ADDICTION RECOVERY QUOTES

In a recent study by the RAND corporation, researchers found that crime increased immediately after medical marijuana dispensaries were closed in the L.A. area. The study tracked crime reports for ten days before and after the shops were closed and found that crime increased by at 60% once the dispensary was no longer open. These findings directly conflict with the claims of law enforcement officials, who have argued that the stores attract crime by handling large sums of cash as well as drugs that thieves could sell on the street. After two workers were killed at dispensaries during June of 2011, the City Council passed a series of strict ordinances that caused many shops to close, thus prompting the study. There are several problems with the research based on the specific sample sizes. The study only checked crime reports within a six block radius around the dispensary and also only observed the ten days preceding and following the closings. For the findings to be more concrete, it would be necessary to take a sample over a larger time period.  Still, it sort of makes sense. Closing the store has to promote the sale of illegal marijuana, if only because dealers know they will have a market of newly alienated customers who already go to that location when they need pot. Also, it could just be that Bill Hicks was right and it's extremely hard to get mad at someone when you're both stoned. Perhaps the L.A. County Sheriff's Department failed to consider the calming effects of reefer and how pissed off customers might be when they can't buy more.

Amid criticism about the way New York City police officers enforce marijuana laws, Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly issued a memo to commanders this week reiterating that officers are not to arrest people who have small amounts of marijuana in their possession unless it is in public view. Enlarge This Image Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly issued a memo this week. Connect With Us on Twitter Follow @NYTMetro for New York breaking news and headlines. The New York Legislature decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana in the 1970s, making possession of 25 grams or less a violation of the law that in most cases would not bring a jail sentence. But possessing even small amounts of marijuana in public view remains a misdemeanor. Just over 50,000 people were arrested on marijuana possession charges last year, a vast majority of them members of minorities and male. Critics say that as part of the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy, officers routinely tell suspects to empty their pockets and then, if marijuana is displayed, arrest them for having the drugs in public view, thereby pushing thousands of people toward criminality and into criminal justice system. Critics said the commissioner’s memo, reported on Friday by WNYC, represented a major change of policy. “This will make a tremendous difference because tens of thousands of young people — predominately young people of color — will not be run through the system as criminals,” said Steven Banks, the attorney in chief at the Legal Aid Society, which has handled thousands of the cases. Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group that has been challenging the Police Department’s marijuana-arrest policies, said the order was directing a significant change in the way the police deal with people they arrest for small amounts of marijuana. Mr. Nadelmann said that there was evidence of “gross racial disparity” in the enforcement of the marijuana laws and that “this appears to represent a major step forward.” Although the memo begins, “Questions have been raised about the processing of certain marihuana arrests,” a spokesman for the Police Department said that the order was not in response to any particular incident and that it did not represent any change in policy. It was intended merely to remind officers of existing procedures, he said. The memo says, “A crime will not be charged to an individual who is requested or compelled to engage in the behavior that results in the public display of marihuana.” The act of displaying it, the order continues, must be “actively undertaken of the subject’s own volition.” Under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the number of low-level marijuana arrests has increased significantly. Mr. Bloomberg’s office declined to comment on Mr. Kelly’s order, but in the past, mayoral aides have said such arrests helped fight more serious crime, like the violence that tends to trail drugs. Harry G. Levine, a sociologist at Queens College who has researched the issue, said public defenders and legal aid lawyers who have defended thousands of these cases estimate that between two-thirds and three-fourths of people arrested on charges of possession of small amounts of marijuana displayed it at an officer’s request. “The police stop them, search them and tell them to empty their pockets,” Professor Levine said. “They don’t know the law doesn’t allow that.” According to Professor Levine, on average over the past 15 years, 54 percent of people arrested for marijuana possession in New York City were black, 33 percent were Latino and 12 percent were white. National studies tend to show that young whites use marijuana at higher rates than blacks and Latinos. In a March appearance before the City Council, Mr. Kelly reiterated the Bloomberg administration’s position that arrests for having marijuana in public view have helped keep crime low. In response to council members who were skeptical of the policy, he said, “If you think the law is not written correctly, then you should petition the State Legislature to change it.” Hakeem Jeffries, a Democratic assemblyman from Brooklyn, and Mark Grisanti, a Republican senator from Buffalo, have since sponsored a bill that would downgrade open possession of small amounts of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a violation. City Hall is opposed to changing the law. In June, Frank Barry, a mayoral aide, said downgrading the offense would “encourage smoking in the streets and in our parks, reversing successful efforts to clean up neighborhoods and eliminate the open-air drug markets like we used to find in Washington Square Park.”

