cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Arrests Up, Coke and Heroin Down





Marijuana Arrests Up, Coke and Heroin Down
Posted by CN Staff on May 15, 2005 at 12:36:38 PT
Partial Transcript: CNN's In The Money
Source: CNN
CAFFERTY: When we come back on IN THE MONEY, cutting the grass. New figures show marijuana arrests are way up while they're down for cocaine and heroin. Find out if law enforcement is putting the focus where it's needed most. CAFFERTY: Well if you think the war on drugs is being fought in city crack dens or makeshift crystal meth-labs out there in Middle America, you're only about half right. A recent report suggests 45 percent of all drug arrests are marijuana-related, and that is up 28 percent -- from 28 percent a little more than a decade ago.
 Why the new focus on grass? Let's find out from Peter Reuter who's a professor of public policy and criminology at the University of Maryland. Professor, nice to have you with us. PETER REUTER, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Thank you very much. CAFFERTY: Is this a conscious decision on the part of drug enforcement people to target marijuana over things like cocaine, heroin and other harder drugs? REUTER: I've not found any evidence for that. It's really quite surprising. You've seen this change throughout the country, more in some cities than others, but really in most of the country. And nobody ever sort of declared there was a war on marijuana. It's not as though marijuana use has sort of gone up in this country. There's talk about increased use amongst adolescents and that did go up in the mid 90's. But really for the country as a whole marijuana us has been stable for about 15 years now. So it's really quite a puzzle for why this happened. SERWER: All right so you're not sure why it is -- REUTER: Yes. SERWER: I think most people now, you know, it's different from the '60s when you had a generation of people who never tried marijuana. Now we're all grown up, people have experimented with marijuana they know it's not dangerous, they know it's not a big deal. Many members of the administration have smoked marijuana -- REUTER: Presumably. SERWER: Why, why is this happening then? I mean -- REUTER: Right. No, it's a fair question. One theory is just it's sort of part of the quality of life policing movement that led to police sort of going after small infractions because that's a why of catching people that are going to sort of do things that will create greater problems. But I actually -- I don't find it very plausible for marijuana. If you look at who gets arrested for marijuana, it's particularly amongst young people. Big increases are amongst people under the age of 18. And it's very hard to see that that has been focused on, on kids who are sort of particularly sort of risky to the population -- you know, to the public generally. LISOVICZ: You know Professor, I mean there's a wide -- a wide swath of the population that thinks pot smoking is relatively benign. Would you see this as almost an encouraging sign that federal authorities are cracking down on marijuana, as opposed to the fact that maybe fewer people are doing crack? REUTER: Well, it is true that actually -- crack and heroin and cocaine have all been declining slowly but steadily over 10 or 15 years, met amphetamine's been going up, but still a substantially smaller problem nationally than the others. If you want to be optimistic, sort of take solace from this, you could argue that yes, it's a sign that other drugs aren't getting worse. It's not a great defense for arresting 700,000 people last year for basically possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. CAFFERTY: You wrote, or co-authored something called an analytic assessment of U.S. drug policy. We've been fighting this war on drugs for a very long time at a very large cost, with very mixed results. REUTER: Right. CAFFERTY: We have U.S. armed forces on the ground in Afghanistan, walking around the poppy field, where the bulk of the world's opium is grown. We have working knowledge of all of the cocaine operations in South America. And the critic of U.S. drug policy say if you want to get it off streets in this country it could be done, we just simply choose not to do it and yet we continue to throw tens of billions of dollars every year at this so-called war on drugs. Give me your take on that idea if you would. REUTER: Sure, Afghanistan accounts for at least 70 percent, probably more, of the opium in this world. You're right, it's easy to identify where it's grown. They're not trying to hide it much. It's certainly technically possible to spray it. If you care about the stability of the government of President Karzai, spraying poppies is one way of really putting the whole Afghan Democratic enterprise at risk. This is the principal source of earnings for very large numbers of farmer out there. Their impoverished, they are not growing rich growing poppies. They're a little less poor than they would otherwise be. But if you start spraying it, then the stability of that government gets threatened. And we care about the drug problem in this country. We care even more about maintaining a stable Democratic government in Afghanistan and that's a real tension. It's more complicated