The sky is falling

Baylen over at To The People brings us the tragic story of two children accidentally killed by U.S. operatives in Afghanistan on an anti-drug mission. The kids were inside of some tents that the plane slammed into after the pilots overshot the runway.

Ironically, if the crash had occurred a few minutes earlier, the narcs would have also taken out some opium growers. Instead, they just killed the little kids, as well as two Ukranian crew members on board the plane.

The casualty count could have been higher if the settlement's men had not left earlier to work at a farm picking opium poppies.

The full story is here.

EXTRA EXTRA: The Drug War has failed!

A few snippits from three great articles exposing different aspects of the failed War on Drugs:

Rocky Mountain News exposes the FDA's politicized, hypocritical statement regarding medical marijuana:

"They're terribly afraid of such research, because any serious scientific study of the subject is going to reveal how little basis there is for their claims. Continuing to demonize marijuana is the key to the drug war, and the drug war pays the salaries of a lot of people." [MPP's Bruce Mirken]

Advertising Age exposes the failure of the Drug Czar's propaganda campaign:

"The ads are very silly and act more as a comic relief than to curb drug use. I actually think the ads make kids aware of drugs that they might not have been exposed to and I think they pique their curiosity."

[snip]

"...if ever a campaign cried out for a smart, targeted, non-broadcast approach-instead of dumb messages dropped with 'media weight'-this is it,"

And finally, the University of Illinois student newspaper, the Daily Illini, University of Connecticut student newspaper, the Daily Campus, presents a compelling argument for the need to end marijuana prohibition:

The legalization of marijuana is by no means a new or shocking concept. What does continue to be shocking, however, is our government's unwillingness to re-evaluate its drug policies and recognize the inefficiency and unfairness of imposing such unreasonable punishments. Decriminalization of the drug state by state is a start but it should lead to legalization.

Our society and government have wasted enough resources. It is time to solve this "drug problem" and focus on more important priorities.

Legislating boredom

[Note: The picture below may be considered inappropriate. You may wish to avoid scrolling down if you are at school, in the workplace, or if you are South Carolina state Rep, Ralphy Davenport.]

Very soon, big drug cartels may start adding a few new products to their shipments to South Carolina.

A new blend of heroin perhaps? Maybe a cleaner methamphetamine? Nope...

Dildos, vibrators, and butt-plugs.

Via Boing Boing:

Lucy’s Love Shop employee Wanda Gillespie said she was flabbergasted that South Carolina’s Legislature is considering outlawing sex toys. But banning the sale of sex toys is actually quite common in some Southern states.

The South Carolina bill, proposed by Republican Rep. Ralph Davenport, would make it a felony to sell devices used primarily for sexual stimulation and allow law enforcement to seize sex toys from raided businesses.

Get ready for Sex Toy Prohibition, kiddos. It's gonna be one heckuva public policy.

I just have to chuckle at the thought of S.W.A.T. teams kicking down the doors of private businesses and rummaging through merchandise to find "devices used primarily for sexual stimulation."

"Officer Smith, does this Pez dispenser look like a sex toy to you?"

"Hmm... check to see what the manual from the Office of National Dildo Control Policy has to say."

"It's rather ambiguous. It is pink and plastic and about the size of *ahem* well, you know. But it also dispenses small tart candies."

"Hrm. Better bring it into the lab for testing."

All jokes aside, the ridiculous lengths to which many of our elected officials are going in order to push their own brand of morality are getting quite scary. "Life, liberty..." and what was that last one, Mr. Jefferson?If the puritans of the South Carolina legislature are successful in criminalizing the pursuit of kinkyness, drug prohibition may give us some warning signs of what to expect. Lucrative black markets for pleasure gadgets will spring up overnight, putting armed salesmen on every urban corner. Sexually experimental youngsters will roam the streets looking for a fix, eventually coming across their first "gateway dildo" to harder plastics. Prisons will be clogged with people whose only crime was trying to relax with a hot bath, some candles, and 'Johnny Depp Junior' after a long day at work. Worst of all, shady opportunists will fashion vibrators out of cheap household appliances, maiming or killing unfortunate masturbators with electrical malfunctions.

Undoubtedly, some concerned citizens will stand up to Sex Toy Prohibition and fight to restore a safe, regulated market for the products. They will be ruthlessly pigeonholed as perverts and sexual deviants, but will continue their fight for a more sensible society. The student movement, of course, will be unstoppable.

Update 4/24:

Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama have already outlawed the sale of sex toys. Initially, I really didn't think the South Carolina proposal had any legs... but it looks like the prudish precedent has already been set.

Thanks for the heads up, Hammer of Truth.

[Apologies to Elian Gonzalez for the photograph.]

