Well, that's the one problem with personal observations and anecdotal stories. While they may indeed be true, they don't really tell the whole truth.
Posted on 08/06/2006 6:04:24 AM PDT by Wolfie
Reefer is Worth Getting Mad About
Vienna -- Supporters of the legalization of cannabis would have us believe that it is a gentle, harmless substance that gives you little more than a sense of mellow euphoria.
Sellers of the world's most popular illicit drug know better. Trawl through websites offering cannabis seeds for sale and you will find brand names such as Armageddon, AK-47 and White Widow. "This will put you in pieces, then reduce you to rubble -- maybe quicksand if you go too far," one seller boasts. This is much closer to the truth.
In Canada, as in most parts of the world, cannabis is by far the drug of choice. An estimated 4 per cent of the world's adult population -- that's about 162 million people -- consume cannabis at least once a year, more than all other illicit drugs combined.
Does that matter? I firmly believe it does, because the cannabis now in circulation (like Canada's BC Bud) is many times more powerful than the weed that today's aging baby boomers smoked in college. The characteristics of cannabis are no longer that different from those of other plant-based drugs, such as cocaine and heroin.
Evidence of the damage to mental health caused by cannabis use -- from loss of concentration to paranoia, aggressiveness and outright psychosis -- is mounting and cannot be ignored. Emergency room admissions involving cannabis are rising, as is demand for rehabilitation treatment. These health problems are increasingly being seen in young people.
North America is the world's largest cannabis market and most of its cannabis is homegrown. The U.S. market alone has been valued at more than $10-billion. As Canadians are starting to discover, a market that size inevitably attracts organized crime. So cannabis is a security threat as well as a health risk.
Amid all the libertarian talk about the right of the individual to engage in dangerous practices, provided no one else gets hurt, certain key facts are easily forgotten.
Firstly, cannabis is a dangerous drug, not just to the individuals who use it. People who drive under the influence of cannabis put others at risk. Would even the most ardent supporter of legalization want to fly in an aircraft whose pilot used cannabis?
Secondly, drug control works. More than a century of universally accepted restrictions on heroin and cocaine have prevented what would otherwise have been a pandemic. Global levels of drug addiction -- think of the opium dens of the 19th century -- have dropped dramatically in the past 100 years. In the past 10 years or so, they have remained stable.
Cannabis is the weakest link in the international effort to contain the global drugs problem. In theory, it's a controlled substance. In practice, it's running rampant. It grows under the most varied conditions in many countries, a high-yielding plant that can be grown indoors. This makes supply control difficult.
But we can tackle demand, particularly among the young. That need not mean sending them to jail. Young people caught in possession of cannabis could be treated in much the same way as those arrested for drunk driving: fined, required to attend classes on the dangers of drug use and threatened with loss of their driving licence for repeat offences. Prison would be a last resort. Schools and universities should apply zero tolerance.
National policies on cannabis vary and sometimes change from one year to the next. The experience of countries that were more tolerant of cannabis use is ambiguous and not persuasive. The distinction between "soft" and "hard" drugs is, at best, artificial, especially with such a damaging psycho-active substance as modern-day cannabis. Even some advocates of cannabis as a "soft" drug are now reconsidering as they observe the devastating health consequences of abuse.
Canada was a pioneer in introducing systematic anti-smoking policies, which are now being copied around the world. Their success demonstrates that preventive measures can help to change attitudes. Similar policies are needed to prevent cannabis use getting completely out of control.
Let's draw the right conclusions. Cannabis is dangerous. We ignore it at our peril.
Antonio Maria Costa is executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
"The billboards show a downcast woman with a black eye, her abuser lurking behind her, and the slogan: 'Reduce family and community violence in Denver. Vote Yes on I-100.' Nowhere is there a mention that Initiative 100's passage would amend Denver law to make it legal for adults to possess 1 ounce or less of marijuana."
How ironic. The billboards were sponsored by Change the Climate, a pro-marijuana group with the motto, "Time to tell the truth about marijuana".
