How big of a role does environment play in addiction?

What role does environment and distress play in addiction? Below is an interesting scientific study whose controversial findings were published in a respectable journal named Psychopharmacology back in 1978 which lead to the university terminating the project. It would be interesting to see what role stressful environments impact other forms of addiction. Also how communities could be improved to lower suffering and self destructive behavior. If scientific freedom actually existed and projects were funded for the good of humanity in lieu of profits and mechanisms of control we would all live in a much happier world. Something defiantly worth exploring.. 

It's not the morphine, it's the size of the cage: Rat Park experiment upturns conventional wisdom about addiction

We all learned this in DARE class. About the rats in a cage who can self-administer morphine who get addicted to the stuff, and then just hit that lever until they die. A seemingly keystone argument in the war against drugs. Professor Avram Goldstein, the creator of that study, has said: "A rat addicted to heroin is not rebelling against society, is not a victim of socioeconomic circumstances, is not a product of a dysfunctional family, and is not a criminal. The rat's behavior is simply controlled by the action of heroin (actually morphine, to which heroin is converted in the body) on its brain." So, it's the drug, and its addictive control. Surely we must eradicate drugs as a result! 

But there's another model out there by researcher Bruce Alexander of Simon Fraser University called Rat Park. From that wikipedia page: 

Alexander's hypothesis was that drugs do not cause addiction, and that the apparent addiction to opiate drugs commonly observed in laboratory rats exposed to it is attributable to their living conditions, and not to any addictive property of the drug itself. He told the Canadian Senate in 2001 that prior experiments in which laboratory rats were kept isolated in cramped metal cages, tethered to a self-injection apparatus, show only that "severely distressed animals, like severely distressed people, will relieve their distress pharmacologically if they can."

To test his hypothesis, Alexander built Rat Park, an 8.8 m2 (95 sq ft) housing colony, 200 times the square footage of a standard laboratory cage. There were 16–20 rats of both sexes in residence, an abundance of food, balls and wheels for play, and enough space for mating and raising litters. The results of the experiment appeared to support his hypothesis. Rats who had been forced to consume morphine hydrochloride for 57 consecutive days were brought to Rat Park and given a choice between plain tap water and water laced with morphine. For the most part, they chose the plain water. "Nothing that we tried," Alexander wrote, "... produced anything that looked like addiction in rats that were housed in a reasonably normal environment." Control groups of rats isolated in small cages consumed much more morphine in this and several subsequent experiments.

And so rats that are born into extreme conditions in small cages are clearly more likely to self-medicate. Tom Stafford of the BBC writes: 

The results are catastrophic for the simplistic idea that one use of a drug inevitably hooks the user by rewiring their brain. When Alexander's rats were given something better to do than sit in a bare cage they turned their noses up at morphine because they preferred playing with their friends and exploring their surroundings to getting high.

Further support for his emphasis on living conditions came from another set of tests his team carried out in which rats brought up in ordinary cages were forced to consume morphine for 57 days in a row. If anything should create the conditions for chemical rewiring of their brains, this should be it. But once these rats were moved to Rat Park they chose water over morphine when given the choice, although they did exhibit some minor withdrawal symptoms.

You can read more about Rat Park in the original scientific report. A good summary is in this comic by Stuart McMillen.

So, if Rat Park is to be believed, drug addiction is a situation that arises from poor socioeconomic conditions. From literally being a rat in a cage. If you're a rat in a park, you'd rather hang out with your friends and explore the world around you. 

Perhaps it's time the war on drugs becomes a war on the existence of poverty? (edit: Poverty of our relationships to family, community, and nation too, not merely monetary. As commenters have pointed out, there are plenty of people who have plenty of money who may well be the most poverty-ridden in other respects.)

It's not about the drugs. It's about the social environment in which we live.

Source: Garry Tan

USA to Ban Synthetic Cannaboids

From: DEA Public Affairs
November 24, 2010

 
DEA Moves to Emergency Control Synthetic Marijuana
Agency Will Study Whether To Permanently Control Five Substances.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is using its emergency scheduling authority to temporarily control five chemicals (JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47,497, and cannabicyclohexanol) used to make “fake pot” products.  Except as authorized by law, this action will make possessing and selling these chemicals or the products that contain them illegal in the U.S. for at least one year while the DEA and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) further study whether these chemicals and products should be permanently controlled. 

A Notice of Intent to Temporarily Control was published in the Federal Register today to alert the public to this action. After no fewer than 30 days, DEA will publish in the Federal Register a Final Rule to Temporarily Control these chemicals for at least 12 months with the possibility of a six-month extension. They will be designated as Schedule I substances, the most restrictive category, which is reserved for unsafe, highly abused substances with no medical usage.

Over the past year, smokable herbal blends marketed as being “legal” and providing a marijuana-like high, have become increasingly popular, particularly among teens and young adults.  These products consist of plant material that has been coated with research chemicals that mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and are sold at a variety of retail outlets, in head shops and over the Internet.  These chemicals, however, have not been approved by the FDA for human consumption and there is no oversight of the manufacturing process.  Brands such as “Spice,” “K2,” “Blaze,” and “Red X Dawn” are labeled as incense to mask their intended purpose.

Since 2009, DEA has received an increasing number of reports from poison centers, hospitals and law enforcement regarding these products.  Fifteen states have already taken action to control one or more of these chemicals.  The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to allow the DEA Administrator to emergency schedule an abused, harmful, non-medical substance in order to avoid an imminent public health crisis while the formal rule-making procedures described in the CSA are being conducted. 

“The American public looks to the DEA to protect its children and communities from those who would exploit them for their own gain,” said DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart.  “Makers of these harmful products mislead their customers into thinking that ‘fake pot’ is a harmless alternative to illegal drugs, but that is not the case.  Today’s action will call further attention to the risks of ingesting unknown compounds and will hopefully take away any incentive to try these products.”

Bouncing Bear Botanicals Raided

*Update April 14, 2010

I am ecstatic and some what relieved to see this great injustice taking steps in the right direction. Lets not forget this terrible incident and be prepared to fight any attempts to change law in favor the Inquisitions ability to incarcerate good people, steal their property, children and by many other means, destroy the lives of people who do no harm to society. Wishing Jon and his family all the best and I hope he sues the hell out of the abusive authorities that did this to him.
-E

By Janet Reid
April 10, 2010
LJWorld.com

Lawrence is a focal point for the current debate in the Kansas Legislature about banning the active ingredient in an herbal substance known as K2. Follow the debate and the progress of the Kansas bills here.

Oskaloosa — The Jefferson County Attorney’s office has dismissed all criminal charges against the owner of a botanical plant distribution warehouse that was at the center of the K2 controversy.

