• Drug War Chronicle, Issue #985 -- 8/11/17 - Table of contents with live

    From Bobbie Sellers@21:1/5 to All on Fri Aug 11 09:45:58 2017
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    Drug War Chronicle, Issue #985 -- 8/11/17

    Phillip S. Smith, Editor,psmith@drcnet.org http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/985

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

    Table of Contents:

    1. IN BID TO DEFEND MARIJUANA ARRESTS, NYC MAYOR DE BLASIO ATTACKS DRUG REFORMERS
    New York City remains the world's marijuana arrest capital, and it's still mainly black and brown people getting popped.
    http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/09/de_blasio_defends_marijuana_arrests

    2. WHY ARE POT SHOPS MAINLY IN POOR NEIGHBORHOODS?
    It's not a plot. http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/09/why_are_pot_shops_mainly_near_poor

    3. THE 2017 INTERNATIONAL DRUG POLICY REFORM CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 11-14, ATLANTA The 2017 International Drug Policy Reform Conference is the major biannual gathering of drug policy reformers from around the world.
    http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/10/2017_reform_conference

    4. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
    Interest in the medical marijuana industry is high in North Dakota, Hawaii gets its first two dispensaries, New Jersey ponders expanding qualifying conditions, and more.
    http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/09/medical_marijuana_update

    5. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
    A Texas parole officer gets popped for getting pills from a parolee, a pair of California deputies get their hands slapped for stealing and reselling weed, a Texas jail guard gets nailed for collecting drug debts for a prisoner, and more.
    http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/09/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

    6. CHRONICLE AM: BRITISH DRUG DEATHS AT RECORD HIGH, ANOTHER GOOD POLL FOR POT, MORE... (8/3/17)
    A new poll shows extremely low support for marijuana prohibition, Maine lawmakers want to restrict how much pot landowners can allow for personal grows, drug deaths are up dramatically in the UK, and more.
    http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/03/chronicle_am_british_drug_deaths

    7. CHRONICLE AM: DEA TO CUT PAIN PILL QUOTAS NEXT YEAR, SESSIONS EYES WA'S LEGAL POT, MORE...(8/4/17)
    Attorney General Sessions is giving the hairy eyeball to Washington state's legal pot program, the DEA is moving to reduce prescription opioid production next year, the head of the Los Angeles city council wants the city to create a bank for the pot
    industry, and more. http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/04/chronicle_am_dea_cut_pain_pill_q

    8. CHRONICLE AM: SESSIONS' CRIME TASK FORCE DOESN'T RECOMMEND GOING AFTER LEGAL MARIJUANA, MORE... (8/7/17)
    The attorney general's crime task force has little new to say about grappling with legal marijuana, Sessions sends another letter to another governor, the US leans on Colombia over coca, and more.
    http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/07/chronicle_am_sessions_crime_task

    9. CHRONICLE AM: SECRET SAFE INJECTION SITE IN US CITY, VT "BLUE RIBBON" MJ PANEL, MORE... (8/8/17)
    The body representing state legislatures again calls for marijuana reforms, Vermont's governor is about to empanel on commission to study legalization issues, a safe injection site has been operating secretly in a US city for the past three years, and
    more. http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/08/chronicle_am_secret_safe_injecti_0

    10. CHRONICLE AM: TRUMP WANTS MORE DRUG WAR TO FIGHT OPIOIDS, NEW POT POLL, MORE... (8/9/17)
    A new Quinnipiac poll has support for marijuana legalization at a record high, Trump calls for a return to tough drug war policies to fight opioids, Hawaii gets its first dispensary, and more.
    http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/09/chronicle_am_trump_wants_more_dr

    11. CHRONICLE AM: TRUMP SAYS HE WILL DECLARE NATIONAL EMERGENCY ON OPIOIDS, MORE... (8/10/17)
    The president says he will formally declare a national emergency on the opioid crisis, Latino legislators embrace marijuana legalization, Utah medical marijuana supporters can begin signature-gathering for their initiative, and more.
    http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/10/chronicle_am_trump_says_he_will

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

    1. IN BID TO DEFEND MARIJUANA ARRESTS, NYC MAYOR DE BLASIO ATTACKS DRUG REFORMERS
    http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/aug/09/de_blasio_defends_marijuana_arrests

    Last month, the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) released a report noting that marijuana arrests under New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio continue to be marked by shocking racial disparities, much as they were under his predecessors, Rudy Giuliani and Michael
    Bloomberg. Stung by the criticism, de Blasio is fighting back, but his response so far has consisted of attacking DPA as "legalizers" and comparing apples to oranges.

