What's New At Drug War Facts - Vol. 3, No. 8, September 2013

The new edition of the Drug War Facts newsletter is now available at:
What's New At Drug War Facts - Vol. 3, No. 8, September 2013 and also copied below. Enjoy.

What's New At Drug War Facts - Vol. 3, No. 8, September 2013

Issue In Focus: Marijuana Legalization

Senate Judiciary Committee to Discuss Marijuana Legalization Sept. 10

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Leahy has scheduled a hearing on "Conflicts between State and Federal Marijuana Laws" for Sept. 10, 2013. The witness list and other details are available via the Committee website at:
http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=094c28995d1f5bc4fe11d832f90218f9

This hearing comes on the heels of the release of an official guidance memo from the Department of Justice to US Attorneys around the country clarifying the DOJ's position on successful marijuana legalization initiatives in Colorado and Washington as well as legalization efforts in other states. The news release announcing the memo is at
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/August/13-opa-974.html

The guidance memo itself is available from
http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/resources/3052013829132756857467.pdf

While the real impact of the DOJ's memo has yet to be seen, the fact that they have chosen to not interfere with or stop the implementation of marijuana regulation programs in Colorado and Washington is seen by most as a positive step toward real reform and an end to prohibition.

Basic data and other information regarding marijuana generally can be found at
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Marijuana

Basic data and other information regarding medical marijuana can be found at
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Medicinal_Cannabis

Issue In Focus 2: Drug Policies and HIV in the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation recently announced that it hopes to put billions of additional dollars into drug treatment. The publication Russia Beyond The Headlines reported on July 5, 2013:

"The Federal Narcotics Turnover Control Service (FSKN) has admitted that the state is facing an uphill battle against drug addiction and is planning to enlist help from private rehab centers. FSKN has requested a record 180 billion rubles ($5.4 billion) for the program.
"Russia’s state-owned, specialized rehabilitation clinics have only 1,730 beds. Meanwhile, FSKN statistics put the number of the nation’s drug addicts at 7-8 million, of whom some 600,000 are officially registered.
"The central idea behind the national rehabilitation system is to involve private institutions in treating addicts, because the state lacks the requisite resources. Almost 180 billion rubles ($5.4 billion) has been requested for the program.
"Around 500 organizations capable of accepting up to 20,000 patients can count on public cash, including faith-based centers, private clinics providing paid services, and public organizations.
"The money is supposed to reach addicts via special rehabilitation certificates. To obtain one, a potential program participant will have to sign a contract with an FSKN-certified rehab center and a state authority responsible for patronage (such as a social service agency or the police)

http://rbth.ru/society/2013/07/05/russia_to_spend_billions_to_help_recovering_addicts_27785.html

Beyond the question of whether the requested funds will ever be made available, or whether the numbers are valid, the problem is that not all drug treatment is the same. Some methods are less successful than others, and the Russian Federation is notorious for its backward, ineffective approaches to drug treatment. The problems go well beyond the fact that substitution treatment with methadone or buprenorphine is banned in Russia. The Russian approach to drug treatment, called "Narcology," is brutal and harsh. The Eurasian Harm Reduction Network pointed out in 2012 that:

"The inaccessibility and poor quality of services pertaining to the treatment of drug dependence in Russia have been extensively documented. Treatment methods reported include flogging, beatings, punishment by starvation, long-term handcuffing to bed frames, 'coding' (hypnotherapy aimed at persuading the patient that drug use leads to death), electric shock, burying patients in the ground and xenoimplantation of guinea pig brains⁶². The practice and acceptance of such methods clearly indicate that the government’s approach does not correspond to international drug treatment guidelines.
"Such methods are not only cruel but ineffective. As the Russian Federal Drug Control Service has acknowledged, over 90% of drug treatment patients return to using illegal drugs within one year⁶³. As a result of the ineffective government approach to drug treatment and care, Russia has one of the largest numbers of people who use drugs—government estimate reaches 5 million⁶⁴, while UNODC’s 2009 World Drug Report estimated that 1.6 million people use opiates⁶⁵. Meanwhile, the number of people living with HIV in Russia continues to rise; in 2010 alone, a total of 58,633 new HIV cases were officially registered in the country⁶⁶. Injecting drug use has long been the predominant risk factor, with around 80% of all HIV cases registered in the country from 1987 to 2008 associated with the use of injecting drugs⁶⁷. The government’s refusal to respond adequately to the main transmission risk means that most of the funding goes to the management of the consequences rather than prevention of new infections. It is clear that 3% of the entire budget cannot possibly reach the most vulnerable population in an effective manner, and even the 3% spent on prevention is spent inefficiently."
Source: Merkinaite, S. A war against people who use drugs: the costs. Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN), Vilnius: 2012, pp. 21-22.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/1245#sthash.cFLKW1xu.dpuf

