• Drug War Chronicle 1213 -- Table of contents plus lead story -CA Police

    From Bobbie Sellers@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jun 5 06:37:45 2024
    XPost: alt.drugs.psychedelics, alt.drugs.pot, alt.hemp.politics

    rug War Chronicle, Issue #1213 -- 6/3/24
    Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1213

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

    APPEAL: Help Us Respond to the Opportunities and the Challenges of This
    Time:
    https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/help_us_respond

    Table of Contents:

    1. FEDERAL BILL WOULD RESTRICT .50 CALIBER RIFLES IN BID TO BLOCK CARTEL
    ACCESS [FEATURE]
    .50 caliber sniper rifles can take down a chopper, penetrate armor, and
    hit a target from a mile away. For $9,000 one can be yours. The Mexican
    cartels say "yes, please." https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/federal-bill-would-restrict-50-caliber-rifles-bid-block-cartel-access-feature

    2. CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW: THE SUBURBAN CRISIS
    Trying to deal with car culture kids in the post-World War II Los
    Angeles suburbs laid the groundwork for the war on drugs. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/chronicle-book-review-suburban-crisis

    3. CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW: SMOKE AND ASHES
    Amitav Ghosh creates a rich, provocative, and eye-opening portrait of
    the rise of the opium trade. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/chronicle-book-review-smoke-and-ashes

    4. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
    An Arkansas cop gets caught slinging dope in uniform and a West Virginia federal prison guard breaks bad. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/weeks-corrupt-cops-stories-2

    5. MN LAWMAKERS SET STAGE FOR LEGAL WEED INDUSTRY, AFGHANS ERADICATE
    MILES OF OPIUM POPPIES, MORE... (5/24/24)
    The DEA releases its annual drug threat assessment, a new poll finds
    Texans are ready to legalize weed even if their political leaders are
    not, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/mn-lawmakers-set-stage-legal-weed-industry-afghans-eradicates-miles-opium-poppies-more

    6. LA FIRST STATE TO MAKE ABORTION DRUGS CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES, NH
    SENATE APPROVES MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION BILL, MORE... (5/28/24)
    South Korea threatens to arrest its citizens if they smoke pot in
    countries where it is legal, Ireland wields harm reduction services as
    summer festival season arrives, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/la-first-state-make-abortion-drugs-controlled-substances

    7. SOUTH AFRICA LEGALIZES MARIJUANA, DE GOVERNOR SIGNS MEDMJ EXPANSION
    BILL, MORE... (5/29/24)
    The UN Office on Drugs and Crime issues a new report on East and
    Southeast Asian drug trafficking, California psychedelic reform
    proponents ponder a 2026 initiative, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/south-africa-legalizes-marijuana-de-governor-signs-medmj-expansion-bill-more-52924

    8. CA COPS NOW SUPPORT MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF
    SAN FRANCISCO DRUG CRACKDOWN, MORE... (5/30/24)
    A dangerous new substance is entering the nation's illicit powder drug
    supply, the New Hampshire marijuana legalization bill is now going to conference committee, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/ca-cops-now-support-marijuana-legalization-one-year-anniversary-san-francisco-drug

    9. ONE-THIRD OF AMERICANS KNOW SOMEONE WHO DIED OF AN OVERDOSE, LA BANS
    "GAS STATION HEROIN," MORE... (5/31/24)
    A new Tennessee poll has a strong majority for marijuana legalization, a Japanese three-year-old is honored for spotting an opium poppy, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/one-third-americans-know-someone-who-died-overdose-la-bans-gas-station-heroin-more-53124

    10. CA KRATOM REGULATION BILL ADVANCES, VT GOVERNOR VETOES SAFE
    INJECTION SITE BILL, MORE... (6/3/24)
    Customs and Border Patrol has cut the period of acceptable last
    marijuana use for recruits from two years to 90 days, the federal
    defense bill is the locus of several drug policy-related amendments, and
    more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/ca-kratom-regulation-bill-advances-vt-governor-vetoes-safe-injection-site-bill-more-6324

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

    1. FEDERAL BILL WOULD RESTRICT .50 CALIBER RIFLES IN BID TO BLOCK CARTEL
    ACCESS [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/federal-bill-would-restrict-50-caliber-rifles-bid-block-cartel-access-feature

    .50 caliber rifles are among the most powerful weapons civilians can
    buy in the United States. The anti-armor sniper rifles were designed
    for military use and can strike a target from more than a mile away (https://www.vpc.org/studies/50danger.pdf), penetrate light armor,
    down a helicopter, destroy commercial aircraft, and blow through rail
    cars and storage tanks filled with chemicals.