Lawrence resident Jonathan Sloan, owner of Bouncing Bear Botanicals in Oskaloosa, was arrested in February and charged with eight felony drug offenses, including the unlawful manufacture and distribution of controlled substances.

The arrest came after federal, state and local authorities raided Sacred Journey, 1103 Mass. in downtown Lawrence, seizing the marijuana-like substance K2.

Sloan’s warehouse, which supplied Sacred Journey with K2 and a number of other herbal products, was also raided.

Investigators seized more than $700,000 in cash from the business and bank accounts and took several items from the warehouse, including thousands of cactus plants and 20 toads.

Sloan was scheduled to appear in Jefferson County court for a preliminary hearing in the case on Tuesday. Sloan did not return calls seeking comment.

Jefferson County Attorney Caleb Stegall said while the charges are dismissed, the investigation is on-going.

“My office expects to refile charges if they are warranted once the investigation is complete,” Stegall said.

Bouncing Bear Botanicals is back in operation, according to the business’s Web site. The warehouse, located on Hwy. 59 north of Lawrence, is one of the largest suppliers of ethnobotanicals in the country.

---

Original Post

By: EROCx1
Date: Feb 6, 2010

I am sorry to report that the Inquisition has decided to persecute the Internets biggest Ethnobotanical vendor and a retail herb store they supplied. On Feb 4th the FDA and local police raided Bouncing Bears Botanicals and arrested its owner Jonathan Sloan. Their main reason appears to be a smoking blend named K2 that is NOT even illegal yet, although the state of Kansas had a law in the works. This product presumably contains a LEGAL synthetic chemical substance that acts as a cannabinoid agonist like the more commonly known Spice which was proven to contain JWH-018 which is also NOT illegal. My assumption is that law enforcement agencies wanted to seize a bulk of the supply prior to the law passing so it did not find its way in to the black market. These tactics also are used to make an example out of the victims they bust in an attempt to scare of others involved.

The other charges are equally unjust. The Cacti and seeds in question have the same alkaloids as those commonly found at every Nursery including those at Home Depot & Walmart. Every Human and many other forms of life all contain DMT as did the Toads and plant material seized in this raid. Could his being targeted be due to the manner in which he offered these plants, his customer base being mainly the psychedelic community, his providing information and documentaries on how these plants are illegally used? Or was it simply because he was the biggest or his local authorities are most oppressive in the United States? It is believed that the retail store was targeted for organizing opposition against the bill to ban the ingredients in K2. If this is true, it is terrorism against civil rights.

The media is reporting that Bond was set at $150,000. However Jon's father claims it is set at one million dollars.

The current charges against Jon are:

• Unlawful manufacturing of controlled substances: Dimethlyltryptamine (DMT)

• Unlawful manufacturing of controlled substances: Mescaline

• Unlawful manufacturing of controlled substances: Lysergic Acid Amide

• Unlawful cultivation or distribution of controlled substances: Mescaline

• Unlawful cultivation or distribution of controlled substances: Dimethlyltryptamine; Chacruna; Illinois Bundleflower; Epena; Cebil Seeds.

• Unlawful cultivation or distribution of controlled substances: Bufotenine, Epena, Chaliponga, Cebil Seeds, Colorado River Toads.

• Unlawful cultivation or distribution of controlled substances: Lysergic Acid Amide, Morning Glory Seeds, Rivea Corymbosa.

• Unlawful possession of certain drug precursors and drug paraphernalia: Plastic jugs and filters used or intended for unlawful use to manufacture, cultivate, plant propagate, harvest, test, analyze or distribute a controlled substance.

Authorities may be possibly adding additional charges including drug smuggling. They seized more than $300,000 worth of product and more than $700,000 in cash from both Jon's business and personal bank accounts leaving him NEGATIVE $55,000 in the bank so that he can not hire a lawyer or post bond.

Please share this information with the entheogen / ethnobotanical community and any news as it becomes available. If you reside in Kansas protest and letter writing is defiantly in order. This truly is an injustice and I pray that this turns out as best as it possibly can.

Links:
County Attorney's Office - Press Release 
Local TV News Story
Lawrence Journal-World
Photos of the aftermath

---

*Update Feb 7, 2009 a message from Jon

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick note letting everyone know I am out and thanking everyone for the support they've been sending my way. I really appreciate it. I can't talk much about anything. I imagine everyone knows what my view of these ridiculous charges is already, though.

I am not allowed back in the building yet as part of my release agreement. I just now saw those pictures of my office and the warehose for the first time. And... I'd just like to say to all the people who have asked many times "Could your office be any messier?" now you know. Yes, it could.

For the people asking about donations, we have a defense fund set up already that my family has contributed to. I'm not exactly sure how it works and don't really feel right asking for donations. I've always prided myself on my independence, so it's a bit weird suddenly needing help and not being in control of my own life. I, at the very least, want to make sure if all the money isn't needed or we are able to get damages from the government, that contributors would be refunded.

My main concern is for my family. It's pretty F'd up when the government can seize the money from my 6-year-old-son's savings account to pay a drug tax for something his father hasn't even been convicted of yet (and isn't even illegal). Innocent until proven guilty? Land of the Free? Man.... This is all so insane..... I just don't want anything else to happen to them... Stopping the rant now. Probably already talked too much. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone.

Oh. All the products that weren't seized in the raid will still be shipping as normal and all orders should be caught up on Monday.

Is Meow Meow the new ecstasy?

I wanted to share some thoughts on a recent news article I ran across thanks to DoseNation. Its on Mephedrone (2-methylamino-1-p-tolylpropane-1-one) A.K.A. 4-MMC, 4-methylephedrone or Meow Meow from an online article on the UK Times Newspaper website. Its a good example of how many inaccuracies are commonly found in media coverage on the subject of “drugs”. Blatant fear mongering. Why? Simple, fear captures attention and for news corporations attention is revenue. Notice how the author repeatedly mentions risks to young people and that this obscure chemical is most likely in your neighborhood causing 14 year old girls to die and for boys to rip their scrotum's off. Emotional terrorism, playing on parents fears just to sell copy and perpetuate drug stereotypes by attempting to scare readers into believing their children are in imminent danger by some mysterious new drug. This type of reporting only exacerbates the typical propaganda used in the failed war on drugs, when what’s needed is factual information to educate the public and reduce harm.