I will admit that comments from the UN on some topics give rise to a certain level of skepticism, yes. But to say that the individual making those comments comes from the "shallow end of the gene pool" demonstrates a certain level of, how shall I say, childishness?
Well, that's the one problem with personal observations and anecdotal stories. While they may indeed be true, they don't really tell the whole truth.
BC Bud, G12 Skunk and other high THC content strains are "gentle"? "Harmless"? It's quite clear to me that the author is right.
I'll go further. The UN is an enemy of the United States and other capitalist nations and is 100 times more dangerous than marijuana.
"The billboards show a downcast woman with a black eye, her abuser lurking behind her, and the slogan: 'Reduce family and community violence in Denver. Vote Yes on I-100.' Nowhere is there a mention that Initiative 100's passage would amend Denver law to make it legal for adults to possess 1 ounce or less of marijuana."
How ironic. The billboards were sponsored by Change the Climate, a pro-marijuana group with the motto, "Time to tell the truth about marijuana".
Well - I've seen plenty of evidence that alcohol causes many persons to exhibit violent behavior and no evidence that suggests that cannabis use causes violent behavior - thus with greater cannabis use and presumably less alcohol use - that fair city would benefit from less domestic and other violence.
Do you see what I mean?
Isn't it true that cannabis use does not cause significant violent behavior?
I'd still like to roll up a couple of spliffs of high grade marijuana and share them with you. You may still not like cannabis use for yourself - but - I don't think you could go on rooting for the war against cannabis users.
LOL, I didn't either
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It's a metaphor dude. Not to be taken literally. What it means - literally - is that this cannabis is quite intoxicating and will only take 2 or three hits (puffs) to acquire a strong buzz (intoxication).
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BC Bud, G12 Skunk and other high THC content strains are "gentle"? "Harmless"? It's quite clear to me that the author is right.
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Yeah - harmless, in the sense that they will not cause cirrhosis of the liver, violent behavior, or death by overdose, etc.
That was the implication of the ad. It concludes that alcoholics who beat their spouses will switch to legal marijuana and stop beating their spouses.
So the billlboards were deceptive AND dishonest.
Has spousal abuse decreased in Denver since the passage of I-100? Is that their justification for taking this statewide?
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I'm not privy to Denver's latest crime statistics - so - we might have to wait a few more months to look at the results.
I can say that among the dozens of people that I've known personally - I've seen no violent behavior that could be blamed on cannabis use. I have seen numerous violent acts that were clearly caused by alcohol use.(A few of them - deadly.) I'm talking about 35 years of my own observations. My own wife is a real scrapper after drinking alcohol - but - real mellow and nice after a few hits of the herb. I don't think what I have witnessed is that novel either.
Can I get a witness?
That such deaths happen rarely is as unavoidable as the deaths of soldiers, firemen, and police officers in the line of duty. in fact unless you can prove otherwise more cops firemen and military die in the line of duty then civilians died in drug raids.
All of the following is from: http://www.cato.org/raidmap/
Richard Brown.
March 12, 1996—FL
After a tip from an informant stating that he was selling drugs from his home, a Miami SWAT team bursts into the home of 73-year-old retired salesman Richard Brown, and immediately begins firing.
By the end of the raid, they'd pumped 123 rounds into Brown and his apartment, killing him at the scene. Brown's 14-year-old great-granddaughter was also home at the time of the raid, and cowered in the bathroom during the gunfire.
Police found no drugs in Brown's home.
The city of Miami would later pay a $2.5 million settlement to Brown's estate after officers on the raiding SWAT team were indicted for lying about the details of the raid.
Former Miami Internal Affairs supervisor and 25-year police veteran John Dalton, now retired, told the Miami Herald that the Internal Affairs supervisor at the time of the raid, William O'Brien, discouraged a thorough investigation of the Brown case. "They were very defensive about this shooting from the beginning," Dalton said, adding that he'd been "chewed out" by O'Brien for asking difficult questions.
