concerned about someone who is sick: How do they get their marijuana?"

That's been the problem all along. How do you balance that plague of proliferating shops with the rights of ailing patients?

I live in the Devonshire Division, and I recognize some of the places that Holcomb fingered as trouble spots, like the dispensary down the block from Granada Hills Charter High, "where somebody would go in and buy, and come out and deal to the kids waiting outside."

But I also support access to medical marijuana. I've been a card-carrying patient in the past.

And I feel for people like Sue, arrested behind the counter at CannaMed. She never sold me anything stronger than cannabis balm for my arthritic hands. She's not a criminal drug dealer, just a genial, middle-aged hippie who treated patients with kindness and respect.

"There are lots of us involved in this business who are not losers, not marginal characters who compromise the quality of society," CannaMed owner Silverstein said. "This is not just some recreational party.... We have resources for people who need help."

But Silverstein also expressed a bit of grudging gratitude; at least the raids wiped out big outlaw shops that gave a bad name to the industry. "I give [the LAPD] credit for one thing," he said. "They John Wayned it everywhere they went."

At the 2 AM Pharmacy in Canoga Park, which shares its lot with a strip club, Holcomb's team seized the most money the detective had ever seen — "$600,000 in cash." One of the operators was a guy Holcomb had arrested 20 years ago "with two kilos of cocaine," he said.

Councilman Englander suspects that sort of operation is less the exception than the rule.

"They're ripping off the people they're supposed to help. It's not the few that spoiled it for the most," he said. "It's the most that spoiled it for a few."

Officers in other parts of the city are taking lessons from Holcomb's crew. Marijuana advocates worry that could lead to wholesale shutdowns. Said attorney David Welch: "Every single storefront collective in this city would fall under that umbrella."

I wonder what that would mean for the patients I encountered at CannaMed. It's not so easy to grow your own when you're shaking from Parkinson's disease or in the midst of chemotherapy treatment.

This crusade treats their medication like our menace. And they're the folks the Compassionate Use Act is supposed to make life easier for.

sandy.banks@latimes.com

Phoenix pot dispensary request put off for 2nd time

Phoenix pot dispensary request put off for 2nd time

by Michael Clancy - Feb. 6, 2012 12:00 AM

The Republic | azcentral.com

A medical-marijuana dispensary request in northeast Phoenix has been postponed a second time due to red tape in state government.

This would have been Phoenix's first medical-marijuana dispensary request since legal issues surrounding the voter-approved law were resolved.

The problem is that even though the legal issues are completed, the procedures and timeline for dispensary requests are not yet complete, Phoenix planner Alan Stephenson says.

The dispensary request was for a building on the southeastern corner of Cave Creek and Cactus roads, currently home to a check-cashing and gold-purchasing business. The applicant, Linda Sonder of American Healthcare Alternatives, needed a permit plus zoning variances because the site is closer to residences and the Phoenix Mountain Preserve than the city ordinance allows.

The request had previously been delayed because of lawsuits challenging the law that recently were resolved. This time it was delayed because the Arizona Department of Health Services has not completed its dispensary requirements, Stephenson said.

A Phoenix hearing officer is scheduled to consider the case on May 31.

According to the Department of Health Services, the new rules for dispensaries should be completed by the end of March, with license granting scheduled to start in April.

Phoenix has approved more than 20 medical-marijuana dispensary or cultivation sites, but because of their concentration in mostly industrial areas, not all of them will be allowed to open. City ordinance requests a mile between locations, and only one per community-health assessment area, a geographic tool used by Arizona to analyze illness concentrations.

Drug wholesaler, 2 pharmacies charged in DEA crackdown

If you ask me it's time to end the DEA, along with ending the unconstitutional war on drugs.

Source

Drug wholesaler, 2 pharmacies charged in DEA crackdown

By Donna Leinwand Leger, USA TODAY

Federal authorities have expanded their crackdown on painkiller abuse, charging a major health care company and two CVS pharmacies in Florida with violating their licenses to sell powerful pain pills and other drugs.

The Drug Enforcement Administration linked Cardinal Health to unusually high shipments of the controlled drugs to four pharmacies.

On Friday, the DEA suspended Cardinal's controlled substances license at its Lakeland, Fla., distribution center, which services 2,500 pharmacies in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

A federal judge temporarily halted the suspension the same day after Cardinal, a $1.3 billion company, said it would stop supplying the drugs to the four pharmacies. A hearing on the suspension order was set for Feb. 13 in Washington, D.C.

"We believe the DEA is wrong," CEO George Barrett said on the company's website.

The action comes as the DEA is cracking down on pill mills — rogue doctors and shady pharmacies that divert the highly addictive pills, such as oxycodone, to drug dealers.

"This is still an ongoing investigation," said DEA Special Agent David Melenkevitz, spokesman for the Miami Field Division. "We will be able to provide more information on Monday."

On Saturday, the DEA raided two CVS pharmacies in Sanford, Fla., and suspended their licenses to dispense controlled substances.

CVS said Saturday it had taken steps with DEA's knowledge to stop filling prescriptions from doctors thought to be prescribing improperly.

"We informed a small number of Florida physicians that CVS/pharmacy will no longer fill the prescriptions they write for Schedule II narcotics," spokeswoman Carolyn Castel said in a written statement. "Distributions of oxycodone to the two Florida stores have decreased by approximately 80% in the last three months compared to the prior three months — we believe in large part due to our action."

In its suspension order, the DEA alleges that Cardinal knew or should have known that the four retail pharmacies had purchased far more drugs than it needed to fulfill legitimate prescriptions.

The company called the DEA action a "drastic overreaction" that would disrupt delivery of critical medications to hospitals and pharmacies.

Cardinal has "extensive processes" to prevent diversion of its pharmaceuticals for illegitimate use, Barrett said. Cardinal's internal controls have flagged more than 160 pharmacies in Florida and 350 pharmacies nationwide for "suspicious order patterns," he said. Barrett said the DEA is holding the company responsible for a part of the supply chain it does not control.

"At the time we filled these orders, the pharmacies held valid state board of pharmacy and DEA licenses," Barrett said in a call to investors Friday. "Pharmaceutical distributors do not influence the manufacture of controlled medicines. We do not write prescriptions. We do not dispense controlled medicines, nor do we license pharmacies. Our role is as a distributor, a critical link in the supply chain between pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacies."

Friday's action is the third time in five years the DEA has suspended Cardinal's controlled substances license.

Previous incidents include:

In November 2007, the DEA suspended the license for Cardinal's Auburn, Wash., distribution facility for selling 18 million hydrocodone pills in nine months to retail drugstores. The company sold 605,000 pills to one store in Burlington, Wash., over a seven-month period, the DEA said.

•In December 2007, the DEA suspended the license for Cardinal's Lakeland distribution center for selling large amounts of controlled substances, particularly hydrocodone, to illegal Internet pharmacies.

•In 2008, Cardinal paid $34 million in fines to settle charges that it failed to report suspicious orders of hydrocodone by pharmacies operating on the Internet. Cardinal's conduct allowed "the diversion of millions of dosage units of hydrocodone from legitimate to non-legitimate channels," the DEA said.

•In August 2005, DEA officials had warned Cardinal about its excessive sales of hydrocodone drugs, such as Vicodin, to online pharmacies filling illegal prescriptions.

Probation officers shift focus from punishment to collaboration

If a probation tells their client that they shouldn't rob Circle K's because it is wrong I suspect most criminals can understand that. But if a probation officers tells them smoking a joint is wrong, I don't think anybody that has committed a victimless drug war crime can understand that. Just why is smoking a joint wrong, if it's not hurting anybody?

I was also surprised that Santa Clara county, which is were San Jose is has 160 adult probation officers. I have said it before the "drug war" is a jobs program for cops, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and in this case probation officers.

Source

Probation officers shift focus from punishment to collaboration

By Tracey Kaplan

tkaplan@mercurynews.com

Posted: 02/06/2012 12:00:00 AM PST

Twelve Santa Clara County probation officers are standing in a circle, each twirling a rope with a noose at one end. They're pretending to lasso a criminal under their supervision.

Then an instructor tells them to untie the noose and hand one end of the rope to their "client."

"If you're working together," says the instructor to the skeptical officers, "the tension on the rope now is just right."

Hokey as the training exercise appears, it's at the heart of a serious effort under way across California and the rest of the nation to better prepare probationers for life on the outside and make them less likely to become repeat offenders. It all starts with teaching probation officers a less punitive, more collaborative approach to dealing with criminal offenders.

The technique, known as motivational interviewing or MI, is one of several nonconfrontational approaches coming back into vogue with realignment, California's recent overhaul of its criminal justice system. In October, responsibility for imprisoning and rehabilitating nonviolent offenders shifted from the state to counties. With such new responsibilities, local officials are hoping MI and an alphabet soup of other programs -- like CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and PCD (positive client development) -- will inspire more criminals not just to go straight, but to stay that way.

"Motivational interviewing is becoming more common than not," said Fresno County Probation Chief Linda Penner, immediate past president of the Chief Probation Officers of California.

The aim is for probation officers to use a counseling style that encourages clients to discuss and self-analyze their problems, their personal reasons to change and what they believe can help them succeed on the outside. That done, it's hoped probationers will learn to make positive decisions, guided by officers who use the sessions to build on their strengths, rather than focus on their weaknesses.

In Santa Clara County, a few adult probation officers got a taste a few years ago of MI, but now all 160 are taking three-day training sessions at a total cost of about $45,000. San Mateo County trained its officers six years ago but is providing more sessions this year. Alameda County probation officers first learned MI in 2009 and are slated to get more lessons. Santa Cruz County has done some training and wants to do more.

After a role-playing exercise at one of those recent training sessions, one Santa Clara County probation officer noted a distinct difference between the mock meeting with a probationer and his usual style.

"It was more of a conversation instead of me as the P.O. doing all the talking, telling them what to do," said the officer, who asked for his name not to be used.

But not everyone is a fan. Some probation officers balk at what they perceive as a touchy-feely approach far removed from the reality they have long experienced.

"Some of these adults are at a place where a few inspirational words might make a difference," said another probation officer at the training session, "but for most, I don't see what MI would do."

Other officers are concerned that the new program comes at a time when they are dealing with more dangerous clients who used to report to parole agents under the old system. They wonder how they can manage their inherently schizophrenic role as both counselor and mentor to the offender while also being a representative of the justice system who has the power to put the person back behind bars.

"Quite honestly, it seems like a double message," one officer said after the training. "I mean they're asking some of us to carry guns and at the same time to try out motivational interviewing?"

The probation department chiefs, who are enthusiastic about MI, are aware of the skepticism.

Santa Cruz County Probation Chief Scott MacDonald said, "We also need to use motivational enhancement on probation officers because this model requires us to engage in culture change."

The culture of probation is coming full circle, from focusing on rehabilitation before the 1970s, to punishment during the 1970s, '80s and '90s, back to a renewed interest in treatment, according to a recent research paper by the Judicial Council of California's scholar in residence, retired Judge Roger K. Warren.

"Back in the 1990s, I remember being told that I should clear everything off my desk and leave just handcuffs to show clients we're here to contain you and stop you," said Kevin Lynch, Marin County's director of juvenile probation, who is a proponent of MI.

Researchers have found MI extremely effective in the treatment of addiction. Scant research has been completed on its role in the criminal justice system, said MI's creator, clinical psychologist William R. Miller, though corrections agencies around the nation so far are reporting positive results. The chiefs don't see MI as a panacea, just as a helpful tool.

"Imagine going home to a loved one and spending a half-hour telling them what is wrong with him, and then a half-hour telling them what they need to do about it," said MacDonald, Santa Cruz County's probation chief. "How would your evening go? The fact is no one likes to be told what to do, and that method does not promote change."

Contact Tracey Kaplan at 408-278-3482. Follow her at Twitter.com/merccourts.

Ex-ICE agent pleads guilty in leaked-documents case

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Ex-ICE agent pleads guilty in leaked-documents case

by Daniel González - Feb. 6, 2012 03:40 PM

The Arizona Republic | azcentral.com

A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has admitted in federal court that she illegally leaked classified documents and other sensitive information to relatives involved with drug trafficking organizations in Mexico.

Jovana Deas, 33, of Rio Rico, a former special agent with ICE investigations in Nogales, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a 21-count indictment accusing her of illegally obtaining and disseminating government documents classified for official use only, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona said Monday in a news release.

Deas admitted that she illegally accessed, stole and transferred sensitive U.S. documents to unauthorized people, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Law enforcement officials in Brazil discovered some of the information Deas unlawfully accessed on a laptop computer belonging to her former brother in-law, prosecutors said.

Deas's brother-in-law, who was not named in the news release, is associated with a drug-trafficking organization in Mexico, prosecutors said. The Mexican drug trafficking organization has ties to drug traffickers in Brazil, prosecutors said.

The indictment also accuses Deas' sister, Dana Maria Samaniego Montes, 40, of Agua Prieta, Sonora, of being involved in the scheme. Samaniego Montes, a former Mexican law enforcement official, is a fugitive whom U.S. authorities believe is hiding in Mexico, prosecutors said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Samaniego Montes allegedly has ties to drug trafficking organizations in Mexico.

Deas pleaded guilty to a total of seven felonies and 14 misdemeanors, the office said. She is scheduled to be sentenced on April 11. She faces up to five years in prison for each felony and up to one year for each misdemeanor, prosecutors said.

Being drunk in public is legal?

Arizona law prohibits arrests for being drunk in public?

I think it is silly to arrest people for being drunk in public. Just because a person is drunk doesn't make them a criminal.

On the other hand the article says that if drunks are being jerks they can still be arrested for disorderly conduct. And of course when a drunk is being a jerk that is the problem, not the fact that the person is drunk.

Source

Ruling on public drunkenness draws fire

Scottsdale judge says state law prohibits arrests

by Beth Duckett - Feb. 6, 2012 09:22 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

A recent court ruling barring Scottsdale police from arresting rowdy drunk people in public has drawn a spotlight on a decades-old Arizona law that says cities and towns cannot enforce their own drunken-behavior laws.

The Dec. 20 ruling from Scottsdale City Judge James Blake has prompted residents, police officials and lawmakers to explore ways to counteract the ruling, which could open the door for local governments to adopt and enforce their own laws on public drunkenness.

Blake ruled that Scottsdale's code governing drunkenness is in violation of a state law that took effect in 1974, barring counties and municipalities from adopting or enforcing local laws related to intoxication.

Scottsdale is appealing the ruling. For now, police officers can no longer arrest or cite people heavily under the influence of alcohol in public when they pose a danger to themselves or others.

Municipal concerns

Ken Strobeck, executive director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, said local enforcement of drunkenness has been on the radar of several Arizona communities, particularly Winslow, Holbrook and Page, which are concerned about inebriated people on their streets.

Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, sponsored a bill this session that would have addressed some of the concerns.

Allen decided to hold off on a Senate committee vote on the bill after opponents brought up concerns.

Senate Bill 1082 proposes to, among other things, allow cities and counties to regulate drive-through liquor sales and the sales of beer in containers that are 40 ounces or larger.

"I'm still working on the bill -- it isn't dead," said Allen, who called it "wrong" not to allow communities to "solve particular local problems."

In 2011, Allen sponsored Senate Bill 1177 that would have allowed municipalities to adopt and enforce their own intoxication laws. Senate leadership never scheduled it for a vote of the full Senate.

According to the Scottsdale city attorney, the ruling does not reverse prior convictions for public intoxication.

In a city known for its booming nightlife, neighbors and business owners are concerned that the ruling makes it harder for law enforcement to crack down on overly drunk revelers in the city's downtown-entertainment district.

The district, east of Scottsdale Road and south of Camelback Road, is heavily populated with nightclubs and bars, drawing revelers from across the Valley and from out of town.

"It would be a giant step backwards for our public-safety programs," said Bill Crawford, a downtown resident and business owner who is president of the Association to Preserve Downtown Scottsdale's Quality of Life.

Phoenix's outlook

Phoenix spokeswoman Toni Maccarone said the city has a drunk-and-disorderly ordinance, which makes it a misdemeanor to be in a public place, street, alley or sidewalk in a drunk or disorderly condition.

City officials were not immediately available to comment on the state law's effects on Phoenix's ordinance.

Scottsdale's code on public drunkenness has been a "huge tool, especially in the downtown area," said Jim Hill, president of the Police Officers of Scottsdale Association.

Sgt. Mark Clark, a Scottsdale police spokesman, said officers will not ignore people who are inebriated and pose a danger to themselves or others. Because disorderly-conduct and other laws still apply, officers can cite and arrest drunks if they are a nuisance, he noted.

"We're still concerned about the intoxicated people in the neighborhood," Clark said. "We'll still respond."

Republic reporter Ofelia Madrid contributed to this article.

Cops murder man for flushing pot down a toilet???

The problem is the immoral and unconstitutional "drug war".

Source

A Raucous Protest Against a Police Killing

By TIM STELLOH

Published: February 6, 2012

It was a dramatic conclusion to a day of protest: Leona Virgo, whose younger brother was shot to death by a police officer in the bathroom of their family’s home on Thursday, was hoisted above a sea of supporters outside the 47th Precinct station house in the Bronx on Monday night.

As the crowd condemned a dozen officers positioned outside the station — comparing them to members of the Ku Klux Klan, for instance — Ms. Virgo remembered her brother, Ramarley Graham, for the crowd.

“I never wanted him to go out like this,” said Ms. Virgo, 22, tearing up. “He was only 18 years old.”

But, she added: “This is not just about Ramarley. This is about all young black men.”

That theme was echoed throughout the afternoon, as hundreds gathered outside the family’s home on East 229th Street for what was, at times, a chaotic condemnation of police violence and the killing of Mr. Graham, who was unarmed.

The authorities are investigating the shooting, which happened after narcotics officers followed Mr. Graham into the apartment thinking that he was armed, the police said. An officer confronted Mr. Graham, who was in the bathroom, possibly trying to flush marijuana down the toilet, the authorities said. Moments later, the officer fired a shot, killing him.

On Monday, a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers outside the family’s home, a second-floor apartment in a three-story building, included more than half a dozen posters scrawled with anti-Police Department slogans.

“Blood is on your shoulders NYPD Killer!!” one poster read.

Juanita Young, 57, came to support Mr. Graham’s mother. Her son, Malcolm Ferguson, 23, was shot to death by the police in the South Bronx on March 1, 2000, for reasons still unclear to her. She received $4.4 million in 2007 after the city settled a wrongful-death suit, she said. “I know this mother’s pain,” Ms. Young said. “The pain we walk — can’t nothing touch that pain.”

Some feared that their children might be next; others wanted vengeance. “I don’t want justice,” said Arlene Brooks, 49. “I want revenge.”

Despite that tension, there did not appear to be any violence, and the crowd occasionally broke into song. About 6 p.m., Mr. Graham’s father, Franclot Graham, addressed the group, telling supporters to remember to celebrate his son’s life.

The raucous gathering was then led to the station house by Mr. Graham; his son’s mother, Constance Malcolm; and his son’s grandmother Patricia Hartley. Afterward, children riding bicycles down the street could be heard chanting one of the protest’s mantras: “NYPD-KKK.”

Drones may soon fly alongside airplanes

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Drones may soon fly alongside airplanes

Approved bill would give FAA 3 years to act

by Bart Jansen - Feb. 6, 2012 10:33 PM

USA Today

WASHINGTON - Within a few years, that flying object overhead might not be a bird or a plane, but an unmanned drone.

Drones, perhaps best known for their role in combat missions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, are increasingly looking to share room in U.S. skies with passenger planes. And that's prompting safety concerns.

Right now, remote-controlled drones are mostly used in the U.S. by the military and the federal Customs and Border Protection in restricted airspace.

But everyone from police forces searching for missing people to academic researchers counting seals on the polar ice cap is eager to launch drones weighing a few pounds to some the size of a jetliner in the same airspace as planes.

On Monday, the Senate sent President Barack Obama legislation that requires the Federal Aviation Administration to devise ways for that to happen safely in three years.

"It's about coming up with a plan where everybody can get along," said Doug Marshall, a New Mexico State University professor helping develop regulations and standards. "Nobody wants to get hurt. Nobody wants to cause an accident."

The appeal of drones is that they can fly anywhere it's too dangerous or remote for people, and they cost less than piloted helicopters or planes.

In Mesa County, Colo., for example, sheriff's deputies have negotiated a special agreement with the FAA to fly a 2-pound helicopter up to 400 feet above the ground so a camera can snap pictures of crime scenes or accidents. An infrared camera can help deputies track a missing person or a suspect in an overgrown ravine.

"It's a tool in the toolbox," says Ben Miller, the program's manager.

GPS devices on garbage trucks????

Source

Landfill searched for missing Glendale girl's remains

Police, FBI hope technology will aid hunt for body of Glendale 5-year-old

by Lisa Halverstadt - Feb. 6, 2012 09:44 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

More than 40 police officers, FBI agents and others wore masks and white protective suits on Monday as they began to search a landfill south of the Valley for a missing Glendale girl's remains.

Police are hopeful that technological advances will offer advantages that crews didn't have in two separate and unsuccessful searches at the same Mobile landfill more than a decade ago.

For example, GPS helped police nail down exactly which trucks may have taken 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley's body to a transfer station and then to the Butterfield Station Landfill. The tracking system tells authorities where the truck dumped its load, said Sgt. Brent Coombs, a Glendale police spokesman.

Jhessye's mother reported her missing nearly four months ago. Police now say that call came days after the girl's body had already been disposed of in a Tempe trash bin and taken to the landfill. Investigators have repeatedly said Jhessye's mother, Jerice Hunter, is the primary focus in the investigation.

Jhessye's family is torn by the landfill search. The cousins who helped raise her hope authorities find the girl's remains as they pray for justice and a proper burial. Jhessye's grandmother, who continues to defend Hunter, hopes the girl will be found elsewhere, and alive.

"I pray she's not there and that we can still have the hope that somebody just has her and wanted her so bad and they've taken care of her," grandmother Shirley Johnson said.

Police don't expect that outcome. One of Jhessye's older sisters told authorities that Hunter kept the 5-year-old in a bedroom closet without food or water. The sister said she last saw Jhessye in mid-September in the closet looking like a "zombie."

Police arrested Hunter in November on suspicion of child abuse, but prosecutors opted not to pursue the charge over concerns it could create a situation of double jeopardy that could prevent her from being tried again in the same case if prosecutors pursue a murder charge against her.

In the days or weeks to come, the search team will pull apart every bag of trash they come across and examine anything that might lead them to Jhessye's body, Coombs said.

They may search up to 6,000 tons of compacted garbage, the equivalent of a single day's load.

"We're prepared to stay out here as long as it takes to get through the last piece of trash," Coombs said.

Experts estimate a complete search would take four to six weeks, though police haven't placed time constraints on the effort.

Meanwhile, Jhessye's family members pray.

Lisa Vance helped raise the girl while Hunter served time in prison for child abuse involving Jhessye's older siblings. Vance said her family prays faith will lead police to Jhessye's remains.

"I'm very confident that when they go out there, however many days it takes, they are going to find Jhessye," Vance said. "They just have to."

The grandmother prays Jhessye will be found alive. Still, Johnson said she is grateful for the search. She just wishes police had started it sooner.

Hunter's attorney, Scott Maasen, agrees.

"They said almost two months ago they were possibly going to search the landfill," Maasen said. "It begs the question, why has there been a delay for so long?"

Police said they spent those months assessing logistics.

"We feel like we've identified the right location and we're going to give it our best shot," Glendale police spokeswoman Tracey Breeden said.

Costa Mesa bring in Federal thugs to shut down pot stores

Source

Published: Feb. 7, 2012 Updated: 9:14 p.m.

Costa Mesa asked feds for help in pot crackdown

By SEAN GREENE / FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

COSTA MESA — Months before federal authorities shut down dozens of medical marijuana facilities, the city asked them for help.

Tangled in a web of lawsuits with several dispensaries, the City Council and the city attorney turned to the United States Attorney's office, requesting federal assistance in shutting down 27 known active medical marijuana collectives — which are illegal under city ordinance — according to an Oct. 26 letter obtained by the Register.

"We believe that by working together with the U.S. Department of Justice we can eradicate these illegal businesses from our city," the letter, signed by City Attorney Tom Duarte and sent on behalf of the council, stated.

On Jan. 18, federal authorities arrived in Costa Mesa. They raided two shops, filed three federal lawsuits and notified 24 others to shut down within 14 days, according to U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek.

Owners of the now-closed medical marijuana collectives in Costa Mesa have expressed frustration with the City Council for involving federal authorities. About a dozen former collective owners and cannabis patients protested before Tuesday's City Council meeting and addressed the council in the meeting's public comment section.

