SSDP Member Kicked Off UMD Senate Ballot!

Stacia Cosner, SSDP Board Member and president of the UMD SSDP chapter was notified yesterday that she will be taken off the ballot for senate elections because of a drug arrest that is nearly two years old. Read about it here.

NH Decrim Bill is Making Progress

HB 1623 would decriminalize the possession of up to .25 ounces of marijuana in New Hampshire (originally the wanted to decriminalize 1.25 ounces but the subcommittee amended this). Two weeks ago I testified in support of this bill on behalf of SSDP alongside two great LEAP speakers: Bradley Jardis an active duty NH officer and Richard Van Wickler, the Superintendent of Corrections in Cheshire County, NH (my county!).

Over 10 people testified in support of the bill that day and only 2 in opposition. Police Chief Peter Morency, president of the NH Police Chief Association, spoke in opposition and also stated that he would seriously consider reinstating alcohol prohibition.

Heres the low-down from Matt Simon, director of NH Common Sense for Marijuana Policy:

After over an hour of discussion which included both
supporters and opponents of the bill reducing penalties for marijuana
possession, the bill was amended and approved by a vote of 3-1.  We
weren't particularly delighted by the amendment, which reduced the
threshold amount from 1.25 ounces to .25 ounces, but we are pleased to
see that the bill (and with it, the conversation) moved forward with
the support of three committee members.  To put this success in
perspective, consider the following:
(1) To our knowledge, no
committee or subcommittee in New Hampshire has approved a measure
reducing marijuana penalties since the 1970's, when a bill similar to
HB 1623 passed the NH House but not the Senate.  (We'd be much better
off today if it had succeeded, obviously.)

(2) The chairman of
the subcommittee, Rep. John Tholl (R-Whitefield) is police chief in the
town of Dalton, and he voted in favor of the measure.

(3) The
bill also received an affirmative vote from Rep. David Welch
(R-Kingston), who was chairman of the Criminal Justice and Public
Safety Committee when Republicans controlled the House.  (Tholl was
vice-chair.)

Help SSDP Win $10,000 on Facebook

Get on Facebook and donate some $chedda$ to SSDP! Is doesn't have to be much, even $10 will go a long way. If we can get 250 people to donate just $10 each before February 1st we can win $10,000. If we get more than 700 donors, we could win $25,000 and have a shot at winning $50,000!

While Facebook limits you to 20 invites per day on causes, you can invite an unlimited amount of people to this event and spread the word about this awesome opportunity.

And to top it all off, the #1 recruiter gets a FREE APPLE G4 LAPTOP!

Friends, reform takes money and the opposition has plenty of it. If your serious about reform then help SSDP with something as easy as a point and a click. FACEBOOK.

UPDATE: Jimi D shows us that helping SSDP win $10,000 is as easy as changing your Brita water filter...

Extreme Ecstasy Brah!

Just when you think the ONDCP couldn't backtrack anymore, John Walters warns us of the dangers of "extreme ecstasy".

Why would anyone try to label ecstasy as extreme in the hopes that it would scare young people away from using it? Has the ONDCP ever seen the X-Games or what about Extreme Doritos? The word extreme has been used over the past decade as a youth advertisement tool for everything from snack foods to video games and has been successful. Anyone can guess what calling ecstasy "extreme" might lead to.

By calling the ecstasy extreme it seems like the ONDCP are saying the effects are more extreme or intense. As if this is some sort of new drug "cocktail" that will attract young people because its effects are stronger. This article states the obvious in saying that the "biggest reason [for mixing meth and MDMA] is cost." No other reasons are even listed because there really aren't any.

So this extreme ecstasy is actually MDMA mixed with methamphetamine and apparently is all Canada's fault. I think its important to point out that MDMA stands for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine. See that whole part, after dioxy, that says methamphetamine. Okay, good. MDMA provides a stimulant effect. So why mix methamphetamine with MDMA pills? Because it cuts down on cost and increases profit for dealers and still gives the user that stimulant effect they expect from MDMA. Many pills have been passed off as ecstasy and when tested have been found to contain only methamphetamine or even just caffeine.

Is it really "extreme ecstasy" or is just an blatant example of ecstasy prohibition failing miserably by taking a drug that should be a pharmaceutical and placing it in the black market? As American parents and doctors pump amphetamine in the form of Adderal to children in the treatment of over-diagnosed ADD and ADHD one really has to be bewildered at this new scare tactic against ecstasy and methamphetamine.

So now American drug warriors can claim that they not only made a difference in the availability of ecstasy, or pure ecstasy rather, but they have created a new, more "extreme" drug that is more profitable for drug dealers.

