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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1063 -- 4/25/19
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1063

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

Table of Contents:

1. DHS CONSIDERS CLASSIFYING FENTANYL AS A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION
[FEATURE]
Is this a serious effort to protect the country, or is it a cynical
exercise in bureaucratic budget-bolstering instead? https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/23/dhs_considers_classifying

2. WITH MARIJUANA POLICY AND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES, JOE
BIDEN IS THE ODD MAN OUT
In the ever-swelling field of Democratic presidential contenders, and
their myriad differences, support for some form of marijuana
legalization is almost -- but not quite -- universal. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/24/marijuana_policy_and_democratic

3. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
The action is all down South this week as Arkansas vows to reissue
medical marijuana cards, a Texas medical marijuana bill heads to the
House floor, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/24/medical_marijuana_update

4. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
Prison guards go wild, a Customs and Border Protection agent heads for
federal prison, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/24/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

5. CHRONICLE AM: LOUISIANA CANNABIS POLL, FEDS RAID APPALACHIAN OPIOID PRESCRIBERS, MORE... (4/18/19)
A new poll finds Louisianans are ready to free the weed, Georgia medical marijuana patients will soon be able to access CBD cannabis oils, a
Peruvian clash that left two coca-growers dead raises international
concern, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/18/chronicle_am_louisiana_cannabis

6. CHRONICLE AM: NEW CBS POT POLL, CO DRUG DEFELONIZATION PASSES HOUSE,
MORE... (4/19/19)
A new CBS poll has record support for marijuana legalization, Vermont's governor throws up an obstacle to the tax and regulate bill, the US
immigration agency says using marijuana or even working in the
state-legal industry makes immigrants "morally unfit" to become
citizens, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/19/chronicle_am_new_cbs_pot_poll_co

7. CHRONICLE AM: NC OVERDOSE=MURDER BILL HEARING SET, MALAY MEDMJ
PROVIDER ESCAPES DEATH PENALTY, MORE... (4/22/19)
It's a step back for harm reduction in one Michigan county, a potential
step back in North Carolina, a Malay medical marijuana provider escapes
the death penalty but still faces hard time, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/22/chronicle_am_nc_overdosemurder

8. CHRONICLE AM: CO DRUG DEFELONIZATION BILL ADVANCES, MEXICO MURDERS,
COLOMBIA MASSACRES, MORE... (4/23/19)
Drug prohibition is engendering new levels of violence in Mexico and
Colombia, the Denver city council deals a blow to would-be social
consumption business operators, the FDA approves generic naloxone, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/23/chronicle_am_co_drug

9. CHRONICLE AM: BILL TO CUT CA MARIJUANA TAX ADVANCES, PRISON
POPULATION CONTINUES TO DECLINE, MORE... (4/25/19)
A bill to cut California pot taxes is moving, a New Hampshire
legalization bill gets a hearing, the US prison population continues a decade-long decline, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/24/chronicle_am_bill_cut_ca

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

1. DHS CONSIDERS CLASSIFYING FENTANYL AS A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION
[FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2019/apr/23/dhs_considers_classifying

The military affairs and news web site Task & Purpose has obtained an
internal memo (https://taskandpurpose.com/dhs-fentanyl-wmd) from the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that shows the agency is
considering designating the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl as a
weapon of mass destruction (WMD) "when certain criteria are met."

Typically produced in China and then smuggled through Mexico or sent
directly to the US via package delivery services, fentanyl has been
implicated in tens of thousands (https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates)
of drug overdose deaths in recent years. The drug is doubly dangerous
because not only is it dozens of times stronger than heroin, it is all
too often mixed in with other drugs so that consumers ingest it unwittingly.

The memo obtained by Task & Purpose was dated February 22, 2019 and
titled "Use of counter-WMD authorities to combat fentanyl." It was
prepared for then-DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen by DHS Assistant
Secretary for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction James F. McConnell,
who sketched the background of the drug and noted how some members of
the federal government see it as a potential "mass casualty weapon."

McConnell is a long-time homeland security official who has led the
Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office since he was appointed by President Trump in May 2018.

"Fentanyl's high toxicity and increasing availability are attractive to
threat actors seeking nonconventional materials for a chemical weapons
attack," he wrote. "In July 2018, the FBI Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate assessed that '...fentanyl is very likely a viable option
for a chemical weapon attack by extremists or criminals'," he wrote.

But other parts of the memo suggest DHS is considering the move not only
as part of a war on fentanyl but as a means of obtaining more funding
for the agency's WMD activities. Indeed, funding for the counter-WMD
program has declined (https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/19_0318_MGMT_FY-2020-Budget-In-Brief.pdf)
under Trump, whose homeland security priorities are focused on the
US-Mexico border, despite crime rates at the border being lower than in
other parts of the country (https://www.cato.org/blog/crime-along-mexican-border-lower-rest-country).

"[Counter-WMD] Office efforts will focus on quantities and
configurations that could be used as mass casualty weapons," McDonnell
wrote as he tried to sell the idea. "However, many activities, such as
support to fentanyl interdiction and detection efforts, would
tangentially benefit broader DHS and interagency counter-opioid efforts.
Within the past couple years, there has been a reinvigorated interest in addressing fentanyl and its analogues as WMD materials due to the
ongoing opioid crisis," he added.

The Counter-WMD office could help in the fight against fentanyl by
developing and managing new technologies, deploying sensors, and helping
other agencies in the field, McDonnell told Nielsen. He also claimed
that senior Defense Department leaders "had proposed formally
designating fentanyl as a WMD material."

Neither the Defense Department nor DHS would comment to Task & Purpose
on the report, but members of the counter-WMD community contacted by the
web site reacted with bemusement and skepticism.

Fentanyl as a WMD is a "fringe scenario," chemical, biological,
radiological, and nuclear defense expert Dan Kaszeta reacted. There are "literally dozens" of toxic chemicals that could be easily weaponized,
he said.

"This is like declaring ecstasy as a WMD," said another member of the
Defense Department's counter-WMD team speaking on condition of anonymity.

"It reads like somebody is laying the administrative background for
trying to tap into pots of money for detecting WMD and decontaminating
WMD," Kaszeta told Task & Purpose. "It's an interdepartmental play for
money, that's all it is."

But McConnell is planning to move ahead. In the memo, he said his office
would continue to brief DHS on fentanyl-related counter-WMD efforts and
would schedule an interagency planning event on fentanyl.

An unnamed senior Defense official told Task & Purpose that while such a meeting was probably "a good idea," it was far more likely that someone
seeking a chemical WMD would instead turn to sarin or mustard gas.
"Anybody with a college level degree in chemistry can manufacture
chemical weapons agents," he said.

"I cannot see any scenario where a nation-state would use fentanyl on
the battlefield, or for that matter, a terrorist using a really toxic
chemical like fentanyl in an attack when they could just sell it for
funding the purchase of firearms and explosives or steal an industrial
chemical instead," the official added.

In that light, McConnell's memo appears more as a cynical bureaucratic
exercise aimed at increasing program budgets rather than a serious
effort to address homeland security.
================ ...
___________________

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.

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