Among the speakers was Joyce Weitzberg, a 62-year-old retired nurse and owner of Nutritional Concepts Pain Releaf Center, who said not all medical marijuana stores are created equal.

In an impassioned speech, Weitzberg asked the City Council to adopt an emergency ordinance that would allow two or three collectives to re-open so local patients could get their medicine.

Weitzberg opened her own non-profit collective two years ago after becoming a patient of medical marijuana — a last resort to manage the pain of her bone and lung diseases, she said in an interview early this week. She played by all the rules and jumped through all the hoops, she said.

"We've done it 100 percent right and I'm guilty by association. There's no due process," Weitzberg said.

After the collectives were shut down, rumors in the medical marijuana community swirled that the City Council called for both the federal crackdown and Sunday's cancellation of local radio station KOCI LP-FM's "Cannabis Community" show. Both the station's management and the city have said there was no federal or local influence on the decision to cancel the show.

"Cannabis Community," hosted by Robert Martinez, a veteran U.S. Army medic and president of medical marijuana collective Newport Mesa Patients Association, recently broadcast a show from Mayor Gary Monahan's bar, Skosh Monahan's.

During the Jan. 15 show, Monahan joined a number of medical cannabis proponents in support of regulating the businesses, which are forbidden by federal law but allowed by California.

"It's like the wild, wild west out there," he said on the show. "Everybody's doing whatever they want to do. You've got some really good dispensaries; you've got some really bad dispensaries that are just out for a quick buck. ... There's a lot of good ones that we want to support."

Cannabis collective owners and activists questioned the timing of the appearance, but Monahan said he did not know when federal authorities would come.

"I'm not happy with what happened," Monahan said in an interview. "I do believe that the dispensaries are what the future is going to hold and I would like to support them in their efforts to get the businesses regulated to some type of standard so they can operate."

Councilwoman Wendy Leece said she supports the crackdown, adding the city had too many medical marijuana facilities.

"I believe the number of clinics in Costa Mesa has been harmful and the number has been out of control," she said.

The city's letter was sent in response to a Department of Justice announcement in early October that the four California-based U.S. Attorneys had begun a statewide enforcement effort targeting the state's commercial marijuana industry.

The announcement came on the heels of the city of Lake Forest's public call for federal assistance in shutting down a number of medical marijuana dispensaries in May 2011.

Costa Mesa's letter noted the high cost of fighting dispensaries in court and rising complaints from residents and business owners, who were especially concerned that the dispensaries were deterring potential customers.

The city has spent $457,612 in legal cases involving marijuana dispensaries as of Jan. 31, city spokesman Bill Lobdell said.

Three dispensaries have sued the city in state court over its ordinance banning dispensaries since April 2010. Only one from Newport-Mesa Collective and Tri-County Patients Association is still ongoing, after one was dismissed and the city won the other in trial.

Costa Mesa filed a public nuisance lawsuit against the operator of 440 Fair Drive in April of 2010, where up to nine dispensaries and seven massage parlors were operating.

Contact the writer: sgreene.ocr@gmail.com

Obama to sign Giffords' final "drug war" bill on Friday

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Obama to sign Giffords' final bill on Friday

President Barack Obama on Friday intends to sign the final piece of legislation introduced by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords before her resignation on Jan. 25.

Obama is expected to be joined in the Oval Office by Vice President Joe Biden, Giffords and her retired NASA astronaut husband Mark Kelly when he signs into law H.R. 3801, the Ultralight Aircraft Smuggling Prevention Act of 2012, a White House official told The Arizona Republic on Wednesday.

The measure cracks down on the use of ultralight aircraft in border smuggling crimes. Giffords and the House voted 408-0 on Jan. 25 to pass the bill. The Senate passed it on a voice vote.

Giffords, D-Ariz., stepped down amid her third term to focus on recovering from a gunshot to the head that she received in a Jan. 8, 2011, assassination attempt near Tucson.

Arizona shakes down medical marijuana doctors

Here are some examples of the roadblocks that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Arizona Department of Health Services Director William Humble have been throwing at people who need medical marijuana.

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2 Arizona doctors disciplined for medical pot

Drug recommended to patients without the proper vetting

by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez - Feb. 8, 2012 09:04 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

State medical boards have disciplined two doctors who improperly recommended medical marijuana to hundreds of patients.

State officials filed complaints in August against eight physicians who had recommended nearly half of the 10,000 Arizonans certified to use medical marijuana, saying they failed to check patients' prescription-drug histories as required. The disciplinary actions against the two doctors were a result of the complaints by the state Department of Health Services.

State rules regulating the voter-approved medical-marijuana law require people to obtain a written recommendation from a licensed physician.

The doctor must perform a physical exam, review a year's worth of medical records, talk about the risks and benefits of the drug, and review a state database that tracks prescription-drug use.

In January, the Arizona Naturopathic Physicians Medical Board suspended Dr. Christine Strong, a licensed naturopathic physician, for failing to physically examine eight patients before certifying they qualified for the marijuana, according to a consent agreement between the regulatory board and Strong obtained by The Arizona Republic.

Strong also failed to maintain adequate medical records for the eight patients because the files did not contain sufficient information to support a diagnosis that would qualify the patients for medical marijuana. Strong certified four patients based on severe and chronic pain, but medical records did not support that diagnosis, and the records didn't indicate the patients were taking any pain medication, which should have caused the doctor "to question the validity of the patients' complaints," the Jan. 19 agreement said.

The board determined Strong acted unprofessionally and suspended her license for 30 days. She must serve the suspension by Sept. 4, pay a $1,000 civil penalty and complete 24 hours of continuing medical education focused on pain management and physical examination and diagnosis.

Strong did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Craig Runbeck, executive director of the naturopathic board, said the panel is still considering four other discipline cases tied to medical marijuana.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Medical Board issued a letter of reprimand and consent to Dr. James W. Eisenberg for issuing 483 medical-marijuana certifications before checking prescription-drug histories, records state.

Eisenberg conceded he falsely attested on certification forms that he had reviewed patient profiles on the controlled-substances database.

Eisenberg did not respond to a call for comment.

Lisa Wynn, executive director of the Arizona Medical Board, said the doctor's reprimand does not affect his ability to practice medicine. She said the board is still reviewing the actions of two doctors linked to the certification of medical marijuana.

Keith Humphreys is a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University who served as the senior drug-policy adviser in President Barack Obama's administration.

He said enforcement of marijuana-related disciplinary actions against doctors is spotty at best because criteria for recommending medical marijuana are so "loosey-goosey."

In California, for example, virtually anyone can qualify for medical marijuana, he said, so it can be tough proving disciplinary cases against doctors.

"Around the country, very, very few doctors have gotten in trouble," Humphreys said. "And it's pretty hard to get into trouble as a doctor, because the standards for recommending it are just so low."

Why they want to ban medical marijuana from college campuses???

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Beer sales could be boon for Arizona's universities

by Paola Boivin, columnist - Feb. 8, 2012 07:39 PM

The Arizona Republic | azcentral.com

Should beer and wine be allowed to be sold to the general public at state university sporting events?

Yes.

No.

Imagine sitting at an Arizona or Arizona State football game and suddenly hearing the public-address announcer bark, "Last call!"

Crazy? Maybe not.

Several Arizona representatives have proposed a bill that would open the door to selling beer and wine to the general public at state university sporting events.

My gut reaction was "never" as I envisioned stadium students sections turning into a raucous gathering of depravity accompanied by an Otis Day and the Knights soundtrack.

And then I remembered they were like that anyway.

"Anyone who has been to a football game knows how many undergraduates leave at halftime, go to their dorm room or a tailgate party to drink and then come back," said Rep. Ed Ableser, D-Tempe, one of three sponsors of House Bill 2785.

West Virginia University, which began selling beer at home games in September, is making a strong case for taking this bill seriously.

First, some background.

Like most universities, beer and wine already are available in restricted areas of suites at Arizona and Arizona State football games. Additionally, beer will be sold at Wildcats baseball games this season, an opportunity that opened with the team's move to Hi Corbett field.

Twenty major universities, twice the amount from a decade ago, sold beer to non-suite fans at their football stadiums this past season, according to a survey done by the Des Moines Register.

The Arizona bill was introduced by Ableser, Rep. Tom Chabin, D-Flagstaff, and Rep. Daniel Patterson, D-Tucson, who each represent districts housing one of the state's three major universities. The bill would merely create a pilot program to test the issue under the watch of the Arizona Board of Regents and in consultation with the department of liquor licenses and control. Proceeds would benefit the school's athletic departments.

"I've done a ton of work trying to better my community and specifically ASU," said Ableser, who has undergraduate and master's degrees from ASU and is working on his doctorate. "The reality is we don't have the T. Boone Pickens and Phil Knights of the world. We don't have huge (fundraising) foundations."

Financier Pickens and Nike co-founder Knight are deep-pocket boosters for Oklahoma State and Oregon, respectively.

The financial struggles of public universities have left many searching for other revenue streams.

That was part of West Virginia's motivation, too.

"Nothing in my mind sees anything wrong with beer sales," Mountaineers Athletic Director Oliver Luck said. "But each situation is unique and has to be treated that way."

The Mountaineers served beer for the first time at their seven home games in 2011. Along with the decision came a very specific set of rules

Sales would be suspended early in the third quarter. Fans no longer would be able to leave the stadium once they entered. The university found that many people who left the facility would drink while they were away.

ASU allows fans to leave and return during games with a hand stamp. Arizona does not.

Representatives from both schools say their policy is not to comment on proposed bills.

The beer sales at West Virginia had an interesting result. Incidents related to alcohol consumption decreased 25 to 35 percent, Luck said. The tighter controlled environment, beefed-up security and a new exit policy made for a healthier atmosphere.

And the athletic department netted about $750,000 from its cut of sales and additional beer sponsorships.

Make no mistake. Luck, who is the father of Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, did his homework. He is a Rhodes Scholar finalist, a lawyer, a former NFL player and a well-regarded executive who was determined to consider every angle.

He has received calls from other athletic directors asking about the Mountaineers' experience. His reviews are favorable, but he reminds them that each university and community is unique.

What will become of the proposed Arizona bill? Political observers say the outlook isn't good because three democrats are sponsoring it.

At the very least, it could spark conversation. In these times of economic hardship at the public-school level, it's a good start.

Reach Boivin at paola.boivin@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter at Twitter.com/PaolaBoivin.

15 tons of meth busted in Guadalajara

Mexican army finds 15 tons of pure meth

Feb. 9, 2012 11:48 AM

Associated Press

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Mexican troops have made a historic seizure of 15 tons of pure methamphetamine in the western state of Jalisco, an amount equivalent to half of all meth seizures worldwide in 2009.

The sheer scale of the bust announced late Wednesday in the western state of Jalisco drew expressions of amazement from meth experts. The haul could have supplied 13 million doses worth over $4 billion on U.S. streets.

“This could potentially put a huge dent in the supply chain in the U.S,” said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Rusty Payne. “When we’re taking this much out of the supply chain, it’s a huge deal.”

Reporters were shown barrels of white and yellow powder that were found in a laboratory on a small ranch outside of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city.

The Mexican army said troops received several anonymous tips and found the massive drug stash in the township of Tlajomulco de Zuniga, near the Jalisco state capital of Guadalajara. The army statement called the seizure “historic,” implying it was the largest on record for the armed forces.

There were no people found on the ranch or arrests made, although it appeared 12 to 15 people worked there.

“Seizures of this size … could mean one of two things,” said Antonio Mazzitelli, the regional representative of the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime. “On one hand, it may be a product that hasn’t been able to be sold, and like any business, when the market is depressed, stockpiles build up.”

Or, he noted, “such large-scale production could suggest an expansion, an attempt by some Mexican groups, the most business-oriented I would say, to move into Latin American and Asian markets.

The previous biggest bust announced by the army came in June 2010, when soldiers found 3.1 metric tons (3.4 tons) of pure meth in three interconnected warehouses in the central state of Queretaro, along with hundreds of tons of precursor chemicals used to make meth. A giant underground lab was also found in Sinaloa state.

Those other seizures were believed to be linked to the powerful Sinaloa cartel’s massive move into meth production. A senior U.S. law enforcement official in Mexico said Thursday this week’s bust in Jalisco was ”probably Sinaloa.“

The official, who could not be named for security reasons, said Sinaloa may be moving into meth ”to reduce its reliance on Colombian cocaine by flooding the market with meth.“

The size of the Jalisco bust stunned Steve Preisler, an industrial chemist who wrote the book ”Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture“ and is sometimes called the father of modern meth-making.

”I have never seen quantity in that range,“ Preisler wrote. He also noted: ”The amounts of precursors they were importing would produce multi-tons of product.“

There has also been a dramatic increase in seizures of meth-making chemicals imported to Mexico from countries such as China. Such seizures indicate that Mexico may become a world production platform for methamphetamines, and that Mexican cartels may be dominating the trade.

In December alone, Mexican authorities seized 675 tons of a key precursor chemical, methylamine, that can yield its weight in uncut meth. All of the shipments were headed for Guatemala, where the Sinaloa cartel is also active. Officials in Guatemala, meanwhile, seized 7,847 barrels of precursors in 2011, equivalent to about 1,600 tons.

Few people use pure meth, and street cuts can be three or even five parts filler. A pound of meth can sell for about $15,000.

After a dip in 2007, the supply of methamphetamine in the United States has been growing, mainly due to its manufacture in Mexico, according to U.S. drug intelligence sources.

Between 2007 and 2009, seizures of methamphetamine by U.S. authorities along the Mexican border increased by 87 percent, according to the 2011 U.N. World Drug Report, the most recent statistics the U.N. has available.

Eighty percent of the meth coming into the U.S. is seized at the Mexican border, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center.

Pot users twice as likely to cause car crash

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Pot users twice as likely to cause car crash, experts say

Feb. 9, 2012 04:53 PM

Associated Press

LONDON -- People who use marijuana before driving are nearly twice as likely to cause a car crash as those not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to a Canadian analysis of previous studies.

Experts at Dalhousie University in Canada reviewed nine studies of more than 49,000 people involved in accidents on public roads involving one or more motor vehicles, including cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles. Marijuana use was confirmed by blood tests or self-reporting.

Researchers found drivers who had used marijuana within three hours of beginning to drive had nearly double the risk of causing a collision, especially those that were fatal.

Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug worldwide and rates of its use in drivers are increasing. A 2007 study in Scotland found 15 percent of 537 drivers aged 17 to 39 had used marijuana within 12 hours.

Some experts said education campaigns about the dangers of doing drugs before driving wouldn't work.

People "will also need to be persuaded that they are at risk of their cannabis use being detected," wrote Wayne Hall of the University of Queensland in an accompanying editorial.

Hall said more research was needed to prove whether roadside drug testing, as introduced in parts of Australia and the U.S., actually prevents more drug-related car accidents.

The study was published Friday in the journal, BMJ.

Guatemala President wants to legalize drugs

Guatemala leader to propose legalizing drugs

Feb. 11, 2012 02:56 PM

Associated Press

GUATEMALA CITY -- Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina said Saturday he will propose legalizing drugs in Central America in an upcoming meeting with the region's leaders.

Perez Molina said in a radio interview that his proposal would include decriminalizing the transportation of drugs through the area.

"I want to bring this discussion to the table," he said. "It wouldn't be a crime to transport, to move drugs. It would all have to be regulated."

Perez Molina, a former army general who took office last month, didn't give any other details about his proposal, mention specific drugs or say when the next meeting with Central American leaders will be.

He said he will bring the subject up with Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes when Funes visits Monday.

The Guatemalan president said the war on drugs and all the money and technology received from the U.S. has not diminished drug trafficking in the area.

"There was talk of the success of Plan Colombia but all it did was neutralize big cartels," Perez Molina said of a U.S. initiative supporting Colombia's fight against leftist rebels and far-right militias involved in the drug trade.

Perez Molina also blamed drug cartels for rampant violence in Guatemala, which has a homicide rate of 41 murders per 100,000 people.

The president took office pledging to wield an "iron fist" against crime.

Authorities say both the Zetas and the Sinaloa drug cartels are running and processing drugs in Guatemala and may be competing for territory, especially in the province of Peten near the border with Mexico.

Texans on wrong side of border fence worry

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Texans on wrong side of border fence worry

by Christopher Sherman - Feb. 11, 2012 11:47 AM

Associated Press

BROWNSVILLE, Texas -- Max Pons is already anticipating the anxiety he'll feel when the heavy steel gate shuts behind him, leaving his home isolated on a strip of land between America's border fence and the violence raging across the Rio Grande in Mexico.

For the past year, the manager of a sprawling preserve on the southern tip of Texas has been comforted by a gap in the rust-colored fence that gave him a quick escape route north in case of emergency. Now the U.S. government is installing the first gates to fill in this part of the fence along the Southwest border, and Pons admits he's pondering drastic scenarios.

"I think in my head I'm going to feel trapped," said Pons, who lives on the 1,000-acre property of sabal palms, oxbow lakes and citrus groves he manages for the Nature Conservancy's Southmost Preserve. "I need to have something that is much easier for me to have to ram to get through" if necessary.

Pons' concerns illustrate one of the complications in the government's 5-year-old effort to build a secure barrier along the border that would keep out illegal activity from Mexico without causing worse problems for the people living in the region.

In this lush area, the Rio Grande's wide floodplain precluded building the fence right on the border so it was set back more than a mile in places, running behind the levees. The result is a no-man's-land of hundreds of properties, and the people who work on them, on the wrong side of the divide.

The arrival of the gates will reveal whether the government's solution for this border fence problem will work. Can sliding panels in the fence controlled by passcodes allow isolated workers to cross when they need to while keeping intruders out?

Pons hopes the gates will open fast. "Because when is reinforcement going to show up?"

Some landowners also worry they'll become kidnapping targets for smugglers seeking passage through the 18-foot-tall metal fence.

Violence has surged in Tamaulipas, the Mexican state bordering this part of Texas, in the past two years. This week the State Department issued a new travel warning urging U.S. citizens again to avoid traveling there.

Residents in this rural area often see groups of illegal immigrants passing through or smugglers toting bundles. In October, the Border Patrol caught a high-ranking member of the Gulf cartel's Matamoros operations who had crossed about a half-hour upriver.

Gates will roll open on a metal track after a passcode is punched into a panel on or near the fence. Landowners would have permanent codes and could request temporary ones for visitors. Customs and Border Protection has begun testing its first two gates and plans to install 42 more in South Texas this year at a cost of $10 million.

For more than a year the tall steel bars and panels erected in segments on this stretch of the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border created an effect that was more gap-toothed grin than impenetrable obstacle.

When the gates are closed, the Texans on the other side won't be completely isolated, agency officials say. Border Patrol agents will continue to work both sides of the fence and can assist property owners. Many of the areas also are monitored by cameras and sensors.

But farmers point out that there is a lot the agents can't stop. They point out dusty footprints scaling the columns and say illegal immigrants can climb the barrier in seconds flat.

"It's the biggest waste of taxpayer money," said Leonard Loop at his produce stand east of Brownsville, where his family farms and some relatives' homes are in an area between the fence and the river.

Loop's nephew Paul said he was not looking forward to the delay the gates will add to the countless trips he and his brother make between fields and the barn with their equipment. He also worried about becoming a target for smugglers eager to use the gates for large shipments. They are wide enough for farm equipment.

"Any drug dealer is going to know anyone on this side has a way out," Paul Loop said, while crews harvested cabbage in a nearby field.

Othal Brand Jr., chairman and general manager of the Hidalgo County Water Improvement District No. 3, said he welcomes the completion of the fence even though the district's headquarters is between the barrier and the river.

He said he's optimistic it will help deflect illegal crossings and other illegal activity as intended.

"It's like building a car and only putting three tires on it," he said. "Finish it. Get it done."

Got money? You must be a criminal!!!!

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Cash-smuggling trend a challenge for U.S.

Cartels turn to paper money as banks probe transfers

by Eric Tucker - Feb. 12, 2012 12:39 AM

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Jeanette Barraza-Galindo conspicuously left her bags of teddy bears and throw pillows on a bus during an inspection at the Texas-Mexico border -- and professed ignorance about the $277,556 officers found hidden inside. The bags were handed to her at a bus station, gifts to be given to a child upon her return to Mexico, she told investigators.

The crime she pleaded guilty to -- bulk cash smuggling -- is increasingly drawing the attention and resources of federal authorities responsible for fighting drug trafficking across the border. Federal immigration authorities say their investigations have yielded more cash seizures and arrests in the past half-dozen years as criminals, sidestepping scrutiny from banks over electronic transfers, use cash to conceal proceeds from drug trafficking as they move the money south to crime rings in Mexico and elsewhere.

It's similar to the tactic taken in fighting terrorism: crippling financing networks before the money ends up with leaders of drug cartels and trafficking rings. But the flow is hard to stop.

Officials in both the U.S. and Mexico are realizing that criminal enterprises, just like other businesses, can't operate without a steady cash stream, said David Shirk, director of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego, which promotes scholarship of border issues.

"We're shifting our strategy to a more diverse strategy of not just going after bad guys and arresting them, but also going after their guns, going after their money," he said.

It's illegal to try to smuggle more than $10,000 in undeclared cash across the border. Officials say the crime is often connected to other illegal activities including drug trafficking, gambling and credit-card and customs fraud.

The Obama administration has targeted bulk cash smuggling as a prong of its strategy against transnational crime. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported more than $150 million in seized cash and 428 arrests in bulk-cash-smuggling investigations in fiscal year 2011, up from $7.3 million and 48 in fiscal 2005, according to agency statistics.

A cash-smuggling center in Vermont that opened in 2009 and is run by ICE's homeland-security investigations has expanded operations in a sign of heightened emphasis, officials announced in December.

But experts say measuring the impact of the beefed-up focus is tricky.

It's hard to track cash's origin and destination -- and investigators can't always count on help from couriers, who may be more afraid of snitching on a drug cartel than of spending a few years in prison.

Plus, the amount seized represents a fraction of the total money at stake. Estimates cited by federal authorities suggest at least $18 billion in illicit proceeds is laundered across the southwestern border each year.

A 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office said staffing and infrastructure at the border were limiting success in detecting large quantities of cash, and also highlighted another, continuing problem: the use of prepaid, stored-value cards to move money across borders.

"I call this winning the battle, losing the war. Sure, $90 million sounds like a lot," said Bruce Bagley, a University of Miami international-studies professor who researches drug trafficking. "That's nothing in comparison to the $19 to $39 billion that's being returned" across the border.

Cash smuggling has emerged as a seductive medium for criminals as banks have become more sophisticated in spotting suspicious transactions. Cash can also be transferred without a trace and is instantly available.

"The financial industry has done a much better job in terms of trying to keep out illicit money, and as a result the organizations adapt and then they go to some tried-and-true methods -- and, that is, they're bulking it up and sending it where it needs to go," said Joseph Burke, chief of ICE's National Bulk Cash Smuggling Center in Vermont.

Criminal organizations generally move contraband north across the border. The money they make, in turn, flows south.

Burke said the money is often collected at consolidation hubs -- perhaps a home or a warehouse -- and distributed among several couriers.

Couriers have assorted methods for moving the money, including strapping it to their body, hiding it in car compartments, stacking it on pallets and concealing it in vacuum-packed bags.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has increased the size of the border patrol, begun screening more vehicle traffic and southbound rail traffic for weapons and cash, and added technology and infrastructure since the Obama administration announced a new southwestern-border initiative in March 2009, agency officials said at congressional hearings last year.

But the accountability office report said CBP needs better data on how successful its efforts have been as well as more consistent, full-time enforcement.

Efrain Perez, a program manager with CBP, said Border Patrol officers are vigilant, about looking for suspicious behavior, but it's impossible to catch every single person.

"We know we're can't talk to 100 percent (of drivers). It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, but we put a lot of resources out there," he said.

Testing pot in a legal vacuum

Testing pot in a legal vacuum

By Joe Mozingo, Los Angeles Times

February 11, 2012, 8:51 p.m.

The tech broke the bud of marijuana into small flakes, measuring 200 milligrams into a vial. He had picked up the strain, Ghost, earlier that day from a dispensary in the Valley and guessed by its pungency and visible resin glands that it was potent.

He could have determined this the old-fashioned way, with a bong and a match. Instead, he began the meticulous process of preparing the sample for the high-pressure liquid chromatograph.

His lab, called The Werc Shop, tests medical cannabis for levels of the psychoactive ingredient known as THC and a few dozen other compounds, as well as for contaminants like molds, bacteria and pesticides that marijuana advocates don't much like to talk about. The strains that pass muster are labeled Certified Cannabaceuticals, a trademarked term.

