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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #995 -- 11/3/17
Phillip S. Smith, Editor,psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/995

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

Table of Contents:

1. TWO NYPD COPS CHARGED WITH RAPING TEEN AFTER BUSTING HER FOR MARIJUANA
The alleged victim has also filed a $50 million civil lawsuit against NYPD. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/31/two_nypd_cops_charged_raping

2. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
Congresspeople want the VA to research medical marijuana, New Jersey expands its list of qualifying conditions, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/nov/01/medical_marijuana_update

3. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
Sticky-fingered pill-stealing cops get themselves in trouble in Florida, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/25/weeks_corrupt_cops_stories

4. CHRONICLE AM: IRAN RESTRICTS DEATH PENALTY IN DRUG CASES, BELIZE MJ DECRIM MOVE, MORE... (10/23/17)
Iran has approved dramatic changes in the use of the death penalty in drug cases, an Indiana county ends needle exchange and cites the Bible to do so, Jamaica issues its first marijuana business licenses, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/23/chronicle_am_iran_restricts

5. CHRONICLE AM: DEA ANNUAL THREAT ASSESSMENT RELEASED, TRUMP OPIUM EVENT THURSDAY, MORE... (10/24/17)
The White House could announce a national opioid emergency on Thursday, the DEA releases its annual drug threat assessment, the Maine legislature approves a marijuana regulation bill, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/24/chronicle_am_dea_annual_threat

6. CHRONICLE AM: NEW GALLUP POLL HAS RECORD SUPPORT FOR MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, MORE... (10/25/17)
Nearly two-thirds of Americans now support marijuana legalization, and even more in Connecticut, the House passes a bill increasing funding for drug interdiction, the GAO reports on five years of US drug war spending in Latin America, Afghanistan has a
whopping record opium crop, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/25/chronicle_am_new_gallup_poll_has

7. CHRONICLE AM: TRUMP DECLARES OPIOID EMERGENCY, SF SIJ COULD COME SOON, MORE... (10/26/17)
The president declares the opioid crisis an emegency, but not enough of one to actually need funding; lawmakers go after the DEA over West Virginia pain pill deliveries, a St. Louis alderman files a marijuana legalization measure, the US Sentencing
Commission issues a report on mandatory minimums, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/26/chronicle_am_trump_declares

8. CHRONICLE AM: SECOND AUSTRALIA SIJ COMING, DEA ADDS HEROIN ENFORCEMENT TEAMS, MORE... (10/30/17)
The Victoria state government has approved a safe injection site in Melbourne, a new report warns that high taxes on legal marijuana could push people to the black market, New Jersey adds some new qualifying conditions for medical marijuana use, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/30/chronicle_am_second_australia

9. CHRONICLE AM: GERMANY'S MERKEL MAY AGREE TO LEGALIZATION AS PART OF COALITION, MORE... (10/31/17)
Marijuana decriminalization takes center stage in Virginia drug policy debates, Germany's Angela Merkel may agree to legalize marijuana in a bid to build a governing coalition, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/31/chronicle_am_germanys_merkel_may

10. CHRONICLE AM: TRUMP OPIOID COMMISSION CALLS FOR MORE DRUG COURTS, MORE... (11/1/17)
President Trump's opioid commission issues its recommendations, El Paso becomes the latest Texas locale to ease marijuana possession penalties, would-be Arkansas medical marijuana providers file suit over an application process that excluded them, and
more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/nov/01/chronicle_am_trump_opioid

11. CHRONICLE AM: DPA DECRIES RESORT TO DRUG COURTS, OSU CREATES DRUG POLICY CENTER, MORE... (11/02/17)
The Drug Policy Alliance takes aim at some of the opioid commission's recommendations, Michigan dispensaries can stay open during the shift to the new regime, Ohio State creates a Koch-funded drug policy center, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/nov/02/chronicle_am_dpa_decries_resort

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1. TWO NYPD COPS CHARGED WITH RAPING TEEN AFTER BUSTING HER FOR MARIJUANA https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/oct/31/two_nypd_cops_charged_raping

A New York City grand jury indicted two Brooklyn narcotics officers late last week on charges they raped an 18-year-old woman after arresting her for smoking marijuana (http://nypost.com/2017/10/27/nypd-cops-charged-with-raping-woman-in-police-van/). The
alleged victim says she was assaulted while handcuffed in the back of a police van in the parking lot of a Chipotle restaurant in September.

The two narcotics officers, Eddie Martins and Richard Hall, now face charges of first degree rape. The alleged victim, who posts on social media under the name Anna Chambers (https://twitter.com/annaaachambers), including posts about the case, says that
both narcs forced her to perform oral sex on them, and that one of them raped her. She alleges that she and two young men were pulled over by Martins and Hall for smoking pot, and that they targeted her after finding prescription drugs in the car. The
narcs told her companions to leave before ordering her to undress so they could "search for drugs."

They didn't find any drugs on her, but handcuffed the teen anyway before coercing her into sex, her attorney, Michael David, told the New York Post.

"You'll spend three hours in the precinct," they allegedly told her. They also allegedly said: "This is what you're going to do for us, and we'll let you go," David said.

"There was zero consent," David said. "The cops were over 6 feet tall. She's very petite, like 5-2 and maybe 100 pounds. There's nothing she could do."

The grand jury issued the indictments October 26 after hearing a week of testimony, including testimony on the stand from Chambers herself. The narcs were not arrested upon indictment, but are expected to turn themselves in this week. They have been
placed on modified duty and stripped of their guns and badges and are now suspended without pay. They're looking at between three and 25 years in prison if convicted.

The detectives, from NYPD's Brooklyn South narcotics squad, have not denied that they engaged in sex acts with the alleged victim, but claimed they were consensual. They also spent the past week trying to discredit and impugn their accuser.

In a letter to prosecutors, lawyers for the narcs pointed out that she had filed a $50 million claim against the city in October and that she had posted "provocative" selfies on her Instagram and Twitter accounts after the assault. The lawyers called on
prosecutors "to further investigate Chambers' dubious claim before you ask the grand jury to return an indictment against Martins and Hall."

Chambers furiously rejects the narcs' claim that the sex was consensual, her lawyer said.

"She was shocked that the [cops] would say it was consensual after everything that was done to her. She wanted to get the word out," David explained. 'She just wants everybody to know it's an absolute lie that this was consensual. She was raped. She was
viciously, brutally raped in handcuffs. It's the truth," he said.

"She's embarrassed," David continued. "She's very depressed over this. Her whole life had changed after this experience. She's afraid of the police, and she really wants justice to be served here."

After the attack, Chambers did what victims are supposed to do: She sought help at NYU Langone Hospital, which performed a rape kit on her that found the cops' DNA. She reported a sexual assault to police. She confided to friends after it happened. And
she filed a civil lawsuit. And now, the criminal justice system swings into action against the perpetrators.

One of the reasons the war on drugs is so loathed is that it provides the opportunity for crooked cops to abuse their power in ways that have been alleged in this case. One wonders how many similarly abused women have not come forward.



================  ...


                                         ___________________

                                          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>
                                       ___________________

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--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

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      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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