As the US slowly begins to embrace harm reduction and drug policy reform we must keep sight of the fact that other nations may not be as advanced, so reformers need to work even harder to spread knowledge and get out the facts.

Notable New Facts

(Prevalence of Current Illicit Drug Use in the US, 2012)
"• In 2012, an estimated 23.9 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug during the month prior to the survey interview. This estimate represents 9.2 percent of the population aged 12 or older. Illicit drugs include marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, or prescription-type psychotherapeutics (pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives) used nonmedically.
"• The rate of current illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older increased from 8.1 percent
in 2008 to 9.2 percent in 2012. The rate in 2012 was similar to the rates in 2009 to 2011
(ranging from 8.7 to 8.9 percent), but it was higher than the rates in the years from 2002 to
2008 (ranging from 7.9 to 8.3 percent)."
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-46, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 13-4795. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2013, p. 1.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/2593#sthash.uNPHiJSE.dpuf

(Prevalence of Injection Drug Use in Russia, 2012) "Russia has the largest population of injecting drug users (IDUs) in the world — an estimated 1·8 million people. More than a third have HIV; in some regions, the proportion is nearer to three-quarters. Astonishingly, an estimated 90% of Russian IDUs have hepatitis C, and most patients co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis in Russia are drug-dependent."
Source: Talha Burki, "Russia’s drug policy fuels infectious disease epidemics," The Lancet, Vol. 12, April 2012, p. 275.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/3425#sthash.UV7UqfBU.dpuf

(Russian Antidrug Strategy) "In June 2012, the government launched the 'State Counternarcotics Strategy until 2020' that calls all agencies and all levels of government to join in the fight against illicit drugs. The Strategy urges improvements in supply and demand reduction, and outlines new legislation aimed at deterring drug trafficking. An important development in implementing the Strategy in 2012 was the signing in March by then-President Medvedev of a law stipulating life sentences for trafficking large quantities of drugs. Previously, the maximum sentence was 20 years. The law also allows for the confiscation of property and money obtained by drug dealing."
Source: United States Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report: Volume I: Drug and Chemical Control (Washington, DC: March 2013), p. 277.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/3013#sthash.ROXjtzpR.dpuf

(Russian Policing Practices Violate Health and Individual Rights) "In the three Russian cities participating in this study, we found policing practices targeting injecting drug users (IDUs) to violate health, as well as individual rights. The brutality of police practices violate health directly, but also indirectly through the reproduction of day-to-day social suffering, which in turn can be internalized as self-blame, lack of self-worth, and fatalism regarding risk. These findings illustrate how law enforcement practices, particularly extrajudicial practices, generate an atmosphere of fear and terror, which shapes everyday practices of risk avoidance and survival among IDUs. Policing practices contribute to the reproduction and experience of stigma, and linked to this, a sense of fatalistic acceptance of risk, which may become crucial in shaping health behaviour, including HIV prevention. Yet we also identify nonconforming cases of resistance to such oppression, characterised by strategies to preserve dignity and hope. This leads us to consider how hope for change provides an important resource of risk reduction as well as escape, if only temporarily, from the pervasiveness of social suffering."
Source: Sarang, Anya, Rhodes, Tim, Sheon, Nicolas, and Page, Kimberly, "Policing Drug Users in Russia: Risk, Fear, and Structural Violence." Subst Use Misuse. 2010 May; 45(6): 813–864. doi: 10.3109/10826081003590938
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/1245#sthash.6TGwMdM1.dpuf