Run Mitt Run!

This semester I had the opportunity to intern with Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana in New Hampshire. GSMM followed NH presidential candidates and put on the pressure about medical marijuana. Mainly we wanted to know what candidates were willing to end the raids on medical marijuana patients in the 12 states that have passed legislation protecting patients and their doctors.

National Journal did a story called Tales from NH Town Halls and reported the details of NH town hall events where the candidates had campaigned. In a section of the story titled Adventures with Advocacy Groups, the story discusses the activists that follow the candidates and promote their issues. They wrote about GSMM even including a transcript of my McCain encounter.

[Of all the NH advocacy groups] None has been more persistent than the members of the Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana, pushing to legalize the drug.

Clayton Holton, seen in this video depicting the ignorance of Mitt Romney and Rudy Guliani in particular, suffers from Muscular Dystrophy. Clayton is only 22 years old and is the youngest man ever admitted to a NH nursing home. That is where he currently lives, unable to use marijuana to control his pain, nausea, or stimulate his appetite but provided a steady regiment of Oxycontin, a drug he wishes could be replaced with marijuana.

Check out over 40 video encounters with presidential candidates by GSMM at youtube. Unfortunately the GSMM campaign is over but I plan on posting some of the highlights here on DARE Generation. GSMM was probably the most successful marijuana campaign in NH to date and Clayton Holton will surely be NH's face for medical marijuana in the Granite State.

Well, if You Don't Have Anything to Hide...

We're all used to that argument by now. "Well, if you've got nothing to hide then you won't mind peeing in this cup, or letting us search your car or house." Its a foolish argument that ignores the right to privacy and security, suggesting that anyone who wishes to protect such rights is guilty of something.

But here is an interesting twist on things. Usually its police officers spouting this line, but in Los Angeles, CA, the Gang and Narcotics units of LAPD are having this line used on them. The Los Angeles Police Commission has unanimously approved that officers must reveal their personal finances including everything from overdue credit-card statements, checking accounts, properties, to stocks and bonds. The Los Angeles Police Protective League has already filed a suit citing invasion of privacy and violating union member's rights.

Why is this happening? Its an effort to crack down on police corruption since the Rampart Scandal in the late 1990's implicated over 70 members of the LAPD's CRASH unit in corruption that included selling and planting drugs, beatings and shootings, and even bank robbery. However, my question, and that of over 500 LAPD officers who are threatening to leave, is how will looking through financial records reduce corruption and misconduct?

Forcing people to disclose this amount of financial information is not the right way to go about stopping police corruption and we all know this corruption is real and that it needs to stop. Lets look at the big picture here. The units being targeted are Gang and Narcotics. Why? Because these are the units that deal with and proliferate the mess created by the War on Drugs. This corruption is related to the illegal drug market. Police can steal from and work with drug dealers because there is not proper regulation and all the money involved is cash!

I suggest going to the root of the problem. End the War on Drugs. In fact, I think if LEAP starts contacting some of these officers and suggests that it is the War on Drugs causing this violation of privacy we can expect some new anti-prohibition police officers in an area where they are needed most.

Think about it. Get rid of the black market for drugs and you get rid of drug dealers and the profit they bring to gangs. Therefore the need for a Gang unit is drastically decreased as is gang or prohibition related violence. The need for a narcotics unit will also decrease once we start dealing with drug addiction as a health issue and not a criminal justice issue. Because treatment cost less and is more effective than incarceration, we will see a decrease in addiction and the freeing up of tax dollars that could be used for effective drug abuse prevention education programs for youth (not DARE).

Colorado Judge Orders Police to Return Marijuana

So this is pretty cool. Not only has a Colorado judge ordered police to return 71 marijuana plants and growing equipment to a former U.S. Marine and licensed medical marijuana grower, it looks like the former Marine could be able to seek damages if the plants are not returned in good condition.

A Colorado judge ruled Wednesday that police should return dozens of marijuana plants to a former Marine and 1991 Persian Gulf War veteran who is a licensed medical marijuana user.

Aurora, Colorado police raided Dickes' home in April and seized plants growing in his basement. He was handcuffed, arrested and charged with a felony count of cultivating marijuana, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison. But last week, prosecutors dropped the charge after confirming that Dickes is licensed to grow the plants under the Colorado state medical marijuana laws that voters approved in 2000.

Makes sense to me. Basically this guy had his medicine stolen from him. Seems like the police should have checked to see if he was a licensed medical marijuana grower before they kicked in his door, arrested him, and stole all his pot. I guess they don't cover that in police academy.