in Columbia. Again, you've got some of the same tension. After the cocoa fields, you will increase political resistance to a government that is not in great shape, in which the U.S. cares about. There it's actually so technically more complicated and the U.S. does a lot of spraying. It is -- Columbia still produces a great deal and if the U.S. is aggression and successful there, it can really move to Peru and Bolivia. There's been a lot of movement over time around the Andes. SERWER: You know Peter just to follow up on your answer to Susan's question. What you're suggesting is the drug enforcement police efforts in this country, because there's less heroin and cocaine, they're concentrating their efforts on marijuana, which is not a very comforting thought. Let me ask you something. There have been incremental moves towards legalizing marijuana in this country, medical use -- do you ever think we'll see marijuana legalized? REUTER: There's no great popular support for any, really, major change. I mean, the medical marijuana is I really think, a sort of -- sort of almost diversionary matter. The question of whether marijuana is medicine is sort of -- almost a factual question. The government has been unenthusiastic about supporting it. Supporting research about marijuana. So the sort of folk war has arisen and that gives popular support to the notion that marijuana should be available for certain purposes. But if you look at the opinion polls about changing the laws even with respect to removing criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana, there's no great support. LISOVICZ: But Professor, do you favor it? REUTER: Yes, I do. I can give a complicated answer, but if you put it to the short version, yes, I do favor that. SERWER: Interesting, interesting perspective. Peter Reuter, professor of public policy and criminology at the University of Maryland, co-author of "Analytic Assessment of U.S. Drug Policy." Thank you for coming on the program.REUTER: Thank you. Newshawk: Nicholas Thimmesch IISource: CNN (Web)Show: In The MoneyHost: Jack CaffertyAir Date: May 14, 2005 Copyright: 2005 Cable News Network Website: http://www.cnn.com/Contact: http://money.cnn.com/ontv/inthemoney/Related Articles:The War on Pot: Wrong Drug, Wrong Warhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20674.shtmlTranscript: Today's Drug War http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20625.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by Jose Melendez on May 16, 2005 at 19:46:37 PT
crack down
"They even publicized big announcements of the letters they sent to every district attorney and law enforcement entity in the country . . . "from: http://www.newsreview.com/issues/Sacto/2001-11-29/cover2.asp The questionable legal status of medical marijuana is confusing, even for Congressman Doug Ose. Yet a resolution to that legal ambiguity could be coming soon.The Woodland Republican (who didn’t return repeated calls from SN&R) probably wouldn’t admit to being confused, and he’s certainly cast the matter in black-and-white terms in recent letters he’s written on the topic, including a May 23 letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft urging a federal crackdown on California pot smokers. - - -Are you being lied to? http://www.drugwar.com/pYABLTexcerpts.shtm
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Comment #7 posted by Jose Melendez on May 16, 2005 at 19:32:48 PT
drug war, oil, health care industries bilk
Hope is right, our "Justice" Department, from ONDCP through DEA have publicly demonized cannabis users, encouraged crackdowns, restrained our trade and restricted our freedoms, all while lying and getting themselves and their friends paid.These are all crimes, folks:http://www.tgorski.com/news_analysis/public_policy/drug_laws/dea_marijuana_testimony_010327.htmhttp://www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org/pop/history.htmand from: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15080.shtml  Prosecutors to Fight Against Legalizing MarijuanaPosted by CN Staff on December 30, 2002 at 08:12:46 PT
By Scott Welton 
Source: Standard DemocratBenton - Prosecutors around the country are being urged to take a stand against
 attempts to legalize(1) or decriminalize controlled substances - in particular, marijuana.“Those who support drug legalization are well funded and highly adept at manipulating the media,” reads a Nov. 1 letter to prosecutors from the president of the National District Attorneys Association, Dan M. Alsobrooks. “And they do not mind deceiving the American public as well.”
The letter warns of “incremental victories” by those in favor of legalizing drugs and notes the “key role” local prosecutors play in anti-drug efforts.Included with the letter was an open letter also dated Nov. 1 from Scott M. Burns, deputy director for state and local affairs for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, urging prosecutors “to take a stand publicly and tell Americans the truth” about marijuana and warning of “deceptive campaigns to normalize and ultimately legalize the use of marijuana.”(snip)Marijuana, Burns writes in the letter, is not harmless but has risen as a factor in emergency room visits 176 percent since 1994, surpassing heroin.