The sensationalized title, "Is Meow Meow the new Ecstasy? Meow Meow is easily, and legally, bought over the Internet where it is advertised as plant food". Is going to cause many people (mostly young people) to rush out and buy some before its too late. Even stating that it is sold as plant food on the Internet right in the subtitle then mentions that it will soon be illegal. Back to facts, so many inaccuracies and exaggerations only further proves that all supposedly unbiased reporting must be seriously questioned and examined prior to accepting any of it as fact. The MSM lacks the vocabulary to properly describe what they pitch as a new drug threat. According to them, usually everything is comparable to either MJ, XTC or LSD. This is not only completely false, but it influences young people and/or the under informed to seek these compounds out to experiment with as legal alternatives when in reality research chemicals could potentially have far more severe side effects then the familiar illegal substances they are being compared to.  Even worse they have minimal history of human use and often little to no clinic or scientific research proving they are safe to use. The complete opposite can also be true. Many psychoactive substances which are commonly found online and are in danger of being made illegal are safer then alcohol or tobacco and can be beneficial to the user. As is the case with most Ethnobotanicals. One good example is Kratom which is an extremely effective analgesic comparable in effect to some opiate based medications only it is NOT addictive and is less toxic then Tylenol. It is also successfully used to reduce the effects of opiate withdrawal, helping END addiction for many. Why demonize and propagandize against the non-culturally sanctioned psychoactive substances (everything except alcohol, sugar, tobacco, TV & caffeine)? That's too big of topic for discussion here and now. Enough of my thoughts on this article. Lets get to the important question. Has anyone tried this and is it any good? What are the real dangers / side effects? I haven't even heard of it until this article came out =o)

Be smart, be safe...Thanks to: Jonathan & DoseNation!

From: DoseNation

Meow Meow (mephedrone) is easily, and legally, bought over the internet where it is often advertised as plant feed. When taken as a tablet, or snorted as a powder, it gives a similar high to Ecstasy and abuse has taken off in the UK over the past couple of years.

The drug is likely to be one of the first items on the agenda for Professor Les Iversen, the Government's new drugs czar. Other "legal highs" such as BZP (a derivative of a worming agent) and GBL (paint stripper) have now been reclassified as Class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act, but mephedrone -- and a similar drug, salvia or "herbal ecstasy" (the leaves of the Mexican plant Salvia divinorum)-- are now under review...
Users of Meow Meow report an amphetamine-type euphoria that comes with mental and physical stimulation, talkativeness and feelings of empathy. Physical changes include dilated pupils, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, flushing and goose bumps... most don't report any significant hallucinations.

The effects start to become noticeable within half an hour of taking a tablet or within a couple of minutes of snorting the drug and last for anything up to four hours (less if snorted).

The downside includes a strong desire to take more, rapid changes in body temperature (sweating or chills), paranoia, palpitations, panic attacks and muscle spasms. A hangover the next morning tends not to be too much of a problem and it is not known whether Meow Meow is addictive -- although a number of cases have started to trickle through into NHS drug treatment centers.

» The complete article is at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/expert_advice/article6989754.ece

More info is available at

Erowid Information / Experiences

Wikipedia

Ethan Nadelmann: Time To End The War on Drugs

From: The Psychedelic Salon

Guest speaker: Ethan Nadelmann

Download: MP3
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PROGRAM NOTES:

[NOTE: All quotations are by Ethan Nadelmann.]

"The War on Drugs, this policy of punitive prohibition, is a horror in our society, something that cannot be morally justified, cannot be justified in terms of health, can certainly not be justified in terms of public safety, that cannot be justified in terms of any kind of fiscal prudence that I’ve ever heard of."

"The War on Drugs is a cancer in our society, in our American society and in global society."

"There’s never been a drug-free society, and there’s never going to be a drug-free society. We are moving increasingly into a world in which there will be ever-more psychoactive drugs available."

"The stand-bys, you know, the old faithfuls of tobacco and alcohol and marijuana and coca cocaine and opium, they’ve been with us for thousands of years in one way or another, and they’re going to continue to be part of our society and our lives, whether we like it or not."

"When drug treatment gets owned by the criminal justice system, drug treatment simply becomes a synonym for coerced abstinence."

"We need to aim to cut America’s incarcerated population in half, to pick a rough number."

"We need to get that term, over-incarceration, into the popular dialogue, into the popular language."

"One of the definitions of power is when somebody tells you to do something, and you do it without asking why. That’s the definition of power. Somebody tells you to do it and you do it without even asking why, that’s the power of the prison-industrial complex today."

"California used to be known as the state of higher education and is now known as the state of higher incarceration."

"When you live in a society where one of the most powerful political forces is the organization which earns its livelihood from keeping its fellow citizens behind bars, I don’t know of any other free society in which that is the case. That’s a distortion."

"I define recovery as getting to the point where your drug use, if you use drugs, is no longer impairing your life. … That’s the objective, to get on with your life."

"It’s about accepting that each one of us, who have struggled with drugs, has to find their own path. And that the role of the state should certainly not be to get in the way and optimally to facilitate this."

"That we are each sovereign over our own minds and bodies, that is the core principle that we have to keep putting out there."

Links:

Drug Policy ACTION Network

Drug Policy Alliance Network

A New PATH
Parents for Addiction Treatment and Healing

Czech government defines rules of legal drug possession

The cabinet was today also expected to discuss artificial drugs and a permitted amount of these drugs in people's possession.

However, it postponed the debate for two weeks, the source said.

The new Penal Code, which will take effect on January 1 is designed to specify the government's directive. It contains a special provision on the growth of hemp and magic mushrooms.

The government today also approved a directive on the use of anabolics and the list of diseases that will be considered congenial, according to the criminal law.

The law distinguishes between the possession of marijuana and hashish for people's personal needs, for which they will face up to one year in prison, from the possession of other drugs for which they can receive up to two years in prison.

According to the Justice Ministry's proposal that the government did not approve today, the possession of over 15 grams of dried marijuana or over two grams of methamphetamine (pervitine), cocaine and heroin will be punishable.

The tolerated amount of drugs in people's possession is at present defined by police internal directives. No one thus knows precisely what amount is considered an amount "larger than a small amount of drug," the possession of which is punishable by the law.

If the government approves the ministry's proposal without changes in two weeks, people will be able to have four pills of ecstasy in their possession and up to five grams of hashish.

Prague - The Czech government today approved the list of hallucinogenic plants and mushrooms, including hemp, coca, mescaline cactus and magic mushrooms, and decided that people would be allowed to grow up to five pieces of such plants and keep 40 magic mushrooms at home, a CTK source said.