The Orlando Elderberry Bush Raid.
February 5, 1991—FL
In February 1991, a police officer acting on an anonymous tip sees what he believes are marijuana plants at the home of Ed and Jan Carden. Soon, with no search warrant, two dozen police raid the Orlando, Florida couple's house, handcuffing them and forcing them to lie face down in their own front yard.
Police swear at the Cardens and their three children, hold them at gunpoint, and search their entire property for marijuana and growing equipment before realizing the marijuana plants are actually elderberry bushes.
The city settled with the Cardens for $40,000 in 1994.
Officer Stephen House.
February 15, 1989—FL
In February 1989, police in Titusville, Florida raid the home of 58-year-old Charles DiGristine, a retired painter. As a flashbang grenade detonates near the front door, DiGristine's wife screams, and DiGristine runs to his bedroom to get a handgun.
Officer Stephen House, dressed in dark clothing and a black mask, charges into the bedroom with his gun drawn. DiGristine shoots and kills him.
Police raided on information from an anonymous informant that the house was being used by armed drug dealers. They found only a small amount of marijuana belonging to DiGristine's son.
DiGristine was charged and tried for first-degree murder. A jury acquitted him.
When DiGristine then filed suit against the city for the raid in 1990, the Titusville city manager responded, "It appears from the publicity achieved by filing very close to the anniversary date of this occurrence that it fits with the overall plan of greed and publicity."
Carlton Preston.
July 15, 1988—FL
In July 1988, police raid the home of Baptist pastor Carlton Preston, and handcuff him in front of his children and a team of news cameras. They find no drugs. The warrant is executed based on a tip from a confidential informant.
Anthony Diotaiuto.
August 5, 2005—FL
23-year-old Anthony Diotaiuto is shot ten times by police in Sunrise, Florida on a paramilitary drug raid of his home. Diotaiuto was suspected of dealing small amounts of marijuana. Police found about two ounces in his home.
Police say Diotaiuto confronted them with a gun, though his body was found in a closet in his bedroom. Police said the fact that Diotaiuto had a licensed firearm gave them cause to believe he might be dangerous, and necessitated the use of a SWAT team. Diotaiuto had one prior conviction for marijuana possession as a minor, but otherwise had no criminal record, and no history of violent behavior.
Police also say they knocked and announced themselves before entering, though neighbors say they never heard an announcement.
Diotaiuto's family is now suing for the release of police records relating to the raid.
Doug Carpenter and Carlos LeBron.
January 11, 1996—FL
In December 1995, police visit the two men at their new apartment as part of Maitland, Florida's "New Resident Visitation Program." While there, police find evidence that Carpenter and LeBron may be recreational marijuana users.
A month later, a SWAT team broke down the mens' door with a 60-pound battering ram and stormed inside. Police handcuffed the men and embarked on a three-hour search of their apartment. At first, they found nothing. Finally, LeBron pointed them to his personal stash of marijuana, where they found one cigarette, and 5.3 grams of marijuana.
The men were each given a $150 fine.
Police concede that neither man was suspected of selling drugs, and they had no complaints from neighbors, or previous criminal records. The Orlando Weekly reports that police say the two were targeted because they were new to the area, and were renters, both apparently warning signs to Maitland police of possible drug activity. Town police chief Ed Doyle said of the raid, "It's not one we're going to put on the mantle."
Jarrell Walker.
April 12, 2005—FL
After deploying a flashbang grenade and entering the home of 19-year-old Jarrell Walker, police shoot Walker twice in the back, killing him. Walker is lying prone on the ground when he is shot.
The officer who shot Walker was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a ballistics shield. The officer has been involved in four shootings in his seven-year career, says he thought Walker was reaching for a gun. Walker was unarmed, though police did find a gun on the other side of the room. They also found a substantial amount of drugs in Walker's home.
Walker was shot dead in front of his three-year-old son, also home at the time of the raid.
