• Drug War Chronicle #1222 -- Dems Vs. GOP and GOP vs. GOP over Marijuana

    From Bobbie Sellers@21:1/5 to All on Sat Sep 14 19:46:33 2024
    XPost: alt.drugs.psychedelics, alt.drugs.pot, alt.hemp.politics

    Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1222 -- 9/13/24
    Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1222

    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. BIPARTISAN SENATE BILL TAKES AIM AT SHEIN AND TEMU -- AND FENTANYL,
    TOO [FEATURE]
    A billion "low-value" packages skate past Customs each year. Some
    contain cheap clothing from China; others contain fentanyl, and a new
    Senate bill aims to do something about both. But will it actually help? https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/bipartisan-senate-bill-takes-aim-shein-and-temu-and-fentanyl-too-feature

    2. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
    A small-town Utah police chief develops a bad habit, a small-town Texas
    police chief and her fellow cop partner had a side business slinging
    meth, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/weeks-corrupt-cops-stories-6

    3. NC TRIBE OPENS MJ SALES TO ADULT, TRUMP SUPPORTS BIDEN RESCHEDULING
    MOVE, MORE... (9/9/24)
    Nebraska's Republican attorney general is leading a crackdown on shops
    selling delta-8 THC products, Texas voters strongly support marijuana decriminalization, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/nc-tribe-adult-us-marijuana-sales-nebraska-delta8-crackdown-more-9924

    4. HARRIS CAMPAIGN ACCUSES TRUMP OF LYING ABOUT POT POLICY, HOUSTON NARC
    GOES ON TRIAL FOR MURDER, MORE... (9/10/24)
    The Colombia government and a dissident FARC faction are headed back to
    the table for peace talks in Havana, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/harris-campaign-accuses-trump-lying-about-pot-policy-houston-narc-goes-trial-murder-more

    5. FL GOP AT ODDS OVER MARIJUANA INIT, FEDERAL FENTANYL BILL FILED,
    MORE... (9/11/24)
    Rhode Island marijuana regulators are moving toward a hybrid licensing
    process, Iran's new president says his country needs new drug policies,
    and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/fl-gop-odds-over-pot-initiative-federal-fentanyl-package-bill-filed-more-91124

    6. USUAL SUSPECTS OPPOSE NORTH DAKOTA LEGALIZATION INIT, FEARS RISE OF
    SINALOA CARTEL CIVIL WAR, MORE... (9/12/24)
    Massachusetts psychedelic initiative analyzed, Zurich legal weed pilot
    program evaluated at the one-year mark, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/usual-suspects-oppose-nd-marijuana-legalization-initiative-fears-rise-sinaloa-cartel

    (Not subscribed? Visit https://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up today!)

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

    1. BIPARTISAN SENATE BILL TAKES AIM AT SHEIN AND TEMU -- AND FENTANYL,
    TOO [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/bipartisan-senate-bill-takes-aim-shein-and-temu-and-fentanyl-too-feature

    A billion "low-value" packages skate past Customs each year. Some
    contain cheap clothing from China; others contain fentanyl, and a new
    Senate bill aims to do something about both. But will it actually
    help?

    Led by Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden
    (D-OR), a bipartisan group of senators has filed a bill to tighten
    Customs controls over packages sent into the United States, justified
    in part by the effort to interdict small shipments of fentanyl being
    sent into the country. The cutely-acronymed Fighting Illicit Goods,
    Helping Trustworthy Importers, and Netting Gains (FIGHTING) for
    America Act (https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fighting_for_america_bill_textpdf.pdf)
    would also target other "illicit goods," including "counterfeits, and
    products made with forced labor," according to a press release (https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-lummis-brown-collins-and-casey-release-bipartisan-legislation-to-halt-the-flood-of-illicit-packages-into-the-united-states)
    from the Senate Finance Committee.

    The legislation was provoked by a massive increase in "low-value
    shipments" (valued at less than $800) of packages into the country
    from 299 million in 2016 to one billion in 2023, according to a Senate
    Finance Committee backgrounder (https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fighting_for_america_act_one-pagerpdf.pdf).
    That increase was facilitated by a US policy known as "de minimis
    entry," allowing those low-value packages to enter the country
    tariff-free and under a streamlined process to try to conserve scarce government resources and simplify customs procedures for small
    businesses and consumers.