The commercial lab is one of dozens opening in the last two years, as a rush to build an industry around medical marijuana has produced a desire — by some — to know what exactly is in the medicine.

The idea is that patients don't pop a Vicodin not knowing if the pill has 5 milligrams of hydrocodone or 15. Nor do people make drinks wondering if they are pouring beer or bourbon or Bacardi 151.

"Every pharmaceutical requires quality control and assurance, every diet supplement, every vitamin," said Jeff Raber, the Werc Shop founder and president, who has a PhD in chemistry from USC. "Why not treat this like medicine?"

With testing, pot users can stroll into a high-end store, look at a menu and decide what level of THC they want in their weed. And since dispensaries post their menus on popular directories like weedmaps.com and stickyguide.com, customers can first shop around online for the strongest strain of bud for the dollar.

But is this tidy new glimpse of marijuana retail illusory?

Only some top-end dispensaries test their products, and even they can't be sure the results are reliable. Because all marijuana possession is illegal under federal law — and the Justice Department has been cracking down recently — the nascent labs are as unregulated and vulnerable to prosecution as dispensaries and growers. In Colorado, the one lab that tried to get a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration was promptly raided by that agency.

That very week, Los Angeles passed its marijuana ordinance, which required testing by "independent and certified" labs, without specifying who was supposed to do the certifying. Long Beach followed suit two months later.

Making the situation even woollier: There are no federal standards for pesticides in marijuana.

So, along with the rest of the industry, the businesses operate in a raucous frontier, with drug-lab cowboys pulling up to pot shops with secondhand equipment to offer "lab-tested" results.

The more prominent operations in California — including Steep Hill in Oakland, Halent in Sacramento and The Werc Shop in Los Angeles County — have recently formed the Assn. of California Cannabis Laboratories to set equipment standards and methodology and to give a seal of approval for those who comply. They also hope to advance the science of marijuana, deciphering which compounds do what in a plant that can produce a broad range of psychological and physiological effects.

Donald Land, a UC Davis chemistry professor who co-founded Halent, said labs have no choice but to regulate themselves.

"Labs are popping up in people's vans. People are doing color tests and all kinds of stuff that's not very accurate. And there's people doing plain-old 'dry-labbing' — they take a sample, make a guess, put a number on it and send it out.

"Unfortunately, that's what an unregulated industry has to deal with."

::

When Ean Seeb's prized strain Bio-Diesel won top prize in the Colorado Medical Marijuana Harvest Cup, he decided to see what the numbers were.

Seeb, co-owner of a dispensary called Denver Relief, took it to a nearby lab, which informed him that the THC accounted for 18% of the sample's weight, a solid showing. Then a marijuana review website took samples of the same strain to the same lab and got different results, with one coming in at a stratospheric 29%.

"There was no way that that plant was 29%," Seeb said.

Suspicious, he decided to blind-test the labs. Seeb put his marijuana buds through a coffee grinder to homogenize samples for five local labs.

One was a mobile lab. A young woman showed up with a gas chromatograph in a yellow suitcase and a tank of helium gas. "She had Rainbow Brite make-up, a spiked belt and tight jeans," Seeb said.

Once she set up the equipment, a heavily tattooed man joined her and donned a white lab coat. He spent two hours having problems calibrating the machine, while dumping his used solvents down the toilet. Seeb asked him what he did with the part of the sample he didn't use in the test.

"I smoke it," the man replied.

Within a couple of days, the results from all five labs came back, and they were all over the chart. "The whole thing was a joke," Seeb said.

In California, the director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, with help from a leading cannabis researcher in the Netherlands, did a similar trial with 10 top labs in the state. The results for a "same homogenized cannabis material" ranged from 4.16% THC to 14.3%, although seven of the labs had closer results, between 8.4% and 12.5%."

::

Having high potency is a money-maker. Having pesticides is not, and the industry as a whole has shown little interest in learning and disclosing what industrial chemicals, if any, people are drawing into their lungs.

Most labs charge separate fees for each test the customer wants: screening for THC and other active compounds, for biological contaminants, and for pesticides. Dispensaries always want the THC test.

The Werc Shop does the biological contaminant tests on half its samples and checks about 30% for pesticides. Steep Hill, the state's largest lab, tests about 65% of submitted samples for mold and microbes and only about 5% for pesticides.

Steep Hill's president, David Lampach, says it's too costly to routinely test for the hundreds of possible pesticides and easier to work with farmers to ensure they're never used.

At Halent, Land says "purity is more important than potency," and he performs only an all-inclusive screening for more than 30 pesticides as well as molds, fungi and mycotoxins.

But this tests only the most common pesticides and, with no federal tolerance guidelines for marijuana — or tobacco, as a potential reference point — the labs are left to come up with their own thresholds for what is acceptable.

In October 2009, Los Angeles police officers bought marijuana at nine dispensaries and had it tested by the Food and Drug Administration.

"They came back with a number of different pesticides," said William W. Carter, the chief deputy city attorney. "Half the samples were contaminated."

His office successfully shut down one store, the Hemp Factory in Eagle Rock; he said a sample from there contained the pesticide Bifenthrin at a level 170 times greater than the federal tolerance guidelines set for herbs and spices.

City Atty. Carmen Trutanich used this to issue depict the dispensary owners as callous criminals, not caregivers. At a press conference, he sprayed a can of Raid and asked, "Would you eat a salad with that on it?"

Ironically, Trutanich's push for testing — culminating in a requirement in the medical marijuana ordinance, passed in 2010 but still not enforced — launched a new sector in the industry he's expressed so much loathing for.

"When L.A. issued the ordinance that it had to be tested, labs popped up everywhere," said Paula Morris, scientific project manager of the short-lived Medea Labs in Hollywood. "There were a lot of people getting involved who had no science background."

::

In the often fractious industry, many have qualms about mandatory testing and say the contamination threat is overstated.

"With no scientific standardization, there's no meaning to these numbers," said Robert Jacob, director of Peace in Medicine Healing Center in Sonoma County. "I think it's more important to know our growers. We don't test organic tomatoes to see if they're organic. We create standards of growing."

But activists trying to broaden legalization are warming to the idea. "It's kind of the quid pro quo of legalization," said Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Drug Policy Alliance in New York City. "It's reasonable to expect that there is going to be labeling."

"The tide is turning," said Amir Daliri, director of government relations for the California Cannabis Assn., which is lobbying in Sacramento for statewide regulation, including testing. "You're getting dispensaries demanding growers bring tested medicine. Or patients are demanding it."

Doctors say testing is critical for patients with compromised immune systems. "Unless they're growing their own, I don't think they should buy medical cannabis if it hasn't been lab-analyzed," said Dr. Stacey Kerr, a family physician in Santa Rosa and a member of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians. "This is adding integrity to the medicine."

Kerr's group is keenly interested in a compound called cannabidiol, or CBD, which reportedly does not cause users to feel stoned, but has calming and pain-relieving effects that may help treat a range of problems, including arthritis, side effects of chemotherapy, asthma, sleep disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The labs are helping identify strains high in CBD and low in THC, which a few leading dispensaries are encouraging cultivators to grow. Clinicians are studying the effects.

"The lab analysis is allowing patients to choose their medicine with knowledge of what is actually in it," Kerr said.

::

Raber opened The Werc Shop in April 2010 in a light industrial park east of Los Angeles in a city whose name he asked not be disclosed. There are no signs on the door.

"I'm very cautious about this," he said. "There is huge risk here, to my career, to my personal reputation, my financial situation, the possibility of incarceration."

Raber and an unnamed investor brought in $350,000 worth of equipment — a gas chromatograph, centrifuge, high-pressure liquid chromatograph, mass spectrometer, analytical balances, computers. He hired a Dutch scientist who worked at a marijuana lab in the Netherlands.

They are hoping L.A. starts enforcing its ordinance and are working on a new test for more than 50 pesticides. Raber charges $50 for each of four tests that can be performed on a sample, and his dispensaries usually have between five and 20 samples tested at a time.

Raber, 36, was never a pot crusader and said he never even smoked it in college or graduate school. "I'm an entrepreneur," he said. "I started this, thinking this was all about to go somewhere."

But it has been a surreal form of entrepreneurship. A widespread interpretation of California's hazy marijuana guidelines is that anyone who touches the medicine has to be a patient (or a patient's primary caregiver). Basically, every lab owner, technician, courier, grower, trimmer, dispensary cashier and intake clerk must claim to be "a seriously ill Californian" requiring marijuana for treatment.

Raber said he found marijuana helps his spastic colon. He can get samples only as a patient, and since every dispensary acts nominally as a "collective" of patients, he's been a member of every one he's worked with, about 200.

In the laboratory on a recent afternoon, his younger brother, Mark, 33, prepared the sample of Ghost for the potency test.

He placed the 200 milligrams in a vial and poured in a solution that would pull the cannabinoids out. He set the vial on a vortex to further shake the compounds out, then pipetted two milliliters into a smaller vial, which was spun in a centrifuge. From that, he transferred 600 microliters into an auto-sampler vial.

Mark Raber walked his samples over to the high-pressure liquid chromatograph, loaded them into a tray and pressed a button. Inside, a mechanical needle descended to take one microliter from the first sample and spray it through a column that separated the chemicals based on their affinity to various particles inside it.

After several hours, which included some number crunching, Raber had his stats for Ghost: 18.48% THC / 0.35 CBD.

Enough to get you stoned.

joe.mozingo@latimes.com

Marijuana dispensaries renew push to open in EV

Marijuana dispensaries renew push to open in EV

Posted: Sunday, February 12, 2012 8:00 am

By Garin Groff, Tribune

Potential operators of medical marijuana dispensaries have revived their plans to open East Valley locations now that a lawsuit to block the drug's medical use has been dismissed.

People who want to open dispensaries have been checking with cities to make sure they can move quickly if they are issued licenses by Arizona this summer. They're asking if they can transfer approved locations to other people or they are seeking reassurance previously issued city approvals are still valid, said Ryan Levesque, a senior planner in Tempe.

"Calls have been picking up the past few weeks," Levesque said.

Tempe had more interest than any East Valley city last year when municipalities began sifting through applications for dispensary locations.

Mesa has also seen renewed interest, while Gilbert's had a single inquiry. Chandler hasn't had any new interest, and a city official said it's unlikely a dispensary will find a place to open in that community despite the state's medical marijuana program going forward.

The would-be dispensary owners flooded cities last year with applications, totaling more than 80 in the East Valley. Tempe was overwhelmed with about 50 applications, while Mesa fielded 35. Chandler and Gilbert had only a few applications per city.

The processing came to a halt last year when Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer filed a lawsuit to block the Arizona Department of Health Services from accepting dispensary applications. Last month, a federal judge threw out the suit and a Maricopa County court ordered the Department of Health Services to take applications.

Despite the length of the delay, East Valley cities said no applicants have withdrawn so far.

Some potential operators got frustrated by the lawsuit and gave up, said Dr. Bruce Bedrick of Kind Clinics, a Valley-based consultant who helps applicants qualify and sells turnkey equipment to dispensaries. He said he's had no problem finding clients after the lawsuit was resolved.

"We're over 60 now but it's probably going to be over 70 when it's all said and done," Bedrick said.

But the East Valley will only have a fraction of the more than 80 proposed dispensaries.

Arizona's medical marijuana program allows just one dispensary in each of the state's Community Health Analysis Areas, which are geographic areas the state uses to monitor public health data.

Arizona has 126 of these areas, and the East Valley has about a dozen. There are two each in Chandler, Gilbert and Tempe, and five in Mesa.

Tempe approved dispensaries at 16 sites that meet its land-use regulations, before the lawsuit halted action.

"We're still honoring those approvals we granted from last year," Levesque said. "Basically, we gave them an indefinite hold."

The state will use a lottery to determine who will get the two licenses allocated to Tempe. After that, Levesque said the only remaining hurdle for those operators will be passing building permit inspections.

Mesa has 26 locations where applicants have met requirements, with stronger concentrations on its west side. Gilbert has had a single inquiry since the lawsuit was resolved, said Mike Milillo, zoning administrator.

Each city has its own rules on where dispensaries can locate, requiring various distances from schools, churches, residential areas and other dispensaries.

Those regulations could keep a dispensary from opening in Chandler, said Jodie Novak, a senior city planner.

The city has only a few areas open to dispensaries. They include shopping centers near 54th Street and Ray Road, around Germann and Gilbert roads and part of Chandler Fashion Center. But those landowners won't lease to dispensaries, Novak said.

One hopeful dispensary operator sought an exception to city rules last year when applying for a spot near Chandler Regional Hospital, but the City Council rejected the proposal. That dampened interest in Chandler, Novak said.

"A lot of people said, ‘I'm not going to bother going through a process if the council denied it," Novak said.

Bedrick said the rules are stacked against the medical marijuana industry in some East Valley cities.

"Gilbert and Chandler made their zoning laws so intensely scrutinized that I don't believe there's going to be a dispensary in every single CHAA (Community Health Analysis Areas)," Bedrick said.

Arizona could issue licenses as soon as June, which would allow dispensaries to open by July or August.

Department of Health Services rules administrator Tom Salow said he doesn't expect the agency will issue all of the 126 licenses this year that are available. Tribal nations will likely block the 18 dispensaries that the geographical system would set aside for them.

If that's the case, the Department of Health Services would accept applications in 2013 for those licenses or any others not issued this year, Salow said. Arizona would calculate where medical marijuana cardholders live but are underserved by dispensaries.

Contact writer: (480) 898-6548 or ggroff@evtrib.com

Canna Crush Cruise

These bikers are having a ride to help sick people get their medical marijuana prescriptions and help raise money so poor people can get their medical marijuana.

I lot of people think bikers are mean nasty thugs, but I think these bikers have hearts of gold.

Drone strikes in the USA????

Source

Pentagon working with FAA to open U.S. airspace to combat drones

By W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles Times

February 13, 2012, 9:57 p.m.

With a growing fleet of combat drones in its arsenal, the Pentagon is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to open U.S. airspace to its robotic aircraft.

As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, the military says the drones that it has spent the last decade accruing need to return to the United States. When the nation first went to war after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the military had around 50 drones. Now it owns nearly 7,500.

These flying robots need to be shipped home at some point, and the military then hopes to station them at various military bases and use them for many purposes. But the FAA doesn't allow drones in national airspace without a special certificate.

These aircraft would be used to help train and retrain the pilots who fly the drones remotely, but they also are likely to find new roles at home in emergencies, helping firefighters see hot spots during wildfires or possibly even dropping water to combat the blaze.

At a recent conference about robotic technology in Washington, D.C., a number of military members spoke about the importance of integrating drones along with manned aircraft.

"The stuff from Afghanistan is going to come back," Steve Pennington, the Air Force's director of ranges, bases and airspace, said at the conference. The Department of Defense "doesn't want a segregated environment. We want a fully integrated environment."

That means the Pentagon wants the same rules for drones as any other military aircraft in the U.S. today.

Robotic technology was the focus of the Assn. for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's annual program review conference in Washington last week. For three days, a crowd made up of more than 500 military contractors, military personnel and industry insiders packed the Omni Shoreham Hotel to listen to the foremost experts on robots in the air, on the ground and in the sea.

Once the stuff of science-fiction novels, robotic technology now plays a major role day-to-day life. Automated machines help farmers gather crops. Robotic submarines scour the ocean floor for signs of oil beds. Flying drones have become crucial in hunting suspected terrorists in the Middle East.

Drones such as the jet-powered, high-flying RQ-4 Global Hawk made by Northrop Grumman Corp. have also been successful in providing aerial coverage of recent catastrophic events like the tsunami in Japan and earthquake in Haiti.

The FAA has said that remotely piloted aircraft aren't allowed in national airspace on a wide scale because they don't have an adequate "detect, sense and avoid" technology to prevent midair collisions.

The FAA does allow exceptions. Unarmed Predator drones are used to patrol the nation's borders through special certifications. The FAA said it issued 313 such certificates last year.

The vast majority of the military's drones are small — similar to hobby aircraft. The FAA is working on proposed rules for integrating these drones, which are being eyed by law enforcement and private business to provide aerial surveillance. The FAA expects to release the proposal on small drones this spring.

But the Pentagon is concerned about flying hundreds of larger drones, including Global Hawks as well as MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers, both made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. in Poway.

And last week Congress approved legislation that requires the FAA to have a plan to integrate drones of all kinds into national airspace on a wide scale by 2015.

The Army will conduct a demonstration this summer at its Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, testing ground-based radars and other sense-and-avoid technology, Mary Ottman, deputy product director with the Army, said at the conference.

These first steps are crucial, said Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), who co-chairs a bipartisan drone caucus with Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita). Officially known as the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus, the panel was formed in 2009 to inform members of Congress on the far-reaching applications of drone technology.

McKeon also said he was in favor of moving along the process of integrating drones into civil airspace. This came before he was abruptly interrupted by an anti-drone female protester during a speech.

"These drones are playing God," she said, carrying a banner that read "Stop Killer Drones." She was part of a group that wants the end of drone strikes.

Within seconds, hotel security personnel surrounded the woman. She was carried out chanting, "Stop killer drones."

McKeon, who stood silent throughout the brief protest, went on with his speech.

william.hennigan@latimes.com

Cop smuggled coke into prison to sell to the inmates

Source

Guard arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine into jail to sell

February 14, 2012 | 4:52 pm

A jailer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine into Men's Central Jail with intent to sell it to inmates.

Remington Orr, 24, who is not a deputy but has worked for the last four years as a custody employee, was arrested late Monday as he was preparing to enter Men's Central Jail with the drug, said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for Sheriff Lee Baca.

"Obviously, if anybody tries to do this they will be caught, arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Whitmore said. "This is absolutely unacceptable as well as illegal. Nobody is above the law."

Orr, being held in lieu of $1 million bail near the scene of his arrest, was booked on suspicion of at least three felonies including possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, transportation of controlled substance with intent to sell, and bribery, Whitmore said.

Orr's case, the culmination of a four-week investigation, is the latest in a series of internal affairs investigations - -and prosecutions -- that have targeted sheriff's deputies and other department staff for delivering contraband behind bars, helping to fuel a lucrative drug trade behind bars.

Three sheriff's guards have been convicted and a fourth fired in recent years for smuggling or attempting to smuggle narcotics into jail for inmates.

The the porous nature of the jails was highlighted last year when The Times reported that FBI agents conducted an undercover sting in which a deputy was accused of taking $1,500 to smuggle a cellphone to an inmate working as a federal informant. Federal authorities are investigating reports of brutality and other misconduct by deputies.

In another notable case last month, a sheriff's deputy was arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle heroin into a courthouse jail inside a burrito.

Lobbing to re-legalize marijuana

Whitney Houston death probe turns to drugs

Source

Whitney Houston death probe turns to drugs found in hotel room

By Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times

February 15, 2012

The investigation into the death of Whitney Houston is shifting to a new phase, with officials focusing on the prescription drugs found in her hotel room and who prescribed them to her.

Investigators are expected in the next few days to serve subpoenas on the doctors, as well as the pharmacies where Houston obtained the prescriptions, as they try to determine her cause of death, according to a source with knowledge of the case.

Authorities collected several bottles of drugs from Houston's suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she was found dead Saturday. But officials have said the amounts of drugs did not seem unusually large, leaving it unclear whether the medications had anything to do with the singer's death. Officials are waiting for the results of toxicology tests on Houston's body.

The source would not discuss specifics of the case but said it was standard practice to examine whether the drugs were dispensed properly and if there was any indication that she was receiving too many prescriptions. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.

Dave Campbell, a retired captain from the coroner's office, said investigators would count the tablets in each container and compare them against the date of the prescription to see if the person was taking the correct dosage.

"Sometimes you find other medications inside" the bottles, he said.

Defense attorney Ellyn Garofalo, who won acquittal for a physician charged with over-prescribing drugs to Anna Nicole Smith, said investigators were probably going to be looking at several specific areas.

They will compare the amounts of prescription medications gathered from Houston's room with the amounts of medication that were dispensed. They will look at which pharmacies dispensed the drugs and which doctor or doctors prescribed them. That information could be compared against the prescribing history of one or more doctors who treated Houston.

A red flag would be a single doctor prescribing enormous amounts of medication, Garofalo said.

After Michael Jackson died in 2009, authorities spent months looking at bags full of prescription drugs found at his home. Prosecutors charged his doctor, Conrad Murray, in connection with the star's death.

Investigators will probably also use a state-created database with more than 100 million entries for controlled substances prescribed in California. The database has been used in past cases to determine the amount of drugs patients were receiving and how much doctors were prescribing.

Houston's death is being investigated by the L.A. County coroner's office and the Beverly Hills Police Department. Police said they have no plans to launch a criminal investigation, and the coroner's office said it won't have a final cause of death until toxicology results come back.

Tracking Houston's medications could take time. L.A. County sheriff's Sgt. Steve Opferman, who oversees a prescription drug task force but is not involved in the Houston case, said "celebrities often get their prescription drugs from doctors who are more than willing to give them what they want and sometimes using members of their entourage." Celebrities say they do this to protect their privacy.

Garofalo said building a case against a doctor or pharmacist is difficult.

"It's a very high bar to prosecute a doctor who has wide latitude to prescribe medication and deniability because there are clear directions about how prescription medications should be used," she said.

Experts also stressed that it's difficult to draw conclusions until the tests are done.

In 2010, actor Corey Haim died unexpectedly. The attorney general's office found that in the months before his death, Haim, 38, got 553 painkiller pills. But the coroner's office determined that Haim died of respiratory distress related to pneumonia with the presence of an enlarged heart and narrowing of blood vessels. The low level of eight drugs, some obtained by prescription, did not contribute to his death.

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com

richard.winton@latimes.com

Liars at Arizona DHS say marijuana is additive

The backside of the card says

"Marijuana use can be addictive .... Marijuana smoke contains carcinogens and can lead to an increased risk for cancer, tachycardia, hypertension, heart attack and lung infection"

F*ck the 4th Amendment, we are going to search your cell phone

Source

Mesa man accused of having drugs

by Anna Gunderson - Feb. 14, 2012 02:08 PM

The Arizona Republic - 12 News Breaking News Team

A Mesa man who was arrested on drug charges after a traffic stop Monday admitted to taking part in a robbery last November, police said.

Mesa polic said Tyler Vervalen was pulled over about 5 p.m. Monday, and officers found he had an outstanding warrant.

Police searched his car and found marijuana, a digital scale and several knives in his vehicle. Officers also found several drug-related text messages on his phone. According to police, Vervalen admitted that he helps his mother sell drugs.

He also admitted that he and two other men forced their way into a West Mesa apartment on November 30 and robbing the victim, who Vervalen said owed him money, police records state.

According to police documents, Vervalen placed the victim in a hold, slammed him into the wall and demanded money while the other two men searched the home, according to police documents.

After the three suspects found no money, they took a guitar and told the victim not to call police, court documents state.

Vervalen was booked on charges of robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, marijuana possession and drug paraphernalia possession.

A second suspect in that robbery has also been arrested, but the third is still at large, police said.

Public Servants? Nope, government thieves!!!

Source

Smokers beware: State wants to fight roll-your-own shops

By Bruce Ramsey

Seattle Times editorial columnist

If you smoke, should you have the right to roll your own? To use a machine? Maybe a little machine that fits in your pocket — or a bigger one that doesn't.

In the past two years, 65 shops in Washington — including Cheap Smokes in White Center, Butts Tobacco in Auburn, Tobacco Joe's in Everett — have installed $35,000 machines made in Girard, Ohio, that roll 200 cigarettes in 10 minutes. These shops have cut the cost of a carton's worth to around $36, which is half or less than the price at retail.

The savings is in tax. Per pack, the federal tax on cigarettes is $1.01. Washington's, the fifth-highest in the nation, is $3.025. [Ouch!!!! a $4.02 tax on a pack of cigarettes!!!! That's $40.20 a carton!!!!]

But this isn't a sale of a pack of cigarettes. It's a sale of loose tobacco and paper tubes. The buyer pays state and federal tax on the tobacco, but it's lower than for cigarettes, and the federal tax is lower still on pipe tobacco.

If the shop operated the machine, it would be a cigarette manufacturer. It would need a license from the U.S. Treasury, and have to sell packs with government health warnings. But the shop doesn't operate the machine. It rents it, just as a laundromat rents its washers and dryers.

The customer is not in the cigarette business. He's rolling his own.

"It rolls good. It tastes good. It's available. It's legal. Why not?" says Joe Baba, owner of the Everett Tobacco Joe's.

"Why not" is not how they think at the Treasury. In 2010, its Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau moved against the roll-your-own shops. The issue of who is a cigarette maker is now tied up at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of RYO Machine Rental v. United States Treasury. Meanwhile, the Washington Legislature is considering House Bill 2565, which would declare the shops to be manufacturers for the purpose of state taxes.