The shooting was only the latest of several questionable use-of-force incidents involving area police. On the same day the FBI announced it would investigate the Walker shooting, Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats said he would review his department's deadly force policy. Remarkably, Coats' changes to that policy, announced in October 2005, broadened the number of situations in which his deputies could use deadly force.
The Bell Family.
February 4, 2000—FL
Police in Hallandale make their second mistaken drug raid in a year, this time storming the home of Tracey Bell, who's pregnant at the time and with her three young children.
Even after the raid, police continue to insist they have the correct house, which they'd targeted based on a tip from an informant who said he'd bought drugs there. They found no drugs.
Bell had complained to police about drug activity in the neighborhood, and says police confused her home with the one next door. Bell's neighbor admitted to having friends involved in drug distribution, and had a criminal record. Bell had no record.
Bell's attorney says that police seem to have made the same mistakes twice in a year, and that they offered the same excuse for the raid on Bell's home as they gave for the botched raid on Catherine and Edwin Bernhardt. Attorney Gary Kollin told the Miami Herald, "It appears that they continue to use informants as their scapegoats when they mess up and then they hide behind the confidentiality of the informants to avoid a proper investigation into who is telling the truth."
Nelson Robles.
August 25, 1999—FL
Police rouse 45-year-old Nelson Robles, his wife, and his 11-year old son from their sleep in a 4 am raid on their home in West Dade Florida. DEA agents raided the home as part of "Operation Ramp Rat" and "Operation Sky Chef," two interdiction efforts aimed at airline employees involved in drug smuggling.
Unfortunately, DEA agents have targeted the wrong Nelson Robles. Even after realizing their mistake, they search Robles home to make sure he isn't hiding the Nelson Robles they're looking for.
"It's a very scary thing," Robles tells the Miami Herald. "They threatened to break down the door. you think they will flatten you, you think they will kill you . . . I was very lucky that I didn't get beat up."
A DEA spokesman told the paper, "When you are trying to find 58 people, something can fall through the cracks."
Robles awoke the next morning to find his home address still listed in the newspaper as the residence of an accused drug smuggler.
D Uriyah Ajamu.
August 6, 1999—FL
In August 1999, police in Orlando, Florida raid the home of D Uriyah Ajamu. Police break into Ajamu's apartment, train guns on him, drag him out of the apartment, handcuff him, kick him, and pat him down, inflicting injuries on him in the process that would require hospitalization.
They soon realize they've mistaken Ajamu's apartment for the apartment next door. Despite Ajamu's lack of criminal record and a police concession that they had the wrong apartment, in November 2003, a jury found that the raiding officers did not violate Ajamu's constitutional rights, nor did they use excessive force in apprehending him.
However, an Orange County Circuit Judge had already earlier found that Ajamu's arrest and pat-down were improper. The city of Orlando subsequently settled with Ajamu for $20,000, plus $150,000 in attorney's fees. A spokesman said the Orlando police department planned no changes to its execution of search warrants as a result of the mistaken raid on Ajamu's home.
Edwin and Catherine Bernhardt.
February 9, 1999—FL
On February 9, 1999, police in Hallandale, Florida, dressed in black jumpers, body armor and face masks, raid the home of Catherine and Edwin Bernhardt. Edwin, whose job requires him to get up at 4 a.m., is asleep. Catherine is on the couch. Police bust open the Bernhardt's window and jam an assault rifle inside. Edwin Bernhardt wakes up, and runs downstairs in the nude to investigate the commotion.
Officers then push Loretta Bernhardt to the floor and handcuff her at gunpoint. Mr. Bernhardt is subdued, handcuffed, and forced into a chair while a police officer clothes him in a pair of his wife's shorts. He is arrested and spends several hours in jail, still clad only in the underwear, until police realize their mistake and drive him home.
