cannabisnews.com: Straight Dope: Dispatches From the Drug War 





Straight Dope: Dispatches From the Drug War 
Posted by FoM on September 23, 2000 at 07:49:48 PT
By Joel Miller
Source: WorldNetDaily
Apparently finding it difficult to nab violent drug offenders and kingpin types, Drug Czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey is going after easier prey. In an article published in September's Chess Life magazine, McCaffrey suggests that tournament chess players be "checked" for drugs. "Research proves that mentoring youngsters and teaching them that games like chess can build resilience in the face of illegal drug use and other destructive temptations," writes McCaffrey, citing the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy and its drug-prevention program, Chesschild. "Drug testing is as appropriate for chess players as for shot-putters, or any competitors who use their heads as well as their hands." 
Of course. Most people who play the game of kings drop acid and shoot junk -- helps them with their game. Bishops can do a lot more than diagonal on LSD. "Just when I thought I'd heard it all from McCaffrey," said Allen St. Pierre of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a little shocked by the notion. "What's next from this overreaching drug czar? Drug testing for tiddlywinks players?" "Policy recommendations like this ... demonstrate a deep and disturbing pathology that goes well beyond opposing drug law reform efforts." Treat this! Finding that incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein is burrowed into her U.S. Senate seat like a rabid badger under a tree stump, Republican challenger, Rep. Tom Campbell, is switching campaign gears, throwing all of his political eggs in the drug-law reform basket. Rep. Campbell's approach is two-pronged. For starters, Campbell wants a cease-and-desist on prosecuting drug addicts and champions a California ballot measure that would drop junkies in rehab programs instead of jail to listen to hip-hop remixes of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues." Prong No. 2 is a bit sharper. "While shifting the emphasis to treatment," reports the San Francisco Chronicle, "Campbell said the war on drug dealers should escalate, and include the death penalty for anyone who sells heroin, cocaine or methamphetamines to children under 12, even if the child does not die from the drugs." Yikes. Deal with stoners, stone the dealers. "I'm a pragmatist," says Campbell, widely recognized as the House GOP member whose cows graze furthest from home. "I look at a system now that is clearly broken, clearly a failure, and I'm prepared to try alternative routes to solving this problem." Alternatives, sure; like maybe ending the drug war -- period. But, considering how thorough, judicious and thoughtful law enforcement has been about prosecuting the drug war thus far, I don't even trust the government with treatment, let alone termination. Given his position about drug-war incompetence, you'd think Campbell would figure this out on his own. Oh well, maybe he hasn't thought through the ramifications. Maybe it's just a campaign ploy. Or, maybe, somebody's been slipping something into his brownies. Bring Out the Big Guns: In case you were wondering how much "war" there really is in the drug war, according to the Sept. 21 Washington Times, "Colombian police have resumed using .50-caliber machine guns in the war against drugs after problems encountered with the weapons were fixed last month." .50 -caliber machine guns? Since most of us are firearm illiterate these days, let me just remind you that this is not the gun your aunt carries in her purse to ward off carjackers, muggers and overly fresh parking attendants. Rambo, you'll recall, used one at the end of "First Blood" to obliterate half a town. According to the Colombian officials, the guns work well for obliterating narcoterrorists too. Doughboys or Dopeboys? In another case of the drug war meeting real war, U.S. military personnel are popping Ecstasy pills in greater numbers than ever before, according to a testing officer in the Pentagon's Office of the Coordinator for Drug Enforcement Policy and Support. As Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough report in their Sept. 22 WND column, the officer claims use of the designer drug has "increased markedly." Results from 2,273,998 urine drug tests conducted by the Pentagon in fiscal year 1999 include: Marijuana positives, 12,006 Cocaine positives, 2,839 Methamphetamine positives, 807 Ecstasy positives, 432 LSD positives, 325 Despite the fact that grunts and officers caught powdery-white-handed are either discharged or reassigned to Stony Lonesome, some military personnel can't keep their hands off the hash. The military is one of the most tightly regulated social environments in the entire U.S. -- and drug use is still uncontrollable. So what on earth, sensible people might wonder, makes the drug warriors think that they can control dope in the rest of society if they can't even control it in the military, of all places? If you want to talk pipe dreams, this would be a great place to start. Direct link to: Straight Dope: Dispatches From the Drug War http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_miller/20000923_xcmil_straight_d.shtmlSource: WorldNetDaily (US Web)Web Posted: September 23, 2000Author: Joel MillerCopyright: 2000, WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.Contact: letters worldnetdaily.comAddress: PO Box 409, Cave Junction, OR 97523-0409Fax: (541) 597-1700Website: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/Related Articles:The Lord Giveth, The Police Taketh Away http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7109.shtml Digging Out The Dope Fiends http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7120.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Joel Miller http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Joel+Miller
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Comment #6 posted by Lazarus Cain on September 24, 2000 at 23:50:37 PT:
Drug War Activism
We are quite aware that any government official is unable to express an honest human opinion concerning marijuana, since he/she is acting as an agent of a publicly held office. He or she can only promote the propaganda of the department he/she heads. Unfortunately, our culture being the way it is does not permit public agents to express personal viewpoints, but instead can only reflect the official polocy of the office which they represent.Until unbiased information concerning marijuana can be released by the state department we cannot expect any honest human opinion to be reflected by any head of the DEA or subordinate.It is unfortunate that the LA child died in the act which was very likely a violation of our basic constitutional rights, but as we can easily see, there is no authority in the United States that will adequately protect these innocent dead victims from their death, and I suppose the State Department is willing to exchange the lives of a few innocent children so that the No-Knock policy can stay alive. The object of the constitutional rights was to prevent the tragedy of innocent lost lives due to angered feelings from having one's rights violated. The people's militia during the American revolution which founded this country pledged and gave up their lives for these precious freedoms which our modern day legislature are so adeptly depriving us of, bit by bit in the name of "public safety".I have no alternative, since I am human, to oppose laws which violate people's civil rights and allow the death of innocent children at the point of SWAT automatic weapon assaults. Yet, I suppose we must keep our SWAAT teams outfitted with overwhelming firepower so they may protect themselves from gunslinging marijuana users, so that fewer children will die from abusing marijuana.Is it small wonder that I am an activist against such outrages, and can anyone expect that I can remain silent when I see such atrocitites as these committed. Accident they say? Or is it a fine example of injustice and police state tactics?
Venetia/QBLH
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Comment #5 posted by maz on September 23, 2000 at 23:13:55 PT:
test mcaffery
someone should drug test mcaffery, that senile old bastard
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #4 posted by FoM on September 23, 2000 at 14:58:37 PT:
Joel Miller
I really like Joel Miller's style of writing. If you come from a religious background he is easier to understand I believe but I could be wrong. I look forward to his articles and am disappointed when he doesn't write another one right away. He seems young and fired up and that's good!
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Comment #3 posted by observer on September 23, 2000 at 12:05:02 PT
Joel Miller
deserves an award for his work!given his [Tom Campbell's] position about drug-war incompetence, you'd think Campbell would figure this out on his own. amen ... still smarting from Campbell's bright "new" ideas: executing "pushers". (Meanwhile Campbell is clammed-up on cannabis and mum on marijuana.) 
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Comment #2 posted by freedom fighter on September 23, 2000 at 11:59:35 PT
I thought Barry said
there is no one in his army smoking the doobies.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #1 posted by EdC on September 23, 2000 at 09:08:30 PT
Straight dope dispatches from the drug war
End this ridiculous drug war. Vote anything but Democrat or Republican. Vote Libertarian and this war will end so fast you'll get rug burn.
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