    The DPA report, Unjust and Unconstitutional: 60,000 Jim Crow Marijuana Arrests in Mayor de Blasio's New York (http://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/unjust-and-unconstitutional-60000-jim-crow-marijuana-arrests-mayor-de-blasios-new-york), noted that while
    marijuana possession arrests are down under de Blasio from the grotesque numbers achieved under Giuliani (more than 40,000 arrests in 2001) or Bloomberg (more than 50,000 arrests in 2011), NYPD still arrested made more than 18,000 of them last year. A
    whopping 86% of them were black or brown, maintaining the racial disparities so apparent in earlier administrations.

    That's "a far cry from the Mayor's pledge to rein in NYPD's targeting of people of color," charged DPA New York State Director Kassandra Frederique in the report. That de Blasio had managed to bring pot arrests down to an average of only 20,000 a year
    during his tenure shouldn't be portrayed as progress, argued Frederique, instead describing it as "slower injustice, but slower injustice is still injustice delivered."

    De Blasio struck back last Friday, releasing a statement (https://medium.com/@NYCMayorsOffice/drug-policy-alliances-marijuana-report-is-misleading-arrests-for-possession-down-by-over-a-third-9562835f03d8) that called the DPA report "misleading" and
    attacked DPA as "a group committed to legalization." De Blasio's statement emphasized that marijuana arrests had dropped significantly under his administration -- something DPA never disputed -- but failed to address the claim of continuing racial
    disparities in arrests. Instead, it merely noted that because arrests were down overall, arrests of black and brown people were down, too.

    But the takeaway sentence in de Blasio's statement inadvertently makes DPA's case:

    As a result of this new policy, arrests for marijuana possession are down 37%  -- from almost 29,000 in 2013 to approximately 18,000 in 2016. This has translated into approximately 9,600 fewer arrests of Black and Latino New Yorkers for marijuana
    possession in 2016 as compared to 2013.

    In other words, a reduction of less than 11,000 total marijuana arrests between the two years resulted in about 9,600 people of color not being arrested. De Blasio's own data and arguments show that the city's minorities clearly take the brunt of
    marijuana law enforcement, his wriggling notwithstanding.

    And now, DPA is returning fire at de Blasio.

    "Mayor de Blasio is not disputing the data published in our report, he is trying to spin his poor record to look as though he has made some progress," Frederique said in a Friday press release (http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2017/08/advocates-challenge-
    de-blasio-stop-running-his-record-and-address-racial-disparities-ma). "In reality, New York City was the marijuana arrest capital of the world under Bloomberg and still holds that dubious title under de Blasio today. The 18,000 arrests in 2016 alone and
    outrageous racial disparities are a disgrace to the city and a blight on the mayor's record. The unjust and racially-targeted arrests are devastating black and Latino communities across the city."

    Frederique also applied some political ju-jitsu to de Blasio's "legalizer" attack.

    "The mayor's efforts to discredit the report and the Drug Policy Alliance by calling us legalizers, is a desperate attempt to distract the public from the facts of his abysmal record. Our report is based on data from the New York State Division of
    Criminal Justice Services. Rather than attack his critics, the mayor should attack the problem of racially-targeted arrests," she said. "For the record, the Drug Policy Alliance is committed to marijuana legalization to increase access for patients and
    end targeted policing in communities of color. And we're not alone; nearly 60% of Americans also support legalization."

    Instead of attacking critics, the mayor should fix the problem, Frederique added.

    "It's time for the mayor to get out of the spin cycle and back to work," she prescribed. "The mayor must end the biased policing practices that have ruined the lives of so many young black and Latino New Yorkers now.


    ================ ...


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