Burns writes of the increasing potency of marijuana and its addictive properties in addition to being a “gateway drug” for many people. “I would agree that marijuana is a gateway drug to hardcore drugs,” Boyd said. Marijuana is “the great seducer,” Boyd said, because “it breaks down a person’s defense to say ‘no’ to the harder drugs.” (2) - - -(1) from: http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/87-153.htm The law provides that employees may take an active
part in political management or in political campaigns, except as prohibited, and retain
the right to vote as they choose and to express their opinion on political subjects and
candidates. Exceptions. Employees (except those appointed by the President,
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate) of the Federal Election Commission;
Federal Bureau of Investigation; Secret Service; Central Intelligence Agency; National
Security Council; National Security Agency; Defense Intelligence Agency; Merit Systems
Protection Board; Office of Special Counsel; Office of Criminal Investigation of the
Internal Revenue Service; Office of Investigative Programs of the U.S. Customs Service;
Office of Law Enforcement of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; or the
Criminal Division of the Department of Justice; or members of the career Senior
Executive Service, Administrative Law Judges, or contract appeals board members may
not take an active part in political management or political campaigns. (2) http://www.taf.org/quickquiz.htm 
Do You Have a Potential False Claims Act Case?See also: http://www.taf.org/top20.htmDecember 2000: HCA The Healthcare Company
        (formerly known as Columbia HCA), the largest
        for-profit hospital chain in the United States, pled guilty to criminal conduct and agreed to pay
        more than $840 million in criminal fines, civil
        penalties and damages for unlawful billing
        practices. Of this amount, $731,400,000 was
        recovered under the False Claims Act.June 2003: HCA Inc. (formerly known as
        Columbia/HCA and HCA - The Healthcare
        Company) agreed to pay the United States $631
        million in civil penalties and damages arising
        from false claims submitted to Medicare and other
        federal health programs. Also caught lying, and fined under the False Claims Act:TAP [Taketa-Abbott Pharmaceutical]
 Pharmaceutical
        Products Inc. -- $559,483,560 Abbott Labs-- $400,000,000Fresenius Medical Care of
        North America -- $385,000,000SmithKline Beecham Clinical
        Laboratories Inc. doing business as GlaxoSmith
        Kline -- $325,000,000 HealthSouth -- $325,000,000 National Medical
        Enterprises-- $324,200,000 Gambro Healthcare
        -- 310,000,000 Schering-Plough--
        $292,969,482 AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
        -- $266,127,844 Bayer Corporation --
        $257,200,000 First American Health Care
        of Georgia -- $225,000,000 BankAmerica --
        $187.5 million
Laboratory Corporation of
        America -- $182,000,000Beverly Enterprises Inc. --
        $170,000,000Pfizer/Warner-Lambert
        -- $152,000,000United Technologies -- $150,000,000Blue Cross Blue Shield
        Illinois -- $140,000,000Northrop Grumman --
        $111,200,000Shell Oil Company -- $110
        millionVencor, Inc./Ventas Inc. --
        $104,500,000Do these companies sound familiar?
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on May 16, 2005 at 16:08:41 PT
Reuter
The man can't be as stupid as he's acting. Why would such an unknowledgeable simpleton be interviewed if he's as ignorant of what’s going on as he's pretending to be? He's a barefaced liar. The ONDCP has been broadcasting their stepped up war on marijuana for several years now. They even publicized big announcements of the letters they sent to every district attorney and law enforcement entity in the country ordering them to step up their arrests and prosecutions of marijuana smugglers, dealers, and users.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on May 16, 2005 at 12:43:56 PT
GreenJoy
Very good comment. They don't like our culture. They know we are the ones who become environmentalists, tree huggers etc.
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Comment #4 posted by Jose Melendez on May 16, 2005 at 12:27:56 PT
oops! comment#3 was Ashcroft
Walters now: http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_3773833,00.htmlWalters then: 
 
http://www.nationalreview.com/lowry/lowry200505100808.asphttp://www.freezerbox.com/archive/article.asp?id=181 
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Comment #3 posted by jose melendez on May 16, 2005 at 12:20:51 PT
mentiroso
"Is this a conscious decision on the part of drug enforcement people to target marijuana over things like cocaine, heroin and other harder drugs?"REUTER: I've not found any evidence for that. It's really quite surprising. You've seen this change throughout the country, more in some cities than others, but really in most of the country. And nobody ever sort of declared there was a war on marijuana. Please pardon my spanish. I suppose the good professor would rightly insist he is not lying if he does not know that what he ois saying is not true:McCaffrey:http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/news/1998/03/980326-drugs3.htm http://www.mpp.org/states/rampage.htmlWalters:http://www.msnbc.com/news/990598.asp?0si=&cp1=1 http://www.drugpolicy.org/law/marijuana/santacruz/ http://www.wamm.org/for_immediate_release_april_23.htm
RxPot.com
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Comment #2 posted by GreenJoy on May 16, 2005 at 09:20:10 PT
The Reason
The professor also misses the boat on the reason why the govt has thrown down the glove on cannabis. When one smokes/ingests it one gets a much finer nose for B.S. Cannnabis users are a culture that the govt wants to wipe out. A mindset and tactics that worked before when the US govt wanted to wipe out a people and an entire way of being are still the way. The freedoms outlined in the constitution are merely for some Americans. Freedom of Religion...except if your Lakota and you wish to do the Ghost Dance. 
