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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #994 -- 10/21/17
Phillip S. Smith, Editor,psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/994

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

Table of Contents:

1. SENATE HEAVYWEIGHTS FILE SENTENCING REFORM BILL [FEATURE]
The compromise bill is generally reformist, but includes some objectionable new mandatory minimums, too.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/18/senate_heavyweights_file

2. WINE COUNTRY FIRES HIT NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MARIJUANA INDUSTRY HARD
The flames are dying down in Northern California, but for the region's marijuana farmers, the pain is just beginning.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/18/wine_country_fires_hit_northern

3. AMIDST CONTROVERSY OVER ANTHEM PROTESTS, NFL ENDORSES DRUG SENTENCING REFORM [FEATURE]
The National Football League makes a surprising move. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/18/hold_hold_amidst_controversy

4. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
The Justice Department concedes it cannot prosecute the Kettle Falls Five because of congressional bans on spending money to go after medical marijuana states, Arkansas regulators are swamped with grow and sales applications, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/18/medical_marijuana_update

5. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A Florida narc gets a case of sticky fingers, and a whole bunch of jail and prison guards break bad.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/18/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

6. CHRONICLE AM: FED SENTENCING REFORM BILL FILED, COLOMBIA COCA CLASHES, MORE... (10/6/17)
Leading senators roll out a federal sentencing reform bill, Jeff Sessions ramps up the Safe Neighborhoods program, the VA doubles down against medical marijuana, more clashes erupt in Colombia's coca producing areas, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/06/chronicle_am_fed_sentencing

7. CHRONICLE AM: DUTCH TO PILOT LEGAL MARIJUANA GROWS, OR MARIJUANA TAX $$$, MORE... (10/10/17)
The Dutch finally begin to address their marijuana "back door problem," Canadian Mounties and tribal members clash over a pot shop, California's governor vetoes an opioid task force bill as redundant, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/10/chronicle_am_dutch_pilot_legal

8. CHRONICLE AM: TRUMP DRUG CZAR NOMINEE WITHDRAWS, NFL ENDORSES SENTENCING REFORM, MORE... (10/17/17)
Stories pile up when you spend a week at the drug reform conference: Trump's choice for drug czar is out, the NFL endorses sentencing reform, California's governor signs a sentencing reform bill, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/17/chronicle_am_trump_drug_czar

9. CHRONICLE AM: DALLAS ENDS MARIJUANA POSSESSION ARRESTS, DRUG CZAR NOMINEE NAMES, MORE... (10/18/17)
Dallas gives up on arresting pot possessors, the DOJ gives up on prosecuting the Kettle Falls Five, there's a new list of possible drug czar nominees, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/18/chronicle_am_dallas_ends

10. CHRONICLE AM: WASHINGTON SIJS WIN COURT RULING, HOUSTON DA GOES DEEP ON REFORM, MORE.. (10/19/17)
Hemp farming comes a step closer in Wisconsin, safe injection sites win a court battle in suburban Seattle, Houston's DA is proving to be a real criminal justice reformer, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/19/chronicle_am_washington_sijs_win

11. CHRONICLE AM: NEW ZEALAND TO VOTE ON MJ LEGALIZATION, PERU CONGRESS OKS MEDMJ, MORE... (10/20/17)
A new doctors' group is calling on the medical community to be open to marijuana legalization, kratom activists file a FOIA on the DEA, New Zealand's new prime minister says she will hold a referendum on marijuana legalization, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/20/chronicle_am_new_zealand_vote_mj

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1. SENATE HEAVYWEIGHTS FILE SENTENCING REFORM BILL [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/18/senate_heavyweights_file

A bipartisan group of Senate heavy-hitters have filed a bill (https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/senators-introduce-bipartisan-comprehensive-criminal-justice-reform-package) aimed at reducing the swollen federal prison population by
moving away from harsh mandatory minimum drug sentences, among other reforms. But it's not completely reformist.

The measure is a mixed bag, a product of lengthy discussions among senators seeking a compromise that could actually pass the Senate. While it has a number of progressive sentencing reform provisions, it also includes new mandatory minimum sentences for
some crimes, including some drug offenses. Those provisions will provide political cover to conservatives fearful of being tagged "soft on crime," but tired of perpetuating failed drug war policies.

The federal prison system has swollen dramatically since President Reagan reinvigorated Nixon's war on drugs. According to the federal Bureau of Prisons, the federal prison population has increased eight-fold since 1980 (https://www.grassley.senate.gov/
sites/default/files/constituents/Sentencing%2C%2010-04-17%2C%20SRCA%20115%20Summary.pdf), and while it peaked in 2012 and 2013, before Obama era sentencing reforms began to bite, there are still 192,000 people currently behind bars in the federal system.