From ČTK

William Burroughs: Thanksgiving Prayer

THANKSGIVING PRAYER

William S. Burroughs

 Hear Burroughs Read His Poem: Mp3 Download

Thanksgiving Prayer (QuickTime 7.6 MB)

For John Dillinger
In hope he is still alive
Thanks for the wild turkey and the Passenger Pigeons, destined to be shit out through wholesome American guts —
thanks for a Continent to despoil and poison —
thanks for Indians to provide a modicum of challenge and danger —
thanks for vast herds of bison to kill and skin, leaving the carcass to rot —
thanks for bounties on wolves and coyotes —
thanks for the AMERICAN DREAM to vulgarize and falsify until the bare lies shine through —
thanks for the KKK, for nigger-killing lawmen feeling their notches, for decent church-going women with their mean, pinched, bitter, evil faces —
thanks for “Kill a Queer for Christ” stickers —
thanks for laboratory AIDS —
thanks for Prohibition and the War Against Drugs —
thanks for a country where nobody is allowed to mind his own business —
thanks for a nation of finks — yes,
thanks for all the memories… all right, let’s see your arms… you always were a headache and you always were a bore —
thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams.

“Thanksgiving Day” first appeared in the chapbook Tornado Alley, with illustrations by S. Clay Wilson. Director Gus Van Sant then put together the above montage whose power derives almost solely from Burroughs’ reading and, perhaps, the strange sad-old-man expression of his staring eyes at the end. There are numerous variants of “Thanksgiving Day” floating around the internet, but this entry is from RealityStudio.org who copied this directly from the original printed text.

Harvard economist: Prohibition creates violence, legalize all drugs!

Harvard economist: Prohibition creates violence, legalize all drugs!
Filed by David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
From: The Raw Story

Because of his title as a Harvard economist, people tend to listen to Jeffrey Miron. And, if the old principle holds true and controversy always creates interest, expect a lot of people to be talking about Miron's latest volley into the mainstream media.

"Prohibition creates violence because it drives the drug market underground," he wrote in an essay published by CNN on Tuesday. "This means buyers and sellers cannot resolve their disputes with lawsuits, arbitration or advertising, so they resort to violence instead.

"Violence was common in the alcohol industry when it was banned during Prohibition, but not before or after."

Miron's proposed solution to ending the cartel war along the US-Mexico border is both simple and enormously complex.

"Violence is the norm in illicit gambling markets but not in legal ones. Violence is routine when prostitution is banned but not when it's permitted," he wrote. "Violence results from policies that create black markets, not from the characteristics of the good or activity in question.

"The only way to reduce violence, therefore, is to legalize drugs."

In 2005, Miron published a study titled, "The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition" (PDF link), funded by the Marijuana Policy Project. Over 500 professional economists, including Milton Friedman, signed on to the report, which was sent to then-President George W. Bush.

Miron's report found that "marijuana legalization would save $7.7 billion per year in state and federal expenditures on prohibition enforcement and produce tax revenues of at least $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like most consumer goods."

He also discovered a potential for $6.2 billion or more, were marijuana taxed similarly to alcohol and tobacco.

However, during a CNN appearance on Tuesday, he took the anti-prohibition sentiment of his prior study on marijuana and applied it universally, telling anchor Kiran Chetry, "A lot of the violence we're seeing and a lot of the underground market is not related to marijuana but related to the other drugs.

"If we only did marijuana we would only have a small impact on the violence and corruption and disruption of other countries that is caused by U.S. prohibition of drugs and the U.S. forcing prohibition of drugs on other countries."

This video is from CNN's American Morning, broadcast Mar. 24, 2009.

Download video via RawReplay.com

Portugals Drug decriminalization saves lives, improves public health & saftey!

April 7, 2009

By Brian Vastag

From: Scientific American

5 Years After: Portugal's Drug Decriminalization Policy Shows Positive Results

Street drug related deaths from overdoses drop and the rate of HIV cases crashes!

In the face of a growing number of deaths and cases of HIV linked to drug abuse, the Portuguese government in 2001 tried a new tack to get a handle on the problem—it decriminalized the use and possession of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, LSD and other illicit street drugs. The theory: focusing on treatment and prevention instead of jailing users would decrease the number of deaths and infections.

Five years later, the number of deaths from street drug overdoses dropped from around 400 to 290 annually, and the number of new HIV cases caused by using dirty needles to inject heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances plummeted from nearly 1,400 in 2000 to about 400 in 2006, according to a report released recently by the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C, libertarian think tank.

See Rachel Oswald's outstanding article: Portugal's drug decriminalization 'bizarrely underappreciated'

See the numerous world news bulletins now calling for drug reform:

Mass. voters OK decriminalization of marijuana
Argentine president calls for decriminalization of drug use
Canadian government tries anew to decriminalize marijuana
Bill introduced to overhaul America’s criminal justice system
Obama administration to stop raids on medical marijuana dispensers

Drugs can Kill!!

Drugs can Kill! or make that Cops looking for drugs can kill.

Sorry for the cheesy headline. But I thought that title may grasp a few readers attention given that most people visiting my blog will be against the war on drugs. This is a very disheartening story, however these incidents can not continue and public outrage will be the only path to putting an end to Police Raid violence.

from Drug War Chronicle, Issue #577, 3/20/09

Grand Valley State University film student Derek Copp is an avowed marijuana aficionado, reform activist, and a "a left-wing hippie peace-keeping liberal," according to his Facebook page. As of last week, he is also a victim of the drug war, or, more precisely, of police heavy-handedness in enforcing what appears to be a petty violation of the marijuana laws. Copp was shot and seriously wounded March 11 by a police officer who was part of a task force raiding his residence with a search warrant.

According to a compilation of local media accounts of the shooting, an Ottawa County deputy coming through the apartment's back door shined a flashlight in Copp's face, causing him to raise his right hand to cover his eyes. The officer then fired one round, striking the student in the chest. Copp said he had no idea the man who shot him was a law enforcement officer.

"He never even had a chance to even see who was coming at him, with a bright flashlight in his face," said his mother, Sheryl Copp. "He had no clue. He heard someone knock on his door, and he had no clue."

According to the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office, Copp was shot in the chest by a sheriff's deputy acting as a member of the West Michigan Enforcement Team, which consists of Ottawa County deputies and members of the Michigan State Police. Police have not identified the deputy, nor is it known whether he has been suspended. Investigators said Copp, 20, did not threaten or confront police when they entered his home. Nor have they revealed the search warrant, what they were looking for, or what they found.

But an attorney hired by Copp's family after the shooting said it was all over a very small amount of marijuana. In a Tuesday statement, attorney Frederick Dilley said: "I have been asked what drugs may have been seized by those executing the search warrant at Derek Copp's apartment. To my knowledge, the raid resulted in the seizure of a few tablespoonfuls of marijuana, and nothing more," Dilley continues, "The primary concern remains the manner in which this raid was carried out. And the apparent lack of any justification whatsoever for the use of force... much less deadly force in executing a search warrant."

