Just Doing Their Jobs...

That's what Prince George's County Sheriff Michael Jackson had to say about last summer's botched drug raid at the home of Berwyn Heights, MD Mayor Cheye Calvo. The drug raid, which turned up no drugs, resulted in the mayor being handcuffed to a table in his underwear and guns being pointed at his mother in law while they watched the deputies shoot the family dogs. And no, these weren't rottweilers or pitbulls - these were black labs.

The findings of the internal review "are consistent with what I've felt all along: My deputies did their job to the fullest extent of their abilities," Sheriff Michael Jackson said at a news conference.

The drug war has disillusioned American citizens, politicians, and the criminal justice system so much that when a drug raid on the wrong house, the mayor's house none the less, results in no confiscation of drugs and the killing of two family dogs - we commend the police officers that planned and carried out the raid.

Truly outrageous.

I'm glad to see that the Mayor isn't taking this laying down - he's suing the the state of Maryland and officials at the county sheriff's office and police department.

Why Smoke One Blunt, When You Could Smoke At Least 5?

I'm in DC right now, gearing up for SSDP's 10th Annual International Conference, which I'm sure you already know all about. I'm actually burning the midnight oil with SSDP's eastern region outreach director Amber Langston. We can see Prince George's County from her house, a place where the county council just voted to do something very unlikely to achieve the goals the council hopes it will. I think it will do just the opposite.

The council voted 8 to 1 to ban the sale of single cigars, requiring stores to sell them in packages of at least five. The new law will also make it easier to charge someone possessing a cigar with a drug paraphernalia offense.

Yes, buying 5 cigars will cost more than buying one cigar, but its not likely to break the bank, even for a teenager. In fact, buying in bulk is a way to save money, not spend more. If a single blunt is $1.00, a package of 5 will probably not cost more than $5.00. And if you look at blunt wraps, which do not come filled with tobacco and often feature attractive individual packaging, you can bet that companies will be happy to create larger packages and advertise the new BONUS SIZE! It will no doubt increase production and possibly consumption (like most American consumers, if I buy the Family Size bag of chips, I'm likely to eat a larger serving per sitting than if I bought a single serving bag - but I'd be saving money by buying the bigger bag).

Maybe this isn't so silly after all. In these times of economic uncertainty, we need to teach youth about smart spending and how to get more blunts for their buck! Then we can arrest them for having a legal tobacco product, charge them with possession of drug paraphernalia, and deny them financial aid to college! Drug problem solved. Goodnight.