Spanish man who was arrested for starting the fire which broke out on Ibiza on Sunday night is believed to have started it through negligence while he was caring for his marijuana plantation nearby. Civil Guard sources have told the EFE news agency that the cause is thought to be either a cigarette he was smoking or a fire he had lit to cook food. The suspect had spent the past few days caring for his crop in the area where the blaze broke out. He spent his nights in a home-made shelter and used a nearby cave to dry out his plants. The Civil Guard seized marijuana plants and dried leaves at the site, amounting to almost 6 kilos of the drug. The man now faces additional charges of a public health crime. The fire which began in Cala Llonga and forced hundreds of people to be evacuated in Santa Eulàra des Riu destroyed more than 80 hectares of pines and just under 9 hectares of agricultural crops. The amount of land destroyed is however lower than the original estimate of 115 hectares. The Baleares Nature Institute, Ibanat, gives the amount as 92.3 hectares.

Yancey County authorities are calling it one of their biggest prescription drug arrests this summer.  A man they suspect as one of the top dealers in the area was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon. Authorities arrested 24-year-old Christopher Elliott at his home on Satin Wood Drive in Burnsville.  Law enforcement believe Christopher and his older brother, James, traveled to South Carolina to get Oxycodone pills and then returned to the area to sell them.  They tell us the brothers have nearly a hundred clients. Christopher Elliot's arrest was part of "Operation Slinger."  The round up effort was launched back in June.  The Burnsville police department teamed up with the Yancey County Sheriff'f office to get prescription drugs of the streets. So far, 40 dealers have been arrested or charged in the operation.

The United States arrests a lot of people on drug charges. The answer to the failure of The War on Drugs is always spend more money and arrest more people.

In fact, if arresting people for drugs was a sign of success in The War on Drugs, then I guess our government has won. Here is a press release from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition on a new report from the FBI on just how many people are arrested for drugs in this country.

New FBI Numbers Reveal Failure of “War on Drugs”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new FBI report released today shows that there is a drug arrest every 19 seconds in the U.S. A group of police and judges who have been campaigning to legalize and regulate drugs pointed to the figures showing more than 1.6 million drug arrests in 2010 as evidence that the “war on drugs” is a failure that can never be won.

“Since the declaration of the ‘war on drugs’ 40 years ago we’ve arrested tens of millions of people in an effort to reduce drug use. The fact that cops had to spend time arresting another 1.6 million of our fellow citizens last year shows that it simply hasn’t worked. In the current economy we simply cannot afford to keep arresting three people every minute in the failed ‘war on drugs,’” said Neill Franklin, a retired Baltimore narcotics cop who now heads the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). “If we legalized and taxed drugs, we could not only create new revenue in addition to the money we’d save from ending the cruel policy of arresting users, but we’d make society safer by bankrupting the cartels and gangs who control the currently illegal marketplace.”

Today’s FBI report, which can be found athttp://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010, shows that 81.9 percent of all drug arrests in 2010 were for possession only, and 45.8 percent of all drug arrests were for possession of marijuana.

A separate Department of Justice report released last month shows that Mexican drug cartels are currently operating in more than 1,000 U.S. cities, whereas two years ago they were in 230 U.S. cities. Meanwhile, a new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report released earlier this month shows that nearly one in 10 Americans admit to regularly using illegal drugs.