Dilley is not alone in his concerns. The Grand Valley State University Student Senate issued a statement the same day wishing "Derek a full and complete recovery" and questioning police conduct. "Even though this incident took place off-campus," the statement said, "Student Senate is greatly concerned with the actions of the law enforcement team. Student Senate will await a full and complete explanation from the Michigan State Police. Like all students, we want to know why the West Michigan Drug Enforcement Team entered Derek Copp's apartment and why a firearm was used."

Even the university president demanded to know what had happened to one of his students. In a Monday e-mail to the university community, President Thomas Haas wrote: "The fact that this incident took place off-campus diminishes neither my interest nor my concern. The university's campus security staff was not involved. Like many of you, I await a full and complete explanation from law enforcement, and I have made a formal request for such information. I want to know what brought the Enforcement Team to Derek's apartment and why a firearm was discharged."

The shooting has also led to at least two protest demonstrations by students demanding answers. "Justify This Shooting!" demanded one sign held by a demonstrator. "We want answers!" read another. "Marijuana or not, unjust shot!" and "Our campus is not a war zone!", students chanted at a campus demo on Friday.

The Michigan State Patrol is investigating the shooting. That means the state police are investigating themselves, since the Western Michigan Enforcement Team consists of state police and Ottawa County sheriff's deputies.

Santo Daime can have their tea and drink it too

From: DoseNation

On Wednesday a federal judge in Oregon ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) allows followers of the Brazil-based Santo Daime sect to consume ayahuasca, a psychedelic tea containing the ordinarily illegal drug dimethyltryptamine (DMT), as part of their rituals. Guided by the Supreme Court's unanimous 2006 ruling in "a very similar case" involving Uniao do Vegetal, another Brazilian religious group that also consumes ayahuasca, U.S. District Court Judge Owen Panner concluded that RFRA "requires that plaintiffs be allowed to import and drink Daime tea for their religious ceremonies, subject to reasonable restrictions." The church already had convinced the Oregon Board of Pharmacy to exempt it from state DMT restrictions.

You can read the full court decision here (pdf).

It is inspiring to read this good news! I hope that this legal victory will encourage the Santo Daime, as well as the UDV aka Uniao do Vegetal and other “permitted” religious groups who have been granted their constitutional right to use entheogen based sacraments will grow their presence to become more available to those who seek the vine legally here in the US. It is awesome to witness the legal progress being made on the religious freedom front and to see it catching up with the increasing legal tolerance for medical research. I think there is too much emphasis by various organizations pushing for legal exceptions for medical uses and not enough effort fighting for The People’s religious freedom rights.

The movement has come a long way and it is one of my greatest hopes that general decriminalization will come soon, so that all of humanity may benefit from these medicines / sacraments with out having to join a sanctioned church or be afflicted by illness or disease. Having US government agencies and high courts grant permission for certain people the right to use scheduled substances for either medical and spiritual purposes should constitute an admission that these substances are NOT a threat to public safety and do NOT meet the requirements set forth to be Schedule One:

1. The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.

2. The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.

3. There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

Therefore laws that criminalize safe and natural psychoactives such as Marijuana, DMT, Mescaline, Psilocybin, etc should all be repealed and reasonable forms of regulation should be put in place to help ensure safe use by adults. The whole concept that humans believe they have the right to declare nature illegal is just lame in the first place.

Namaste,
EROCx1

Salvia's changing legal status in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Ohio

FROM THE SALVIA DIVINORUM OBSERVER
By Daniel Siebert

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Wednesday, March 11, 2009 / volume 7 number 1
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The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center (SDRIC)
http://sagewisdom.org

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SALVIA IS NOW ILLEGAL IN SOUTH DAKOTA
House Bill 1090 was signed into law by Governor Marion Michael Rounds (R) today, March 11, 2009, and became immediately effective. This legislation makes possession of 2 ounces of Salvia divinorum or less a Class 1 misdemeanor, carrying a maximum penalty of 1 year in jail and a $2000 fine; possession of more than 2 ounces would be a Class 6 felony, with a maximum penalty of 2 years in prison and a $4000 fine.

OHIO SALVIA BAN GOES INTO EFFECT NEXT MONTH
House Bill 215 was signed into law by Governor Strickland (D) on January 6, 2009. This bill adds Salvia divinorum to the State’s list of Schedule I controlled substances. It goes into effect 90 days later, which would be April 5th.

SALVIA SOON TO BE ILLEGAL IN NEBRASKA
Legislative Bill 123 was signed into law by Governor Dave Heineman (R) on February 26, 2009. This bill adds Salvia divinorum to the State’s list of Schedule I controlled substances. The new law will go into effect in September 2009.

Excellent News Article on Salvia divinorum

This is an outstanding news article about the current legal situation facing Salvia divinorum. I wish more members of the media actually reported on the facts like Christopher Patton has done instead of regurgitating fear based stereotypes that are most commonly conveyed in the news and pontificated by the authorities. The world would be a far better & more human place. Stop criminalizing nature and the prohibition of cognitive liberty. Stop incarcerating good people over victimless "crimes". Salvia divinorum should remain legal as there is NO scientific evidence that it poses any threat to public safety. The ancient and still practicing religion of Shamanism is a guaranteed right under the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Why is this unalienable right not honored by our current government? Thank you Christopher & The Daily Iowan for having the courage to not only speak, but to publish the truth.

Best regards to you,
EROCx1

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The Daily Iowan: Keep Salvia legal
BY CHRISTOPHER PATTON MARCH 6, 2009

When smoked, Salvia divinorum can yank out the rational mind, throw it to the ground, stamp on it and finally rub one’s nose in the resulting mess.

I recommend giving it a try — especially because the experience only lasts a few minutes.

But adventurous Iowan psychonauts who are interested in exploring the mysterious realms that consuming this potent hallucinogenic plant can open up may want to do so soon. The Iowa Legislature is considering a bill criminalizing the sale and possession of the unique herb.

According to Dale Woolery, the associate director of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, the state must ban Salvia in order to preclude the possibility of it ever harming anyone.

However, the state’s own Legislative Services Agency notes in a document explaining the background behind the proposal to criminalize Salvia that the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Substance Abuse and Prevention Division has not received a single report of Salvia divinorum abuse in Iowa — ever. The document also highlights that throughout fiscal 2008, there was not even one prison admission for the hallucinogenic drugs that are illegal.

“This is more about prevention than it is punishment,” Woolery said. “We’re not hearing anything about a widespread epidemic or widespread use like the prevalence of marijuana or meth.”