The search warrant was for an "Apartment 17." The Bernhardts lived in "Apartment 1." There was no "Apartment 17." Police were at first apologetic. But when the Bernhardts later file suit, the city of Hollandale grows stubborn. City attorney Richard Kane tells the Miami Herald that citizens should expect such tactics as the price of the Drug War. "They made a mistake. There's no one to blame for a mistake," Kane said of the police. "The way these people were treated has to be judged in the context of a war." When asked to comment on the suit, Fort Lauderdale police Capt. Tom Tiderington adds, "There's no perfect formula for success. It could happen at any time."
The Herald reports that similar "wrong door" raids had recently taken place in Seminole County (twice), Largo, and Tampa.
A year later, police in Hallandale would again mistakenly conduct a "wrong door" raid.
Michael Swimmer.
August 1, 1998—FL
In the summer of 1998, police in Orange County, Florida shoot and kill 27-year-old Michael Swimmer in a 2:30 a.m. drug raid. Swimmer is shot six times after confronting the raiding SWAT team with a handgun.
Police conducted the raid after a tip from a confidential informant that Swimmer, an amateur bodybuilder, was selling ecstasy.
Richard Paey.
March 21, 1997—FL
In March of 1997, police in Pasco County, Florida arrest Richard Paey on charges of prescription fraud. Paey, a multiple sclerosis patient suffering from the effects of a car accident and subsequent botched back surgery, is wheelchair-bound and paraplegic. His various ailments required him to take copious amounts of painkillers to lead a normal life. Unfortunately, Florida law makes it difficult to get the medication he needs. Prosecutors accused Paey of forging prescriptions, though they conceded that there's no evidence he was selling or distributing.
Despite Paey's condition, and that he obviously posed no threat, prosecutors sent a SWAT team to arrest him. Officers in ski masks with body armor and assault weapons broke down the door to Paey's home, needlessly terrorizing him, his wife, and their children.
Donald MacKay.
March 18, 1997—FL
On March 18, 1997, a SWAT team in Apopka, Florida raids the home of Donald MacKay. Police announce, "Orange County Sheriff's Department! Search Warrant!" a split second before obliterating his front door.
MacKay and his roommate are pulled from their beds, naked, and taken to the living room at gunpoint. Police scour the residence, and confiscate a bag of flour, a flowerpot and a marigold starter kit they list as "cultivation equipment," and half a joint found under the couch.
For the joint, MacKay and his roommate are taken to jail.
Lt. Mike Miller would later say of the raid, "I'm sorry Mr. MacKay feels violated... I'm a little jaded to the idea that people are innocent." Miller added, "We always have probable cause, but there's not a lot of investigative -- how can I word this? -- many times these warrants are based on citizen's complaints, trash pulls. Things aren't as sure-fire as wiretaps...Our experience is that drug dealers, couriers, will hide their dope in other people's houses."
MacKay spent a night in jail, suffered a black eye, and had to pay for hundreds of dollars of damage to his apartment. He was never charged.
Charles Inscor.
March 16, 1995—FL
In March 1995, police in Oldsmar, Florida smash through a glass door, deploy flashbang grenades, and storm the apartment of whom they think is a suspected drug dealer.
Instead, they find 31-year-old Charles Inscor, a wheelchair-bound man with respiratory ailments. The SWAT team soon realizes it had raided the wrong home. Inscor is hospitalized for eleven days from injuries incurred during the raid.
An ensuing investigation found that, though deputies made many mistakes during the investigation and raid, no disciplinary action would be taken because no rules were broken. According to the St. Petersburg Times, police couldn't be disciplined because, "the Sheriff's office had no policies concerning how the SWAT team should serve search warrants."
Robert Lee Peters.
July 7, 1994—FL
Police in St. Petersburg, Florida raid the home of Robert Lee Peters. Peters' seven and nine-year-old children are also home at the time, as well as Peters' stepfather, Karnis Lewis.
The SWAT team targets Peters' home shortly after raiding the home of his brother. Police say they knocked and announced themselves before entering. Lewis says he heard gunshots well before he heard any announcement.