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Comment #1 posted by afterburner on May 16, 2005 at 06:47:02 PT
No Great Suppport??? Professor, Read the News!
REUTER: "There's no great popular support for any, really, major change. I mean, the medical marijuana is I really think, a sort of -- sort of almost diversionary matter. The question of whether marijuana is medicine is sort of -- almost a factual question. The government has been unenthusiastic about supporting it. Supporting research about marijuana. So the sort of folk war has arisen and that gives popular support to the notion that marijuana should be available for certain purposes. But if you look at the opinion polls about changing the laws even with respect to removing criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana, there's no great support." #######################################Even though this Professor Reuter is alarmed at the number of cannabis possession arrests and seem to feel that the emphasis on cannabis suppression in the Drug War is folly, he misses or trivializes the swelling movement that supports medical cannabis.{Comment #2 posted by mayan on February 24, 2005 at 17:06:22 PT 
 
{REPRESENT {“Fifty out of the 75 House members have already expressed support for the bill and 18 of the 38 senators have also favored it,” she said.
80% of Americans support medical cannabis. Not even half of Rhode Island's senators support it. Out them and oust them. This bill will go nowhere if the senators don't represent their constituents.} 
--IN Senator Believes There's Support for Marijuana 
Posted by CN Staff on February 24, 2005 at 09:16:12 PT
By Joe Kernan 
Source: Warwick Beacon 
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/20/thread20283.shtml
 Rhode Island [Just one state example, 11 have already passed state medical marijuana laws.]%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%"Last November, AARP The Magazine commissioned a telephone poll among a nationally representative sample of 1,706 adults aged 45 and older, asking them to respond to a series of statements on the subject of medical marijuana."What follows are some highlights of the survey, along with a brief summary of noteworthy findings for each: [Q:]"I think that adults should be allowed to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it.[A:]"Support for legal medical marijuana was strongest in the West (82%) and Northeast (79%), and lowest in the Southwest (65%). Interestingly, there were no significant response differences among those of different age categories." --IN Older Americans’ Attitudes on Medical Marijuana 
Posted by CN Staff on February 07, 2005 at 11:28:45 PT
AARP Survey Report 
Source: AARP Magazine 
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/20/thread20204.shtml 
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%"Washington -- Nearly three-fourths of older Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use, according to a poll done for the nation's largest advocacy group for seniors. 
More than half of those questioned said they believe marijuana has medical benefits, while a larger majority agreed the drug is addictive. "AARP, with 35 million members, says it has no political position on medical marijuana and that its local branches have not chosen sides in the scores of state ballot initiatives on the issue in recent elections. "But with medical marijuana at the center of a Supreme Court case to be decided next year, and nearly a dozen states with medical marijuana laws on their books, AARP decided to study the issue." --IN Poll Examines Medical Marijuana Support 
Posted by CN Staff on December 17, 2004 at 23:21:58 PT
By Elizabeth Wolfe, Associated Press Writer 
Source: Associated Press 
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/20/thread20041.shtml%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "America's conservative attitude toward marijuana is going up in smoke, according to a new survey. 
The Time/CNN poll revealed that 72 percent of Americans now feel that people arrested with small amounts of marijuana should not do any jail time, while just 19 percent favored sending pot smokers up the river. "Nearly 60 percent of Americans still want marijuana possession to be considered a criminal offense - but 34 percent now favor complete legalization. "A survey in 1986 found that 78 percent opposed legalization, while only 18 percent supported it. "The new poll also offered good news to activists and lawmakers who are calling for the legalization of medical marijuana: 80 percent of those surveyed said they favored dispensing pot for medicinal purposes." 
 
IN  American's High on Marijuana: Poll 
Posted by CN Staff on October 28, 2002 at 08:13:39 PT
By Neil Graves 
Source: New York Post 
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14582.shtml%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%Nearly three-quarter of AARP respondents, in the most prohibitionist age group, favor medical cannabis! The Time/CNN poll showed 80% general popular support for medical cannabis! The number of states and cities passing and/or considering medical cannabis laws has been steadily increasing! Two countries have legalized medical cannabis and made it available in pharmacies. GW Pharmaceuticals has the research and the reach through its partner Bayer to gain approval in many more countries. The genii is out of the bottle. We have reached critical mass. An unarmed army of cannabis supporters "won't back down"!
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