However, he said, his office is beginning to get more information about Salvia from the law-enforcement and drug-treatment communities.

“There’s probably more of it out there than we hear about,” he said. “Right now, our research has turned up impairment issues, and we’d hate for anyone to become injured or worse as a result of this.”

Those who have experienced a Salvia trip firsthand are fully aware of the “impairment issues” to which Woolery so ominously alludes. But those effects are precisely what drives inquisitive minds to experiment with this substance.

Anthony Fippinger, 24, who graduated in 2007 from the UI with a double major in art and English, currently lives in Mingo, Iowa. Having tried Salvia, he refers to it as an enigmatic substance.

“The time it takes to articulate its effects on you usually lasts longer than the high itself,” he said. “Yet, while under its spell many describe a world devoid of time and infinitely spacious, me included — I liken the experience to one of those acid-dipped music videos with an endless number of replicated shapes perpetually coming at you.”

Another Salvia user is Tanner Faaborg, a 25-year-old Iowa City resident who has a degree in political science and is currently taking English courses. He described his first Salvia experience as shocking.

“When it hit me, and it hit hard, the effects were … fast as hell and targeting every sense I had,” Faaborg said. “I leaned over to express the sensation to my buddies to discover they weren’t there.”

Like Fippinger, Faaborg also perceived the passage of time in a distorted fashion.

“Time cannot exist in a place like that; time can only exist in preconceived concepts of order,” he said. “With Salvia there is no order, it simply is, and you simply are.”

Because of the extent to which tripping on Salvia temporarily annihilates one’s ability to interact with the world in an ordinary way, those who are experienced with the plant suggest it should only be used in a safe and carefully monitored environment.

Smoking Salvia to aid him in meditation and stress relief, Ori Fienberg, a 25-year-old Iowa City resident who in 2008 graduated from the UI with an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing, said he thinks health and safety concerns dictate that the potent herb be properly studied and regulated.

“I think Salvia divinorum is a useful natural aid to self-exploration,” he said. “However, choosing to ban it rather than studying it and making appropriate laws will create an unregulated black market and ultimately increase the number of people who will abuse it by not giving it the respect it deserves as a powerful empathogen.”

Feinberg is right. Despite the value some find in Salvia’s intriguing mind-altering effects, its astounding potency demands respect. Thus, the government should regulate it in such a way as to protect public safety.

But when asked about the possibility of slowing down the legislative process and allowing a more thorough investigation into how Iowa could best regulate Salvia, Woolery remained firm in his prohibitionist stance.

“I don’t think I need scientific research to convince me, based on what I’ve seen, that Salvia should be banned,” he said.

If you haven't already done so, please read my case in defense of Salvia divinorum and continue to fight the injustice of prohibition.

Feds to end raids on medical MJ dispensaries?

U.S. to yield marijuana jurisdiction to states

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

A step in the right direction.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is sending strong signals that President Obama - who as a candidate said states should be allowed to make their own rules on medical marijuana - will end raids on dispensaries in California.

Bill Piper, national affairs director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a marijuana advocacy group, said the statement is encouraging.

"I think it definitely signals that Obama is moving in a new direction, that it means what he said on the campaign trail that marijuana should be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal justice issue," he said.

Piper said Obama has also indicated he will drop the federal government's long-standing opposition to health officials' needle-exchange programs for drug users.

During one campaign appearance, Obama recalled that his mother had died of cancer and said he saw no difference between doctor-prescribed morphine and marijuana as pain relievers. He told an interviewer in March that it was "entirely appropriate" for a state to legalize the medical use of marijuana "with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors.

Panel discussion: Leary, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Hoffman, Corso, Di Prima + McKenna

From: The Psychedelic Salon

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Guest speakers: Terence McKenna, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Abbie Hoffman, Gregory Corso, and Diane Di Prima

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PROGRAM NOTES:
"There are no bad drugs. There are simply people who don’t know how to use them. Intelligent people use drugs intelligently, and stupid people are going to abuse drugs the way they abuse everything else. And our function is to raise the level of intelligence. We have to have a program of drug education." –Timothy Leary

"I don’t think there’s any problem with advancing consciousness and becoming more and more aware of the struggle, not with the world, not to convince other people to do anything. The really interesting think is the struggle with the self, and the relation with the self, and there is no end to the improvement that can be done there, the discoveries that can be made." –Allen Ginsberg

[NOTE: The following quotes are all by Terence McKenna.]

"To contact the cosmic giggle, to have the flow of casuistry begin to give off synchronistic ripples, whitecaps in the billows of the coincidental ether, if you will. To achieve that, a precondition is a kind of unconsciousness, a kind of drifting, a certain taking-your-eye-off-the-ball, a certain assumptions that things are simpler than they are, almost always precedes what Mircea Eliade called ‘the rupture of plane’ that indicates that there is an archetypal world, an archetypal power behind profane appearances." –Terence McKenna

"It occurs to me that at any given moment, because of the way the planet is as a thing, some percentage of human beings are asleep, always, and many are awake. And so if the world soul is made of the collective consciousness of human beings, then it is never entirely awake. It is never entirely asleep. It exists in some kind of indeterminate zone."

"Technology, or the historical momentum of things, is creating such a bewildering social milieu that the monkey-mind cannot find a simple story, a simple creation myth, or redemption myth, to lay over the crazy, contradictory patchwork of profane techno-consumerist, post McLuanist, electronic, pre-apocalyptic existence."

"I believe that the truth of the matter is far more terrifying [than conspiracy theories]. The real truth that dare not speak itself is that no one is in control. Absolutely no one!"

"The global destiny of the [human] species is somehow unfolding with the logic of a dream."

"The carrier of the field of the cosmic giggle in most people’s lives is love. Love is some kind of output which messes with the entropic tendency toward probabilistic behavior in Nature."

"The primary contribution of 20th century thinking, if you will, is to have understood, finally, that information is primary. That this world, this cosmos, this universe, this body and soul are all made of information. … The implication for the digerati is that reality can therefore be hacked."

The Psychedelic Salon

Police Department advertises we pay snitches in newspaper!

Albuquerque police want ad: We need snitches
'Make some extra cash! Drug use and criminal record OK'
From: The Associated Press
Date: Nov 22, 2008

During these difficult times, as people struggle to pay for their homes and care for their families. Some turning to the classifieds looking for work will see "Make some extra cash! Drug use and criminal record OK". That right, the Albuquerque police department ran an advertisement that they will pay drug informants to drop the dime and snitch! Even if they themselves are convicted criminals. This isn't the first time they did it either. The last time a similar advertisement was ran so many phone calls were received that they were forced to turn off the hotline!

