Drug War Chronicle, Issue #608 -(urls + editorial)- 11/13/09

[B Sellers]

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #608 -- 11/13/09
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psm...@drcnet.org
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/608

A Publication of Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)
David Borden, Executive Director, bor...@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

Table of Contents:

1. FEATURE: THE STATE OF PLAY -- FEDERAL DRUG REFORM LEGISLATION
IN THE CONGRESS
With both the White House and Capitol Hill under the control of
Democrats, there are signs that the Bush-era blockade of federal
drug reform legislation is ending. Here's an update on what's
moving -- and what's not -- on Capitol Hill this year.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/608/federal_drug_reform_legislation_congress

2. FEATURE: 2009 INTERNATIONAL DRUG POLICY REFORM CONFERENCES
OPENS AMID OPTIMISM IN ALBUQUERQUE
The Drug Policy Alliance's 2009 International Drug Policy Reform
Conference got underway Thursday in Albuquerque, and it looks
like the biggest yet. Here's an initial report from the
conference opening. Look for much more next week, too.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/608/2009_international_drug_policy_reform_conference_albuquerque_dpa

3. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION CALLS FOR
REVIEW OF POT'S SCHEDULE I STATUS
In a historic shift of position, the American Medical
Association now says that marijuana is medicine, more research
is needed, and its status as a Schedule I drug should be
reviewed.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/608/american_medical_association_AMA_medical_marijuana_policy

4. EUROPE: BRITISH HOME SECRETARY'S FIRING OF DRUG ADVISOR
CONTINUES TO REVERBERATE
Two weeks ago, Britain's home secretary fired the government's
head drug policy advisor, Professor David Nutt, over Nutt's
criticisms of government drug policy as driven by politics and
not evidence. The row continues, as three more members of the
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs resigned this week,
bringing the total to five.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/608/britain_professor_nutt_ACMD_home_secretary_johnson_drugs

5. SENTENCING: US SENTENCING COMMISSION TO REVIEW MANDATORY
MINIMUMS
For years, Congress never met a mandatory minimum drug sentence
it didn't like. But now, with the Democrats in charge and the
federal prison population nearly 10 times as large as it was
three decades ago, Congress is having second thoughts. It has
ordered the US Sentencing Commission to take a look.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/608/congress_US_sentencing_commission_mandatory_minimum_review

6. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: COLORADO JUDGE BLOCKS RESTRICTIONS ON
CAREGIVERS
To be a caregiver or not be a caregiver? That is the question in
Colorado, and the criminal courts, civil courts, state
bureaucrats, and the medical marijuana industry are all fighting
over it.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/608/colorado_medical_marijuana_caregiver_court_ruling

7. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A dirty Philly cop gets smacked hard, a dirty St. Louis cop gets
his hands slapped, and two more jail and prison guards get
caught.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/608/police_drug_corruption

8. FEEDBACK: DO YOU READ DRUG WAR CHRONICLE?
Do you read Drug War Chronicle? If so, we need your feedback to
evaluate our work and make the case for Drug War Chronicle to
funders. We need donations too.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/608/do_you_read_drug_war_chronicle

9. STUDENTS: INTERN AT STOPTHEDRUGWAR.ORG (DRCNET) AND HELP STOP
THE DRUG WAR!
Apply for an internship at DRCNet and you could spend a semester
fighting the good fight!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/608/drcnet_internships_to_stop_the_drug_war

(Not subscribed? Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up
today!)

================

1. Feature: The State of Play -- Federal Drug Reform Legislation
in the Congress
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/608/federal_drug_reform_legislation_congress

Ten months into the Obama administration, drug policy reform in
the US Congress is moving along on a number of tracks. Here's an
update on some of the more significant legislation moving (or
not) on the Hill. With a few exceptions, this report does not
deal with funding issues that are tied up in the tangled
congressional appropriations process.

Next week Drug War Chronicle will publish a parallel report on
the state of play for drug policy in the nation's statehouses.

THE CRACK/POWDER COCAINE SENTENCING DISPARITY

After years of inertia, efforts to undo the 100:1 sentencing
disparity in federal crack and powder cocaine cases have picked
up traction this year. In July, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and 83
cosponsors introduced the Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act
(http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.3245:), which
would eliminate the disparity by treating all cocaine offenses
as if they were powder cocaine offenses for sentencing purposes.
That bill has passed the House Judiciary Committee and is now
before the Energy and Commerce Committee. On the Senate side,
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced companion legislation, the
Fair Sentencing Act of 2009
(http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.1789:), last
month. It is currently before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

FEDERAL NEEDLE EXCHANGE FUNDING BAN

The longstanding ban on the use of federal AIDS grant funds to
pay for needle exchange programs may soon be history. Although
the Obama administration left the ban in its budget request,
Obama pledged to eliminate it during his campaign, and his
administration has signaled it wouldn't mind seeing it go. The
House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, Health
and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies stripped out
the ban language in a July 10 vote. A week later, the full
Appropriations Committee approved the bill after voting down an
amendment proposed by US Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX) that would
have reinstated the funding ban, but accepted a poison pill
amendment that would ban federally-funded needle exchange from
operating "within 1,000 feet of a public or private day care
center, elementary school, vocational school, secondary school,
college, junior college, or university, or any public swimming
pool, park, playground, video arcade, or youth center, or an
event sponsored by any such entity." The House later passed the
appropriations bill with the 1000-foot ban intact, but defeated
a floor amendment by Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) to reinstate the
funding ban.