The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Steve Kirby, D-Tacoma, chairman of the House Business and Financial Services Committee. The bill has been backed in hearings by an odd alliance that includes the minimarts, which want to sell cigarettes, and the state Department of Health, which wants to stop people from smoking them.

Rep. Cary Condotta, R-East Wenatchee, says "heavy-duty lobbyists" from the big tobacco companies are also involved, trying to put the roll-your-own shops out of business.

"I find this very offensive," Condotta says. Some people are smuggling cigarettes from Idaho, where the state tax is only 57 cents a pack. The roll-your-own shops are paying Washington's 95-percent tax on loose tobacco. "Now we punish them," he says.

Yes, and in the interest of the biggest profit maker in cigarettes here: state government. In the fiscal note to Kirby's bill, the state's Department of Revenue estimates that in the 2013-2015 biennium, if the shops are not shut down the state will lose $23.6 million in cigarette tax, $16.8 million in sales tax and $1.2 million in business tax.

Forget the public health. Kirby's bill is now in House Ways and Means, labeled "necessary to implement the budget."

The Tacoma Democrat, who represents a blue-collar district, says when he introduced the bill he was concerned about kids and the promotion of tobacco. But he knows smokers who roll their own, and he thinks it's OK that they pay less.

He recalls that he opposed the last increase in the cigarette tax, $1 a pack.

"I might end up voting against my own bill," he says.

The WHO wants to bring back the insane Prohibition laws????

Source

Deadly Alcohol Needs Global Regulation, Health Expert Says

By Christopher Wanjek |

When considering the world's worst killers, alcohol likely doesn't come to mind. Yet alcohol kills more than 2.5 million people annually, more than AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis.

For middle-income people, who constitute half the world's population, alcohol is the top health risk factor, greater than obesity, inactivity and even tobacco.

The World Health Organization has meticulously documented the extent of alcohol abuse in recent years and has published solid recommendations on how to reduce alcohol-related deaths, but this doesn't go far enough, according to Devi Sridhar, a health-policy expert at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

In a commentary appearing today (Feb. 15) in the journal Nature, Sridhar argues that the WHO should regulate alcohol at the global level, enforcing such regulations as a minimum drinking age, zero-tolerance drunken driving, and bans on unlimited drink specials. Abiding by the regulations would be mandatory for the WHO's 194 member states.

Far from prohibition, the WHO regulations would force nations to strengthen weak drinking laws and better enforce laws already in place, Sridhar says.

Approaching a bottle a day

Alcohol consumption is measured in terms of pure ethyl alcohol to compensate for the varying strengths of beer, wine and spirits. A liter bottle of wine with 10 percent alcohol, for example, would be only 0.1 liter of pure alcohol. According to the WHO, Americans each drink 9.4 liters of ethyl alcohol per year on average. That's equivalent to 94 bottles of the aforementioned wine. [See list of top 20 booze-consuming countries]

As high as that might sound, Americans don't even crack the top 50 on the world charts. Europe, in particular Eastern Europe, dominates the drinking scene. Moldova has the top drinkers, downing 18.4 liters of alcohol per capita yearly. That's equivalent to 184 1-liter bottles of wine, or nearly four bottles a week per person. The legal drinking age in Moldova is 16, and there are few restrictions on when or where alcohol can be sold.

The price of such alcohol abuse is early death. One in five men in the Russian Federation and neighboring European countries dies as a result of alcohol, according to WHO data. Alcohol abuse is associated with cardiovascular diseases, cirrhosis of the liver, various cancers, violence and vehicle accidents. Alcoholic adults have difficulty working and supporting their families, too.

Sobering recommendations

Sridhar argues that the WHO is unique among health organizations in that it can create legally binding conventions. The WHO has done this only twice in its 64-year history: the International Health Regulations, which require countries to report certain disease outbreaks and public-health events; and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which commits governments to making legislative moves to reduce the demand for, and the supply of, tobacco.

No other entity can attack the global problem of alcohol abuse, she said. When it comes to alcohol, though, the WHO has settled on merely recommendations, such as those outlined in the 2010 WHO Global Strategy to Reduce Harmful Use of Alcohol.

"Countries are aware of the problem, but several haven't made a real commitment to implementing the recommendations," Sridhar told LiveScience. "The problem is not with ministries of health but with ministries of finance, trade, etc. who prioritize other interests first."

In her Nature commentary, Sridhar said that the existing WHO recommendations could serve as the framework for a new international convention on alcohol regulation. Yet even the United States would struggle to meet several of the 10 recommended target areas, which include advertising restrictions, price hikes and tougher laws against drunken driving.

"Ministries of health would have a stronger domestic negotiating position in prioritizing alcohol regulation above economic concerns," with the WHO muscle behind them, she wrote.

Alas, football ads might never be the same.

Correction: This article has been updated to correct Sridhar's affiliation, which should be the University of Oxford, not the University of Cambridge as had been stated.

Christopher Wanjek is the author of the books "Bad Medicine" and "Food At Work." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on LiveScience.

Don't buzz the President when you got 40 pounds of weed in your plane.

Pot plane flies near Obama's helicopter

Feb. 16, 2012 10:58 PM

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Two Air Force F-16 fighters intercepted a privately owned Cessna airplane that entered the same Los Angeles airspace as Marine One on Thursday as the helicopter was ferrying President Barack Obama.

Police discovered about 40 pounds of marijuana inside the plane after it landed at Long Beach Airport, a law-enforcement official said.

The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the drug investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Secret Service said the president was never in any danger.

In a statement, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said it scrambled two F-16 fighters from March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, Calif., to intercept a Cessna 182 over Los Angeles about 2:30 p.m.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the department's Homeland Security Investigations unit questioned the pilot, who was turned over to Long Beach police and remained in custody.

He will face local prosecution, Kice said.

Bill banning medical pot on campus advances

Bill banning medical pot on campus advances

Feb. 16, 2012 05:28 PM

Associated Press

The Arizona House has given preliminary approval to a bill that bars medical marijuana cardholders from possessing or using marijuana on school campuses.

If passed, the law would apply to preschools, colleges and universities. However, the restriction would not apply to private schools.

Arizona voters approved a medical marijuana law in 2010.

When this year's proposal goes before the full House for a formal vote, it must be affirmed by three-fourths of the members because it would change a voter-approved law.

House passage would send it to the Senate.

Pilot detained after straying into Obama's airspace

Pilot detained after straying into Obama's airspace

By Dan Weikel and Ari Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times

February 17, 2012

A small private plane carrying a load of marijuana strayed into President Obama's no-fly zone over Los Angeles on Thursday and was forced to land at Long Beach Airport after being intercepted by U.S. Air Force jet fighters, authorities said.

The four-seat Cessna entered the restricted airspace about 11 a.m. as the president was flying from Orange County to Los Angeles aboard Marine One, a military helicopter provided for his use. Federal officials said the aircraft was never close enough to endanger Obama.

Air traffic controllers tried repeatedly to contact the single-engine Cessna, authorities said, but the pilot did not respond. The plane was quickly intercepted by two F-16 fighters from March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, they said.

After the Cessna touched down, federal agents and Long Beach police detained the pilot for questioning and found what law enforcement officials described as a large amount of marijuana on board the aircraft.

The pilot was taken into custody by Long Beach police, but his identity and other details were not released because of the continuing drug investigation.

Aircraft are typically prohibited from flying within 10 miles of any plane or helicopter carrying the president.

Brian Leary, a spokesman for the United States Secret Service, which provides protection for the president, said the plane violated temporary restrictions that had been imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration for Obama's visit.

Pilots who violate airspace restricted for security reasons can face revocation of their flying certificates, FAA officials said. If illegal drugs are found onboard, the aircraft can be confiscated by law enforcement agencies.

After his morning fundraisers, Obama departed from Los Angeles International Airport about 2:45 p.m. and flew to San Francisco, White House officials said. They declined to comment on the airspace violation.

It was not clear who was piloting the Cessna, which according to federal records was manufactured in 1961. The plane's FAA registration lists the owner as David W. Major, 52, of Grover Beach, a town south of Pismo Beach in San Luis Obispo County.

Major holds a student pilot certificate issued in 2008, according to the FAA. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

dan.weikel@latimes.com

ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com

It's about MONEY, not crime!!!!

Your innocent? The government doesn't care! They just want to steal your home, your hotel, your cars and your bank accounts!

Source

Motel owner faces asset forfeiture despite innocence

By Editorial Board, Published: February 16

THE MOTEL CASWELL, a modest motel just outside of Boston, has been owned by proprietor Russell H. Caswell’s family for 60 years. Now he may lose it, if the Justice Department gets its way.

The motel is the target of an asset forfeiture proceeding that entitles the federal government to seize property that has been used in the commission of a crime. This is true even if the owner is not accused of criminal wrongdoing. Local law enforcement groups that team up with the federal government may be awarded up to 80 percent of the proceeds from such seizures. According to the Institute for Justice, which is representing Mr. Caswell, such “equitable sharing” payments from the federal government to states have increased dramatically in recent years, from $200 million in 2000 to roughly $400 million in 2008.

For owners not accused of a crime, federal seizure of assets is undue punishment.

A potential windfall is not the only reason local law enforcement organizations join in these proceedings. In many cases the federal law allowing civil asset forfeiture is more relaxed than local laws, which often set much higher bars before an owner may be stripped of his property.

Like many businesses in Tewksbury, the Motel Caswell has experienced its share of crime, or maybe more than its share. According to court documents and news reports, the Motel Caswell has been the scene of at least 100 drug investigations since 1994, which breaks down to about five per year. The federal government cites seven such cases between 2001 and 2008 as proof that the motel is the locus of criminal activity.

The government has never contended that Mr. Caswell took part in or benefited from these crimes. U.S. law enforcement officials say they have nothing against Mr. Caswell, just his property. In 2009, the Justice Department filed a case titled United States of America v. 434 Main Street, Tewksbury, Massachusetts. A government win could force the sale of the motel, which has been assessed at more than $1 million. The proceeds could be split between the federal government and the Tewksbury Police Department, which helped assemble the case. Mr. Caswell and the Justice Department squared off in court this week and are awaiting a judge’s decision on whether the case should proceed.

Federal law enforcement officials say public safety — and not money — is what motivates the move to seize crime-ridden properties such as Motel Caswell. They note that Mr. Caswell and others facing the loss of property have the opportunity to ward off seizures by showing that they are “innocent owners.” But this is problematic: While the federal government bears the burden of proving that the property in question was used “in any manner or part” in criminal activity, the burden then shifts to the owner to prove he had no connection to the crimes and that he took steps to prevent or mitigate against them.

There are better alternatives to address legitimate public safety goals. Most jurisdictions have nuisance laws that can be used to force owners to literally and figuratively clean up their properties. Criminal forfeiture proceedings entitle the federal government to seize property used in the commission of crimes or believed to have been purchased with illicit proceeds. But unlike civil asset forfeiture, criminal forfeiture can take place only if the government wins a conviction against the owner. This approach is by far the fairer process, providing the government with the tools it needs to thwart criminal enterprises while protecting innocent owners from possible exploitation and ruin.

Ron Paul decries 'war on drugs'

In Washington state, Paul decries 'war on drugs'

Associated Press

By JONATHAN J. COOPER | Associated Press

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul decried the "war on drugs" Thursday night, telling supporters in Washington state that people should be able to make their own decisions on such matters.

Voters in Washington are likely to decide this year whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana

"If we are allowed to deal with our eternity and all that we believe in spiritually, and if we're allowed to read any book that we want under freedom of speech, why is it we can't put into our body whatever we want?" Paul told more than 1,000 people at a rally in Vancouver, a suburb of Portland, Ore.

Paul did not mention his rivals for the Republican nomination but criticized President Barack Obama for killing American citizens with suspected terrorist ties and for expanding federal regulations.

The Texas congressman said he wasn't sure if he'd win the GOP nomination and tries not to predict the future but added that he's encouraged by the enthusiasm of his supporters.

"People who are strong believers in issues and ideas and principals, they do lead the way," he said.

Paul is the second Republican to hold a major public event in Washington. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was in Olympia and Tacoma on Monday. Washington's caucuses are scheduled for March 3.

Some in the Vancouver audience came from neighboring Oregon, which has a primary set for May 15.

Paul was spending Thursday campaigning in Idaho and Washington and has rallies planned Friday in Richland and Spokane. He is expected to hit most of Washington's media markets before the state's nonbinding caucuses.

Police state thug Jan Brewer signs bill outlawing ‘bath salts’ drug

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Brewer signs bill outlawing ‘bath salts’ drug

by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez - Feb. 17, 2012 11:05 AM

The Republic | azcentral.com

Gov. Jan Brewer has signed the first bill of the 2012 Legislative session, outlawing seven chemicals used to make a drug under the name “bath salts” to the state’s list of dangerous drugs.

Sen. Linda Gray, R-Glendale, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, said she was notified of the governor’s signing Friday morning by Michael Hunter, Brewer’s director of legislative affairs. Rep. Karen Fann, R-Prescott, was the primary sponsor of the House bill.

The bill has an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.

The drug had been sold legally over the counter at stores and online. It has side effects similar to methamphetamine or cocaine. More than 30 states have banned the drug. It is a crime to possess, manufacture, sell or transport dangerous drugs.

“It is a very dangerous drug and people need to know exactly what the drug looks like,” said Gray. “I’m very pleased that she signed it.”

Kimberly MacEachern, staff attorney at Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys’ Advisory praised the new law, but said it took too long to get it passed.

“We are happy this is finally the law becuase it will no longer infer to the children that these drugs are okay,” said MacEachern, who lobbied on behalf of the bill. “And we need to speed up the process for future listings”

She said law enforcement is so frustrated with the use of “bath salts” that the town of Cottonwood passed an ordinance outlawing it about a month ago and La Paz County is inquring about doing the same.

Drones Set Sights on U.S. Skies

Drones Set Sights on U.S. Skies

By NICK WINGFIELD and SOMINI SENGUPTA

Published: February 17, 2012

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — Daniel Gárate’s career came crashing to earth a few weeks ago. That’s when the Los Angeles Police Department warned local real estate agents not to hire photographers like Mr. Gárate, who was helping sell luxury property by using a drone to shoot sumptuous aerial movies. Flying drones for commercial purposes, the police said, violated federal aviation rules.

“I was paying the bills with this,” said Mr. Gárate, who recently gave an unpaid demonstration of his drone in this Southern California suburb.

His career will soon get back on track. A new federal law, signed by the president on Tuesday, compels the Federal Aviation Administration to allow drones to be used for all sorts of commercial endeavors — from selling real estate and dusting crops, to monitoring oil spills and wildlife, even shooting Hollywood films. Local police and emergency services will also be freer to send up their own drones.

But while businesses, and drone manufacturers especially, are celebrating the opening of the skies to these unmanned aerial vehicles, the law raises new worries about how much detail the drones will capture about lives down below — and what will be done with that information. Safety concerns like midair collisions and property damage on the ground are also an issue.

American courts have generally permitted surveillance of private property from public airspace. But scholars of privacy law expect that the likely proliferation of drones will force Americans to re-examine how much surveillance they are comfortable with.

“As privacy law stands today, you don’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy while out in public, nor almost anywhere visible from a public vantage,” said Ryan Calo, director of privacy and robotics at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford University. “I don’t think this doctrine makes sense, and I think the widespread availability of drones will drive home why to lawmakers, courts and the public.”

Some questions likely to come up: Can a drone flying over a house pick up heat from a lamp used to grow marijuana inside, or take pictures from outside someone’s third-floor fire escape? Can images taken from a drone be sold to a third party, and how long can they be kept?

Drone proponents say the privacy concerns are overblown. Randy McDaniel, chief deputy of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department in Conroe, Tex., near Houston, whose agency bought a drone to use for various law enforcement operations, dismissed worries about surveillance, saying everyone everywhere can be photographed with cellphone cameras anyway. “We don’t spy on people,” he said. “We worry about criminal elements.”

Still, the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups are calling for new protections against what the A.C.L.U. has said could be “routine aerial surveillance of American life.”

Under the new law, within 90 days, the F.A.A. must allow police and first responders to fly drones under 4.4 pounds, as long as they keep them under an altitude of 400 feet and meet other requirements. The agency must also allow for “the safe integration” of all kinds of drones into American airspace, including those for commercial uses, by Sept. 30, 2015. And it must come up with a plan for certifying operators and handling airspace safety issues, among other rules.

The new law, part of a broader financing bill for the F.A.A., came after intense lobbying by drone makers and potential customers.

The agency probably will not be making privacy rules for drones. Although federal law until now had prohibited drones except for recreational use or for some waiver-specific law enforcement purposes, the agency has issued only warnings, never penalties, for unauthorized uses, a spokeswoman said. The agency was reviewing the law’s language, the spokeswoman said.

For drone makers, the change in the law comes at a particularly good time. With the winding-down of the war in Afghanistan, where drones have been used to gather intelligence and fire missiles, these manufacturers have been awaiting lucrative new opportunities at home. The market for drones is valued at $5.9 billion and is expected to double in the next decade, according to industry figures. Drones can cost millions of dollars for the most sophisticated varieties to as little as $300 for one that can be piloted from an iPhone.

“We see a huge potential market,” said Ben Gielow of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, a drone maker trade group.

For Patrick Egan, who represents small businesses and others in his work for the Remote Control Aerial Photography Association in Sacramento, the new law also can’t come fast enough. Until 2007, when the federal agency began warning against nonrecreational use of drones, he made up to $2,000 an hour using a drone to photograph crops for farmers, helping them spot irrigation leaks. “I’ve got organic farmers screaming for me to come out,” he said.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department in Texas bought its 50-pound drone in October from Vanguard Defense Industries, a company founded by Michael Buscher, who built drones for the army, and then sold them to an oil company whose ships were threatened by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. The company custom-built the drone, which takes pictures by day and senses heat sources at night. It cost $300,000, a fraction of the cost of a helicopter.

Mr. McDaniel said his SWAT team could use it for reconnaissance, or to manage road traffic after a big accident. He said he regretted that he didn’t have it a few months ago, to search for a missing person in a densely wooded area.

Mr. Buscher, meanwhile, said he was negotiating with several police agencies. “There is tremendous potential,” he said. “We see agencies dipping their toes.”

The possibilities for drones appear limitless. Last year, Cy Brown of Bunkie, La., began hunting feral pigs at night by outfitting a model airplane with a heat-sensing camera that soared around his brother’s rice farm, feeding live aerial images of the pigs to Mr. Brown on the ground. Mr. Brown relayed the pigs’ locations by radio to a friend with a shotgun.

He calls his plane the Dehogaflier, and says it saves him time wandering in the muck looking for skittish pigs. “Now you can know in 15 minutes if it’s worth going out,” said Mr. Brown, an electrical engineer.

Earlier this month, in Woodland Hills, Mr. Gárate, the photographer, demonstrated his drone by flicking a hand-held joystick and sending the $5,000 machine hovering high above a tennis court. A camera beneath the drone recorded lush, high-definition video of the surrounding property.

Bill Kerbox, a real estate agent in Malibu who hired Mr. Gárate for several shoots before the L.A.P.D. crackdown, said that aerial video had helped him stand out from his competitors, and that the loss of it had been painful.

Mr. Gárate, for now, plans to work mainly in his native Peru, where he has used his drone to shoot commercials for banks. He said he was approached by paparazzi last year about filming the reality television star Kim Kardashian’s wedding using a drone, but turned down the offer. “Maybe the F.A.A. should give a driver’s license for this, with a flight test,” he said. “Do a background check to make sure I’m not a terrorist.”

Patriot Act is just an expansion of the "war on Drugs"

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Pot found in Skippy peanut butter jar at Oakland airport

February 19, 2012 | 1:13 pm

A man tried to smuggle pot in a jar of Skippy peanut butter through security at Oakland International Airport last week, authorities said.

The man, 47, admitted that the pot was his, and that he was trying to hide it because he didn't have a medical marijuana card, a Transportation Security Administration spokesman told the Oakland Tribune.

TSA spokesman Nico Melendez told the newspaper that the man was detained and cited and failed to make his Delta Air Lines flight to Los Angeles last Sunday.

It's not the first time a passenger has tried to smuggle pot onto a plane in a peanut butter jar. A similar incident happened in Los Angeles several months ago. "It was Skippy, too," Melendez told the Tribune.

It seems using a peanut butter jar was a poor choice for a smuggling device.

Melendez told the San Francisco Chronicle that "peanut butter is prohibited anyway because of the liquid ban."

4th Amendment null and void for the "drug war"???

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Police dog finds $60K in drug money

by Jim Walsh - Feb. 20, 2012 07:20 PM

The Republic azcentral.com

A drug-sniffing police dog in Yavapai County sniffed out nearly $60,000 insuspected drug money after the driver of a sport utility vehicle was evasive during questioning Thursday, authorities said.

Yavapai County Sheriff's Officials identified the driver as Victor Robertson of Oklahoma. Deputies had pulled him over for a traffic stop on Interstate 17 near the Cordes Junction exit.

When he refused permission to search his vehicle Thursday,the Sheriff's Office called in a drug-sniffing K-9 dog, which alerted on the vehicle.

Robertson at first told deputies he was in Arizona to visit a sick relative in Mesa but eventually admitted they would probably find methamphetamine, Sheriff's officials said.

Deputies searched the Ford Expedition and found a meth pipe containing a usable amount of methamphetamine. A gram of meth was found in a separate container. They later discovered bundles of cash stashed in a secret compartment in a fender, offcials said.

Deputies believe the money was the result of drug transactions because the K-9 alerted on the cash stashes.

Robertson was arrested on suspicion of possession of dangerous drugs, money laundering and driving under the influence of drugs.

States use "war on terror" to raise revenue???

Loot confiscated by TSA turns into revenue for states

By Bart Jansen, USA TODAY

From samurai swords to hatchets to snow globes, the Transportation Security Administration collects tons of unusual objects each year that passengers try to carry onto planes.

The objects are what the TSA deems weapons or other threats to flight security. They're surrendered at checkpoints by forgetful or harried passengers who would rather give them up than miss a flight or return to the check-in counter and pay extra to put them in a checked bag.

Among the most common: Swiss Army knives or similarly sharp multiuse pocket tools, though the gamut runs to swords or even fuzzy handcuffs that are more for bedroom use than law enforcement.

And despite cynical suggestions from angry travelers that security officers keep the items for themselves, the TSA turns over the property to state agencies and commercial vendors, which cart it away to sell. Although public auctions yield a fraction of retail prices, dozens of states have found some revenue in the contraband.

"It's kind of amazing what people will try to take on board," says Troy Thompson, spokesman for Pennsylvania's Department of General Services, which takes some of the contraband. "To them (passengers), it's an item that's not threatening, but in these days and times it is threatening."

Pennsylvania collects truckloads of items from airports, including New York City's John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty. The state has raised $700,000 from selling them since 2004, Thompson says.

The most sought-after items by buyers are among the most often left behind: pocket knives, scissors and corkscrews, which are typically sold in boxes of 100. Occasionally, machetes, samurai swords and even an African spear are trucked to the state warehouse in Harrisburg, he says.

The passenger shakedown

About 30 states have collected TSA-relinquished property since the agency was created to provide stricter baggage screening after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to Scott Pepperman, executive director of the National Association of State Agencies for Surplus Property.

Because the TSA had trouble coping with the accumulation, with 10 tons of contraband piling up at Los Angeles International Airport alone, Pepperman helped negotiate an agreement a decade ago with the federal government for states to take possession of the surrendered items.

"It was of no use to TSA. It's of no value to them. The cost and care of storage and handling was exceeding the commercial value of it to them," Pepperman says. "Some (states) put them up on eBay. Some have their own websites. Others have auctions."

Some states, he says, donate useful items to schools, fire departments and charities.

Some items have questionable resale value. Items that crossed Pepperman's path while he worked in the Pennsylvania surplus agency until two years ago included machetes, meat slicers and a box of rocks.

"We collected more fuzzy handcuffs than you would ever see in your life — boxes and boxes of fuzzy handcuffs," he says.

Despite a policy of not carrying sharp objects onto planes that dates to just after 9/11 and one that limits liquids and gels that dates to 2006, the TSA continues to collect objects that clearly have malevolent possibilities.

This month, a spear gun showed up at Newark, joining assorted hatchets, chains, inert grenades, metal throwing stars and bullet-holding bandoliers.

Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Port Authority Police Department for New York and New Jersey, admired a recent find of decorative daggers from the Middle East in an ornate wooden box that a traveler carried under his arm.

"People think they're good to go — and they're not," Della Fava says.