    They are used by militaries around
    the world because of their ability to blow through armor and favored
    by some gun enthusiasts here but also by less savory actors, including
    Mexican drug trafficking organizations, the so-called cartels.

    Grown obscenely wealthy thanks to the profits of drug prohibition, the
    cartels have no problem with the $9,000 price tag for the high-powered
    weapons. In one case alone (https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/mexico-usa-guns/),
    more than $600,000 worth of .50 calibers and other military-grade
    firearms were purchased for the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG)
    in Racine, Wisconsin, in the spring of 2018.

    That case was made after a CJNG hit squad attempted to assassinate a
    prosecutor in Jalisco and a subsequent raid in Guadalajara turned up
    36 weapons including a Barrett .50 caliber traced back to a Racine
    firearms dealer. The defendants in that case are on trial in federal
    court right now.

    .50 calibers have also been used by the CJNG (https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/mexico-usa-guns/)
    to kill 13 policemen in an ambush, in a failed assassination attempt
    against Mexico City's top cop, and to shoot down a police helicopter.

    It's not just the CJNG. When authorities in Culiacan, Sinaloa,
    arrested Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's son in 2019, Sinaloa Cartel
    gunmen used .50 calibers (https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7vwyx/mexican-cartel-50-cal) to
    battle government forces on the streets of the city, leading to the
    decision to release him. Those battles produced videos that went
    viral.

    It is a peculiarity of American law and history that such weapons are
    available for sale to the general public. But there is support in
    Congress for changing that, at least on the Democratic side of the
    aisle. This week, nearly two dozen Democratic US representatives
    cosponsored the Stop Arming Cartels Act (https://castro.house.gov/imo/media/doc/stop_arming_cartels_act.pdf),
    which would restrict access to such weaponry in the name of preventing
    it from ending up in the hands of people like the CJNG and the Sinaloa
    Cartel.

    The Stop Arming Cartels Act would prohibit the further sale of .50
    caliber rifles and regulate existing .50 caliber rifles, applying the
    same reporting requirements for handguns to rifles, and establishing
    new avenues for the victims of gun violence to seek justice from
    manufacturers and dealers who violate US laws.

    "When I speak to leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean, their
    number-one request is for Congress to stop American weapons of war
    from falling into the hands of the gangs that are destabilizing their countries," said bill sponsor Rep. Joaquin Castro (https://castro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-castro-escobar-frost-introduce-stop-arming-cartels-act-to-prevent-trafficking-of-military-grade-weapons-to-mexican-cartels)
    (D-TX). "Especially in Mexico, access to .50 caliber rifles has
    fundamentally altered the balance of power between criminal
    organizations and the government and allowed cartels to become
    virtually untouchable" he continued.

    Cosponsor Rep. Veronica Escobar (https://castro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-castro-escobar-frost-introduce-stop-arming-cartels-act-to-prevent-trafficking-of-military-grade-weapons-to-mexican-cartels)
    (D-TX) said that "[t]he gun laws championed by Republican legislators
    in this country make Americans less safe. The consequences don't just
    impact our communities but they also impact our neighbors in Latin
    America and around the world," arguing that "a refusal to act would
    mean continuing to arm transnational criminal organizations and
    cartels that purchase these weapons for illicit acts."

    Anything that touches on the 2nd Amendment is bound to stir up an
    angry reaction. And most congressional legislation needs the votes of
    60 Senators, in order to overcome the filibuster that is certain to be initiated by legislators on the right. On the other hand, legislation
    passed last year took some steps including licensing, purchase limits
    and increased backround checks, the first federal gun regulation
    measure to get enacted in many years.

    In the meanwhile, there aren't many members of either party in
    Congress who are ready to fully confront the role of drug prohibition
    in driving the prevalence of these and other weapons.

    The Stop Arming Cartels Act has been endorsed by Global Exchange/Stop
    U.S. Arms to Mexico, Gun Violence Prevention, Newtown Action Alliance,
    March for Our Lives, Everytown, Washington Office on Latin America
    (WOLA), Center for American Progress, Brady: United Against Gun
    Violence, Latin America Working Group (LAWG), Amnesty International,
    Win Without War, and Global Action on Gun Violence.


    ================  ...


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