XPost: alt.drugs, alt.hemp, rec.drugs.psychedelic
XPost: talk.politics.drugs

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1011 -- 2/26/18
Phillip S. Smith, Editor,psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1011

A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director,borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"

PROTEST: Embassy of the Philippines,1600 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036Noon, Wednesday February 28Stop the Drug War Killings! Free Senator Leila de Lima! (https://www.facebook.com/events/1984535831800235/)

Table of Contents:

1. RICK STEVES HAS THREE MUST-SEES FOR A JEFF SESSIONS EUROPEAN DRUG POLICY TRIP
The travel guru offers to personally help enlighten the attorney general. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/feb/26/rick_steves_three_must_sees

2. CALIFORNIA'S MARIJUANA FARMERS ARE SLOW TO JOIN THE LEGAL, REGULATED SYSTEM There are many obstacles in the way of small growers, and so far, the vast majority are staying in the shadows.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/feb/20/california_growers_report

3. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
Medical marijuana foes in Arizona take aim at pot doctors, a Michigan judge strikes down Detroit's medical marijuana initiative, Ohio's medical marijuana rollout hits a bump, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/feb/21/medical_marijuana_update

4. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
Sticky-fingered cops go down, so do inmate-serving prison guards. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/feb/26/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

5. CHRONICLE AM: SENATE SENTENCING REFORM BILL UNDER ATTACK, DEA THREATENS SIJS, MORE... (2/15/18)
The Marijuana Justice Act gets a third cosponsor, the DEA threatens to go after safe injection sites, the attorney general and leading law enforcement groups target the Senate sentencing reform bill, and much, much more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/feb/15/chronicle_am_senate_sentencing

6. CHRONICLE AM: CANADA LEGAL MARIJUANA DELAYED, FEDERAL SENTENCING REFORM BILL ADVANCES, MORE... (2/16/18)
Conservative senators slow down Canada's move to marijuana legalization, the Senate Judiciary Committee passes the sentencing reform bill, an Arizona bill would make felons of doctors who are lax about medical marijuana rules and laws, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/feb/16/chronicle_am_canada_legal

7. CHRONICLE AM: CALL TO END NEW MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENT, ISRAELI POT DECRIM ADVANCE, MORE... (2/20/18)
Public health, mental health, and drug reform groups call for an end to a new policy requiring Medicaid recipients to work, a key congressional Democrat calls for a progress report from Trump's opioid commission, Israeli marijuana decriminalization
crosses a major hurdle, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/feb/20/chronicle_am_call_end_new

8. CHRONICLE AM: DC DEMO ON PHILIPPINE DRUG WAR NEXT WEEK, BC DRUG DECRIM MARCH, MORE... (2/21/18)
Ohio's medical marijuana program may have just hit a bump, hemp could be coming to Utah, drug users march for decriminalization in Vancouver, demonstrators will gather in DC next week to protest the Philippines drug war, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/feb/21/chronicle_am_dc_demo_philippine

9. CHRONICLE AM: JAIL POPULATIONS DROP, MAINE MJ SOCIAL CLUBS GO UP IN SMOKE, MORE... (2/22/18)
An Arizona legalization poll has good numbers, asset forfeiture reform bills move in a couple of states, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports on declining jail population numbers, Maine lawmakers appear ready to do away with marijuana social clubs
the voters voted for, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/feb/22/chronicle_am_jail_populations

10. CHRONICLE AM: ALCOHOL, DRUG, SUICIDE DEATHS AT RECORD HIGH, COLOMBIA COCA VIOLENCE, MORE... (2/23/18)
An MJ decrim bill moves in Alabama, an asset forfeiture reform bill moves in Kansas, a new report tallies the toll of rising drug, alcohol, and suicide deaths, another report warns of problems in Colombia, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/feb/23/chronicle_am_alcohol_drug

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

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

1. RICK STEVES HAS THREE MUST-SEES FOR A JEFF SESSIONS EUROPEAN DRUG POLICY TRIP
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2018/feb/26/rick_steves_three_must_sees

PBS star and prolific travel guidebook author Rick Steves is a prominent advocate of marijuana legalization and drug reform. For years, he has advocated for freeing the weed and adopting a more moderate, European-style approach to drug policy.

He has enjoyed successes, playing a leading role in bringing the public around in Washington state, which legalized weed in 2012, and continuing to make his high-profile calls for more enlightened drug policies. But now, the Trump administration, and
Attorney General Jeff Sessions in particular, is trying to put the brakes on, and that got Steves thinking.

In response, as Rolling Stone reports (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/travel-writer-rick-steves-sessions-marijuana-policy-congress-w516879), Steves has now combined his travel savvy and his drug reform advocacy in proposing an eye-opening,
pot-centric European travel itinerary tailor-made for Sessions in the hope that some of the Old World tolerance would rub off on him.

Here are the three must-sees on Steves' Sessions European drug policy itinerary:

1. Switzerland. "I would take him to Switzerland and we'd go to a heroin maintenance clinic," Steves said, referring to the country's pioneering and non-criminal approach to opioid addiction.

2. Barcelona. Cannabis clubs are allowed there. "In Spain they can't sell marijuana but they can grow it. In practice, they don't want to grow it so they join a club that grows it collectively, and they can enjoy the harvest."

3. The Netherlands. Steves said he would take the attorney general to one of those famous Dutch "coffee shops" where adults can legally purchase small amounts of weed. "After the coffee shop, we'd visit a mayor and a policeman and have [Sessions] listen
to the mayor and policeman explain why they'd rather have coffee shops than have marijuana sold on the street," Steves says.

Although he didn't mention it, there is one other European destination that could be an eye-opener for Sessions:

4. Portugal.The Iberian nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs in 2001. And not only is it still standing, it has drug use levels similar to other European countries, but without all the arrests.

Of course, Sessions is unlikely to take Steves up on his offer and even more unlikely to be convinced by saner European approaches, but Steves' point is still made: There are better ways of dealing with drug use and abuse. We just have to acknowledge
them.



================  ...


                                         ___________________

                                          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>
                                       ___________________

     bliss -- Cacao  Powered... (-SF4ever at DSLExtreme dot com)

--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

      "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
      It is by the beans of cacao 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."
         --from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)