More innocent-looking items also are relinquished. Hundreds of snow globes from Disneyland are in the mountain of TSA contraband piled up in Sacramento, says Michael Liang, spokesman for California's Department of General Services.

The liquid in the snow globes makes the souvenirs a forbidden item in carry-on bags on the possibility it could be explosive.

'Not a big moneymaker'

Nobody keeps track of how many tons of relinquished property is handed over or how much states receive in sales annually. Collecting, sorting and selling the odd objects is a chore, and the amount some states make may seem paltry.

This month, California had one of its quarterly auctions and got $9,800 for TSA-confiscated items, Liang says.

"It's not a lot of money, but every bit helps," he says.

In Alabama, the surplus property division at the state Department of Economic and Community Affairs got about 3 tons last year from airports in Alabama and Florida. Sales totaled about $15,000 for the year, says Larry Childers, an agency spokesman.

"It's a net plus for us, but not a big moneymaker," Childers says.

Georgia opted out of collecting the objects in 2008 because it was too much trouble, says Steve Ekin, the surplus program manager for the Department of Administrative Services.

"It was a lot of work for very little return," Ekin says.

The "War on Terror" is just a renamed "War on Drugs"?

Source

More Homeland Security presence in Four Corners

Feb. 22, 2012 09:16 AM

Associated Press

FARMINGTON, N.M. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations in New Mexico said it plans to increase its presence in New Mexico's Four Corners region to counter to growing influences of Mexican drug cartels in the area.

The Farmington Daily Times reports (http://bit.ly/wxZvqT ) the federal agency proposes that two agents move to San Juan County full-time and that more agents be dispatched occasionally to the area to assist with serious criminal investigations.

The move comes after New Mexico law enforcement agencies around the state have asked federal officials to assist cash-strapped departments in battling gangs, drug trafficking and weapons violations. But as federal authorities have moved into places like Roswell and Las Cruces, violent Mexican drug cartels have increased their presence in the remote area of northwest New Mexico that border three other western states.

Federal authorities said that by getting involved and charging criminals in federal court, it can increase the amount of prison time. "New Mexico is very difficult with their laws. It's hard to get some quality time" in prison, said Kevin Abar, the assistant special agent in charge for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations in New Mexico. "This is where the federal government can step in, in the issue."

In recent months, Homeland Security Agents assisted local law enforcement agencies in more than 20 criminal investigations that will be prosecuted by U.S. attorneys, said Dennis Ulrich, a deputy special agent in charge of the agency's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"Some of the worst of the worst (criminals), they've plucked them out of here for narcotics, guns and gang membership," said Neil Haws, the director of Region II Narcotics Task Force. "It's very significant."

Homeland Security investigations will focus on arresting criminals for bulk-cash smuggling, weapons, child exploitation, narcotics, identity theft, cultural property smuggling, counterfeit drugs and merchandise and identity theft, Abar said.

Federal charges for those types of crimes have harsher punishments than state chargers. And the crimes are commonly used to fund terrorism and drug cartels, he said.

Abar also said the agency will arrest high-ranking members of the criminal networks.

"We want to target people who are trusted," he said.

The federal government can also seize criminals' money and possessions when they are convicted.

Since 2009, Homeland Security has added around 60 new agents to New Mexico and helped formed a number of joint task forces and multiagency groups aimed at tackling rural gangs, political corruption, drug and gun trafficking, child pornography, and human smuggling.

The beefed-up presence has resulted in a string of recent high-profile arrests, federal officials said. In March, for example, the mayor of the border town of Columbus and its police chief were among those arrested in a drug and weapons raid following a federal investigation into firearms smuggling from the U.S to Mexico. The mayor and police chief later pleaded guilty to federal charges.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that for years New Mexico was often overlooked as federal officials spent energies on other hotspots around the country. But in recent years, federal officials began to realize that the state's 180-mile border with Mexico and its many wide-open American Indian reservations left it vulnerable to growing gun, drug and human trafficking among other crimes, he said.

In addition to seeking agents to work in San Juan County, local law enforcement and government officials are lobbying for a federal magistrate judge to work in San Juan County, so criminals could be tried for federal crimes locally, said Farmington Police Chief Kyle Westall.

"We believe we have the cases here for their work load, so we're optimistic," he said.

By having permanent Homeland Security agents in San Juan County, it may be more feasible to locate a federal judge here, Farmington Mayor Tommy Roberts said.

Information from: The Daily Times, www.daily-times.com

Another death caused by marijuana use!!!!!

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Police Unit Faces Scrutiny After Fatal Shooting in the Bronx

By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN

Published: February 22, 2012

The police officers in the Street Narcotics Enforcement Units could be called the grunts in New York’s antidrug efforts. Untrained in undercover work, they are limited to making arrests after they witness a drug deal, often observed from afar through binoculars. No drug dealer is too small time, and they arrest customers, too. They take vans with them to suspected drug locations, hoping to fill them with prisoners.

One man who was in their sights on Feb. 2 was Ramarley Graham, 18, of the Wakefield section of the Bronx. Something about how he moved his hands near his waist led the officers to suspect he might be armed, according to the Police Department’s account of the events that transpired. And when Mr. Graham slipped away, the officers in the Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit of the 47th Precinct did not let it go — or wait for backup.

They trailed him as he returned to his building, the door locking behind him. After a delay, the officers got inside and kicked their way into Mr. Graham’s apartment. In the bathroom, one officer fatally shot Mr. Graham in the chest. He was apparently unarmed, and a bag of marijuana was in the toilet bowl next to him.

The Bronx district attorney and the Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau are investigating the shooting, but in interviews, more than a half-dozen police officials — from detectives to commanders — picked apart the decisions made that day by the members of the Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit, known as S.N.E.U., and raised troubling questions about their actions.

Most prominent, the police officials questioned the team’s aggressiveness and its decision to pursue Mr. Graham on its own. Why, as they milled outside the locked front door to his building, did the officers go in after him without waiting for a specialized team trained to take down doors and clear rooms?

They also questioned why the unit’s officers used a narrow tactical radio frequency to alert their colleagues in the van that Mr. Graham might be armed, rather than issue a warning on a more heavily trafficked channel that would have drawn other police units to the scene.

A detective with experience in narcotics work suggested that the better approach would have been to use “caution and slow things down.”

“We’re not chasing after Pablo Escobar here,” said the detective, who, along with others interviewed, spoke anonymously because he had not been authorized to speak to the news media.

Officials in the district attorney’s office, who are considering whether to seek criminal charges against the officer for the fatal shooting, were struck from the start by what they felt were the inexperience and the limited training that the unit’s officers had, according to a law enforcement official who was briefed on the early stages of the investigation.

The Police Department has acknowledged that the officer who shot Mr. Graham, Richard Haste, had never received the classroom instruction required of officers in the street narcotics unit. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly has stripped Officer Haste, 30, who joined the department in 2008, and his sergeant, Scott Morris, of their guns and badges and has placed them on modified duty.

Not everyone is critical of the unit’s tactics preceding the shooting.

Vincent Andrasko, a retired detective who as a Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit officer in the 1990s often worked the same intersection where the police first spotted Mr. Graham, said the team’s decision to pursue Mr. Graham indoors on its own was sound. He cited the longstanding culture of the department.

“You deal with your own business,” Mr. Andrasko said. “If it’s your collar, you go after him.”

Mr. Andrasko, who now runs a security firm in Arizona, added, “I would have done the same thing.”

After the shooting, Mr. Kelly ordered a review of the Street Narcotics Enforcement Units, which for much of the past two decades have been making thousands of arrests each year with little attention or controversy.

As street-corner drug deals have declined in some areas of the city, many of the 76 police precincts have disbanded their Street Narcotics Enforcement Units; there are only 36 left. Sergeant Morris had been leading the unit in the 47th Precinct for at least two years, one person familiar with the team said. The team had one complaint in each of the past two years brought to the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, the independent agency that investigates accusations of police misconduct, according to the board. Last year, the review board received just shy of 6,000 complaints.

For young officers, the units are considered a stepping stone along the path to a detective’s shield.

But because the units’ officers are not trained investigators, they lack authorization for undercover work and are prohibited from buying drugs in so-called buy and bust operations. Instead they focus on visible sidewalk transactions. A report by an independent commission that investigated police corruption in the early 1990s stated that the units were even prohibited from entering buildings to make arrests, although no such rule could be independently found.

On the afternoon of Feb. 2, the unit’s observation team set up opposite a bodega near White Plains Road and East 228th Street in the Bronx, Mr. Kelly said. Mr. Graham and two friends emerged from the store and walked north. The observation team, which was in a car and following him, radioed to other members of the narcotics unit nearby its suspicion that Mr. Graham might be armed.

The next transmission presented the suspicion as a certainty. Between the bodega and his home, at 749 East 229th Street, Mr. Graham made one other stop, at a house nearby. Mr. Kelly said the observation team radioed other members of the unit that the butt of a gun was visible in Mr. Graham’s waistband as he emerged from the house.

The commissioner said that both communications about a gun went out over a tactical frequency, which was most likely monitored only by the narcotics enforcement team, rather than over a wider frequency, which would have summoned other officers to the scene.

Several officers said it was common to communicate over the wider frequency when armed suspects were involved.

“With the adrenaline pumping, were they cognizant that they were on a tactical channel and not on division- or citywide?” asked the detective with narcotics experience, adding that for an alert about a suspect “with a gun,” it was typical to put out that information over a wider frequency.

But the officers also said that there was no hard-and-fast rule, and that the narcotics team might have wanted to communicate over a narrower frequency to retain the element of surprise over Mr. Graham.

“There’s nothing etched in stone,” said Noel Leader, a retired sergeant and co-founder of the police group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. But Mr. Leader questioned whether officers stayed on the narrower frequency because they were not positive Mr. Graham was armed and did not want to summon other officers for a false alarm.

One person familiar with the narcotics team’s account of what happened said: “It’s one of those gray areas — do you send it out over division if you think he has a gun, or only if you know he has a gun? You’re yanking guys away from jobs left and right.”

In an interview, a detective questioned how the officers could be close enough to make out the butt of a gun clearly, but far away enough that “they couldn’t catch him.”

Officers from the unit’s van jumped out and tried to stop Mr. Graham, according to Mr. Kelly. A surveillance video from Mr. Graham’s building shows him sauntering up to the front door. He looks over his shoulder before entering, and as the door closes behind him, officers in police windbreakers come running. One officer repeatedly kicks the door, the video shows, but could not break in.

A lawyer for the Graham family, Jeffrey Emdin, said Mr. Graham had not been fleeing the police, but had returned home to drop off his keys with his grandmother and change his clothes before heading back out to meet a group of women.

The officers were eventually let in by a tenant, according to Mr. Kelly. Officer Haste and others went to the second floor and kicked open the door to Mr. Graham’s apartment.

Officers can enter homes without a warrant under limited circumstances, like when they are in hot pursuit of a suspect.

In interviews, legal experts offered diverging opinions about whether a state of hot pursuit still existed after the officers waited outside Mr. Graham’s building, initially unable to get inside.

“Once the door is shut and he tries to kick the door and fails, that’s when your hot pursuit really ended,” said Robert E. Brown, a former police captain and a criminal defense lawyer.

Several current and retired officers had different opinions about whether the officers’ decision to enter the home was correct. One option, some said, would have been to seek assistance from a specialized police unit, like the Emergency Service Unit, whose members are trained to clear homes of armed people barricaded inside.

Mr. Leader, the retired sergeant, said, “If you think he has a weapon, call for emergency services, call for the big boys, call for backup.”

But Edward Mullins, the president of the police sergeants’ union, said he doubted it was “feasible to sit back and say, ‘We should call E.S.U.’ ”

“The game’s on at this point,” said Mr. Mullins, adding that it might be unfair to second-guess “the actions that an officer had a split second to make.”

But the decision to enter Mr. Graham’s home was not, at least initially, a matter of concern to investigators. On the day of the shooting, Sergeant Morris was questioned in a formal departmental interview and the decision to enter the building received little attention, one person familiar with the investigation said.

Arizona bill targets roll-your-own-cigarette shops

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Arizona bill targets roll-your-own-cigarette shops

by Brittany Smith - Feb. 22, 2012 10:26 PM

Cronkite News

Customers of Tobacco Mizer save $30 on the equivalent of a carton of cigarettes by buying loose tobacco and hollow tubes and then renting a machine that rolls their cigarettes.

The finished cigarettes come cheap because they aren't subject to the same state and federal taxes as those from companies considered manufacturers under Arizona law.

For Bob Mizer, the store's co-owner, this allows his operation to compete with tobacco stores on reservations, where customers pay less in excise taxes.

That's why Mizer and other roll-your-own shop owners say a bill advancing in the state Legislature would be a death blow.

House Bill 2717, authored by Rep. Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, would classify businesses with cigarette-rolling machines as manufacturers and subject them to the same regulations and taxes as companies that produce finished cigarettes.

The House Commerce Committee endorsed the bill earlier this month.

Mizer said if he were classified as a manufacturer, he would be required to obtain a state manufacturing license. However, those seeking a state license must first obtain a federal manufacturing license, and with that comes a prohibition against selling directly to customers in the area where they manufacture cigarettes.

Mizer said he'd have no option other than giving up his three rolling machines and put his 13 employees out of work.

John Mangum, an attorney representing Altria Group Inc., which manufactures cigarettes, told the committee that without a law customers will migrate to stores such as Mizer's. That will cut into revenue from the federal manufacturer's tax and state manufacturer's tax, he said.

Yes, the police do read your private emails!!!!

A police thug from the Homeland Security, the Arizona DPS, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and the Phoenix Police will probably read this email before you do.

Adeela Khan forwarded an email message announcing an upcoming Islamic conference in Toronto to her Muslim friends at the University at Buffalo.

That email caused an analyst at the New York Police Department to her name in an official report, which was marked "SECRET" and went to Commissioner Raymond Kelly's office.

NYPD monitored Muslim students all over Northeast

By CHRIS HAWLEY | Associated Press

Mon, Feb 20, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) — One autumn morning in Buffalo, N.Y., a college student named Adeela Khan logged into her email and found a message announcing an upcoming Islamic conference in Toronto.

Khan clicked "forward," sent it to a group of fellow Muslims at the University at Buffalo, and promptly forgot about it.

But that simple act on Nov. 9, 2006, was enough to arouse the suspicion of an intelligence analyst at the New York Police Department, 300 miles away, who combed through her post and put her name in an official report. Marked "SECRET" in large red letters, the document went all the way to Commissioner Raymond Kelly's office.

The report, along with other documents obtained by The Associated Press, reveals how the NYPD's intelligence division focused far beyond New York City as part of a surveillance program targeting Muslims.

Police trawled daily through student websites run by Muslim student groups at Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers and 13 other colleges in the Northeast. They talked with local authorities about professors in Buffalo and even sent an undercover agent on a whitewater rafting trip, where he recorded students' names and noted in police intelligence files how many times they prayed.

Asked about the monitoring, police spokesman Paul Browne provided a list of 12 people arrested or convicted on terrorism charges in the United States and abroad who had once been members of Muslim student associations, which the NYPD referred to as MSAs. They included Jesse Morton, who this month pleaded guilty to posting online threats against the creators of the animated TV show "South Park." He had once tried to recruit followers at Stony Brook University on Long Island, Browne said.

"As a result, the NYPD deemed it prudent to get a better handle on what was occurring at MSAs," Browne said in an email. He said police monitored student websites and collected publicly available information in 2006 and 2007.But documents show other surveillance efforts continued for years afterward.

"I see a violation of civil rights here," said Tanweer Haq, chaplain of the Muslim Student Association at Syracuse University. "Nobody wants to be on the list of the FBI or the NYPD or whatever. Muslim students want to have their own lives, their own privacy and enjoy the same freedoms and opportunities that everybody else has."

In recent months, the AP has revealed secret programs the NYPD built with help from the CIA to monitor Muslims at the places where they eat, shop and worship. The AP also published details about how police placed undercover officers at Muslim student associations in colleges within the city limits; this revelation has outraged faculty and student groups.

Though the NYPD says it follows the same rules as the FBI, some of the NYPD's activities go beyond what the FBI is allowed to do.

Kelly and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg repeatedly have said that the police only follow legitimate leads about suspected criminal activity.

But the latest documents mention no wrongdoing by any students.

In one report, an undercover officer describes accompanying 18 Muslim students from the City College of New York on a whitewater rafting trip in upstate New York on April 21, 2008. The officer noted the names of attendees who were officers of the Muslim Student Association.

"In addition to the regularly scheduled events (Rafting), the group prayed at least four times a day, and much of the conversation was spent discussing Islam and was religious in nature," the report says.

Praying five times a day is one of the core traditions of Islam.

Jawad Rasul, one of the students on the trip, said he was stunned that his name was included in the police report.

"It forces me to look around wherever I am now," Rasul said.

But another student, Ali Ahmed, whom the NYPD said appeared to be in charge of the trip, said he understood the police department's concern.

"I can't blame them for doing their job," Ahmed said. "There's lots of Muslims doing some bad things and it gives a bad name to all of us, so they have to take their due diligence."

City College criticized the surveillance and said it was unaware the NYPD was watching students.

"The City College of New York does not accept or condone any investigation of any student organization based on the political or religious content of its ideas," the college said in a written statement. "Absent specific evidence linking a member of the City College community to criminal activity, we do not condone this kind of investigation."

Browne said undercover officers go wherever people they're investigating go. There is no indication that, in the nearly four years since the report, the NYPD brought charges connecting City College students to terrorism.

Student groups were of particular interest to the NYPD because they attract young Muslim men, a demographic that terrorist groups frequently draw from. Police worried about which Muslim scholars were influencing these students and feared that extracurricular activities such as paintball outings could be used as terrorist training.

The AP first reported in October that the NYPD had placed informants or undercover officers in the Muslim Student Associations at City College, Brooklyn College, Baruch College, Hunter College, City College of New York, Queens College, La Guardia Community College and St. John's University. All of those colleges are within the New York City limits.

A person familiar with the program, who like others insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it, said the NYPD also had a student informant at Syracuse.

Police also were interested in the Muslim student group at Rutgers, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 2009, undercover NYPD officers had a safe house in an apartment not far from campus. The operation was blown when the building superintendent stumbled upon the safe house and, thinking it was some sort of a terrorist cell, called the police emerency dispatcher.

The FBI responded and determined that monitoring Rutgers students was one of the operation's objectives, current and former federal officials said.

The Rutgers police chief at the time, Rhonda Harris, would not discuss the fallout. In a written statement, university spokesman E.J. Miranda said: "The university was not aware of this at the time and we have nothing to add on this matter."

Another NYPD intelligence report from Jan. 2, 2009, described a trip by three NYPD officers to Buffalo, where they met with a high-ranking member of the Erie County Sheriff's Department and agreed "to develop assets jointly in the Buffalo area, to act as listening posts within the ethnic Somalian community."

The sheriff's department official noted "that there are some Somali Professors and students at SUNY-Buffalo and it would be worthwhile to further analyze that population," the report says.

Browne said the NYPD did not follow that recommendation. A spokesman for the university, John DellaContrada, said the NYPD never contacted the administration. Sheriff's Departments spokeswoman Mary Murray could not immediately confirm the meeting or say whether the proposal went any further.

The document that mentions Khan, the University at Buffalo student, is entitled "Weekly MSA Report" and dated Nov. 22, 2006. It explains that officers from the NYPD's Cyber Intelligence unit visited the websites, blogs and forums of Muslim student associations as a "daily routine."

The universities included Yale; Columbia; the University of Pennsylvania; Syracuse; New York University; Clarkson University; the Newark and New Brunswick campuses of Rutgers; and the State University of New York campuses in Buffalo, Albany, Stony Brook and Potsdam; Queens College, Baruch College, Brooklyn College and La Guardia Community College.

Khan was a board member of the Muslim Student Association at the University at Buffalo at the time she received the conference announcement, which went out to a mailing list of Muslim organizations.

The email said "highly respected scholars" would be attending the Toronto conference, but did not say who or give any details of the program. Khan says she never went to the conference, was not affiliated with it and had no idea who was speaking at it.

Khan says she clicked "forward" and sent it to a Yahoo chat group of fellow students.

"A couple people had gone the year prior and they said they had a really nice time, so I was just passing the information on forward. That's really all it was," said Khan, who has since graduated.

But officer Mahmood Ahmad of the NYPD's Cyber Intelligence Unit took notice and listed Khan in his weekly report for Kelly. The officer began researching the Toronto conference and found that one of the speakers, Tariq Ramadan, had his U.S. visa revoked in 2004. The U.S. government said it was because Ramadan had given money to a Palestinian group. It reinstated his visa in 2010.

The officer's report notes three other speakers. One, Siraj Wahaj, is a prominent but controversial New York imam who has attracted the attention of authorities for years. Prosecutors included his name on a 3 ½-page list of people they said "may be alleged as co-conspirators" in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, though he was never charged.

The other two are Hamza Yusuf and Zaid Shakir, two of the nation's most prominent Muslim scholars. Both have lectured at top universities in the U.S.. Yusuf met with President George W. Bush at the White House following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

There is no indication that the investigation went any further, or that Khan was ever implicated in anything. Browne, the NYPD spokesman, said students like her have nothing to fear from the police.

"Students who advertised events or sent emails about regular events should not be worried about a 'terrorism file' being kept on them. NYPD only investigated persons who we had reasonable suspicion to believe might be involved in unlawful activities," Browne said.

But Khan still worries about being associated with the police report.

"It's just a waste of resources, if you ask me," she said. "I understand why they're doing it, but it's just kind of like a Catch-22. I'm not the one doing anything wrong."

The university said it was unaware its students were being monitored.

"UB does not conduct this kind of surveillance and if asked, UB would not voluntarily cooperate with such a request," the university said in a written statement. "As a public university, UB strongly supports the values of freedom of speech and assembly, freedom of religion, and a reasonable expectation of privacy."

The same Nov. 22, 2006, report also noted seminars announced on the websites of the Muslim student associations at New York University and Rutgers University's campus in Newark, New Jersey.

Browne said intelligence analysts were interested in recruiting by the Islamic Thinkers Society, a New York-based group that wants to see the United States governed under Islamic law. Morton was a leader of the group and went to Stony Brook University's MSA to recruit students that same month.

"One thing that our open source searches were interested in determining at the time was, where (does the) Islamic Thinkers Society go — in terms of MSAs for recruiting," Browne said.

Yale declined comment. The University of Pennsylvania did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Other colleges on the list said they worried the monitoring infringed on students' freedom of speech.

"Like New York City itself, American universities are admired across the globe as places that welcome a diversity of people and viewpoints. So we would obviously be concerned about anything that could chill our essential values of academic freedom or intrude on student privacy," Columbia University spokesman Robert Hornsby said in a written statement.

Danish Munir, an alumnus adviser for the University of Pennsylvania's Muslim Student Association, said he believes police are wasting their time by watching college students.

"What do they expect to find here?" Munir said. "These are all kids coming from rich families or good families, and they're just trying to make a living, have a good career, have a good college experience. It's a futile allocation of resources."

___

Online:

View the report at: http://apne.ws/zLpfdM

___

Associated Press reporters Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman and Eileen Sullivan contributed to this report.

___

Contact the Washington investigative team at DCinvestigations (at) ap.org

Feds cause Mendocino County medical-pot program to shut down

Source

Calif. county's medical-pot program halted

Federal crackdown on distribution ends unique permitting system

by Lisa Leff - Feb. 26, 2012 01:01 AM

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - Residents of Mendocino County, the redwood and marijuana-rich territory in California's fabled Emerald Triangle, thought they had reached detente in the decades-old clash between pot growers and local law enforcement two years ago when the sheriff agreed to stop raiding medical cannabis producers who paid to have their crops inspected.

For a $1,500 fee and adherence to rules over water usage, odor control and distance from neighbors, marijuana farmers working for groups of patients could grow up to 99 plants on 5 acres of land. Numbered red zip ties had be affixed to each plant, confirming the county's seal of approval and giving a visiting deputy proof the pot was legally grown.

The one-of-a-kind program generated $663,230 for the Sheriff's Department and prompted inquiries from other jurisdictions interested in creating their own.

But this month, the permitting system became the most striking casualty of the crackdown on medical-marijuana cultivation and distribution by California's federal prosecutors.

The Board of Supervisors ended the experiment after the U.S. attorney for Northern California threatened to take the county to court for helping produce an illegal drug.

"We thought we had something that was working and was making our life easier so we could turn our attention to other pressing matters," Supervisor John McCowen said. "We were creating an above-ground regulatory framework that protected public safety and protected the environment. It was truly a landmark program."

After 4 � months, the federal government's highly publicized offensive has reverberated unevenly throughout California. It has resulted in a near-total shutdown of storefront pot dispensaries in some cities that welcomed federal intervention. It has upset officials in pot-friendly places who thought they had found the right formula for facilitating legal use. And it has created uncertainty in localities still struggling to curtail their pot outlets.