Sadly, arrests are not a sign of success but a sign of a cycle of waste and idiocy that has our country locked in a downward spiral of drug abuse and violence.

The unmitigated failure of The War on Drugs is on display every day in a multitude of ways. This report is yet another example of the government highlighting their massive failure.

We all know marijuana is the most used illegal drug in The United States. It stands to reason that marijuana is responsible for the most arrests out of all of the illegal drugs. But according to new statistics from the F.B.I., marijuana arrests account for more than half of all drugs arrested, meaning more people are arrested for marijuana than all other illicit drugs combined. Of the 854,000 arrests for marijuana, 88% were for possession. Opponents of marijuana legalization like to pretend that The War on Drugs is aimed at gang leaders and dealers, but the simple fact is the drug war budgets of law enforcement agencies are built on the backs of people whose only crime was having some weed on their person.

Suspected drug traffickers dumped 35 bodies at rush hour beneath a busy overpass in the heart of a major Gulf coast city as gunmen pointed weapons at frightened drivers. Mexican authorities said Wednesday they are examining surveillance video for clues to who committed the crime. Horrified motorists grabbed cell phones and sent Twitter messages warning others to avoid the area near the biggest shopping mall in Boca del Rio, part of the metropolitan area of Veracruz city. The gruesome gesture marked a sharp escalation in cartel violence in Veracruz state, which sits on an important route for drugs and Central American migrants heading north. The Zetas drug cartel has been battling other gangs for control of the state. Prosecutors said it's too soon to draw conclusions from the surveillance video. "We're not going to confirm or deny anything," Veracruz state Attorney General Reynaldo Escobar Perez told the Televisa network Wednesday. "We're looking at it in different ways, we're seeing different numbers, that's why we don't want to get ahead of ourselves." Escobar said the bodies were left piled in two trucks and on the ground under the overpass near the statue of the Voladores de Papantla, ritual dancers from Veracruz state. He said some of the victims had their heads covered with black plastic bags and showed signs of torture. Police had identified seven of the victims so far and all had criminal records for murder, drug dealing, kidnapping and extortion and were linked to organized crime, Escobar said. Motorists posted Twitter warnings said the masked gunmen were in military uniforms and were blocking Manuel Avila Camacho Boulevard. "They don't seem to be soldiers or police," one tweet read. Another said, "Don't go through that area, there is danger." Veracruz is currently hosting a conference of Mexico's top state and federal prosecutors and judiciary officials. Local media said that 12 of the victims were women and that some of the dead men had been among prisoners who escaped from three Veracruz prisons on Monday, but Escobar denied the escaped convicts were among the dead. At least 32 inmates got away from the three Veracruz prisons. Police recaptured 14 of them. Drug violence has claimed more than 35,000 lives across Mexico since 2006, according to government figures. Others put the number at more than 40,000.

Four people were killed when drug traffickers clashed in the desert zone between Mali and Algeria, over the spoils from a massive drug sale, officials said on Monday. A source from the governor's office in Timbuktu in northern Mali said the deceased were from Mali and Niger. "Four people were killed during a fight between drug traffickers which is under way in the Sahel. It is about the haul from a ton of  Indian hemp [dagga] and cocaine," the source said on condition of anonymity. The information was confirmed by an advisor to the governor. "The battle is going on at the moment on the border between Mali and Algeria between an armed group of drug traffickers from Mali and Niger, and another group aligned with the Polisario Front," the independence movement in the Western Sahara, said the advisor. "They don't agree on how to share the sale of a ton of drugs."

LOCAL POLICE in Rincon de la Victoria arrested a 25-year-old man and seized 30 kilos of marihuana from his home. The police estimate that it would have had a street value of more than €30,000.