Upon hearing the initial commotion, Peters and Lewis go to a back bedroom to retreive a gun from a safe and hear the pounding and gunfire. One bullet nearly hits Peters' son and, according to Lewis, provokes Peters to begin firing at the front door, where police are attempting to break in with a battering ram.
Peters is shot multiple times and killed by the SWAT team. Lewis' contention that the family had no idea they were being raided by police seems to be supported by the fact that the family called 911 twice during the raid.
Peters died in front of his two children. Police did find a significant amount of marijuana in the home.
Michael Meluzzi.
July 8, 2005—FL
In July 2005, a Sarasota, Florida SWAT team conducts a drug raid on a home where several children are playing in the front yard.
The SWAT team descends from a van, deploys flashbang grenades, then swarms the home. 44-year-old Michael Meluzzi, who had a criminal record, begins to flee as he sees the armed agents exit the van. Police chase Meluzzi down and fire a Taser gun at him, partially hitting him.
According to Officer Alan Devaney, Meluzzi then reached into his waistband, leading Devaney to believe he was armed. Devaney opened fire, killing Meluzzi.
Police would find no weapon on or near Meluzzi's body.
terrifying
That was the implication of the ad. It concludes that alcoholics who beat their spouses will switch to legal marijuana and stop beating their spouses.
So the billlboards were deceptive AND dishonest.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
In 1937 Anslinger testified before Congress that "Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind." After the 1944 New York City La Guardia Marijuana Report refuting marijuana causing violence at all, Anslinger changed his tune before Congress by 1948, when he told Congress that he no longer thought marijuana violence-causing, but "a much more dangerous drug than America than that." He testified that "Marijuana causes its users to become so peaceful and pacifistic that in the future American boys will not want to fight in our wars." Anslinger also warned Congress that "The Communists could use marijuana to sap our will to fight." This represents a reversal of the reasoning which originally produced marijuana's illegalization in this country in 1937. Anslinger retired in 1961. (Omni Magazine, Sept. 1982)
I doubt it.
It's quite clear to me that the author is right.
That doesn't follow from the non-gentle non-harmlessness of BC Bud, G12 Skunk, etc.
What about them? There were similarly successful raids during the War on Alcohol aka Prohibition ... did that make Prohibition a good idea?
How about the war on cancer [...] The battle for civil rights is far from over
Do either of those wars channel inflated profits into criminal hands or violate individual liberties as the War on Drugs does?
The War on poverty, some people will always be poor, should we just abandon them to their own devices, let them be?
You think LBJ's War on Poverty is a good policy? Are you aware that FR is a conservative board? Maybe you meant to post this to DU.
Or how about the war on crime, it would seem that the criminals are winning
Wrong; for example, two-thirds of murders end in arrests, which is orders of magnitude more than the number of drug crimes that result in arrests. And even if you were right, true crimes like murder violate individual rights, unlike drug crimes, and so must be opposed.
my life is worth more then your need for drugs and the lives of my loved ones is worth more then your need for drugs any day of the week.
This is a red herring, since drug sale and use are in and of themselves no threat to the lives of you or your loved ones.
Fine. But unless these abusers switch from the violence-inducing alcohol to marijuana, spousal abuse will not decrease. Surely you can agree with that.
Now, is there any evidence whatsoever that alcohol drinkers will switch to marijuana? I've seen none. The ad was a lie.
Just the opposite. A DAWN case is any ED visit related to recent drug use.
DAWN no longer uses the term “drug mention,” because it was frequently (erroneously) interpreted to mean that the patient “mentioned” the drug. The drugs reported to DAWN come from the ED medical record containing the laboratory (toxicology) testing, the clinical assessment and diagnoses, as well as reports by patients, their friends, or their families.
(the above from dawninfo.samhsa.gov)
Like I said. At best, the data is polluted. (Not to mention the fact that inert metabolites of cannabinoids show up in lab tests long after the cannabinoids had any power to contribute to the ER admission.)
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