Medical pot is legal to varying degrees in 16 states and the District of Columbia. And officials in more than half of them have been told that government workers who are implementing medical-marijuana laws could face criminal charges.

But California, which in 1996 became the first state to legalize medical marijuana, has come under special scrutiny.

Its laws remain the nation's most liberal, allowing doctors to issue pot recommendations for almost any ailment and giving local authorities broad discretion, but little guidance, in how to implement them.

The state's laws stand in conflict with federal law, which holds that marijuana is an illegal substance with no recognized health benefits. And the current offensive is designed to make dispensaries and local government officials comply with it.

The primary tool the U.S. attorneys have used is threatening to seize the properties of landlords who knowingly leased farms or retail spaces to the commercial medical-marijuana trade.

But they also have filed criminal and civil charges against owners of non-profit dispensaries they say were pocketing tons of money and furnishing pot to people who had no medical need for it. And in some cases, such as Mendocino's, they have warned government officials.

"These licensing schemes are inconsistent with federal law," Melinda Haag, Northern California's U.S. attorney, said in October. "We are simply reminding local officials the ordinances are illegal."

As part of the statewide crackdown, about 90 dispensaries in 19 Southern California cities were sent letters telling them to close or face possible criminal charges and fines.

The "war on terror" is just an extension of the "war on drugs"

Source

White House helps pay for NYPD Muslim surveillance

WASHINGTON (AP) – Millions of dollars in White House money has helped pay for New York Police Department programs that put entire American Muslim neighborhoods under surveillance.

Attorney Nadia Kahf, left, stands with Mohamed Elfilali of the Islamic Center of Passaic County during a news conference in Newark to address NYPD spying.

The money is part of a little-known grant intended to help law enforcement fight drug crimes. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush and Obama administrations have provided $135 million to the New York and New Jersey region through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, known as HIDTA.

Some of that money — it's unclear exactly how much because the program has little oversight — has paid for the cars that plainclothes NYPD officers used to conduct surveillance on Muslim neighborhoods. It also paid for computers that store even innocuous information about Muslim college students, mosque sermons and social events.

When NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly was filled in on these efforts, his briefings were prepared on HIDTA computers.

The AP confirmed the use of White House money through secret police documents and interviews with current and former city and federal officials. The AP also obtained electronic documents with digital signatures indicating they were created and saved on HIDTA computers. The HIDTA grant program is overseen by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The disclosure that the White House is at least partially paying for the NYPD's wholesale surveillance of places where Muslims eat, shop, work and pray complicates efforts by the Obama administration to stay out of the fray over New York's controversial counterterrorism programs. The administration has championed outreach to American Muslims and has said law enforcement should not put entire communities under suspicion.

The Obama administration, however, has pointedly refused to endorse or repudiate the NYPD programs it helps pay for. The White House last week declined to comment on its grant payments.

John Brennan, Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, last year called the NYPD's efforts "heroic" but would not elaborate. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, whose department also gives grant money to the NYPD and is one of the lead federal agencies helping police build relationships with Muslims, has refused in recent months to discuss the police tactics. Tom Perez, the Justice Department's top civil rights lawyer, has repeatedly refused to answer questions about the NYPD.

Outside Washington, the NYPD's efforts drew increased criticism last week. College administrators at Yale, Columbia and elsewhere issued harsh rebukes for NYPD's infiltration of Muslim student groups and its monitoring of school websites. New Jersey's governor and the mayor of its largest city have complained about the NYPD's widespread surveillance there, outside New York's police jurisdiction.

The White House HIDTA grant program was established at the height of the drug war to help police fight drug gangs and unravel supply routes. It has provided about $2.3 billion to local authorities in the past decade.

After the terror attacks, law enforcement was allowed to use some of that money to fight terrorism. It's unclear how much HIDTA money has been used to pay for the intelligence division, in part because NYPD intelligence operations receive scant oversight in New York.

Congress, which approves the money for the program, is not provided with a detailed breakdown of activities. None of the NYPD's clandestine programs is cited in the New York-New Jersey region's annual reports to Congress between 2006 and 2010.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne did not respond to questions the AP sent to him in two emails about the White House money and the department's intelligence division.

Most of the money from the White House grants in New York and New Jersey has been spent fighting drugs, said Chauncey Parker, director of the program there. He said less than $1.3 million was spent on vehicles used by the NYPD intelligence unit.

"Those cars are used to collect and analyze counterterrorism information with the goal of preventing a terrorist attack in New York City or anywhere else," Parker said. "If it's been used for specific counterterrorism effort, then it's been used to pay for those cars."

Former police officials told the AP those vehicles have been used to photograph mosques and record the license plates of worshippers.

In addition to paying for the cars, the White House money pays for part of the office space the intelligence division shares with other agencies in Manhattan.

When police compiled lists of Muslims who took new, Americanized names, they kept those records on HIDTA computer servers. That was ongoing as recently as October, city officials said.

Many NYPD intelligence officers, including those that conducted surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods, had HIDTA email addresses. Briefing documents for Kelly, the police commissioner, were compiled on HIDTA computers. Those documents described what police informants were hearing inside mosques and which academic conferences Muslim scholars attended.

When police wanted to pay a confidential informant, they were told to sign onto the HIDTA website to file the paperwork, according to a 2007 internal document obtained by the AP.

Parker said the White House grant money was never used to pay any of the NYPD intelligence division's confidential informants. The HIDTA computer systems, he said, are platforms that allow different law enforcement agencies to share information and work.

"I am shocked to hear that federal dollars may have helped finance the NYPD's misguided efforts to spy on Muslims in America," said Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., one of 34 members of Congress who have asked the Justice Department and House Judiciary Committee to investigate the NYPD.

The connection between NYPD and the White House anti-drug grant program surfaced years ago, during a long-running civil rights lawsuit against police. Civil rights attorneys asked in court about a "demonstration debriefing form" that police used whenever they arrested people for civil disobedience. The form carried the seal of both the NYPD Intelligence Division and HIDTA.

A city lawyer downplayed any connection. She said the NYPD and HIDTA not only shared office space, they also shared office supplies like paper. The NYPD form with the seal of a White House anti-drug program was "a recycled piece of paper that got picked up and modified," attorney Gail Donoghue told a federal judge in 2003.

The issue died in court and was never pursued further.

Last week, the controversy over NYPD's programs drew one former Obama administration official into the discussion.

After the AP revealed an extensive program to monitor Muslims in Newark, N.J., police there denied knowing anything about it. The Newark police director at the time, Garry McCarthy, has since moved on to lead Chicago's police department where President Barack Obama's first chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is now the mayor.

"We don't do that in Chicago and we're not going to do that," Emanuel said last week.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the NYPD surveillance in his state was "disturbing" and has asked the attorney general to investigate. Christie was New Jersey's top federal prosecutor and sat on the HIDTA executive board during 2006 and 2007 when the NYPD was conducting surveillance in New Jersey cities. Christie said he didn't know that, in 2007, the NYPD catalogued every mosque and Muslim business in Newark, the state's largest city.

Recreational marijuana measure to be put to voters

Recreational marijuana measure to be put to voters

By Keith Coffman | Reuters

DENVER (Reuters) - Colorado voters will be asked to decide whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in a November ballot measure, setting up a potential showdown with the federal government over America's most commonly used illicit drug.

The measure, which would legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults, is one of two that will go to voters in November after a Washington state initiative to legalize pot earned enough signatures last month to qualify for the ballot there.

"This could be a watershed year in the decades-long struggle to end marijuana prohibition in this country," Art Way, Colorado manager of the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a statement. The Alliance supports the initiative.

"Marijuana prohibition is counterproductive to the health and public safety of our communities. It fuels a massive, increasingly brutal underground economy, wastes billions of dollars in scarce law enforcement resources, and makes criminals out of millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens."

Colorado is one of 16 states and the nation's capital that already allow marijuana use for medical purposes even as cannabis remains classified as an illegal narcotic under federal law - and public opinion is sharply divided on the merits of full legalization.

No states allow marijuana for recreational use, and California voters turned back a ballot initiative to legalize the drug for such use in 2010, in part because of concerns about how production and sale of the drug would be regulated.

Since then, the U.S. Department of Justice has cracked down on medical cannabis operations in several mostly western states including Colorado and Washington, raiding dispensaries and growing operations and threatening landlords with prosecution.

A spokesman for Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said on Monday that the office opposes the legalization proposal.

"The attorney general will oppose any measure that makes marijuana more accessible," spokesman Mike Saccone said.

The Colorado measure, if approved by voters, would legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana or up to six plants for cultivation, said Mason Tvert, co-founder of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.

It would also set up a regulatory framework for the sale of cannabis products and the application of sales and excise taxes, in addition to legalizing the cultivation of industrial hemp.

WOULD EARMARK TAX REVENUE FOR SCHOOLS

A provision of the measure would also annually earmark the first $40 million in tax revenue generated from pot sales to fund public school construction, Tvert said, although he could not estimate how many tax dollars would be generated.

Any remaining money over $40 million would go to the state's general fund, he said.

Colorado voters rejected a measure to legalize small amounts of cannabis in 2006, but Tvert said the new proposal with its taxing provision, and potential jobs created through the marijuana industry and peripheral businesses would make it more palatable to voters.

"The time is right," he said, citing a December poll by Public Policy Polling that showed 49 percent of Colorado voters now support legalization.

Nationwide, an October 2011 Gallup Poll that found a record 50 percent of Americans polled supported legalizing marijuana use, up from 36 percent five years earlier.

Under a medical marijuana law enacted in 2000, Colorado currently maintains a registry of more than 80,000 card-carrying patients and rules governing how physicians and distributors operate.

However, federal prosecutors launched a crackdown last month against nearly two dozen medical marijuana dispensaries located within 1,000 feet of schools, giving proprietors 45 days to cease operations or face civil and criminal penalties. That deadline lapsed on Monday.

Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver, said an investigation was underway to determine if the alleged violators complied with the ultimatum.

A second round of notifications to other pot dispensaries who federal authorities said were in violation of the 1,000-foot law will be notified "sooner rather than later," Dorschner said.

Proponents of legalized recreational possession initially submitted more than 163,000 signatures on a petition to place their measure on the ballot, but the state's secretary of state declared the petition insufficient on February 3.

Advocates then submitted an additional 14,000 signatures two weeks ago, and after a second review, the state certified that the proposal would qualify for the general election ballot on November 6, 2012.

(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Cynthia Johnston)

100th anniversary of the "Drug War"

It certainly isn't time to celebrate 100 years of government tyranny but I think we should start planning some anti-government protests about the insane and unconstitutional "drug war", which really is a war on the "Bill of Rights" and a war on the American people.

The government's war on marijuana won't have it's 100th anniversary for another 24 years or so because marijuana was legal until 1937 when they passed the "1937 Marihuana Tax Act".

Some useless information, these tax acts didn't make drugs illegal, but required licenses for the drugs. And then the government stopped issuing the licenses effectively making the drugs illegal.

One book which has a lot of interesting facts on these laws and the insane drug war is: "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" which really has the very long title of "The Emperor Wears No Clothes: The Authoritative Historical Record of Cannabis and the Conspiracy Against Marijuana" and was written by Jack Herer.

I number of legal scholars argue that the "Drug War" is unconstitutional at the Federal level per the 10th Amendment at that any state "Drug Wars" are unconstitutional per the 14th Amendment.

Going to back to the prohibition, remember that any "War on Booze" or "War on Liquor" is unconstitutional per the original U.S. Constitution. The Federal government had to pass the 18th Amendment to legally begin its "War on Booze" or "War on Liquor".

Of course the same is true about the "War on Drugs". As of now no Constitutional Amendment legalizing the "War on Drugs" has been passed.

100th anniversary of evil income tax will be here soon in 2013

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/1913.pdf

Adjusted for inflation $3,000 in 1913 dollars would be around $50,000 or $60,000 in current dollars.

If you continue reading the form you will see that the tax maxed out at 6 percent for people who made $500,000 or more. Hell today, even if you make min wage the government shakes you down for 10 percent of that. Before they take another 6 percent for FICA and Social Security.

Of course back in those days American was an agrarian nation, with most people living on farms and making very little, if any money. Which meant most Americans didn't have to pay income taxes.

One of Ron Paul's agendas is to repeal the 16th Amendment or the income tax law if he gets elected President.

4 pounds of heroin found in student's backpack

Source

4 pounds of heroin found in student's backpack, police say

Feb. 28, 2012 11:33 AM

Associated Press

NOGALES -- An anonymous tip led Nogales High School administrators to the recovery of nearly four pounds of heroin and the arrest of a 16-year-old student.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada tells the Nogales International ( http://bit.ly/xlKFh2 ) the seizure is an unprecedented amount. The sheriff says the street value is as much as $80,000.

The Santa Cruz County Metro Task Force received a call from the school resource officer Monday afternoon after the heroin was discovered in the Rio Rico boy's backpack.

The boy was taken into custody and was transported to a county juvenile detention facility.

Source

Student busted with suspected heroin stash

Posted: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 9:09 am

By Manuel C. Coppola

Nogales International

An anonymous tip to school administration on Monday led to the arrest of a 16-year-old Nogales High School student and the seizure of four packages containing 3.8 pounds of what is suspected to be heroin.

“This is an unprecedented amount,” said Santa Cruz County Sheriff Antonio Estrada, adding the street value, if it turns out to be heroin, would be as much as $80,000.

“With that kind of weight and risk, it is not likely this student is new to the game,” said Estrada, adding the incident is still under investigation.

He said the Santa Cruz County Metro Task Force received a call from the school resource officer at about 1 p.m. after the heroin was discovered in the Rio Rico boy’s backpack.

Fernando Parra, assistant school superintendent for the Nogales Unified School District No. 1, said school security and an administrator called the boy out of the classroom, conducted the search and then called in the NHS school resource officer.

The drugs were turned over to Metro and the resource officer from the Nogales Police Department made the actual arrest, Parra said. The student was taken to the county juvenile detention center.

County Attorney George Silva said “Because of his age, Arizona law allows us to charge him as an adult. I don’t have the reports. But obviously because of the amount and the fact that it was on school grounds, this is something we would look into.

“It’s another case where the traffickers use minors because they believe the consequences are not as severe,” said Lt. Gerardo Castillo of the Metro Task Force. “But we fully investigate where the drugs are coming from and where they are destined. It’s not just a matter of interdiction, but full investigations.”

Monday’s incident was the latest in a series of drug busts and drug-related incidents at NUSD schools during recent weeks.

According to a Nogales Police Department report, officers responded to Wade Carpenter Middle School on Feb. 17 after school personnel reported they had found marijuana in a student’s backpack and suspected two others of smoking pot. All three students were detained and referred to Santa Cruz County Juvenile Probation.

A day earlier, on Feb. 16, NPD officers arrested a female student at Wade Carpenter after she was allegedly caught carrying a small bag of marijuana. That same day, officers arrested a male student at Nogales High School after finding him in possession of marijuana on school grounds.

On Feb. 8, five students at Desert Shadows Middle School were sickened after eating cookies that had been laced with a substance believed to be marijuana. And on Jan. 13, two NHS students were arrested for possession of marijuana on school grounds.

Another drug tunnel found in Nogales

Source

Drug tunnel found in Nogales

by Daniel Gonzalez - Mar. 1, 2012 12:53 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

Another drug tunnel has been found in Nogales.

U.S. and Mexican police raided the 110-foot tunnel early Thursday morning and found 550 pounds of marijuana bundled inside, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

The tunnel is the latest in a series of tunnels U.S. officials have discovered in recent months constructed by drug smugglers in the Nogales area.

One opening of the 2-foot by 2-foot tunnel was found in a yard in a residential neighborhood in Nogales, Sonora and the other opening was found in an embankment of a private parking lot near Nelson and East International streets east of downtown Nogales, said Kevin Kelly, assistant special agent in charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Nogales.

Drug cartels typically hire smugglers to carry marijuana in backpacks through the desert or hidden inside vehicle compartments.

But increasingly they are resorting to tunnels to smuggle drugs into the United States because of tighter border security, Kelly said.

U.S. law enforcement authorities have discovered 22 completed drug tunnels in the Nogales area over the past three years, ICE officials said.

Good news, bad news, for California marijuana stores

Dispensaries can't be banned, but must grow pot on site

By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times

March 1, 2012, 7:48 p.m.

California cities may not ban medical marijuana dispensaries, but the operations may sell only weed that is grown on site, an appeals court ruled in an Orange County case.

The unanimous decision by a three-judge Court of Appeal panel in Santa Ana was the first in the state to prohibit cities from enacting zoning restrictions that effectively ban all marijuana dispensaries. The court was also the first to rule that dispensaries must grow the marijuana they sell, a requirement that would force most of them out of business.

The ruling, issued late Wednesday, struck down a zoning law in the city of Lake Forest that the judges said amounted to "a total bar contradicting state law."

"A local government cannot ban as a nuisance exactly what the Legislature contemplated would occur at cooperative and collective medical marijuana cultivation sites," Justice Richard M. Aronson wrote for the court. Aronson, appointed to the trial bench by former Gov. Pete Wilson and elevated by Gov. Gray Davis, was joined by a Republican appointee and a Democratic appointee.

The decision conflicted with other appellate court rulings on medical marijuana, and attorneys in the case said they expected the California Supreme Court would agree to hear an appeal.

David Welch, an attorney for a now-closed Lake Forest medical pot operation, said cities should heed this week's ruling and "not implement bans simply because that is the easy route." Municipal bans of medical marijuana have proliferated since voters decriminalized the weed for medical purposes in 1996. For every city that permits medical marijuana operations, nine others ban them, Welch said.

Jeffrey Dunn, a lawyer who represented Lake Forest, said the court's requirement that dispensaries sell pot grown only on site would shut down most storefront operations.

"I don't see how you can grow in a tiny, rented space enough pot for over 1,000 customers," Dunn said.

The federal government, acting at Lake Forest's request, forced more than 30 medical marijuana dispensaries in the city to close last year. Welch said his client would seek to reopen, but Dunn, citing an expected appeal, predicted that would not happen.

The Lake Forest decision added to a stack of rulings that have befuddled local governments and was unlikely to add much clarity.

One appeals court upheld the right of cities to use zoning laws to prohibit dispensaries. Another said city regulations that allow any medical marijuana violate federal law. A federal judge this week threw out a lawsuit to prevent the federal government from shutting down dispensaries.

"What perplexes me is this opinion issuance without references to other opinions that are being issued," Special Assistant Los Angeles City Atty. Jane Usher said Thursday. "I would certainly hope that every decision-maker in this field would at least make an effort to reconcile the evolving law."

Usher said she was preparing to recommend a set of medical marijuana regulations to the City Council next month "but with the shoes dropping with this frequency, I think we are all in truth in need of California Supreme Court authority."

The state high court has agreed to review a handful of lower court rulings on medical marijuana, but a ruling may be at least a year away.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

240G drug raids yield guns, cockfighting ring

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240G drug raids yield guns, cockfighting ring

BY MORGAN ZALOT & PHILLIP LUCAS

IN ONE OF the biggest narcotics sweeps in recent years, cops yesterday seized weapons, cash and drugs, locked up 100 alleged drug dealers and busted a suspected cockfighting ring.

Officers from the Narcotics Bureau and the Strike Force began serving about 90 search-and-seizure warrants throughout the East Detective Division, which encompasses Kensington, Fairhill and other sections of North Philadelphia and the Lower Northeast early yesterday, Narcotics Chief Inspector Cynthia Dorsey said last night.

Cops confiscated cocaine, crack, marijuana, heroin, PCP and pills with an estimated street value of nearly $200,000 and $41,000 in cash.

They also seized 30 firearms, including shotguns and a machine pistol with a silencer.

"We've done about eight of these [sweeps] in the past few years," Deputy Commissioner William Blackburn said. "This is one of the better ones."

Twelve guns and several bags of various drugs, including a half-kilo brick of cocaine valued at $50,000, covered a long table in the 24th/25th District headquarters, Whitaker Avenue near Erie, as Dorsey and Blackburn discussed the sweep.

While serving one warrant on Fairhill Street near Lycoming, in Hunting Park, cops also stumbled upon evidence of a cockfighting ring, officials said.

They found at least 47 roosters and about 50 hens and chicks, a fighting ring and other cockfighting paraphernalia, said Wendy Marano, a Pennsylvania SPCA spokeswoman.

Lt. Michael Kopecki said they also found weapons, heroin and packaging for narcotics.

Humane Law Enforcement officers removed the birds from the houses, and were still on the scene about 8:45 p.m.

Dorsey estimated that about 100 officers had been involved in the sweep.

Uncle Sam wants to regulate malt liquor

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Government eyes popular malt liquor Four Loko

Mar. 2, 2012 10:24 AM

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A carbonated brew guzzled on college campuses is the focus of an intense write-in campaign urging federal regulators to take some buzz out of a sweet alcoholic drink sometimes referred to as "blackout in a can."

The Federal Trade Commission is looking at a wave of complaints about the popular fruit-flavored malt liquor Four Loko. Under review: the amount of alcohol in the brightly colored, supersized cans and how they are marketed.

The drink gained national attention in 2010 following the hospitalization of college students in New Jersey and Washington state. Some states banned the drink, worried about the caffeine in Four Loko and its potential to mask how much alcohol one could safely consume. Amid a crackdown by the Food and Drug Administration, the drink's makers removed the caffeine and started selling Four Loko without the energy kick but with plenty of alcohol.

The FTC charges that the drink's creator, Chicago-based Phusion Projects, has implied in ads that its 23.5-ounce can is equal to one or two regular 12-ounce beers. The agency says the can, which contains up to 12 percent alcohol, is really more like four to five beers and shouldn't be consumed in one sitting.

Under a deal the agency brokered late last year with Phusion, new labels would be required on its products with more alcohol than 2-1/2 regular beers, and they would have to state how much alcohol, compared with a regular beer, is in the drink. The can also would have to be redesigned so that it can be resealed and would not necessarily need to be downed in one sitting.

Before a final vote to implement the settlement, the FTC asked the public to offer comments. Sentiment has been overwhelmingly against the deal.

More than 200 opposing comments were received, many saying the deal doesn't go far enough and some wanting a ban on the product -- something the FTC does not have the authority to do. About a dozen comments expressed support for the agreement.

It is rare for the commission to get this many comments on a proposed settlement. In its recent privacy settlement with Facebook, which has 845 million users, the FTC received only 59 comments.

One commenter on Four Loko, Maryann Strauss, wrote the agency, "Please reconsider ... and save all of us a lot of heartache, headaches and money."

Another, Julie Bos of the Van Buren/Cass District Health Department in Michigan, wrote: "In light of the evidence about the dangers of supersized alcopops, especially with underage drinkers, this agreement is unacceptable. Please withdraw this agreement and require much stronger changes from Phusion Products and other alcopop producers to protect public safety and health."

The American Medical Association is also opposed, as is the Beer Institute, an industry lobbying group that says it would be unprecedented in U.S. alcohol-labeling history to compare the alcohol content of one product with the alcohol content of another.

The FTC's Janet Evans says there are limits to the commission's authority.

"If I had a magic wand, this would be a smaller product with less alcohol," Evans, a senior staff attorney, said in an interview. "But I do not have a wand. I operate within my agency's jurisdiction, and the FTC does not have the jurisdiction to ban this product or to force a company to limit its size or potency."

What the commission can do, Evans said, is regulate how alcohol is marketed to prevent deception about alcohol content.

Phusion said it could not comment on the pending settlement. The company has maintained that its packaging does not contain statements or graphics that are misleading or intended to attract underage drinkers. Brightly colored packaging and products with higher alcohol by volume than regular beer have been in the marketplace for years, the company has said.

The settlement with Phusion has also attracted the attention of more than 30 state attorneys general who want a stronger agreement.

Led by attorneys general Douglas Gansler of Maryland and Mark Shurtleff of Utah, the group wrote the FTC to express its concerns about young people and binge drinking. The AGs are asking the commission to limit Four Loko to two servings of alcohol per can - the equivalent of two regular beers.

As precedent, they cite a 1991 case involving the Canandaigua Wine Co. and its marketing of a high-alcohol wine called Cisco.

The FTC said Cisco's packaging and advertising misrepresented it as a low-alcohol wine cooler, leading to the alcohol poisoning of several consumers. Canandaigua was ordered to stop representing the wine as a low-alcohol, single-serving product.

Evans says that case required changing the product's packaging, but didn't limit the amount of alcohol or the size of the containers. She says states can limit what kinds of malt beverages can be sold within their borders, but no federal agency has that authority.

