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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #992 -- 9/28/17
Phillip S. Smith, Editor,psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/992

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

Table of Contents:

1. DRUG ARRESTS, MARIJUANA ARRESTS BOTH UP LAST YEAR, FBI REPORTS [FEATURE]
The mass arrests are at odds with a majority of the public that supports ending the drug war and treating drug use as a health issue.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/26/2016_drug_arrests_up

2. IS NORTH KOREA PEDDLING DOPE TO GET AROUND SANCTIONS?
It certainly looks that way. If so, then drug prohibition may prevent the economic embargo from having the desired impact.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/24/north_korea_peddling_dope_get

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.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/26/2017_drug_policy_conference

4. STUDY FINDS MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION DOESN'T DRIVE INCREASED USE, BUT VICE VERSA
A new study regurgitates some old findings, but the point remains worth making. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/27/study_finds_marijuana

5. A MARIJUANA DRIVE-THROUGH COULD BE COMING TO A CORNER NEAR YOU
If you live in Maine, that is. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/26/marijuana_drivethrough_could_be

6. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
It was a pretty quiet week on the medical marijuana front, with all the action taking place in the courts. A Florida farmer sues over grower licenses, a Montana dispensary operator sues over a local ban, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/27/medical_marijuana_update

7. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
Busy, busy: A long-time fugitive rogue Chicago cop gets cop, a DHS agent gets nailed for taking big bucks to help a Cali Cartel operative make an indictment go away, a Vermont cop plied a woman addict with drugs in order to get laid, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/27/corrupt_cops_stories

8. CHRONICLE AM: CVS TO LIMIT OPIOID 'SCRIPS, SESSIONS SLAMS LEGAL POT (AGAIN), MORE... (9/21/17)
The attorney general makes clear yet again that he doesn't like legal weed, a Kentucky court throws out a medical marijuana lawsuit, one of the nation's largest pharmacy chains is moving to tighten up on opioid prescriptions, Rodrigo Duterte is ready to
kill his own kid for the sake of the drug war, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/21/chronicle_am_cvs_limit_opioid

9. CHRONICLE AM: MA DRUG LAB SCANDAL REDUX, PA MJ SUPPORT STRONG AND RISING, MORE... (9/22/17)
Pennsylvania support for marijuanalegalization is strong and rising, Attorney General Sessions mixes drug and immigration policy, another federal court rules against Stingray, a second Massachusetts drug lab scandal could see thousands more cases
dismissed, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/22/chronicle_am_ma_drug_lab_scandal

10. CHRONICLE AM: FBI: DRUG ARRESTS UP LAST YEAR, COLOMBIA COCA CONFLICT, MORE... (9/25/17)
The FBI's latest Uniform Crime Report shows an increase in drug arrests last year, there's conflict in the coca fields in Colombia, British Columbia gets set to figure out how it's going to handle legal weed, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/25/chronicle_am_fbi_drug_arrests

11. CHRONICLE AM: MAINE CONSIDERS MARIJUANA SOCIAL CLUBS WITH NO SMOKING, MORE... (9/26/17)
Maine considers marijuana social clubs where you can't smoke, some Maryland criminal justice reforms passed last year will go into effect on Sunday, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/26/chronicle_am_maine_considers

12. CHRONICLE AM: CITING TRUMP, DEA HEAD QUITS; ATLANTA MOVES TOWARD MJ DECRIM, MORE... (9/27/17)
DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg is outta here, Atlanta moves closer to pot decriminalization, San Francisco goes slow on legal pot sales, Florida's governor wants to restrict opioid prescriptions, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/27/chronicle_am_citing_trump_dea

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1. DRUG ARRESTS, MARIJUANA ARRESTS BOTH UP LAST YEAR, FBI REPORTS [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/sep/26/2016_drug_arrests_up

This article was produced in collaboration with AlterNet and first appeared here (http://www.alternet.org/drugs/drug-marijuana-arrests-increased-2016-new-fbi-report).f

Despite spreading marijuana legalization and despite a growing desire for new directions in drug policy, the war on drugs continues unabated. According to the FBI's latest Uniform Crime Report (https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-
2016/cius-2016), released Monday, overall drug arrests actually increased last year to 1.57 million, a jump of 5.63% over 2015. The increase includes marijuana arrests, which jumped by more than 75,000 last year compared to 2015, an increase of 12%.

That comes out to three drugs arrests every minute, day in and day out, throughout 2016. It's also more than three times the number of people arrested for violent crimes. Drug offenses are the single largest category of crimes for which people were
arrested last year, more than burglaries, DUIs, or any other criminal offense.

Unlike previous years, this year's Uniform Crime Report did not immediately make available data on specific offenses, such as drug possession or drug sales, nor did it break arrests down by type of drug, but the Marijuana Policy Project obtained
marijuana arrest data by contacting the FBI. It reported some 653,000 people arrested on marijuana charges last year, although the FBI did not provide data on how many were simple possession charges.

While that figure marks a decline from historic highs a decade ago -- pot arrests peaked at nearly 800,000 in 2007 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/26/marijuana-arrests-fall-to-lowest-level-since-1996/) -- the sharp jump in pot
arrests last year demands explanation, especially as it comes after a decade of near continuous declining numbers.

"Arresting and citing nearly half a million people a year for a substance that is objectively safer than alcohol is a travesty," said MPP communications director Morgan Fox. "Despite a steady shift in public opinion away from marijuana prohibition, and
the growing number of states that are regulating marijuana like alcohol, marijuana consumers continue to be treated like criminals throughout the country. This is a shameful waste of resources and can create lifelong consequences for the people arrested."

Despite the lack of specific offense data, 2016 is unlikely to turn out markedly different from previous years when it comes to the mix of drug arrests. Past years typically had simple drug possession offenses accounting for 85% to 90% of all drug
arrests and small-time marijuana possession arrests accounting for around 40%.

That means that of the more than 1.5 million drug arrests last year, probably 1.3 million or so of them were not drug kingpins, major dealers, gangbangers, or cartel operatives. Instead they were people who got caught with small amounts of drugs for
personal use.

"Criminalizing drug use has devastated families across the US, particularly in communities of color, and for no good reason," said Maria McFarland Sánchez Moreno, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Far from helping people who are
struggling with addiction, the threat of arrest often keeps them from accessing health services and increases the risk of overdose or other harms."

Perpetuating the war on drugs leads not only to the criminalization of millions, but also perpetuates racially biased outcomes and heightens racial tensions in the US. Black people make up just 13% of the U.S. population and use drugs at similar rates to
other ethnic groups, but they constitute 29% of all drug arrests and 35% of state drug war prisoners.

And it has a huge negative impact on immigrants, fueling mass detentions and deportations (http://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/drug-war-and-mass-deportation). Non-citizens, including legal permanent residents -- some of whom have been here for decades and
have US citizen family members -- face deportation for even possessing any drug (except first-time possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana). Between 2007 and 2012, more than a quarter million people were deported for drug offenses, including more
than 100,000 deported for simple drug possession.

Last year, the Obama administration was in power and setting the tone on drug policy and criminal justice matters -- and the number of arrests still went up. These disappointing numbers show that reformers have their work cut out for them all the more
with the "tough on crime" Trump administration in power for at least the next few years.


================  ...


                                         ___________________

                                          It's time to correct the mistake:
                                        Truth:the Anti-drugwar
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                                      Cops say legalize drugs--find out
why:
<http://www.leap.cc>

                                       Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
                                       ___________________

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