Hiffington Post: Cops Decry Obama's Drug Policy

WASHINGTON DC -- Forty years after President Richard Nixon first declared a war on drugs, the police who fought the failed war are saying "enough is enough." 

Former law enforcement officials gathered in the District of Columbia on Tuesday to discuss a new report . . .

Since President Nixon declared 'war on drugs' four decades ago, this failed policy has led to millions of arrests, a trillion dollars spent and countless lives lost, yet drugs today are more available than ever," said Norm Stamper, former chief of police in Seattle and a speaker for legalization-advocacy group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

The officers' announcement came just weeks after the Global Commission on Drugs released a report urging a non-criminal approach to world drug policy.

The commission's recommendations were reportedly dismissed by both the Obama administration and the government of Mexico. 

Backed by the US, Mexican President Felipe Calderón began a crackdown on drug cartels in 2006.

Der Gropenator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, holds more progressive views on marijuana than Obama. Marijuana should be decriminalized and the cigarette industry showed be allowed to produce maryjane cigarettes. 

This would help the economy and get a lot of penny ante drug dealers off of the streets. The government could raise billions in taxes on marijuana agriculture and marijuana cigarette production. 

Prohibition didn't work for alcohol and it isn't working for marijuana. The police would be freed to work on the really dangerous drug crimes relating to heroin, morphine, roofies and prescription drug abuse like Oxycontin. 

We agree with the former DC police. Obama needs to be more 'out of the box" on drug policy. 

The GOP will probably whine about it, but "so what!" Let them whine! 

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Rick Scott signs executive order forcing state employees to take drug tests

The American Civil Liberties Union will challenge Scott's executive order on drug testing.

The executive order and corresponding legislative proposal contradict what many consider to be established law. Clear standards on drug testing were set by the U.S. Supreme Court about two decades ago.


Random drug testing of government workers, without reasonable suspicion of drug abuse, has generally been limited to employees in jobs where public safety is an issue.

"There's federal, U.S. Supreme Court standards on all of this. I don't think the governor got very good legal advice on this thing," said Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida,

A basic drug test costs $25-$75. Assuming that one per cent of the state work force was tested every quarter, this will cost the state approximately $25,000 to $75,000 each quarter or about $100,00 to $300,000 per year. 

The state also requires welfare recipients to take drug tests at their own expense. That's Christian of Scott, isn't it? 

Of interest, Scott's old company, Solantic,  offers drug testing services. Is there some self-interest here?

Unlike federal officials who put their holdings into a blind trust when they take office, Scott transferred his ownership of Solantic to his wife.

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Capital Soup: Senator Mike Fasano Expresses Great Concerns about 'Johnny come lately" Pill Mill Legislation

March 11, 2011 

By Greg Giordano

State Senator Mike Fasano

State Senator Mike Fasano has great concerns with Representative Rob Schenck’s proposal to repeal the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, end state oversight of pain management clinics and prohibit doctors from dispensing medications from their offices.

I certainly appreciate Representative Schenck’s commitment to ending pill mills in Florida. However, I do not agree with his proposed path to get there.  

 

It is my opinion that his legislation will undo many years of work undertaken to combat the abuse and diversion of prescription medications.  Right now the Department of Health has a registry of all pain clinics in the state.  The department inspects these clinics periodically to ensure that they are operating as state law requires.  

This bill will threaten the ability for legitimate doctors to practice while giving free reign to the bad actors to continue their illegal acts.

Representative Schenck’s would End the the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) a statewide data base which, when fully operational, will track the use of controlled substances throughout Florida.

The proposal would not require pain management clinics to register or be overseen by the Florida Department of Health.

Further, the bill strikes removes prohibitions on advertising, one key method that pill mills use to get the word out to the community that they offer controlled substances.

“If the PDMP is repealed Florida will once again become a destination state for drug seekers,” Senator Fasano states.  “Florida’s PDMP was modeled, in part, after Kentucky’s monitoring program.  Leaders in Kentucky and other states have contacted our state asking that the PDMP not be repealed.  If the PDMP is gone then people from outside of Florida will continue to travel here to buy drugs and then either abuse or divert them back home.”

“Senator Fasano added:

This legislation as written is especially harmful to people of little means.  There does not appear to be any provisions for residents of rural communities that may have few health care options available to them.  I have grave concerns that this legislation will have an adverse impact on the neediest of our state.

Fasono is a straight shooter and authored a pain management law that would ended the Hillbilly Heroin (oxycontin) splurges of men like Rush Limbaugh and stopped the doctor shopping for pain meds because there was a state wide database tracking these prescriptions. 