(Deficiencies in Russian Demand Reduction and Treatment Services) "The Russian government addresses demand reduction and drug abuse prevention in the State Counternarcotics Strategy. The Strategy outlines ongoing deficiencies in the demand reduction system, including insufficient medical treatment and social rehabilitation services, a shortage of specialized workers (doctors and social workers) and a shortage of centers serving drug abusers. At present, there exist only four state-run and 70 non-governmental organization (NGO) centers for rehabilitation of drug addicts. The few government-supported drug addiction treatment programs that do exist are generally ineffective, with high rates of recidivism. Most drug replacement therapies, such as methadone, are illegal in Russia, although treatment centers in St. Petersburg and Orenburg are implementing a few new models of cognitive therapy which expand the breadth of substance abuse programs and rehabilitation. A new medication-assisted therapy study on Naltrexone abuse, supported by the United States and Russian governments, is ready for publication. The Russian Orthodox Church continues to operate approximately 40 faith-based rehabilitation centers."
Source: United States Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report: Volume I: Drug and Chemical Control (Washington, DC: March 2013), p. 278.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/1245#sthash.6TGwMdM1.dpuf

(Legal and Policy Barriers to Harm Reduction and Disease Prevention Services in Russia) "The main reasons cited for restricting the opportunity of drug users to obtain medical and social aid, including prevention services, are the legislative barriers and official policy course that emphasizes reducing supply through law enforcement and reducing demand by promotion of 'healthy lifestyle'. The Strategy of the Anti-Narcotic Policy of the Russian Federation until 202061 and the plan to implement the strategy reaffirmed that approach. The 10-year plan restricts all activities and advocacy associated with harm reduction and other evidence-based services for people who use drugs. OST [Opioid Substitution Treatment] and NSPs [Needle and Syringe Exchange Programs] are considered antithetical to the strategy because they are 'attempts to legalize substitution therapy with use of narcotic drugs and promotion of drug use under pretext of syringe replacement'. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are prohibited from providing information on OST and other treatment and prevention measures opposed by the government. Such restrictive policies clearly indicate that the punishment and social isolation of people who inject drugs is the basis of state’s strategic approach to drug demand reduction. These policies have high financial and social costs."
Source: Merkinaite, S. A war against people who use drugs: the costs. Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN), Vilnius: 2012, p. 21.
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/1245#sthash.OBIf3hne.dpuf

(Global Burden of Disease, Mental Health, and Substance Use Disorders) "In 2010, mental and substance use disorders accounted for 183·9 million DALYs [Disability-Adjusted Life Years] (95% UI 153·5 million–216·7 million), or 7·4% (6·2–8·6) of all DALYs worldwide. Such disorders accounted for 8·6 million YLLs [Years of Life Lost] (6∙5 million–12∙1 million; 0·5% [0·4–0·7] of all YLLs) and 175∙3 million YLDs [Years Lived with Disability] (144∙5 million–207∙8 million; 22·9% [18·6–27·2] of all YLDs). Mental and substance use disorders were the leading cause of YLDs worldwide. Depressive disorders accounted for 40·5% (31·7–49·2) of DALYs caused by mental and substance use disorders, with anxiety disorders accounting for 14·6% (11·2–18·4), illicit drug use disorders for 10·9% (8·9–13·2), alcohol use disorders for 9·6% (7·7–11·8), schizophrenia for 7·4% (5·0–9·8), bipolar disorder for 7·0% (4·4–10·3), pervasive developmental disorders for 4·2% (3·2–5·3), childhood behavioural disorders for 3·4% (2·2–4·7), and eating disorders for 1·2% (0·9–1·5). DALYs varied by age and sex, with the highest proportion of total DALYs occurring in people aged 10–29 years. The burden of mental and substance use disorders increased by 37·6% between 1990 and 2010, which for most disorders was driven by population growth and ageing."
Source: Harvey A Whiteford, Louisa Degenhardt, Jürgen Rehm, Amanda J Baxter, Alize J Ferrari, Holly E Erskine, Fiona J Charlson, Rosana E Norman, Abraham D Flaxman, Nicole Johns, Roy Burstein, Christopher JL Murray, and Theo Vos, "Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010," The Lancet, 29 August 2013(Article in Press DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61611-6).
- See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/3458#sthash.pBuFdwcq.dpuf

Notable New Sources

Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-46, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 13-4795. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2013.