300 people have been arrested in a two-month crackdown on drug houses. Police carried out 301 search warrants as part of Operation Localise, a nationally coordinated operation focusing on "tinnie houses" - those where cannabis is sold. They made 311 arrests, seized 32.2kg of cannabis and 139g of methamphetamine. Cannabis was found growing at 44 locations, with 2657 plants and seedlings seized. Officers also seized $111,154 in cash, 19 firearms and ammunition. A wide range of charges have been laid, including conspiracy to supply class A, B and C drugs, manufacturing methamphetamine, participating in an organised criminal group, unlawful possession of a firearm and threat to kill. "This was a sustained programme of enforcement to combat drugs and disrupt organised crime groups" said Assistant Commissioner Malcolm Burgess. "Tinnie houses are hubs for criminal offending. The people who run them are often not only dealing cannabis, but also methamphetamine. They invariably receive stolen property, take payments for drugs and are involved in organised crime groups. "Such houses cause misery in communities and we are sending a clear message that they won't be tolerated. "We will continue to protect our communities from the harm caused by drug dealers and stamp out the anti-social behaviour they create." Police are trying to seize assets from 47 of those arrested. They will have to prove they are not the proceeds of criminal activity. Mr Burgess said he was confident the operation had caused "significant disruption" to drug dealing and warned dealers they would continue to be the subject of close police attention.

Police are calling a drug-making operation found during a Lakewood fire last week one of the most unusual they've seen in decades. Home video captured the huge fire that leveled a home as explosions rocked the neighborhood. UNCUT: Fire Explodes At Lakewood Home UNCUT: Chopper 7 Over Lakewood Fire At first, police thought they were dealing with a meth lab, when they went inside and found what appeared to be equipment for illegal drug manufacturing. Then, they found bag after bag of scored and burned marijuana and what they say were the makings of a hashish oil factory. "(It's) very unusual," Lakewood police Lieutenant Chris Lawler said. "Even some of the people in our narcotics unit haven't seen this in a long time. ... It's very rare. I haven't seen it in my 20 years in law enforcement." Investigators say the suspect had pounds of marijuana and boxes of butane, and somehow set them on fire while making the oil. Hashish oil is a concentrated form of the active ingredient in marijuana. It's extracted through a process using highly flammable butane. "It's suspected that that was probably the cause," Lawler said. The suspect's father spoke with KIRO 7 on Friday night after his son was taken to Harborview Medical Center with burns over nearly 30 percent of his body. "I don't know what in the world my son was doing," James Rogers said Friday. "I think he was fooling around with some explosives or something he shouldn't have been." The suspect remains in the hospital; it's not clear when he'll be released or what charges he may face.

      According to the Customs, the first attempts to bring internally concealed hashish into the country were observed in 2008. In the past several months, however, the phenomenon has become markedly more common.       Customs Inspector Tero Virtanen explains that since last December more than a dozen individuals have been stopped and caught on arrival at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport for trying to smuggle in hashish inside the body.       ”Most of them have been men between the ages of 20 and 35. They are professional couriers, and some of them have told the officials that they have made several successful runs to Finland before getting caught. Some of them have also performed deliveries to other Nordic countries.”       According to Virtanen, the Customs have confiscated more than ten kilograms of cannabis from the mules. The street value of the lot would have been in the region of EUR 100,000.       In addition to this, the officials have learned in the preliminary investigations about the importation of additional roughly 10 kg of hashish.       “Thanks to the couriers, several different criminal organisations have now been tracked down in Finland. At the receiving end of the chain there are around a dozen suspects and the spectrum of their nationalities is broad”, Virtanen notes.       The Customs believe that hash has been distributed, or was supposed to be distributed, across Southern Finland.       The amounts of cannabis that the couriers have swallowed in small packages have varied from half a kilogramme to a kilo.       The smugglers doing the ingesting of the small packages have been natives of Spain, Portugal, Morocco, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.       Customs officials suspect that the smuggled substance has generally originated from Morocco and Spain.       One of the couriers told the authorities that his fee for the gig was EUR 700.       The use of this technique to bring in hashish is a new development: traditionally the internally concealed drugs smuggled into the country have been substances appreciably stronger than hash, such as cocaine and heroin.       “Larger hashish consignments are still brought in through other means, but this is a quick way to import narcotics. There will always be a ready market for cannabis”, Virtanen says.