Rick Scott didn't like the law and cut-off funds and eliminated the enforcement arm of the law. Scott was immediately criticized by the Republican governor of Kentucky who said most of the illegal drugs in Eastern Kentucky were from Florida.


Rightardia believes Scott didn't like the law because it would affect corporate bottom lines. Rightardia thinks Scott is putting corporate profits ahead of the general welfare of the public.

Well, no surprises here/ Scott is a billionaire Republican.

 
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Capital Soup: HJR 1407 Would Let Floridians Decide on Legalization of Cannabis

March 10, 2011

TALLAHASSEE, Fl — Rep. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth) has filed Florida’s first-ever bill seeking to legalize the medical use of cannabis.

House Joint Resolution 1407 calls for the legislature to place the measure on the ballot for all Floridians to be able to weigh in on the issue.

A recent poll by Gov. Rick Scott’s pollster found that nearly 60 percent of Floridians support the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

Clemens said:

There is no good reason for us to allow people to use synthetic drugs like oxycontin, methodone, percocet, and Prozac, but ban them from using a natural, safer drug. Study after study has shown that the use of medicinal cannabis can help those suffering from debilitating diseases. Who could be against that?”

Several health care professionals and people with debilitative conditions joined Representative Clemens on Thursday during a press conference announcing the legislation.

Among the participants was Cathy Jordan, 60, of Bradenton. She has lived with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease for 25 years and she says cannabis helps her manage the disease. Jordan said:

Cannabis is a neuro-protector, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory. I am here today to help patients and the families of patients with neuromuscular diseases and brain disorders to educate themselves on cannabis.

The bill calls for medicinal cannabis to be used only under certain conditions, including the prescription of the drug by a physician, the diagnosis of a debilitating condition, and restriction of use to places that are not “in plain view of, or in a place open to, the general public.

It also states that insurance companies are not required to cover medicinal cannabis, and that employers are not required to accommodate use in the workplace.

Fifteen other states have already passed variations of Rep. Clemens’ proposal. It has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in new private industry revenue and millions of dollars in state tax revenue.

But the true focus of the bill is providing natural relief to people who are dealing with difficult medical issues.

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Portugal tries a new approach toward drug use

In July, 2001, Portugal enacted a new drug law. 

The purchase, possession or use of any previously illegal drug would no longer be a criminal offense.

Portugal’s official position is now treatment, not punishment. Since decriminalization, drug use has gone down 10%, drug infections are down and drug deaths are down. 

Causation is convoluted, of course, but the drug use explosion predicted by many people never occurred.

Ten other European countries have decriminalized drugs. Even in Great Britain, where punishment is still technically on the books, 80% of users who are caught are given a caution or a warning, and only about 1,000 people per year spend time in prison.

source: Dangerous Intersection

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British diplomat leaves Russia after three way with prostitutes

09 July, 2009, 18:43

A British deputy consul in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg has been sacked after he was secretly filmed having sex with two prostitutes.

The explicit video, which was believed to have been shot in a brothel, was posted on a local news website. The footage apparently shows drunk James Hudson romping with two prostitutes.

The British Foreign Office (FCO) confirmed the departure of Hudson, who was the deputy consul general in the city. However, they refused to comment on whether it is indeed their man in Yekaterinburg who is in the video.

Read more

The FCO spokesman said the organization “expects all its staff to demonstrate high levels of personal and professional integrity and takes all allegations of inappropriate behavior seriously.'"

Yekaterinburg media also accused Hudson of gambling and drug abuse during office hours.
Meanwhile, instead of criticizing the diplomat for his indecent behavior, the British papers have pointed a finger at Russia.

''A security source said Russia's FSB intelligence service, the modern KGB, may have carried out the sting to embarrass Britain,” wrote The Sun. "Russian intelligence has a long history of making sex films and taking compromising photos to control people or further its aims.''

According to The Telegraph, ''Hudson, 37, resigned from his posting to the Urals over the video, which is thought to have been secretly shot by Russian spies. ''


Mail Online News wrote:
"Security sources believe Hudson has been caught in a classic sting by Russia's notorious FSB intelligence service."


Meanwhile, Dmitry Babich, a reporter at Russia’s RIA news agency, is “not sure this affair has a political character.”

“Actually, we’ve learned about it from British tabloids. If FSB and Russian authorities in general had wanted to make it a scandal, we would have learned about it from Russian television and it would be given a very high profile,” he said.

Hudson, a divorced father of one, joined the Foreign Office some 15 years ago. He has been posted to Sarajevo, Havana and Budapest. But being caught with his trousers down on film has meant his last posting on active service, not least to Her Majesty, was probably in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/lyr8ua

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