A final decision from the FTC on the settlement - whether to approve it or change it - is expected in the next couple of months.

Mesa pigs busting people for medical marijuana DUI

Medical marijuana, prescriptions boost number of drug DUIs in Mesa

Posted: Friday, March 2, 2012 7:00 am

By Garin Groff, Tribune

Mesa police are arresting more drivers for drug impairment, saying prescription drug abuse and Arizona’s medical marijuana law are contributing to the problem.

Drug DUIs now make up a majority of impaired driving arrests in Mesa for the first time. The number of drug-impaired drivers has grown for years but it has spiked more recently, said Mesa Sgt. David Miecke. Fifty-two percent of DUIs issued last year in the city were for drugs, he said.

“For us to think that there’s more people out there driving on drugs than alcohol is startling,” Miecke said. “It’s harder to detect a drug-impaired person than an alcohol-impaired person.” [Well of course it is because drugs don't screw people up as badly as booze does!!!]

Marijuana impairment has grown over time, he said. But it accelerated as Arizona was debating the 2010 ballot measure that legalized medical marijuana, and boomed after its success, he said.

Police saw a big increase in drug impairment during a DUI task force that spanned December, he said. Fifty-six percent of DUIs during the holidays were for drugs in 2011, compared with just 16 percent in 2002.

Arizona’s medical marijuana law doesn’t exempt users from DUIs, and police can arrest drivers for the slightest degree of impairment for alcohol, prescription drugs and illegal substances. An increasing number of drivers flaunt the law, Miecke said.

“They’re pretty confident that just because they have that card, that they can be smoking at will and through their daily lives,” he said. “They seem to think that’s OK, they can do whatever they want.”

Marijuana can impair driving for a day or more after use, he said. [That is an outright lie! People that get use marijuana will be high for several hours at max, despite the fact that the drug can be detected for days in your bloodstream.]

The drug-impaired drivers have ranged from teenagers to people in their 70s. Miecke said the death of Whitney Houston, whose substance abuse problem may have contributed to her passing, shows how widespread prescription drug abuse has become.

“It touches everybody, across all ages, all economic statuses and races,” he said. “People are using more prescription medications and it’s very easy to abuse them and easy to obtain them, even if you don’t have a prescription.”

Miecke expects marijuana-impaired drivers will become even more common as dispensaries open, which is expected over the summer. [Yea, sure! Probably 99 percent of the marijuana people use will be obtained illegally on the street rather then over priced medical marijuana dispensaries]

Drug-impaired drivers exhibit the same behaviors on the road as drunk drivers, including delayed response time. Detecting alcohol use is easy and inexpensive with a breath test, but there’s no equivalent for drugs.

Portable machines cost thousands of dollars, and each test is expensive. Most police take a suspect’s blood and have it tested in a lab, but Miecke said a backlog in Arizona can make police wait up to a year for results. Mesa recently started its own lab to get results within a month or two.

Police have responded to the increase in drug use with improved training so they are better at detecting impairment and documenting it for prosecution.

“To think that we’re not doing something about it or to think you might be able to get away with it, that’s a fallacy,” Miecke said. “Seventeen hundred went away to jail last year here in Mesa for DUI drugs.”

Contact writer: (480) 898-6548 or ggroff@evtrib.com

Drug tests will be required to get unemployment benefits????

Source

AZ lawmakers want drug testing for unemployment benefits

Posted: Friday, March 2, 2012 11:00 am

By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services

Saying it should be no different than applying for a job, state lawmakers are moving to allow the Department of Economic Security to require drug tests of those seeking unemployment insurance.

But the legality of the move remains in question.

SB 1495, which gained preliminary Senate approval this past week, is being pushed by Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa.

“With near-record rates of unemployment that we’ve seen over the last year or so, if you are fortunate enough for your state to pay you while you’re looking for a job, as far as I’m concerned, the very least you should be is in a suitable state of mind to search for a job,” he said. “If you are on drugs, you cannot pass a drug test, odds are you can’t pass an interview — if you’re going on them as you’re supposed to be.”

Smith’s original legislation called not only for all applicants to pass a drug test as a first step in eligibility but also mandatory testing for those already receiving benefits. But he agreed to scale that second half back, instead authorizing random tests for current recipients.

Anyone who fails would be denied benefits for 30 days but could reapply at that time.

The legislation also authorizes random drug tests for those who already have been approved. A positive test means the loss of that month’s benefits and a requirement for monthly tests for the next six months; a second failure kills benefits, with no new application allowed for another six months.

Several other states have imposed similar requirements.

But Ellen Katz, an attorney with the William E. Morris Institute for Justice, said these probably pass legal muster because they are predicated on some reasonable suspicion; Smith’s proposal does not.

“This bill allows suspicionless search and seizures,” she said.

“Under federal law, a drug test is a search and seizure,” Katz explained. “And it has to comply with the Fourth Amendment.”

Her contention was backed by DES lobbyist Erin Raden.

“In our initial analysis ... we do think there would be some severe conformity problems with federal law,” she said. And that, Raden said, would endanger the $27 million Arizona gets in federal funds to administer the program.

A new federal law that took effect last month does specifically permit states to drug test applicants for unemployment insurance.

Sen. David Lujan, D-Phoenix, however, said that is limited to two circumstances: Where the worker was fired for a drug-related offense or where the only suitable work for the applicant is in a field where drug testing is mandatory, like an interstate truck drive.

There are other concerns.

Sen. Rich Crandall, R-Mesa, pointed out the legislation says that the cost of the drug test must be borne by the applicant.

“This is a person who has just been laid off, got their very last paycheck, and we’re going to say, hey, you have to pony up this money,” he said, even if the person has never used drug. “I struggle with that part of the bill.”

Smith said the drug tests are “very inexpensive,” with estimates in the $8 to $13 range. Anyway, he said, there is no reason the state should pick up the tab.

“The taxpayer is already paying your monthly salary,” he said.

Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, said that’s not exactly correct. He pointed out that benefits come from a special insurance fund which is financed by assessments against employers.

Smith said that’s irrelevant.

“The bottom line is, somebody else is paying,” he said.

Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, said he sees another benefit to mandatory drug testing. He cited the violence in Mexico linked to drug cartels.

“If we can cut down on the demand here, that’s a good thing for our country,” he said.

The legislation already has been approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Using logic and reason on medical marijuana dispensaries???

Source

More legal mumbo-jumbo on medical marijuana

March 2, 2012 | 12:16 pm

Really, you have to wonder what these judges were smoking.

Here, read for yourself (quick version for those with short attention spans), courtesy of Times staff writer Maura Dolan:

California cities may not ban medical marijuana dispensaries, but the operations may sell only weed that is grown on site, an appeals court ruled in an Orange County case.

The unanimous decision by a three-judge Court of Appeal panel in Santa Ana was the first in the state to prohibit cities from enacting zoning restrictions that effectively ban all marijuana dispensaries. The court was also the first to rule that dispensaries must grow the marijuana they sell, a requirement that would force most of them out of business.

You can't bar dispensaries but you can require them to grow their own, right at the store?

Will this also mean that pharmacies can only sell Viagra if they make it on site? That markets have to become wineries or breweries to sell Chardonnay and Bud Light? Is Trader Joe's going to have to slaughter the cows and pigs right there in the store? What about Starbucks? It’s gonna be tough growing all that coffee in the little shops.

OK, not perfect analogies perhaps. But really, how does this ruling bring clarity to an issue that seriously needs some? As the story says:

The Lake Forest decision added to a stack of rulings that have befuddled local governments and was unlikely to add much clarity.

One appeals court upheld the right of cities to use zoning laws to prohibit dispensaries. Another said city regulations that allow any medical marijuana violate federal law. A federal judge this week threw out a lawsuit to prevent the federal government from shutting down dispensaries.

The real problem here is -- to paraphrase Jack Nicholson's famous line in "A Few Good Men" -- "We can't handle the truth."

Both sides on this issue are trying to achieve something without actually admitting it. Many supporters of medical marijuana, for example, are really advocates for legalizing marijuana, period. And cities that enact ordinances such as Lake Forest's may say they're trying to regulate the industry, but in fact they're trying to shut down legal businesses that they don't want.

For example, from Dolan's story:

Jeffrey Dunn, a lawyer who represented Lake Forest, said the court's requirement that dispensaries sell pot grown only on site would shut down most storefront operations.

"I don't see how you can grow in a tiny, rented space enough pot for over 1,000 customers," Dunn said.

Except, the sale of medical marijuana is legal. Californians voted for it. Californians want it. Laws restricting it won't change that.

[For the record: OK, yes, that is incorrect. The sale of marijuana is not legal in California. Rather, I should have said that Proposition 215, which Californians passed in 1996, allows people, with a doctor's permission, to grow, possess and use marijuana for medical purposes.]

The real solution, of course, is simple: Just legalize marijuana.

But if we can't do that, we should at least stop with these silly ordinances, which only spawn equally silly court rulings.

Medical marijuana munchies in San Francisco

Medical pot: S.F. seeks tighter rules on edibles

Kevin Fagan

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

Jade Miller, a caterer who creates marijuana-infused candy and drinks for Sweet Relief, pours a fruit base into a medical cannabis drink.

Candy drops distilled from real fruit. Gourmet chocolate bars. Carrot cake that melts in your mouth.

Stop by the average medical marijuana dispensary, and these cannabis-infused, professionally wrapped goodies and many more like them beckon from beneath glass cases. That delights cannabis customers - but it worries local officials who have to oversee the hazy world of medical pot, where the drug is legal under state law but is still federally banned.

Once mainly the province of brownie-making hippies, pot edibles are now turned out by trained chefs whose products are checked by special Bay Area laboratories that assess marijuana quality. There are few state guidelines defining how pot edibles can be made and sold, however, and a flurry of local attempts to do that has done little to change the fact that the edibles industry largely regulates itself.

Now, with federal prosecutors having begun a crackdown on medical marijuana operations, San Francisco is trying to tighten its rules on pot sweets. The city already has the most stringent guidelines in California, requiring that makers become state-certified food handlers and follow sanitation guidelines. But this winter it took a cut at restricting big-volume producers.

The result has been a quiet push-me-pull-you between pot-food makers and health officials that could help determine the future of the edibles industry.

"Patients love having edibles that are dependable and safe, and come from places they know are producing products they can count on - and that's what they're getting right now," said Steph Sherer, director of the national Americans for Safe Access medical cannabis advocacy organization.

Sherer said she thinks San Francisco should leave edibles production just as it is.

"The city has a system that works and it is absolutely impossible to fully appease the federal government, so why change?" she said. "No other city in California is having this struggle over edibles right now."

In the latest attempt at edibles regulation, all 21 medical marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco received a letter last month from the city Public Health Department ordering them to sell only edibles made from pot grown by their enrolled members. The medical pot industry hit the roof, fearing that noncompliance would mean their department-issued licenses would be revoked.

At least a half-dozen large makers of cannabis edibles have been supplying multiple dispensaries in the Bay Area since around 2010, when the industry suddenly expanded beyond the casual homemade stuff.

Within days of receiving the letter, dispensaries started dropping the big makers. The producers, dispensary owners and clients began complaining to every local official who would listen. 'It was shocking'

"I don't think anybody has a problem with being regulated," said Stephanie Tucker, spokeswoman for the Medical Cannabis Task Force, which advises the Board of Supervisors. "However, under the current climate of a federal crackdown, it was shocking for a letter like this to go out.

"The edible makers that we have had in our dispensaries are going above and beyond to make the best products and become professional," Tucker said. "Nowhere in state law does it say you cannot be a member of more than one dispensary, and that should mean for edible makers as well."

The big advantage of having a single type of edible available at different shops, advocates say, is that clients can count on a standardized product being available no matter where they shop.

"Limiting my choices worries me," said Bruce Buckner, 59, who uses pot edibles for relief from bladder cancer and Crohn's disease and cannot smoke because of emphysema. "It's a very fine line between eating something that works or having it knock you out. You try them, then stick with what works."

Buckner's chemotherapy appointments vary, he said, so he's unable to go to the same dispensary each time he drives to a San Francisco clinic from his Sonoma County home.

"If I can't get the same product no matter where I go, I'll be flying blind," he said. City's strategy

Rajiv Bhatia, San Francisco director of environmental health, said he and his staff generated the letter to try to protect the burgeoning trade from trouble with the feds.

"What we totally did not anticipate was the proliferation of commercial vendors making a diverse array of cannabis edibles," Bhatia said. "So we have concerns."

He said limiting dispensaries' edibles to those made with members' pot would be more in line with the state law allowing individual collectives to distribute medical marijuana. The backlash to the letter persuaded his department not to make it a requirement, but Bhatia still thinks it's the right thing to do.

"We're trying to steer the dispensaries toward what we believe to be the legally authorized cannabis practices," Bhatia said. "And there are gray areas." Making changes

The owner of the Shambhala Healing Center in the Mission District began asking all his edible suppliers this week to use only marijuana from his dispensary for products he stocks.

"I can understand the city's concern over this," said the owner, who asked that his name not be used because of the increased federal scrutiny of marijuana dispensaries. "But if everyone does what I'm suggesting, I think all the officials would love it."

That may not be so easy to pull off, said Jade Miller, a professional caterer who runs one of the bigger manufacturers, Sweet Relief, which makes cannabis-infused fruit drinks and candy.

"People say weed is just weed, but it's not," Miller said as she whipped up a batch of cherry-flavored drinks that sell for $7 a serving. "To do this, you need trusted growers who are very consistent."

Kevin Fagan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. kfagan@sfchronicle.com

Policing for $$$ dollars $$$

Source

Auction of confiscated vehicles to be held Saturday

Posted: Friday, March 2, 2012 3:35 pm

Tribune

The U.S. Marshal’s Service of Arizona is holding an auto auction on Saturday featuring vehicles that have been forfeited to the government.

The auction, which will be held at Apple Towing, 5720 E. Mineral Road in Guadalupe near Tempe, will begin at 9 a.m. The cars can be previewed until 5 p.m. on Friday and from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday.

The United States Marshals Service Asset Forfeiture Program plays a vital role in managing and disposing of $3.9 billion worth of assets for items such as vehicles, watercraft, real property, and jewelry that are seized and forfeited by federal law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The program has become a key part of the federal government’s efforts to combat major criminal activities by stripping criminals of their ill-gotten gains.

Proceeds generated from asset sales are used to fund victim restitution, supplement funding for federal law enforcement initiatives, and are often [often? make that ALWAYS] shared with state and local law enforcement partners, said David Gonzales, U.S. Marshal of Arizona.

aaa_medical_marijuana.html#penaltiesforgrowingmarijuana

Draconian Pentalties for growing medical marijuana

Legal Match

Federal Penalties: Growing marijuana is a felony under Federal law. Penalties will vary according to the amount of marijuana that is found growing, measured by weight. Fines can range from $250,000 to $4,000,000. Incarceration can range from 5 to 40 years.

US Justice Department

NORML

You have the right to videotape the police

Cops taking video may grasp that public has same right

Posted: Sunday, March 4, 2012 7:12 am | Updated: 9:53 am, Sun Mar 4, 2012.

By Mark Scarp, contributing columnist

Now that phones with video cameras are widespread, anyone can take video of most anything at any time, including police activity.

Some of this video has justified police actions as warranted and proper. Other examples showed officers engaging in misconduct or even criminal behavior.

Rodney King’s case seems so long ago now, in part because at the time it was seen as an anomaly that someone actually had a camera to record Los Angeles police officers beating him.

Today we’re more likely to tune in to caught-on-tape TV shows that use actual police footage showing officers having to put up with belligerent drunks they’ve pulled over or with people high on something in an escalating domestic dispute, or depicting cops chasing down suspects over fences and through vacant lots.

And so it’s not really surprising to learn from a story by the Tribune’s Garin Groff that by April, 50 Mesa police officers will be taking video of officers in action as a response to the proliferation of footage taken by bystanders. Cost to taxpayers: $67,000.

Groff reported that police in Mesa are doing this to reduce meritless allegations made against police officers, in addition to providing video documentation of crime-scene evidence and things suspects do — things I’m sure that would not look good for suspects if played back in a courtroom.

Mesa Police Chief Frank Milstead’s view, reported by Groff, is that what bystander video that gets broadcast by news media often fails to tell the whole story of the incident. He has a point; only the most provocative few seconds of an incident often makes it onto television news broadcasts. [And of course data released by the police rarely tells the full story either, and in fact almost always it is intended to convict the accused person in the media, so they will not get a fair trial and will be convicted]

We can only hope that cops who take video will avoid what some officers wrongly engage in: telling bystanders with their own cameras, who are standing on public property and a reasonable distance from the action, to stop shooting.

Examples abound locally and nationally of police informing folks, who are admittedly often sympathetic with the people whom officers are trying to detain or disperse, to turn off their cameras.

The reasons such officers often give don’t square with the First Amendment: That somehow posting video of an incident that occurred outdoors in front of several witnesses — that is, a public act — is going to somehow spill the beans on police’s ability to build a case.

More likely is that some officers just don’t like to be scrutinized, especially by some guy with a camera who probably isn’t keeping his mouth shut. But in our society the First Amendment provides the public with a valuable ability to check on the power we give police to arrest and, if the situation warrants, to use deadly force. These are potent denials of personal liberty that need to be checked on by a vigilant citizenry.

While there’s nothing wrong with what the Mesa police force is doing, an important thing to remember for these and other men and women in blue is that video they take is by law deemed to be a public record unless they can show in court that it is entitled to be kept secret.

“This is an ongoing investigation,” a time-honored police explanation for refusal to release information, alone is not enough to keep it from the public, according to a 1993 Arizona Supreme Court decision that involved this newspaper. Only a specific showing of the harm caused by the release of a record would be sufficient to keep it confidential, the state’s high court ruled.

This means that even evidence gathered via video would be and should be accessible as a public record under most circumstances. And so members of the public would be entitled to compare police footage as well as that they themselves take.

Just as police blanch at selected snippets of the public’s video of what they do reaching the news media or the Internet, so must they understand that only through access to all their footage of an incident can the public truly know whether police acted accordingly or justifiably.

A Tribune reader identified as downtown resident put it well in a comment to Groff’s story on eastvalleytribune.com: “This only makes sense if the public is given full access to the recordings. Otherwise, it’s just a propaganda tool for the police to use to make themselves look good. Full disclosure or nothing.”

It should not be far easier to get video from police when it depicts officers acting properly than video that shows that they are not. So long as the right of access by the public can be fully exercised, then the public should have little to fear from the sight of handheld police cameras.

Read Mark J. Scarp’s opinions here on Sundays. Watch his video commentaries on eastvalleytribune.com. Reach him at mscarp1@cox.net.

Meth lab almost burns down nursing home

Source

One dead killed after meth lab explodes at nursing home

By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY

One person was killed and six injured when a homemade meth lab exploded at a nursing home in Ohio this weekend, the local fire chief tells WKYC-TV.

"It's a first," Ashtabula fire chief Ron Pristera says of Sunday night's fire at Park Haven Nursing home.

He describes the meth operation as a "pop bottle, shake-and-bake lab."

Pristera says the man who died was among three residents and two non-residents hospitalized. Two others were treated at the scene.

One of the injured was a pregnant nurse who helped several people flee the building, WKYC reports..

A sprinkler system contained most of the fire.

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive illegal stimulant often cooked in homes with flammable components. State officials say more than 300 meth labs were broken up last year.

A lawyer for the nursing home, which houses about 40 people, has declined to comment, the Associated Press reports.

I wonder how many kilos of weed are in our prisons on any given day???

Now I wonder how many kilos of marijuana are smuggled into our prisons on any give day???

Source

Woman arrested after pot found in car at Goodyear prison

by Sasha Lenninger - Mar. 6, 2012 11:09 AM

The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

An Ajo woman was arrested a little after 1 p.m. Sunday after officers found marijuana inside a vehicle she was in while visiting an inmate at Arizona State Prison Complex-Perryville in Goodyear.

Officers responded to Perryville prison in response to a vehicle in the jail parking lot that was believed to be carrying an illegal substance, Goodyear police said.

A police dog accompanied by officers smelled around the vehicle and alerted officers on the vehicle, police said.

That day, correction officers were asking drivers of vehicles entering the jail to allow them to search their vehicles by having them sign consent forms, the court documents said.

Because the driver of the alerted vehicle signed that form, police were able to conduct a physical search of the vehicle, the filing said.

Nineteen tightly wrapped, brick-shaped bundles of what appeared to be marijuana was located throughout compartments of the vehicle, the filing said.

Two bundles were discovered inside a diaper bag that belonged to 19-year-old Elizabeth Armenta, the filing said.

After an interview, Armenta told police that her friend asked her to transport the marijuana to Phoenix, the document said. Armenta also told police that her father, the driver of the vehicle, had no knowledge of the marijuana, the filing said.

Armenta informed police that after her and her father left the prison, she was going to drop him off and then call her friend, the filing said.

Armenta's father was arrested but later released because he was found to have no involvement, the filing said.

Armenta was booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail in suspicion of marijuana possession and marijuana transportation and/or selling, the filing said.

The investigation is still ongoing.

Pat Robertson wants to re-legalize marijuana????

Source

Say what? Pat Robertson wants relaxed marijuana laws, more prayer

By Rene Lynch

March 6, 2012, 3:48 p.m.

Televangelist Pat Robertson was making headlines Tuesday for two vastly different reasons. Reason No. 1: He wants to decriminalize marijuana. Reason No. 2: He says the tornadoes that have devastated parts of the Midwest could have been prevented if enough people had prayed.

As a result, Robertson found himself in the unusual position of being both mocked and cheered in the online world at virtually the same time. Robertson made both comments during recent airings of his "700 Club."

The televangelist said that "liberals" are to blame for punitive laws that put too many young people behind bars for possessing small amounts of marijuana.

"I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance," he said, according to a transcript of the show obtained by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and posted online. "It's time we stop locking up people for possession of marijuana. We just can't do it anymore."

The transcript was making the rounds Tuesday to a surprised Twitterverse. "Words fail me," said one retweeter.

Meanwhile, Robertson was being lampooned and denounced in other circles for his comments about the destructive tornadoes that roared through the Midwest and the South last week, killing dozens.

Robertson was asked "Why did God send the tornadoes?"

He said that the victims were partially to blame.

"God didn't send the tornadoes," he said. "God set up a world in which certain currents interfere and interact with other currents.

“If enough people were praying, He would intervene. You could pray. Jesus stilled the storm. You could still storms.”

Residents in Georgia said they were offended by the remarks.

“Personally, I thank God that I’m alive and that the damage wasn’t greater,” David Wilson told Fox 5 news. “I think that my neighbors are safe and not harmed in any way, although they’ve lost quite a bit of property. But this weather, I can’t say this is God’s fault.”

On Twitter, the remarks were being mocked. "See? That's why Hollywood never gets hit by tornadoes. Its all the prayer," tweeted comedy writer Merrill Markoe.

Robertson, of course, is quite at home making eye-popping statements.

Over the years, he has suggested that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were God's punishment for the U.S. toleration of and homosexuality. More recently, he said he condoned divorce when a spouse has Alzheimer's.

Border Patrol testing surveillance blimp

Border Patrol testing surveillance blimp

Mar. 7, 2012 07:01 AM

Associated Press

NOGALES -- That big white thing flying over Nogales this week is a tethered-camera-equipped blimp the Border Patrol is testing out.

The Nogales International reports the aerostat is equipped with surveillance equipment and is on a test flight for the next week or so.

Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd Easterling says it was first deployed Monday at an altitude of between 1,500 and 2,000 feet.

Easterling says when and if the blimp returns to the Nogales border area will depend on whether the agency is satisfied with the system's performance.

According to the blimp maker's website, the aerostat is capable of scanning a city-sized area at once, making it virtually impossible to sneak up to, or through a protected area.

The "war on drugs" is also a racist war on Black people?

Drug policy as race policy: Book galvanizes the debate

By JENNIFER SCHUESSLER

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 07, 2012

Garry McCarthy, a 30-year veteran of law enforcement, did not expect to hear anything too startling when he appeared at a conference on drug policy organized last year by an African-American minister in Newark, N.J., where he was the police director.

But then a law professor named Michelle Alexander took the stage and delivered an impassioned speech attacking the war on drugs as a system of racial control comparable to slavery and Jim Crow — and received a two-minute standing ovation from the 500 people in the audience.

"These were not young people living in high-crime neighborhoods," McCarthy, who is now police superintendent in Chicago, recalled in telephone interview. "This was the black middle class."

"I don't believe in the government conspiracy, but what you have to accept is that that narrative exists in the community and has be addressed," he said. "That was my real a-ha moment."