The federal incarceration boom has largely been driven by the war on drugs. While the prison population jumped eight-fold, the number of drug prisoners jumped nearly 25-fold (http://sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Trends-in-US-
Corrections.pdf) during the same period, according to the Sentencing Project. The nearly 81,000 people currently doing federal time for drug crimes constitutes nearly half (46.2%) of all federal prisoners.

The reform bill, S. 1917 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1917), was rolled out Wednesday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), ranking committee Democrat Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Democratic Senate
Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with cosponsors senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Roy Blunt (R-MO).

"Our justice system demands consequences for those who choose to run afoul of the law, and law enforcement works hard to keep our communities safe," said Grassley. "This bipartisan compromise ensures that these consequences fit their crimes by targeting
violent and career criminals who prey on the innocent while giving nonviolent offenders with minimal criminal histories a better chance to become productive members of society. This bill strikes the right balance of improving public safety and ensuring
fairness in the criminal justice system. It is the product of much thoughtful deliberation, and we will continue to welcome input from stakeholders as we move forward."

"This compromise represents more than five years of work on criminal justice reform," said Durbin. "The United States incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country on earth. Mandatory minimum sentences were once seen as a strong deterrent. In
reality they have too often been unfair, fiscally irresponsible and a threat to public safety. Given tight budgets and overcrowded prison cells, our country must reform these outdated and ineffective laws that have cost American taxpayers billions of
dollars. This bipartisan group is committed to getting this done."

Given who is behind it and the senatorial compromise it represents, the measure actually has a chance of moving in the Republican-controlled body. Still, even if it were to pass there, sentencing reform faces murkier prospects in the House and, if the
first months of the Trump administration are any indication, implacable hostility from the White House and the Justice Department.

According to a summary from the Senate Judiciary Committee (https://www.grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/constituents/Sentencing%2C%2010-04-17%2C%20SRCA%20115%20Summary.pdf), the bill:

* Reduces enhanced mandatory minimums for certain non-violent drug offenders and eliminates the mandatory life provision for third strike offenders.
* Increases judicial discretion by expanding existing the "safety valve" allowing judges to sentence beneath federal guidelines to include offenders with broader criminal histories, including people with prior felonies or violent or drug trafficking
offenses if a court finds those offenses overstate a defendant's criminal history and recidivism risk. The bill also creates a second "safety valve" allowing judges to sentence some low-level drug offenders below the 10-year mandatory minimum.
* Reforms sentences for drug offenses with firearms to clarify that enhanced mandatory minimums only apply for people who have previously been convicted and served a sentence for such an offense and gives judges the discretion to order lesser sentences
if the firearm wasn't brandished or discharged during the commission of a drug or violent crime. This provision would prevent abominations like the case of Weldon Angelos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weldon_Angelos_case), the Salt Lake city music
producer who got nailed for selling $350 worth of marijuana to a police informant, but ended up being sentenced to 55 years because he had a pistol in an ankle holster when he did his pot deals. (He was released last year after winning a sentence
reduction.)
* Makes the Fair Sentencing Act and certain other sentencing reforms retroactive, which would allow some nonviolent offenders current serving time to seek sentence reductions upon a judicial review.
* Establishes programs to reduce recidivism, including work and education programs, drug rehabilitation, job training, and faith-based programs. Prisoners who successfully complete those programs could get to serve up to the final quarter of their
sentences under home confinement or in a reentry center.
* Limits solitary confinement for juveniles in federal custody.
* Creates a national criminal justice commission to undertake a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system.
* Creates new mandatory minimums for interstate domestic violence and providing weapons and defense materials to prohibited countries or designated terrorist groups, and creates a five-year sentencing enhancement for trafficking heroin containing
fentanyl.

There's plenty in there to appeal to sentencing reformers, and some sops to conservatives, but from a drug reform and anti-prohibitionist perspective, this is just some fixes on the back end. From that vantage point, instead of haggling over how many
months to shave off some poor sap's sentence, we should be questioning why he was even arrested and prosecuted in the first place.

But you have to start somewhere, and ameliorating some of the cruelest injustices of the drug war is a good place to get going.


================  ...


                                         ___________________

                                          It's time to correct the mistake:
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                                      Cops say legalize drugs--find out
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                                       Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
                                       ___________________

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