Talha Burki, "Russia’s drug policy fuels infectious disease epidemics," The Lancet, Vol. 12, April 2012.

Sarang, Anya, Rhodes, Tim, Sheon, Nicolas, and Page, Kimberly, "Policing Drug Users in Russia: Risk, Fear, and Structural Violence." Subst Use Misuse. 2010 May; 45(6): 813–864. doi: 10.3109/10826081003590938.

Merkinaite, S. A war against people who use drugs: the costs. Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN), Vilnius: 2012.

Harvey A Whiteford, Louisa Degenhardt, Jürgen Rehm, Amanda J Baxter, Alize J Ferrari, Holly E Erskine, Fiona J Charlson, Rosana E Norman, Abraham D Flaxman, Nicole Johns, Roy Burstein, Christopher JL Murray, Theo Vos, "Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010," The Lancet, 29 August 2013 (Article in Press DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61611-6).

Media

Drug Truth Media: DWF Editor Doug McVay wrote and produced video and audio segments for DrugTruth Network this past month:
Audio:
Century Of Lies show, Aug 25, 2013 - Hempfest Special written and produced by Doug McVay
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/4481
420 Drug News, September 3, 2013 - Commentary on DOJ's guidance memo regarding marijuana legalization by states http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/4512
Video:
Unvarnished Truth #17: http://youtu.be/gPeJC6Amym8?t=55m23s

Doug McVay was also quoted in this article from Huffingtonpost: War On Drugs Failure Gives Way To Treatment In States, Cities, Aug 22, 2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/war-on-drugs-treatment_n_3792445.html

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What's New At Drug War Facts - Vol. 3, No. 6, July 2013

The new Drug War Facts newsletter is now available! This month's Issue In Focus: New Psychoactive Substances. Check it out at:
What's New At Drug War Facts - Vol. 3, No. 6, July 2013 | Drug War Facts

Who Is Really Smuggling Drugs From Mexico Into The US? [AUDIO]

Following is the transcript of an audio news story written and produced by Drug War Facts Editor Doug McVay for the Drug Truth Network. It was broadcast as a 420 Drug War News segment on April 13, 2013.

What you find depends on who you're looking for.
A new report has been released by the Center for Investigative Reporting on smuggling over the US's southwestern border with Mexico. According to the CIR, quote:
“Nearly half of the 81,261 seizures don’t have suspect information available, because the drug loads were abandoned and no one was caught. In the remaining busts – more than 40,000 drug seizures – at least one U.S. citizen was involved 80 percent of the time.” End quote. In fact, the report notes, four out of five of those busted for drugs at the southwest border were US citizens.
Unfortunately there is a widespread perception, certainly among law enforcement, that smuggling of drugs from Mexico mostly involves Mexican nationals and people without proper documentation. As the CIR noted, quote:
“Of nearly 2,000 press releases from the Border Patrol and its parent agency, Customs and Border Protection, between 2005 and 2011 that mentioned a drug-trafficking suspect, 38 percent noted a Mexican national had been arrested. U.S. citizens, meanwhile, were mentioned roughly 30 percent of the time, even though they represent a much higher percentage of those busted, according to the analysis. The remaining one-third of press releases did not include information on the nationality of those caught with drugs.” End quote.
First, some history. In the 1980s, the east coast's Interstate 95 corridor was notorious for cocaine smuggling. I-95 runs from Miami up through DC, Baltimore, Philly, New York City, and the Boston area. Law enforcement claimed to use drug courier profiles to determine who to stop and possibly search on the highways. Activists and civil rights groups were able to show that police were actually stopping a disproportionate number of African-Americans and people of Hispanic descent without stopping significant amounts of drugs. The manner in which the drug laws were investigated and enforced was part of the reason for their failure.
Successful smuggling operations play on those prejudices and biases which afflict border agents and others in law enforcement. We've made progress, but the fact is US law enforcement – the entire criminal justice system really – still suffers from systemic biases based on race, ethnicity, nationality, and socioeconomic status. It was much worse in the 1980s, which is when I first got involved in drug policy reform, but it still exists, and it cripples effective law enforcement. Dealers, brokers, cartels – they know this and they adapted. There's no shortage of American citizens desperate for a pay day – citizens who look middle-aged, middle-class, and respectable because they are – so there's a sizable pool of willing candidates out there looking for the work.
The authorities on the other hand? It's sad. The fact that Customs and Border Protection Agency spokesman William Brooks, with no data, could assert to the CIR reporters that, quote “Anecdotally, we have U.S. citizens who smuggle drugs, in large amounts sometimes. The majority of people involved in smuggling drugs are citizens of Mexico.” end quote, shows we have a long way to go. Hopefully, this report will help get all of us – law enforcement, policy makers, prohibitionists and reformers – to reconsider how we think about Mexico and how we view its people, as well as what we think of those involved in the illegal drug trade.
For the Drug Truth Network, this is Doug McVay with Common Sense for Drug Policy and Drug War Facts.