McCarthy is not alone. Over the past two years, Alexander has been provoking such moments across the country — and across the political spectrum — with her book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," which has become a surprise best seller since its paperback version came out in January. Sales have totaled some 175,000 copies after an initial hardcover printing of a mere 3,000, according to the publisher, the New Press.

The book marshals pages of statistics and legal citations to argue that the get-tough approach to crime that began in the Nixon administration and intensified with Ronald Reagan's declaration of the war on drugs has had a crippling effect on black America.

Today, Alexander writes, nearly one-third of black men are likely to spend time in prison at some point, only to find themselves falling into permanent second-class citizenship after they get out. That is a familiar argument made by many critics of the criminal justice system, but Alexander's book goes further, asserting that the crackdown was less a response to the actual explosion of violent crime than a deliberate effort to push back the gains of the civil rights movement.

For many African-Americans, the book — which has so far spent six weeks on the paperback nonfiction best-seller list— has given eloquent and urgent expression to deep feelings that the criminal justice system is stacked against them.

"Everyone in the African-American community had been seeing exactly what she is talking about but couldn't put it into words," said Phillip Jackson, executive director of the Black Star Project, an educational advocacy group in Chicago, who has blasted its 60,000 email subscribers with what he called near-daily messages about the book and Alexander since he saw her speak a year and a half ago.

It is also having a galvanizing effect on some white readers, including those who might question the book's portrayal of the war on drugs as a continuation of race war by other means.

"The book is helping white folks who otherwise would have simply dismissed that idea understand why so many people believe it," said David M. Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "It is making them take that seriously."

"The New Jim Crow" arrives at a receptive moment, when declining crime rates and exploding prison budgets have made conservatives and liberals alike more ready to question the wisdom of keeping nearly 1 in 100 Americans behind bars. But Alexander, who teaches at the Moritz School of Law at Ohio State University, said in an interview that the more provocative claims of her book did not come easily to her. When she first encountered the "New Jim Crow" metaphor on a protest sign in Oakland, Calif., a decade ago, she was a civil rights lawyer with an impeccable resume — Stanford Law School, a Supreme Court clerkship— and was leery of embracing arguments that might be considered, as she put it, "crazy."

Alexander, who is black, knew that African-Americans were overrepresented in prison, though she resisted the idea that this was anything more than unequal implementation of color-blind laws. But her work as director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Racial Justice Project in Northern California, she said, opened her eyes to the extent of lifelong exclusion many offenders face, including job discrimination, elimination from juries and voter rolls, and even disqualification from food stamps, public housing and student loans.

"It's easy to be completely unaware that this vast new system of racial and social control has emerged," she said. "Unlike in Jim Crow days, there were no ‘Whites Only' signs. This system is out of sight, out of mind."

In conversation, she disputes any suggestion that she is describing a conspiracy. While the title is "provocative," she said, the book contains no descriptions of people gathering secretly in rooms.

"The main thrust," she said, "is to show how historically both our conscious and unconscious biases and anxieties have played out over and over again to birth these vast new systems of social control."

Whatever Alexander's account of the origins of mass incarceration, her overall depiction of its human costs is resonating even with people who disagree with her politics.

Rick Olson, a state representative in Michigan, was one of the few whites and few Republicans in the room when Alexander gave a talk sponsored by the state's black caucus in January.

"I had never before connected the dots between the drug war, unequal reinforcement, and how that reinforces poverty," Wilson said. "I thought, ‘Gee whiz, let me get this book."'

Reading it, he said, inspired him to draft a bill decriminalizing the use and possession of marijuana.

The Rev. Charles Hubbard, the pastor at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, a mostly white evangelical congregation in Garland, Texas, says he has started carrying the book with him everywhere and is urging his fellow pastors to preach about it, though he acknowledges it may be a tough sell in Texas.

"I think people need to hear the message," he said. "I don't think Anglo folks have any idea how difficult it is for African-American men who get caught up in the criminal justice system."

Hubbard said he was particularly impressed by how "well-documented" Alexander's book is. But to some of the book's detractors, including some who are deeply sympathetic to her goal of ending mass incarceration, its scholarship falls short.

In an article to be published next month in The New York University Law Review, James Forman Jr., a clinical professor at Yale Law School and former public defender, calls mass incarceration a social disaster but challenges what he calls Alexander's "myopic" focus on the war on drugs.

Painting the war on drugs as mainly a backlash against the gains of the civil rights movement, Forman writes, ignores the violent crime wave of the 1970s and underplays the support among many African-Americans for get-tough measures. Furthermore, he argues, drug offenders make up less than 25 percent of the nation's total prison population, while violent offenders — who get little mention in "The New Jim Crow" — make up a much larger share. [I have to disagree with that statement. Other numbers I have read say that from half to two thirds of the people in prison are there for victimless drug war crimes]

"Even if every single one of these drug offenders were released tomorrow," he writes, "the United States would still have the world's largest prison system."

To Alexander, however, that argument neglects the full scope of the problem. Our criminal "caste system," as she calls it, affects not just the 2.3 million people who are behind bars, but also the 4.8 million others who are on probation (predominately for nonviolent offenses) or parole, to say nothing of the millions more whose criminal records stigmatize them for life.

"This system depends on the prison label, not just prison time," she said.

In a telephone interview, Forman, a son of the civil rights leader James Forman, praised the book's "spectacular" success in raising awareness of the issue. And some activists say their political differences with Alexander's account matter less than the overall picture she paints of a brutal and unjust system.

Craig M. DeRoche, director of external affairs at the Justice Fellowship, the advocacy arm of Prison Fellowship, a Christian ministry founded by the former Nixon aide Charles Colson, said he rejects the political history in "The New Jim Crow" but still considers it essential reading for conservatives.

"The facts are the facts," he said. "The numbers are the numbers."

Supreme Court Ruling Prompts FBI to Turn Off 3,000 Tracking Devices

Which means there are about 42 people in the Phoenix area with cars that the FBI is illegally spying on. And about 10 in the Tucson area which the FBI is illegally spying on. (The Phoenix metro area has a population of about 4.2 million and Tucson a population of 1 million).

Source

Supreme Court Ruling Prompts FBI to Turn Off 3,000 Tracking Devices

ABC News

By Ariane de Vogue

A Supreme Court decision has caused a "sea change" in law enforcement, prompting the FBI to turn off nearly 3,000 Global Positioning System (GPS) devices used to track suspects, according to the agency's general counsel.

When the decision-U.S. v. Jones-was released at the end of January, agents were ordered to stop using GPS devices immediately and told to await guidance on retrieving the devices, FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann said in a recent talk at a University of San Francisco conference. Weissmann said the court's ruling lacked clarity and the agency needs new guidance or it risks having cases overturned.

The Jones case stemmed from the conviction of night club owner Antoine Jones on drug charges. Law enforcement had used a variety of techniques to link him to co-conspirators in the case, including information gathered from a GPS device that was placed on a Jeep primarily used by Jones. Law enforcement had no valid warrant to place the device on the car.

Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for a five-member majority, held that the installation and use of the device constituted a search under the Fourth Amendment based on trespass grounds. The ruling overturned Jones' conviction.

"It is important to be clear about what occurred in this case," Scalia wrote. "The government physically occupied private property for the purpose of obtaining information. We have no doubt that such a physical intrusion would have been considered a 'search' within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment."

It was a narrow ruling only directly impacting those devices that were physically placed on vehicles.

Weissmann said it wasn't Scalia's majority opinion that caused such turmoil in the bureau, but a concurring opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. Alito, whose opinion was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, agreed with the Court's conclusion in the case but wrote separately because his legal reasoning differed from the majority.

Alito focused not on the attachment of the device, but the fact that law enforcement monitored Jones for about a month. Alito said "the use of longer-term GPS monitoring in investigations of most offenses impinges on expectations of privacy." He also suggested that Scalia's reliance on laws of trespass, will "provide no protection" for surveillance accomplished without committing a trespass.

"For example," Alito wrote, "suppose that the officers in the present case had followed respondent by surreptitiously activating a stolen vehicle detection system that came with the car when it was purchased?"

In his talk at a University of San Francisco Law Review Symposium, Weissmann suggested that Alito's concurrence means that several members of the court are concerned with long-term surveillance by technologies beyond GPS systems and that the FBI needs new guidance in order to ensure that evidence does not get thrown out.

"I just can't stress enough," Weissmann said, "what a sea change that is perceived to be within the department."

He said that after agents were told to turn off the devices, his office had to issue guidance on how some of the devices that had been used without a warrant could actually be retrieved. "We had to come up with guidance about you could locate [the devices] without violating the law," Weissmann said. "It wasn't obvious that you could turn it back on to locate it because now you needed probable cause or reasonable suspicion to do that."

Weissmann said the FBI is working on two memos for agents in the field. One seeks to give guidance about using GPS devices. A second one targets other technologies beyond the GPS, because, Weissmann said, "there is no reason to think this is just going to end with GPS."

"I think the court did not wrestle with the problems their decision creates," Weissmann said. "Usually the court tends to be more careful about cabining its decisions" and offering useful guidance. But in the Jones opinion, he said, the court didn't offer much clarity or any bright line rules that would have been helpful to law enforcement.

"Guidance which consist of 'two days might be good, 30 days is too long' is not very helpful," Weissmann said.

Catherine Crump, and attorney with the ACLU, welcomed the court's ruling as a first step toward preserving privacy rights.

"Alito's concurrence concerned the FBI because if tracking someone's movements violates their privacy, that should be true no matter what technology the FBI uses," says Crump. "The FBI now needs to give guidance to agents in the field, and the Alito decision raises serious questions about the constitutionality of other ways of tracking suspects."

As for Antoine Jones, the man whose conviction was thrown out because of the ruling, the government has announced that it wants to retry Jones without using evidence obtained from the GPS device. The trial is expected to start in May.

Deputy steals cash meant for "drug war" snitch

Source

Deputy accused of taking cash meant for informant

by JJ Hensley - Mar. 8, 2012 04:23 PM

The Republic | azcentral.com

A Maricopa County Sheriff's deputy working in the agency's special-investigations unit was arrested Thursday on suspicion of theft and forgery over an alleged role he had in shortchanging a confidential informant working with the office.

Sheriff's deputies arrested Torrey McRae, a four-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, and accused him of failing to account for more than $5,000 intended for a confidential informant. Investigators believe that McRae later tried to repay the money without being detected, according to the Sheriff's Office.

In addition to the theft and fraud accusations, McRae also faces two allegations of violating the duties of a custodian of public money.

Accoriding to the Sheriff's Office, McRae's supervisor noticed discrepancies in an account used to transfer money to confidential informants for information and drugs that are essential to prosecuting narcotics cases.

McRae, a former Chicago police officer, resigned when deputies arrived at his home to make the arrest, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Pat Robertson: Pot should be legal like alcohol

Pat Robertson: Pot should be legal like alcohol

Mar. 8, 2012 01:59 PM

Associated Press

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson says marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol because the government's war on drugs has failed.

The outspoken evangelical Christian and host of "The 700 Club" on the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network he founded said the war on drugs is costing taxpayers billions of dollars. He said people should not be sent to prison for marijuana possession.

The 81-year-old first became a self-proclaimed "hero of the hippie culture" in 2010 when he called for ending mandatory prison sentences for marijuana possession convictions.

"I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hardcore criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of a controlled substance," Robertson said on his show March 1. "The whole thing is crazy. We've said, 'Well, we're conservatives, we're tough on crime.' That's baloney."

Robertson's support for legalizing pot appeared in a New York Times (http://nyti.ms/zMys8R) story published Thursday. His spokesman confirmed to The Associated Press that Robertson supports legalization with regulation. Robertson was not made available for an interview.

"I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol," Robertson was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "If people can go into a liquor store and buy a bottle of alcohol and drink it at home legally, then why do we say that the use of this other substance is somehow criminal?"

Robertson said he "absolutely" supports ballot measures in Colorado and Washington state that would allow people older than 21 to possess a small amount of marijuana and allow for commercial pot sales. Both measures, if passed by voters, would place the states at odds with federal law, which bans marijuana use of all kinds.

While he supports the measures, Robertson said he would not campaign for them and was "not encouraging people to use narcotics in any way, shape or form."

"I'm not a crusader," he said. "I've never used marijuana and I don't intend to, but it's just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn't succeeded."

In a statement Thursday, Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said Robertson's "clearly stated and well-reasoned comments throw a curve ball into the growing debate over legalizing marijuana."

"Defenders of marijuana prohibition ... must be wondering if it's only a matter of time before theirs proves to be a lost cause," he said.

Christian advocacy group Focus on the Family opposes legalization for medical or recreational use, Carrie Gordon Earll, the organization's senior director of government and public policy, said in a statement. The group would not comment specifically on Robertson's statements.

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized the medical use of marijuana. Several states also have decriminalized marijuana, which removes or lowers penalties for possession. Legalization, however, would eliminate penalties and pave the way for regulated sales similar to alcohol.

Michael Felberbaum can be reached at www.twitter.com/MLFelberbaum.

Mexican election may change "war on drugs"

Source

Mexican election may change how war on drugs is fought

Next president could alter tactics vs. cartels

by Erin Kelly - Mar. 9, 2012 12:00 AM

Republic Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Mexico's U.S.-backed war against violent drug cartels could undergo a tactical shift, depending on which of the candidates vying to replace outgoing President Felipe Calderón wins this summer's Mexican presidential election.

The importance of the July 1 election to the United States was underscored this week when Vice President Joe Biden flew to Mexico City to meet with the three candidates and assess their attitudes toward U.S.-Mexican relations and the drug war.

Analysts said they expect the next Mexican president to remain committed to the fight, but the strategy may shift from Calderón's heavy reliance on the Mexican military to greater use of the civilian police force and more emphasis on creating jobs and social programs to keep young Mexicans from joining the cartels.

Calderón has long argued that the military is better equipped, better trained and more professional than civilian police agencies, which have traditionally been vulnerable to bribery and corruption. But with U.S. support, there has been better vetting and training of police officers in recent years. And critics of the military say the Mexican army has engaged in human-rights abuses and executions of suspected cartel members.

The next Mexican president also is likely to continue Calderón's pressure on the United States to consider legalizing drugs, especially marijuana, to try to reduce the demand that fuels the illicit- drug trade.

The election and its implications are especially important for border states such as Arizona, where law-enforcement officials are increasingly worried that drug-cartel violence may spread north into the United States. But the entire United States has a stake in what happens, analysts said.

Mexico is the United States' third- largest trading partner, representing nearly 11 percent of all U.S. trade and more than $435 billion in exports and imports. Its stability is crucial to the health of the U.S. economy and U.S. security, foreign-policy experts say.

Sen. John McCain and some other U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern that not all the Mexican candidates seem as committed as Calderón has been to fighting the cartels with all the resources at their disposal. But Biden, after meeting with the three candidates, was asked whether he sensed any significant differences among them on the issue of cooperation with the United States to fight the cartels. He replied, "No."

What may change, experts say, is the strategy that the new Mexican president adopts to reduce cartel violence, which has killed about 50,000 Mexicans during the past five years.

"Calderón has been very focused on breaking up and attacking the cartels and using military force, which in some ways has not been very effective," said Mark Jones, chairman of the political- science department at Rice University in Houston.

"A new president," Jones said, "may favor less of a militarized approach, relying more on civilian police forces and focusing more on economic growth and social-welfare programs to try to keep people from joining the cartels."

The current front-runner, Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolution Party, known as PRI in Mexico, told reporters after his meeting with Biden: "The discussion is not whether we should or shouldn't fight against it (organized crime) but what we can do to achieve better results."

Peña Nieto has talked about gradually withdrawing the Mexican military from the fight against the cartels, although he has been vague about a specific timeline.

Josefina Vazquez Mota of the ruling National Action Party, who has been gaining support in recent polls, said she plans to continue Calderón's war on the cartels, including his use of the military, at least until local police forces are ready to assume primary responsibility for the fight, which experts said could take years. Vazquez Mota also wants to increase college scholarships and enact labor reform aimed at increasing job opportunities.

The third candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party, said he hopes Mexico and the United States can work together to address some of the root causes of crime -- and of illegal immigration -- by increasing economic-development and anti-poverty programs.

Lopez Obrador has said he would pull the Mexican military out of the fight against the cartels within six months of his election. He would rely instead on state and local police forces, which Calderón has long argued are too vulnerable to being bribed by the cartels.

At a Senate hearing last month, McCain told U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper that he didn't believe one of the Mexican candidates was committed to winning the drug war. McCain did not single anyone out by name, and experts say he could have been talking about either Lopez Obrador or Peña Nieto because of their statements about removing the Mexican military from the drug war.

But Obama administration officials say they believe they can work well with whomever the Mexican people elect. And experts say they doubt any Mexican president would really be able to give up the fight.

"There will be variations in approaches among the candidates, but I think they all know that there is no appetite in Mexico for the government to turn its back on the war against organized crime," said Eric Olson, a senior associate at the Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "I think that's the reassuring message for the United States."

Less reliance on the Mexican military doesn't worry U.S. officials as long as the new Mexican president remains committed to battling the cartels, Olson said.

"All three of the candidates came out and said they were committed to continuing the war, and that's what Biden wanted," Olson said.

The U.S. government, through the Merida Initiative, already has been working with the Mexican government to reform its judicial system and strengthen its civilian police force to take over from the military. Begun in 2008, the $1.6 billion Merida Initiative has provided Mexico with U.S. helicopters, surveillance aircraft, and communications technology to battle the cartels.

It also has provided training and technology to police and prosecutors and funded programs to strengthen the Mexican judiciary system. And it has funded programs to treat and prevent drug addiction and improve inspections of vehicles crossing the U.S.-Mexican border.

"For the last few years, a lot of our joint efforts have been more about strengthening the rule of law in Mexico," said Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, director of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California-San Diego. "The federal police have grown tremendously and are very well-trained and well-paid and vetted. Many of them have college degrees. They can take over what is currently being done by the army in places like (the border city of) Ciudad Juarez."

But one strategy that the U.S. government will strongly oppose is any effort by Mexican and Central American leaders to push for the U.S. to legalize drugs.

Because the U.S. is the top consumer of illegal drugs from the cartels, Calderón has urged the U.S. government to consider legalizing drugs to strip the criminals of their enormous profits.

Other Latin American leaders have echoed that sentiment, saying the U.S. must consider legalization since it has been unable to decrease demand for drugs.

Biden, who met with the leaders in Honduras this week, told reporters that the United States continues to oppose that approach as unworkable and unpalatable.

"There is no possibility the Obama/Biden administration will change its policy on legalization," Biden said.

California marijuana legalization is in disarray

Effort to put marijuana legalization measure on ballot is in disarray

By Joe Mozingo, Los Angeles Times

March 10, 2012

Just weeks before the deadline for state ballot initiatives, the effort to put a marijuana legalization measure before voters in the general election is in disarray as the federal government cracks down on medical cannabis and activists are divided on their goals.

After Proposition 19 received 46% of the vote in 2010, proponents took heart at the near-miss. They held meetings in Berkeley and Los Angeles and vowed to put a well-funded measure to fully legalize marijuana on the 2012 ballot, when the presidential election would presumably draw more young voters.

Instead, five different camps filed paperwork in Sacramento for five separate initiatives. One has given up already and the other four are teetering, vying for last-minute funding from a handful of potential donors.

Backers need more than $2 million to hire professional petitioners to get the 700,000-plus signatures they say they need by April 20 to qualify for the ballot. But they are getting little financial support from medical marijuana dispensaries that have profited from laws that pot activists brought forth in earlier years.

Certainly, some dispensaries cannot help because they are paying large legal bills to fend off the federal government. But like growers, dispensary operators know that broader legalization could lower prices and bring more competitors into their business.

Of the four possible initiatives, the one apparently with the most vocal support within the movement is the Repeal Cannabis Prohibition Act, written by defense attorneys who specialize in marijuana cases. The measure would repeal state criminal statutes on marijuana possession, except those for driving while impaired or selling to minors. The state Department of Health would have 180 days to enact regulations before commercial sales became legal.

Libertarian activists came up with Regulate Marijuana Like Wine, which would have the department of Alcoholic Beverage Control oversee marijuana sales, same as beer and wine. [If they are asking government nannies to regulate marijuana they certainly are not LIBERTARIANS!!!!] Backers commissioned a poll they say found that 62% of Californians would support the measure. But time is against them. They filed early, so their deadline for signatures is March 20. So far, they have collected only about 50,000.

A third proposal comes from the Reefer Raiders, friends and disciples of the late pot guru and author Jack Herer, who have filed pot initiatives in one form or another since 1980. Led by a wild-bearded Bert "Buddy" Duzy, the California Cannabis Hemp & Health Initiative would legalize "cannabis hemp" for industrial, medicinal, nutritional and "euphoric" use.

The fourth idea comes from more staid groups: Americans for Safe Access, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 and the state chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML). They are pushing the Medical Marijuana Regulation, Control and Taxation Act, which would give more legitimacy to medical marijuana by adding state oversight and controls that the Legislature has been unable to enact.

At a recent forum in Marin County, Dale Gieringer, the state director for NORML, elicited consternation from the audience when he said that voters were more likely to go for regulating medical cannabis than allowing commercial sale — a key rift within the movement.

Proponents of all the initiatives have lamented that they had to compete with one another. "We're all chasing the same dollars," said Steve Collett, a Libertarian activist and Venice CPA who's behind the marijuana-like-wine measure.

Collett said that given the federal crackdown on dispensaries that began five months ago, he hoped the marijuana industry would pour money into the ballot initiatives, particularly his, which includes a provision to prohibit local and state authorities from aiding the Drug Enforcement Administration on pot cases. But the industry hasn't come through in any notable way.

"This is very difficult to understand," said Steve Kubby, a longtime activist who worked on the medical marijuana Proposition 215 in 1996 and is the main proponent of Regulate Marijuana Like Wine. "Here's an industry that was able to come up with $100 million in taxes last year but is unable to come up with money to ensure its own future in the face of a federal government trying to exterminate them."

The state Board of Equalization estimates it annually collects between $57 million and $105 million in sales tax from dispensaries.

Backers of all four measures predict that the price of marijuana would drop if any of them passed. In Israel, where medical marijuana is legal, prices are a fraction of what they are in California.

"A distinct minority of the dispensaries are actually supporting legal reform, maybe 10%," said Steve DeAngelo, executive director of the state's largest dispensary, Harborside Health Center in Oakland. "That's a symptom of an unregulated market. Anyone can jump in. And the people who jump in like gray areas. They like no regulations. They just want to jump in and make as much money as they can."

DeAngelo is backing the medical regulation initiative because he says Californians need to see medical cannabis safely and responsibly distributed before they will trust broader legalization. The measure would create a state marijuana board, levy a supplemental sales tax and require mandatory registration for all cultivators, processors and distributors.

Debby Goldsberry, a longtime activist and co-chair of the Repeal Cannabis Prohibition Act, said some dispensary owners don't put much hope in being saved by ballot initiatives. They view the current crackdown as a backlash to the near-success of Proposition 19, .

Since October, the feds have waged a multipronged attack.

In California, the DEA has raided at least 36 dispensaries and growers, confiscating marijuana, cash and computers. The state's four U.S. attorneys have sent at least 150 letters to landlords of dispensaries, ordering them to evict their tenants or face seizure of their property and prosecution. They've also threatened cities and counties that have tried to set up a permit system for dispensaries and growers.

On the financial front, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has pressured banks to close accounts linked to marijuana. And the IRS has audited dozens of dispensaries using an obscure provision of the federal tax code that prohibits drug traffickers from making any deductions.

Harborside was ordered to pay $2.5 million in back taxes. "All our funds that we could have used for political purposes are tied up in litigation," DeAngelo said.

The wealthy donors who helped fund Proposition 19, including billionaire George Soros and retired insurance executive Peter Lewis, are more likely to fund measures in Colorado and Washington state that have already qualified for the ballot. Those are cheaper states to win, requiring far less media buys.

Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance and an advisor to Soros, said measures in those states are "tightly drafted initiatives and the polling is looking good."

This week, in California, the proponents of the medical initiative began turning their efforts to an Assembly bill that would establish similar regulation. They are hoping legislators will be spurred to act by Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who sent letters to the leaders of both chambers in December urging that "state law itself needs to be reformed, simplified and improved to better explain to law enforcement and patients alike how, when and where individuals may cultivate and obtain physician-recommended marijuana."

Still, in a last-ditch effort to get one measure on the ballot, the backers of the three remaining legalization proposals agreed to endorse whichever one got funding.

"At this point we're at a Hail Mary pass situation," said defense attorney William Panzer, a coauthor of the Repeal Cannabis Prohibition Act and Proposition 215. "But if we make the Hail Mary pass, we have a chance."

joe.mozingo@latimes.com

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