Is this the best means for the police to obtain accurate information that may be used as evidence to raid the homes of American citizens?

What about those who may pass on unreliable information just in hopes of receiving some desperately needed cash? Unhappy with someone, why not turn them in as retaliation and get paid for doing it? Who knows the motives of these paid informants. However enticing them with cash is only going to increase the amount of questionable information that is passed on to the authorities.

Through out history there have been numerous examples of tragedies created by paid informants. Ann Frank and her family were arrested and sent to Auschwitz based on information collected by a Gestapo paid informant. Turning people against each other have always been a powerful method to maintain control over a population and to imprison its "undesirables".

If you haven't done so already, please read my entry's Police raids end in tragedy and Police Raid Mayor's Home and Kill His 2 Dogs. The consequences of police raids are horrific to say the least. Not to mention the enormous danger the informants are putting themselves in. As was the recent case of 23 year Rachel Hoffman who was murdered for her involvement with the police.

 

JUST SAY NO TO THE POLICE!
For everyone's safety!

Bolivian president, "US encouraged drug trafficking" + Cele Castillo Videos

LA PAZ (AFP) — Bolivian leader Evo Morales on Thursday accused the US government of encouraging drug-trafficking as he explained his decision to banish the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Morales, a staunch opponent of the Washington government, said the staff from the US agency had three months to prepare to leave the country, because "the DEA did not respect the police, or even the (Bolivian) armed forces."

"The worst thing is, it did not fight drug trafficking; It encouraged it," the Bolivian leader said, adding that he had "quite a bit of evidence" backing up his charges.

Presidential Minister Juan Ramon Quintana presented a series of documents and press clippings at a news conference, which he described as "object data" that had influenced Morales' decision to suspend DEA activities last week.

Quintana said Morales was ready to present the evidence to incoming US president Barack Obama "to prove the illegality, abuse and arrogance of the DEA in Bolivia."

Throughout the 1990s, the DEA in Bolivia "bribed police officers, violated human rights, covered up murders, destroyed bridges and roads," said Quintana.

Morales earlier Thursday said that after a 1986 operation in Huanchaca National Park, it was determined that the largest cocaine processing plant "was under DEA protection."

He also charged that the DEA had investigated political and union leaders opposed to neoliberal economic policies, which he said amounted to political persecution.

On Wednesday, he had accused the DEA of shooting and killing Bolivians during their anti-drug operations, including members of the coca farmers' movement.

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, has served as the leader of the Bolivian coca-growers union. The coca plant, from which cocaine is derived, has many uses in traditional Andean culture.

The Bolivian leader announced last Saturday he was suspending the work of the DEA in the impoverished Andean nation, and accused it of having encouraged political unrest that killed 19 people in September.

"From today all the activities of the US DEA are suspended indefinitely," the Bolivian leader had said in the coca-growing region of Chimore, in the central province of Chapare, where he was evaluating efforts to combat drug trafficking.

The DEA has denied Morales' accusations.

US President George W. Bush, in a finding released in September, added Bolivia to a list of countries that have "failed demonstrably" in anti-drugs cooperation.

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Retired-DEA agent Celerino Castillo exposes the atrocities and drug smuggling involvement of the US government.

MORE CELE CASTILLO VIDEO'S

EROCx1 discusses ethnobotanicals on the Entheogenic Evolution

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Recently I was a guest on the Entheogenic Evolution hosted by Martin W. Ball. For those of you who do not already know. Martin holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies with an emphasis on Shamanism, Native American Traditions, Entheogens, and Eastern Philosophy and Meditation. He is a musician and author of several books including Mushroom Wisdom: How Shamans Cultivate Spiritual Consciousness and Sage Spirit: Salvia Divinorum and the Entheogenic Experience.

I have shared correspondence with Martin for quite some time and have made a few posts about some of his work in this blog. So it was an honor for him to invite me on his show to discuss the FDA and the recent escalation of their role in the prohibition of legal ethnobotanicals and tradition plant medicines.

I would like to apologize for all my ummms and pauses in our conversation. It was pretty burned out when we spoke and this was my first time using Skype. I typically listen to Martin's weekly show on the same headphones I was using for the call. A few times I felt like I was listening to his podcast and thought, why isn't any one answering Martin? Wait he's talking to me! LOL. Also considering the potential legal risks that haunt the subject of conversation, I was a little hesitant about how much personal information was wise to publicly share. If I am ever invited on another podcast, I promise to do better ;-)

In this episode of the Entheogenic Evolution we discuss:

• The origin of Gaian Botanicals and my passion for entheogens
• The ethnobotacial market, regulation & prohibition
• Thoughts on Amanita muscaria, Salvia divinorum and Kratom
• My New York Times interview on Salvia divinroum
• The Internet as a tool for for sharing and learning about ethnogens

I would like to expand a little more on the prohibition of plant medicines. This practice is in direct conflict with the ideals held by the Founding Fathers and framers of the supposed supreme law of our nation, The US Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson himself wrote, "If people let government decide which foods they eat and medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." and "The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture."

Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Surgeon General under George Washington said, "The Constitution of this Republic should make special provision for medical freedom. To restrict the art of healing to one class will constitute the Bastille of medical science. All such laws are un-American and despotic. ... Unless we put medical freedom into the constitution the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship and force people who wish doctors and treatment of their own choice to submit to only what the dictating outfit offers."

Why then are people not only restricted from access to, but are also incarcerated for choosing to use plants as medicines or for spiritual purposes?

This is more of a rhetorical question as a serious effort to answer this question would be far too lengthily for a blog entry. I highly recommend reading Dr. Timothy Leary: Criminalizing the Natural. Also The Emperor Wears No Clothes or more relevant to entheogens is The Proemium from Jonathan Ott's Pharmacotheon. It is well established that the authorities do NOT want people using any plant that may cause euphoria or induce a visionary experience.

I believe we are now witnessing a new approach by the federal government to further restrict its citizens use and access to traditional plant medicines. The traditional process of of making plants illegal under the Controlled Substances Act is supposed to require sufficient scientific evidence that a substance is not only a dangerous, but has no accepted medical use. NO ethnobotanicals can honestly be scheduled under this criteria as they all have a long history of being safely as medicines for thousands of years (if not longer).

Thus a new prohibition tactic is to have Customs stop the import of ethnobotanicals and turn the shipment over to the FDA who challenges the shipment legality as "unapproved drugs". The Dietary Supplement Act clearly states the FDA is to regulate herbs as food, not as drugs. They only have the lawful authority to ban or restrict a herb if it has been openly proven harmful. Also be aware that the description used for the sale of any botanical product could classify it as an "unauthorized new drug".