This piece and many more news items are available to listen and download from the Drug Truth Network website.

Is The US The World's Biggest Jailer? [AUDIO]

Following is the transcript of an audio news story written and produced by Drug War Facts Editor Doug McVay for the Drug Truth Network. It was broadcast on April 6, 2013, as a 420 Drug War News segment.

Everyone by now has heard that the US is the world's biggest jailer, with more people behind bars than any other country.
We've all heard it. Is it true?
The International Centre for Prison Studies, a partner of the University of Essex in the UK, researches global incarceration and regularly publishes the results. Their website at prisonstudies dot org even has a handy tool to make international comparisons easy.
The ICPS reports that in 2011, the US had a prison population of 2,239,751 – enough prisoners to put our nation at the top of the list. Next comes China, with a reported 1,640,000 prisoners. Seems pretty straightforward – except it's not as simple as that.
First, let's unpack the US data. The ICPS is actually lumping prisoners – that is, inmates serving time in prisons – with jail inmates. In the US, we report those numbers separately. That's how a prohibitionist can get away with claiming that few people are ever sent to prison for simple possession of marijuana. People serving time for that offense typically get put in jail, not prison. They're still incarcerated, behind bars, just technically they're not in prison.
Take away the 735,601 held in US jails in 2011, and the remaining US prison population is 1,504,150.
Now let's take a closer look at China.
The ICPS figure of 1,640,000 only represents sentenced prisoners in Chinese Ministry of Justice prisons. It does not include pre-trial detainees, nor does it include people held in administrative detention. In 2009, ICPS reports, the Chinese government admitted to holding more than 650,000 people in detention centers. If that figure held steady through 2012, that would mean a total of 2,300,000 behind bars in China.
So technically, China may actually be number one in terms of sheer numbers.
As far as incarceration rates are concerned however, the US does seem to be way on top. The ICPS web tool also allows comparison of incarceration rates. The US, at 716 inmates per 100,000 population, is well ahead of the next country on the list – the Caribbean islands of St. Kitts and Nevis, with an incarceration rate of 649 per 100,000. China, because of its massive population, has an official incarceration rate of only 121 per 100,000. Adding in those held in administrative detention raises the figure significantly yet it's still nowhere near the US rate.
So the answer is basically Yes. Yet really, it all depends on how you define terms and who you count.
At Drug War Facts dot org, we provide up to date data from the US and around the world, fully cited, with links to the original source material for most of the items. Knowledge is power, so get the facts.
For the Drug Truth Network, this is Doug McVay with Common Sense for Drug Policy and Drug War Facts.

This audio news story as well as many others are available through the Drug Truth Network's website, DrugTruth.net

More African-American Men In College Than Behind Bars

Following is a report I wrote and produced for the Drug Truth Network. It was broadcast as a 420 Drug War News item on March 24, 2013. You can listen to the full audio via the Drug Truth Network website.