Protect kids from rigorous scientific scrutiny!

Even enlightened readers of the New York Times, reading coverage of the FDA's bunk and untimely report that marijuana has no medical benefits whatsoever, are subject to propaganda attempts. Reading online coverage from the two days following pot enthusiasts' holiday, I was bombarded by flashy pop-ups enticing me to pick the attractive teen who is most susceptible to drugs (who would have known? they are all "high-risk.") Right above the simple and clever editorial is a banner with bright green pot leaves claiming that if I click it I will get the "straight facts on marijuana." For my kids, that is, and from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

Attempts at manipulation of the real issue aside, the New York Times has run three pieces on the FDA report in the past two days. A spokeswoman for the FDA seems to mistake "legalization efforts" with "scientific research" when she says, "state initiatives that legalize marijuana use are inconsistent with efforts to ensure that medications undergo the rigorous scientific scrutiny of the F.D.A. approval process.' It sure takes some Ministry of Truth-sized balls to claim that the FDA values "rigorous scientific scrutiny."


Today's editoral is eloquntly and simply written:

Ordinarily, when the F.D.A. addresses a thorny issue, it convenes a panel of experts who wade through the latest evidence and then render an opinion as to whether a substance is safe and effective to use. This time the agency simply issued a skimpy one-page statement asserting that "no sound scientific studies" supported the medical use of marijuana.

That seems disingenuous. The government is actively discouraging relevant research, according to scientists quoted by Gardiner Harris in yesterday's Times. It's obviously easier and safer to issue a brief, dismissive statement than to back research that might undermine the administration's inflexible opposition to the medical use of marijuana.

...especially when you're still trying to convince parents that marijuana is the gravest danger to their child's development. The government may try to miseducate a malleable youth population, but when even articles in the New York Times have to be overshadowed by flashy propoganda, the "dumbing down" is more than a little insulting.

How is your state hurt by the Aid Elimination Penalty?

Students for Sensible Drug Policy's Freedom of Information Act dispute with the U.S. Department of Education has finally paid off. Once we sued them over the ridiculous $4,000 fee they wanted to charge us, the government quickly gave up and handed over numbers on how many students in every state have lost financial aid due to drug convictions.

Read SSDP's state-by-state report to find out how the Higher Education Act (HEA) Aid Elimination Penalty is impacting your state.

If you want to receive infrequent news updates and important action alerts from SSDP, please enter your e-mail address below.

Email Address:

USA Today printed an article about SSDP's state-by-state report on page A3 this morning. SSDP and ACLU are quoted.

"I think it's important that all members (of Congress) know exactly how many of their constituents' lives have been ruined by this policy," says Tom Angell, campaigns director for Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the constitutionality of the law in federal court. "This is the only offense for which one can be denied financial aid," says attorney Adam Wolf of the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project based in Santa Cruz, Calif.

If you can afford it, please make a donation to SSDP's efforts on behalf of students.

Drug Testing Essay Contest

If you are an Oregon High School student, SSDP can help you win $500 for taking a stand against random student drug-testing!

Oregon high school students can win $500 in an essay contest sponsored by the Oregon State Bar.

This year's topic addresses a newly proposed random drug-testing policy at a fictional school district. Applicants are asked to write a persuasive essay arguing for or against the policy.

The Oregon State Bar will provide legal research materials, including an actual case from Oregon's Vernonia School District that went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1995.

The contest topic, resource materials and rules are available through the Oregon State Bar's Web site at www.osbar.org or at the bar center, 5200 SW Meadows Road, Lake Oswego, OR 97035. The phone number is (503) 620-0222.

Cash prizes also will be awarded to second- and third-place essays. All Oregon high school students are eligible. The deadline is April 28.

Effective talking points against student drug-testing can be found on SSDP's website. If you are considering writing an essay, don't hesitate to contact SSDP's national office for help: call 202.293.4414 or e-mail ssdp@ssdp.org

Please forward this message on to those you know in Oregon.

And the loser is...

...Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN), who wrote the HEA Aid Elimination Provision - the law that strips financial aid from college students with drug convictions.

As a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) filed against the U.S. Department of Education, the government released this week the state-by-state breakdown of the nearly 200,000 students who have been denied aid under the penalty.

The state with the highest percentage of college applicants being denied aid for drug convictions? You guessed it: Souder's home state of Indiana.

Ryan Grim has a piece on Slate today.

If this law betters the lives of young people—Souder calls it a way to reduce youth drug use by reducing demand—then no state has done better than Souder's own Indiana. As of August 2005, nearly 9,000 Indianan students—one in 200—have been denied aid since the law passed. That's the highest proportion of students affected in any state by a wide margin. (Click here to see where your state ranks.) A week ago, when the Department of Education released preliminary data, I started calling Martin Green, Souder's spokesman, for a comment on Indiana's stellar showing. He has not returned my calls.