The FDA has taken steps to reclassify virtually all vitamins, supplements, herbs and vegetable juices as FDA-regulated drugs. Even massage oils and tools would be classified as "medical devices" and require FDA approval. Another alarming example of the FDA's new authority is the Bioterrorism Act signed into law by President Bush June 12, 2002. This requires foreign botanical exporters to have a registered resident agent. If they do not have one, the recipient is listed as the registered agent.

So far most cases of Customs and / or the FDA holding imported ethnobotanicals have been eventually released if contested by the recipient. Sometimes the receiver is required to submit signed statements that the material in question is not for human consumption. However some imports have be straight out refused entry and the shipment must be either returned to the sender, re-routed to an alternate location outside of the United States or destroyed. Since there are no real clear rules or regulations being made available. It is important for the ethnobotanical / herbal medicine communities to communicate their experiences and insight with each other to prevent abuse by the authorities.

I one other idea I wanted to share about Salvia divinorum's remaining legal on a Federal level in the US. Over the years I have observed the governments response to Salvia divinorum with complete astonishment that it has not been scheduled or banned by the DEA or FDA. Could this be an experiment to see how states would react if the Federal Government did not criminalize a psychoactive plant or to see how the states may re-act should there ever be a repeal of the Federal Drug laws? Laws built upon a foundation of lies can not last forever. Especially in the information age. I have no evidence to support this, nor do I necessarily believe it. Its merely speculation on my part. But I thought I would put it out there to hear your feedback on the idea?

Links:
Gaian Botanicals
EROCx1 Homepage
Entheogenic Evolution

Documentary: American Drug War

35 years after Nixon started the war on drugs, we have over one million non-violent drug offenders living behind bars.

The War on Drugs has become the longest and most costly war in American history, the question has become, how much more can the country endure? Inspired by the death of four family members from "legal drugs" Texas filmmaker Kevin Booth sets out to discover why the Drug War has become such a big failure. Three and a half years in the making, the film follows gang members, former DEA agents, CIA officers, narcotics officers, judges, politicians, prisoners and celebrities. Most notably the film befriends Freeway Ricky Ross; the man many accuse for starting the Crack epidemic, who after being arrested discovered that his cocaine source had been working for the CIA.

AMERICAN DRUG WAR shows how money, power and greed have corrupted not just drug pushers and dope fiends, but an entire government. More importantly, it shows what can be done about it. This is not some 'pro-drug' stoner film, but a collection of expert testimonials from the ground troops on the front lines of the drug war, the ones who are fighting it and the ones who are living it.

After 4 years of production including several sold out test screenings in New York, Austin & Los Angeles, the final version of American Drug War "the last white hope" is locked and loaded.

Buy the DVD

 
Visit the official Website: AmericanDrugWar.com

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Kentroversy Podcast # 43: Free Mp3 Download
Guest: Kevin Booth - American Drug War
(Run Time: 1:10:54) April 14, 2008

Kentroversy Podcast # 2: Free Mp3 Download
Kevin Booth Talks about Bill Hicks

Police raids end in tragedy

No One Is Safe
From: Drug Policy Alliance

It's the day after Christmas in 2001. You're 21 years old. After finally putting your 18-month-old daughter to sleep, you're relaxing in your favorite recliner, nodding off in the flickering light of the television show you're only half-watching and the string of Christmas lights around your front window. When you hear the sounds of someone trying to kick in your door, you run to your daughter's bedroom; when someone does break in and kick down her bedroom door, you shoot. It turns out the man you shot is the (white) police chief's son, and as he dies of internal bleeding en route to the hospital you (a black man) are arrested, beaten so badly your bleed from your ear for a week, and are put on death row for five years (until a judge overturns what was a wrongful sentencing). The drugs the cops were looking for (using a warrant that named no one in your household) were never found. This is the case of Mississippian Corey Maye, who is still locked up.

Or: you are 57 years old, getting ready for work in mid-May 2003. It's shortly after six in the morning. A battering ram breaks down your door, and in gets tossed a flash grenade. You can't breathe, you're coughing, and the police don't believe you - they're looking for a stash of drugs and guns they'll never find. Taking no notice of your worsening condition, they handcuff you, and in little more than an hour, though you're finally on the way to the hospital, the heart attack caused by this traumatic violation takes your life. This was Alberta Spruill, a church volunteer and city worker in Harlem.

Or it's November 2006. You're a fierce 92-year-old woman, frightened by the sounds of someone prying off the burglar bars that cover your front door, but determined to protect your home: when your door is broken down you fire one shot at the intruders, before being shot 39 times, handcuffed and left to die while the police (who are the intruders, and as it turns out, have broken down the wrong door) realize their mistake and plant drugs in your basement. This was Kathryn Johnston of northwest Atlanta; two of the cops responsible for her death pled guilty to manslaughter last year, and a third was recently convicted of lying in the cover-up.

In December of 2006 police burn down the home of a 73-year-old man with Alzheimer's in Arizona. They launched a diversionary grenade through a bedroom window that started a fire that destroyed the entire house and all the families possessions. According to the search warrant they were looking for $7,000 in cash, electronics, weapons, a pit bull and rims from a Cadillac Escalade because a vehicle they believed to have been used in a robbery had this poor families address on its registration.

Imagine instead it's 2008. Coming home one night in late July, you find a large package which happens to contain marijuana. You are the mayor of a wealthy DC suburb and as it turns out, also victim to a drug smuggling scheme that targets innocent addresses in the UPS system. You bring the box inside - only to watch as moments later SWAT officers break in and shoot your two beautiful Labradors. As the dogs lay there dying, bleeding all over your nice floors, you are held in the very same room, handcuffed for hours. The law enforcement officials don't - at that time - actually believe that you are the mayor of this suburban town, and to date have yet to apologize for the killing of your family's pets.

No one is safe. Last month's case involving Berwyn Heights mayor Cheye Calvo is one of perhaps 40,000 (yes, forty thousand) such raids each year. (see Cato Institute report, Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America). What has made it so widely covered is simply the (white, class) privilege and power of the victims. Many, many lives are lost or ruined by these paramilitary operations. You're in extra danger if you happen to be poor and/or a person of color. Ellen blogged about these raids recently: check out her post and the Cato Institute's map of raid casualties.

This is not the world I want to live in. Take action now - check out our most recent action alert and encourage the U.S. Conference of Mayors to protect themselves and their cities from further unthinkable violence in what has honestly become a police state.

Links:
Scotto's post at DoseNation
1000 cop raid in London
Police SWAT teams: Overused?
Police Raid Mayor's Home and Kill His 2 Dogs