Everything changes.
In 2002, the Justice Policy Institute issued a report titled “Cellblocks or Classrooms.”
That report's Finding Number 3 was: “Nearly a third More African American Men Are Incarcerated than in Higher Education.” Often shortened to the more media-friendly “more black men are in prison than college,” JPI has come under fire for that statement in recent years – most notably in the 2012 film by Janks Morton, Hoodwinked, but also by people such as Professor Ivory Toldson of Howard University. In his April 20, 2011 piece in Empower Magazine, “Cellblock vs. College: A Million Reasons There Are More Black Men In College Than In Prison And Why More Work Needs To Be Done,” Professor Toldson writes, quote:
“When reviewing Cellblocks or Classrooms, there’s no evidence that the authors intended to sensationalize problems facing black men in the United States. More meaningful and palatable lines like “choose classrooms over cellblocks” were written with more prominence. Today, the widespread and contentious notion that “there are more black men in jail than in college” is not the fault of the Justice Policy Institute. Rather, it is the fault of journalists looking for a sound bite, politicians trying to arouse a crowd, program managers and researchers who would rather assert the need to exist than to demonstrate the efficacy of their techniques, and the list goes on of people who feel the need to be intentionally provocative. Lost in the feedback are young black men who are trying to reconcile such an ominous conclusion with their reality.”
End quote.
Here then are the numbers.
A search through the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics' Integrated Post‐Secondary Education Data System, IPEDS, finds that in the 2009-2010 school year, there were 1,347,485 Black or African-American male students enrolled in Title IV 2- and 4-year colleges. This includes public as well as private, for-profit and nonprofit schools. This is also only how many were enrolled that year.
The Drug War Facts section on Race and Prison actually has newer data, so looking back at “Prisoners in 2010,” the report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, we see that in 2010 there were a reported 561,400 non-Hispanic Black males under state and federal jurisdiction. The BJS also reports that there were 283,200 Black/African-American inmates of either gender in local jails that year. So there were a maximum of 844,600 Black/African-American men behind bars that year – many fewer than were in college.
Whether or not JPI was right in making that assertion back in 2002 is in many ways moot. The point is that today, that trite soundbyte is not true.
Things change. If you're an activist, or you engage at all in policy debate, it's important to keep up with these changes and stay current. Up-to-date fact items are always to be found on the Drug War Facts website at Drug War Facts dot org. Be sure to check back from time to time. You can keep track of new fact items as they're added by subscribing to our RSS feed, and also to our newsletter.
Knowledge is power. Get the facts.

http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/4278

Policing By The Clock [AUDIO] | Common Sense for Drug Policy

Drug War Facts Editor Doug McVay reports for the Drug Truth Network and puts into context new research showing the amount of police time spent enforcing marijuana possession laws.

This 4:20 News report was first broadcast on March 24, 2013, as a segment on the syndicated weekly radio program Cultural Baggage produced in Houston, TX for KPFT-FM.

Research data used in this segment are available at
Drug War Facts, particularly the chapter on Crime. DWF fact items include full citations and where possible a link to the original source materials.

Following is the script. To listen to or download the full audio, please visit the Drug Truth Network.

It's all in the timing.

According to new research, it takes an average of about two-and-a-half hours of police time to make one simple pot possession arrest in New York City. New York is a decriminalized state, so people in NY don't necessarily go to jail just because they got caught in possession - especially if they're a State Assemblyman, but that's another story.

On average, people who get popped for pot in New York City do spend a great deal of time in custody: an average of at least 12 hours, according to this new research by Professor Harry Levine of Queens College, City University of New York. The report was recently released by the Drug Policy Alliance and the Marijuana Arrest Research Project.

Professor Levine found that from 2002 through 2012, the NYPD made a total of 439,056 low-level marijuana possession arrests. They estimated that given an average of 2.5 hours for each arrest – a conservative, low-ball estimate – that comes to 1,097,640 hours of police time over that period, or as it's put in the report, quote:
“That is the equivalent of having 31 police officers working eight hours a day, 365 days a year, for 11 years, making only marijuana possession arrests.” End quote.