On the Senate side, the appropriations bill has yet to be
passed, but the Senate committee working on the issue did not
include language ending the funding ban. Reform advocates are
hoping that the Senate will come on board for ending the ban in
conference committee, and that committee members also strip out
the 1000-foot provision.

THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION

Introduced in March by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), the National
Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009
(http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.714:) would create
a commission that would have 18 months to do a top-to-bottom
review of the criminal justice system and come back with
concrete, wide-ranging reforms to address the nation's sky-high
incarceration rate, respond to international and domestic gang
violence, and restructure the county's approach to drug policy.
The bill is currently before the Senate Judiciary Committee,
where this week it was set to hear a raft of hostile amendments
from Republican members. It currently has 34 cosponsors,
including Republicans Olympia Snowe of Maine and Orrin Hatch of
Utah.

RESTORING COLLEGE AID TO STUDENTS WITH DRUG CONVICTIONS

The infamous Higher Education Act (HEA) anti-drug provision, or
"Aid Elimination Penalty," which bars students committing drug
offenses from receiving financial aid for specified periods of
time, is under fresh assault. In September, the US House of
Representatives approved H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal
Responsibility Act (SAFRA), one of the provisions of which
restricts the penalty to those convicted of drug sales, not mere
drug possession. The bill will next go to a conference
committee, whose job will be to produce a reconciled version of
H.R. 3221 and a yet-to-be-passed Senate bill. The final version
must then be reapproved by both the House and the Senate. If
that final version contains the same or very similar language,
it will mark the second significant reduction of the penalty,
the decade-old handiwork of arch-drug warrior Rep. Mark Souder
(R-IN). In 2006, the provision was scaled back to include only
drug convictions that occurred while students were enrolled in
college and receiving financial aid (a change supported by
Souder himself). Souder opposed this year's possible change.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Late last month, Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) reintroduced H.R. 3939,
the Truth in Trials Act
(http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.03939:), which
would allow defendants in federal medical marijuana prosecutions
to use medical evidence in their defense -- a right they do not
have under current federal law. The bill currently has 28
cosponsors and has been endorsed by more than three dozen
advocacy, health, and civil liberties organizations. It is
before the House Judiciary Committee.

That isn't the only medical marijuana bill pending. In June,
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced the Medical Marijuana
Protection Act
(http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.02835:), which
would reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug and eliminate
federal authority to prosecute medical marijuana patients and
providers in states where it is legal. The measure has 29
cosponsors and has been sitting in the House Committee on Energy
and Commerce ever since. Frank introduced similar legislation in
the last two Congresses, but the bills never got a committee
vote or even a hearing. Advocates hoped that with a
Democratically-controlled Congress and a president who has at
least given lip service to medical marijuana, Congress this year
would prove to be friendlier ground, but that hasn't proven to
be the case so far.

In July, the House passed the District of Columbia
appropriations bill and in so doing removed an 11-year-old
amendment barring the District from implementing the medical
marijuana law approved by voters in 1998. Known as the Barr
amendment after then Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), the amendment has
been attacked by both medical marijuana and DC home rule
advocates for years as an unconscionable intrusion into District
affairs. The Senate has yet to act. Among the proponents for
removing the Barr amendment: Bob Barr.

MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION

In June, Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Barney Frank (D-MA)
introduced the Personal Use of Marijuana By Responsible Adults
Act (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.02943:),
which would remove federal criminal penalties for the possession
of less than 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) and for the
not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce. The bill would not
change marijuana's status as a Schedule I controlled substance,
would not change federal laws banning the growing, sale, and
import and export of marijuana, and would not undo state laws
prohibiting marijuana. It currently has nine cosponsors and has
been referred to the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on
Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

And just so you don't get the mistaken idea that the era of drug
war zealotry on the Hill is completely in the past, there is
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL). In June, Kirk introduced the High Potency
Marijuana Sentencing Enhancement Act
(http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.02848:), which
would increase penalties for marijuana offenses if the THC level
is above 15%. Taking a page from the British tabloids, Kirk
complained that high-potency "Kush" was turning his suburban
Chicago constituents into "zombies." Nearly six months later,
Kirk's bill has exactly zero cosponsors and has been sent to die
in the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Crime,
Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

INDUSTRIAL HEMP

Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX) again introduced
an industrial hemp bill this year. HR 1866, the Industrial Hemp
Farming Act of 2009
(http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.1866:)would
remove restrictions on the cultivation of non-psychoactive
industrial hemp. They were joined by a bipartisan group of nine
cosponsors, a number which has since grown to 18. The bill was
referred to the House Energy and Commerce and House Judiciary
committees upon introduction. Six weeks later, Judiciary
referred it to its Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and
Homeland Security, where it has languished ever since.

SAFE AND DRUG-FREE SCHOOLS FUNDING

In May, the Obama administration compiled a budgetary hit list
of 121 programs it recommended by cut or completely eliminated,
including $295 million for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools
community grants program. (It left intact funding for the Safe
and Drug-Free Schools National Program). Both the House and
Senate Appropriations Committees agreed with the White House and
zeroed out the program. The House education appropriations bill
has already passed, but the Senate bill is still in process.
Proponents of the program may still try to reinstate it in the
Senate or during the conference committee to reconcile the House
and Senate appropriations bills.

Next week, look for a report on drug policy-related doings in
the various state legislatures.

================ ...

___________________

It's time to correct the mistake:
truth:the Anti-drugwar
<http://www.briancbennett.com>

Cops say legalize drugs--find out why:
<http://www.leap.cc>

Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
___________________

later
bliss -- Cacoa Powered... (at sfo dot com)

--
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"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cacoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
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