There's another funny thing about the Department of Education's numbers: They don't show the number of college applicants punished for drug convictions. They show the number punished for owning up to drug convictions. On their financial-aid applications, students are asked to check a box if they've been convicted of selling or possessing drugs. But the department has no way to verify students' answers. Officials can cross-check the answers with federal arrest records, but they make up a very small percentage of all drug convictions.

So far, about 190,000 students across the country (and abroad) have told the truth and been denied financial aid. It's impossible to know how many lied and headed off to college, federal aid in hand. Nearly 300,000 student-aid applicants, however, simply ignored the question in 2000-2001, the first school year in which it was asked. After internal debate, the Clinton administration decided to give all these students a pass. (A fitting verdict, perhaps, given Clinton's own equivocal response to questions about drug use.)

The Bush administration reversed this "ask, but don't tell" policy. Beginning in 2001, applicants who have refused to say whether they've been convicted of a drug crime are presumed guilty and bounced from the aid pool. That year, the number of students denied aid quintupled.

When Souder's amendment came up for reconsideration last year, its opponents couldn't muster the votes to get rid of it. They settled for a change that denies federal aid only to students caught getting high while in college. That bill was signed by President Bush as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. But its future is hazy; it's tied up in court because the House and Senate versions differed slightly. Whatever its fate, the government still won't be able to verify much about a student's drug record. Which means they'll catch fibbing students only if they've had the unusual misfortune of being convicted of a federal crime. A word to the wise, and the not-so-wise: Just Check No.

SSDP will be releasing a report detailing the state-by-state numbers on Monday. Get in touch with us if you'd like to help us get press on this issue in your state.

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot...

Remember Lee Paige, that DEA agent who shot himself in the foot while giving a presentation on gun safety to a group of high school students? (The best part is that the gun misfired one second after he said "I'm the only one in this room professional enough that I know of to carry a Glock-40." BOOM!)

Well, he's now suing the DEA for "improperly, illegally, willfully and/or intentionally" releasing the video to the public.

The poor guy claims he's been the "target of jokes, derision, ridicule, and disparaging comments" directed at him in public places like restaurants, grocery stores, and airports. Paige says he was "once regarded as one of the best undercover agents, if not the best, in the DEA." What an arrogant bastard.

He also complains that he can no longer work as an undercover narc since everyone has seen his face on the Internet. Awwwww.

He also states he is no longer "permitted or able to give educational motivational speeches and presentations." Thank God!

National DARE Day - Celebrating Failure

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 11, 2006

Bush Declares “National D.A.R.E. Day”

Studies Show D.A.R.E. Fails to Keep Kids Off Drugs

President Says “Heckuva Job” Anyway

WASHINGTON, DC – President Bush has declared today, April 11 “National D.A.R.E. Day,” despite federally-funded research showing the popular anti-drug program fails to reduce youth drug use and can actually increase drug use among some teens.

“Rewarding failure doesn’t keep kids off drugs. This is the Drug War equivalent of President Bush congratulating FEMA’s Michael Brown on a ‘heckuva job’ after Hurricane Katrina,” said Kris Krane, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “Those of us who grew up during the escalation of the War on Drugs know that D.A.R.E.’s failed scare tactics put our generation at greater risk. For most students, the D.A.R.E. program is their first exposure to drugs, which only piques their curiosity.”

A 2003 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that D.A.R.E. has “no statistically significant long-term effect on preventing youth illicit drug use.” In addition, students who participate in D.A.R.E. demonstrate “no significant differences... [in] attitudes toward illicit drug use [or] resistance to peer pressure” compared to children who had not been exposed to the program, the GAO determined.

One study found that suburban students who were exposed to D.A.R.E. had significantly higher levels of drug use than the suburban students who did not go through the program. The U.S. Surgeon General, the National Academy of Science, and the U.S. Department of Education have all criticized D.A.R.E. in recent years.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy is calling on schools around the country to abandon D.A.R.E. and implement science-based education programs that effectively reach kids by teaching them about the real effects and potential harms of drugs without exaggeration or scare tactics.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a national organization with college and high school chapters, is committed to providing education on harms caused by the War on Drugs, working to involve youth in the political process, and promoting an open, honest, and rational discussion of alternative solutions to our nation's drug problems.

# # #

Marijuana PROHIBITION Violence

The Drug Czar's "blog" highlights a story about a shootout that took place at a marijuana garden in Arkansas as evidence that marijuana causes violence.

What absurdism!

Such tragic gunfights would never happen under a legal, regulated market for marijuana. When's the last time you saw beer distributors shooting each other over who gets to stock a specific store?