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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #981 -- 7/14/17

Phillip S. Smith, Editor,psmith@drcnet.org http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/981

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

Table of Contents:

1. OUTRAGEOUS MASSACHUSETTS DRUG BILL WOULD SEND YOU TO PRISON AND STEAL YOUR CAR -- NO DRUGS NEEDED
The proposed measure redefines reality to make a drug crime out of literally nothing.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/12/outrageous_massachusetts_drug_bi

2. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
Florida gets sued over its "no smoking" medical marijuana law, Maryland gets its first dispensary approved, West Virginia's medical marijuana law goes into effect, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/12/medical_marijuana_update

3. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
The nation's drug cops were apparently well-behaved this past week, but we can't say the same thing about prison guards.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/12/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

4. CHRONICLE AM: CANADA EXPANDING SAFE INJECTION SITES, FL SUED OVER MEDMJ SMOKE BAN, MORE... (7/6/17)
Canada is expanding the use of safe injection sites, the man behind Florida's successful medical marijuana constitutional amendment is suing the state over a smoking ban enacted by lawmakers, Massachusetts lawmakers continue to struggle with how to
implement marijuana legalization, and more. http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/06/chronicle_am_canada_expanding_sa

5. CHRONICLE AM: DRUG WARRIORS PUSH BACK ON SENTENCING CRITICISMS, MEXICO VIOLENCE, MORE... (7/7/17)
There's medical marijuana news from Maryland, drug warriors defend Sessions' harsh sentencing approach, Mexico's prohibition-related violence is ticking upward, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/07/chronicle_am_drug_warriors_push

6. CHRONICLE AM: MA MJ TALKS RESUME, WI "COCAINE MOM" LAW BACK IN EFFECT (FOR NOW), MORE... (7/10/17)
Massachusetts lawmakers finally figured out their budget, so now maybe they can figure out how to implement the will of the voters of legal marijuana; the Supreme Court lets Wisconsin continue to enforce its "cocaine mom" law as the state appeals a lower
court ruling it's unconstitutional; Colombian coca cultivation was way up last year, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/10/chronicle_am_ma_mj_talks_resume

7. CHRONICLE AM: MI INIT SIGNATURES COMING FAST, OR DECRIMINALIZES DRUG POSSESSION, MORE... (7/11/17)
Michigan legalizers are fast off the mark in their initiative signature-gathering campaign, the Drug Policy Alliance and 30 groups call for drug decriminalization, Oregon is set to defelonize drug possession, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/11/chronicle_am_mi_init_signatures

8. CHRONICLE AM: CT ENDS CIVIL FORFEITURE, SESSIONS CALLS FOR MORE DRUG WAR (AGAIN), MORE... (7/12/17)
Connecticut has become the 14th state to end civil asset forfeiture, Nevada's state government is moving to ease a potential marijuana shortage, Jeff Sessions gives another drug war speech, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/12/chronicle_am_ct_ends_civil_forfe

9. CHRONICLE AM: VETS MEDMJ VETS ADVANCES IN SENATE, DRUG WAR BILL ADVANCES IN HOUSE, MORE... (7/13/15)
Congress is dealing with medical marijuana and drug policy issues, legalization advocates call on New Hampshire's governor to kill a marijuana study commission bill, Rhode Island's governor issues an executive order dealing with the state's opioid crisis,
and more. http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/13/chronicle_am_vets_medmj_vets_adv

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1. OUTRAGEOUS MASSACHUSETTS DRUG BILL WOULD SEND YOU TO PRISON AND STEAL YOUR CAR -- NO DRUGS NEEDED
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/jul/12/outrageous_massachusetts_drug_bi

With the support of state law enforcement (http://reason.com/blog/2017/07/06/this-mass-lawmaker-wants-to-throw-folks), a Massachusetts Democratic state representative has filed a drug war bill that would send violators to prison for a mandatory minimum

two years (five years for a second offense) and allow police to seize their vehicles -- all without the presence of any actual drugs.

Sponsored by Rep. Stephan Hay (D-Fitchfield), the measure, House Bill 1266 (https://malegislature.gov/Bills/190/H1266), makes it a crime to have a hidden compartment in one's vehicle or to try to add one -- and it presumes that any hidden compartment in
a vehicle is for "for the purpose of transporting or distributing controlled substances" and related contraband, such as cash or weapons. As the bill specifies in its asset forfeiture section:

Proof that a conveyance contains a hidden compartment as defined in this section shall be prima facie evidence that the conveyance was used intended for use in and for the business of unlawfully manufacturing, dispensing, or distributing controlled
substances.

This is a legislative attempt to redefine reality in the name of drug war priorities akin to South Dakota's law deeming meth use or possession by a parent as child abuse (http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/377/sdlaw.shtml). Despite that law, meth
use is not child abuse, although it could lead to it. Similarly, having a hidden compartment in a car does not mean one is involved in trafficking, although one could be. But in both cases, legislators seek to twist reality to sync with prohibitionist --
and punitive -- ideology.

Only one state, Ohio, has a similar law on the books, and it has only been used once, but that one instance should be disturbing. In 2013, state troopers stopped Norman Gurley and discovered a secret compartment in his vehicle. They found absolutely no
drugs but arrested him anyway (http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/21/driver-arrested-in-ohio-for-secret-car-c) on charges he broke the secret compartment law. That case briefly became a national news sensation (http://reason.com/archives/2013/11/27/court-
hearing-raises-more-questions-abou) before fading into obscurity, but it still lives: Gurley is set for a jury trial in December.

Police in Massachusetts are supporting this bill not only because it gives them one more tool in their war on drugs, but also because they get to keep any cars they seize. Massachusetts has the worst civil asset forfeiture laws in the country (http://ij.
org/pfp-state-pages/pfp-Massachusetts/), and unlike states that are lining up to end forfeitures without a criminal conviction, as neighboring Connecticut did this week (https://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2017/07/11/connecticut-just-banned-
civil-forfeiture-without-a-criminal-conviction/), cops only need to reach the threshold of probable cause that someone's cash or car or other property is related to a crime to seize it. This bill would make it all the easier, and they wouldn't even need
to find any drugs.

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___________________

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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