That's just New York City, of course. Marijuana is decriminalized in New York state. In many other states, marijuana possession is still considered a real crime.

It's not only the police whose time is taken up by low-level marijuana arrests, there's also the time and resources of the prosecutor, the court, and possibly the jail or probation system.

In 2011, there were 663,032 arrests for simple possession in the entire US. If the rest of the country were like New York City, at just 2.5 hours per arrest, that would work out to 1,657,580 hours of police time in 2011 alone. The report's hypothetical 31 police officers would work the equivalent of eight hours per day, 365 days a year, for more than 18 years to make that many marijuana arrests.

Each year, the FBI reports that US law enforcement manages to clear just under 50% of reported violent crimes and less than 20% of reported property crimes. Those are just the ones that get reported, mind you, and clearance doesn't mean that anyone has been found guilty, only that someone has been indicted.

As legalizers and policy reformers, we're accustomed to being accused by opponents of being soft on crime. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Law enforcement resources are strained, so the question is being asked: Are we using those resources effectively, or is it time for major changes?

For the Drug Truth Network, this is Doug McVay with Common Sense for Drug Policy and Drug War Facts.

Mark Kleiman, Noted Drug Policy Researcher, Expected To Land WA State Marijuana Consulting Contract

I just added this to the Common Sense for Drug Policy blog:
News agencies are reporting that the state of Washington is expected to name Botec Analysis Corp. as its new marijuana consultant. According to the Associated Press on March 18, 2013:

The Washington State Liquor Control Board scheduled an announcement on the award of the contract for Tuesday morning, but it sent an email to losing bidders Monday letting them know who won. A copy of the email was provided to The Associated Press.
Botec is headed by Mark Kleiman, a professor of public policy at UCLA. Kleiman declined to comment Monday afternoon, saying he did not want to pre-empt the board’s public announcement.
Washington and Colorado last year became the first states to pass laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and setting up systems of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores where adults over 21 can walk in and buy up to an ounce of heavily taxed cannabis. Sales are expected to begin at the end of the year at the earliest.
The votes left state officials with a daunting task: figuring out how to build a huge pot industry from scratch. The state’s Liquor Control Board must determine how many growers and stores there should be, how much pot should be produced, how it should be packaged, and how it should be tested to ensure people don’t get sick.

AP further reported:

All the while, marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and the Justice Department still has not announced whether it will sue in an effort to block the licensing schemes from taking effect.
Kleiman has previously argued that states can’t legalize the recreational use of marijuana because the federal government would never stand for it.
"Pot dealers nationwide — and from Canada, for that matter — would flock to California to stock up," he wrote in an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times in 2010, when california was considering legalizing marijuana. "There’s no way on earth the federal government is going to tolerate that. Instead, we'd see massive federal busts of California growers and retail dealers, no matter how legal their activity was under state law."
Some drug reform advocates were quick to question his team’s selection.
"You might ask him if he’s either changed his mind or if he intends to advise the state on undermining the will of the voters," Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, wrote in an email.
The board has advertised for consulting services in four categories. The first is "product and industry knowledge" and requires "at least three years of consulting experience relating to the knowledge of the cannabis industry, including but not limited to product growth, harvesting, packaging, product infusion and product safety."
Other categories cover quality testing, including how to test for levels of THC, the compound that gets marijuana users high; statistical analysis of how much marijuana the state’s licensed growers should produce; and the development of regulations, a category that requires a "strong understanding of state, local or federal government processes," with a law degree preferred.
Botec, founded in the mid-1980s, has previously performed a variety of work with government agencies. It studied the results of an effort to crack down on heroin dealers in Lynn, Mass., and in the early 1990s advised the Office of National Drug Control Policy on drug-demand reduction programs.
Kleiman has written several books on drug policy and crime, including "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know."

Read more at http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/03/18/wash-picks-mass-firm-for-pot-consultant-contract/rZaUYJsPlKoGkJg9ZblMoM/story.html.