    The backgrounder claims that "unscrupulous corporations like [online
    retailers] Shein and Temu have abused the system, building entire
    business models around their ability to flood the US market with direct-to-consumer shipments that avoid both tariffs and Customs
    scrutiny." Shein was founded in China but is now headquartered in
    Singapore, while Temu is in Boston and is owned by a Chinese parent
    company.

    The backgrounder also argues that small packages shipped to individual consumers are reliant on international air courier services, making
    the practice more carbon-intensive than relying on shipping
    containers. It also says passage of the bill would "level the playing
    field for US manufacturers" by ensuring that tariffs are imposed.

    The bill aims to tighten the rules for de minimis entry and "help the
    CBP [Customs and Border Patrol] more effectively stop unlawful
    imports" by prohibiting certain goods -- those that are
    import-sensitive or facing additional trade remedies -- from being
    shipped de minimis and by requiring CBP to do more monitoring and
    information collecting on de minimus entry packages.

    "Foreign corporate giants are inundating our borders with millions of
    low-value packages, making it tough for customs agents to stop
    dangerous goods like fentanyl from falling into Americans' hands,"
    Wyden said in the statement. "Americans should feel confident that
    anything arriving on their doorstep is safe, legal, and ethically
    produced. Our legislation would crack down on foreign companies
    abusing the law and make sure they play by the rules."

    "Whether through the southwest border or in packages mailed into the
    United States, China is using any tool available to get illicit drugs
    across our border," Lummis said. "It is time for CBP to crack down on
    shipments from China to ensure drugs and products made using slave
    labor are encountered before making it into our communities."

    "Countries like China are exploiting the de minimis loophole to cheat
    our trade laws and flood our country with packages containing fentanyl
    and other illicit substances," Brown said. "By cracking down on this
    loophole and providing law enforcement with more resources, this
    bipartisan legislation will begin to level the playing field for Ohio
    workers and Ohio manufacturers and retailers -- while helping to stop
    the deadly flow of fentanyl into Ohio communities."

    It is not clear what law enforcement thinks about leveled playing
    fields for the American economy, but it likes the notion of more
    interdiction to fight fentanyl.

    "Law enforcement is battling the trafficking of illegal narcotics on
    multiple fronts, including the international mail system. The de
    minimis loophole is severely exacerbating the opioid crisis by
    allowing fentanyl and other illegal opioids to enter our country
    largely uninspected. Substantial reform or the closing of this trade
    loophole is necessary to remove significant fentanyl trafficking
    routes into this country and is essential to any national strategy to
    end the fentanyl crisis," said Bill Johnson, executive director of the
    National Association of Police Organizations. "NAPO supports the
    FIGHTING for America Act and we look forward to working with Chairman
    Wyden to ensure the de minimis trade exemption will no longer be a
    gateway for illicit drugs and goods to cross our borders."

    The Fraternal Order of Police is also down with the bill.

    "In an effort to evade detection and interdiction, drug smugglers are
    using low-value, direct-to-consumer shipments that enter the country,
    which allows these criminals to bypass the usual screening methods
    employed by Customs and Border Protection and get fentanyl and other
    drugs and illicit goods into the United States," said Patrick Yoes,
    the group's national president. "The FOP supports legislation as
    proposed by Senators Wyden and Lummis to tighten the rules and crack
    down on these foreign-based drug traffickers who are using low-value
    imports to game the system and flood our communities with fentanyl and
    other illegal goods and substances."

    Will the new bill actually help, though, assuming it passes?
    Regardless of the its potential positive impact on strengthening the
    US economy in the face of foreign competition -- or on the fight
    against climate change, for that matter -- its effort to address the
    fentanyl crisis by pursuing more, better interdiction is akin to
    playing a game of whack-a-mole with traffickers. For decades, the
    United States has maintained a policy of stricter and more intrusive interdiction efforts. It has not yet worked yet, and there is no
    indication this would be any different. Rather than chasing futile
    pursuits, policymakers would be better off shedding the failed
    prohibitionist model for dealing with the drug menace du jour and
    begin going down the path of a safe and regulated drug supply.

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


                                             ___________________

                                              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>
                                           ___________________

         bliss -- Cacao  Powered... (-SF4ever at DSLExtreme dot com)

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    bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco

          "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
          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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