cannabisnews.com: Treat Traffickers Like Terrorists, Official Says Treat Traffickers Like Terrorists, Official Says Posted by CN Staff on February 23, 2005 at 07:46:13 PT Washington in Brief Source: Washington Post The United States should employ some of the techniques it is using to fight international terrorism in its war on drugs, the federal drug control chief said yesterday.Interviewed a day before President Bush was due to release his national drug control strategy for 2005, John P. Walters said international drug traffickers shared many characteristics with terrorist networks, although there were also some important differences. "Maybe the brutal experience we've had with terror helps to make this more concrete and understandable," said Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.Like terrorist networks, most drug organizations are no longer centrally controlled, with one command running the trade all the way from production to distribution, or as Walters put it, "from the farm to the arm."That made the drug trade harder to disrupt, since individual cells that were put out of commission by law enforcement agencies could easily be replaced.However, Walters said it ought to be easier to go after drug traffickers because the drug trade involved many thousands of people, making it more vulnerable to attack and disruption. "We now have tools and ways of sharing intelligence and looking at these organizations more as businesses." Newshawk: Nicholas Thimmesch IISource: Washington Post (DC)Published: Wednesday, February 23, 2005; Page A08 Copyright: 2005 Washington Post Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com/CannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by Nick Thimmesch on February 24, 2005 at 07:21:31 PT: A NORML response... ...to the National Drug Control Strategy for 2005 from our pals at the ONDCP;WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES DRUG POLICY FOR 2005: ANOTHER YEAR OF WASTE AND FRAUD?WASHINGTON, DC – With the just released announcement by the Bush White House of its National Drug Control Strategy for 2005, NORML --the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws -- has analyzed the 82-page briefing document (available at www.whitehousedrugpolicy.org) from the ONDCP (the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy aka the “Drug Czar”).NORML’s Allen St. Pierre – who became NORML’s Executive Director this year after founder Keith Stroup retired – addressed the latest effort by the Bush administration to establish a coherent drug policy:“In the face of the recent ONDCP contract fraud convictions”, St. Pierre said, “2005 looks like another “Flat Earth Society” year at the nation’s drug policy office.”“It is evident”, continued St. Pierre, “that marijuana should be legalized and taxed for use by only responsible adults with effectively the same mores, values and controls that currently govern alcohol and tobacco products.”NORML’s analysis of marijuana policy in the United States in 2005 finds:Police have arrested approximately 2.2 Americans on marijuana charges [1] under the Bush administration, at an estimated cost of $22 billion [2] to taxpayers. Yet, according to annual data provided by the US Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Association (SAMHSA), the total number of Americans using cannabis on both a monthly and yearly basis has remained virtually unchanged. [3] A more rational national drug strategy would cease arresting and prosecuting the estimated 25 million Americans [4] who use cannabis responsibly, and instead call for taxing and regulating the use of marijuana by adults in a manner similar to alcohol."[1] FBI. Combined Annual Uniform Crime Reports for years 2001, 2002, 2003. [2] NORML. Crimes of Indiscretion: Marijuana Arrests in the United States. [3] SAMSHA. Combined annual data from the National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health for years 2001, 2002, 2003. [4] SAMHSA. National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health: 2003 data. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on February 23, 2005 at 16:10:02 PT mayan I heard this on the news a while back and maybe they changed the words but it said that if a person suffers organ failure that constitutes torture. I hope they changed that. Excerpt:Yet, at this moment the USA is poised to anoint as its chief law enforcement official a man who counsels and condones the use of torture.Nor was his January 2002 memo aberrant, an accident. Six months later, in August 2002, Gonzales cleared a Justice Department memo that stated bluntly that both international treaties such as the Geneva Convention and US law do 'not apply to the President's detention and interrogation of enemy combatants.' Simple reasoning, but terrifyingly strange: If you're not an American, then it is OK for the American authorities to torture you. That memo, which is addressed to Gonzales, opens with the words 'You have asked for our Office’s views regarding the standards of conduct under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.' It states that Americans acting under the President's authority can inflict 'cruel, inhuman or degrading' treatment to prisoners without violating laws and treaties against torture. Torture can properly be claimed, according to the memo prepared by Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, only when there is severe pain of 'an intensity akin to that which accompanies serious physical injury such as death or organ failure.' If you aren't dead or close to it, it isn't torture. http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0126-36.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by mayan on February 23, 2005 at 15:59:16 PT The Real Terrorists The United States should employ some of the techniques it is using to fight international terrorism in its war on drugs, the federal drug control chief said yesterday.Techniques like torture? With Gonzales,Chertoff and Negroponte having joined to Bush cabal it seems that torturing people is right up their alley.Sadly, the real terrorists are in D.C.9/11 Was an Inside Job - A Call to All True Patriots: http://www.911sharethetruth.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on February 23, 2005 at 15:18:52 PT Sukoi That was a good article. Thanks. I really believe the majority here on CNews know that Bush and his administration are the problem. If anyone thinks things have gotten this bad for some other reason it would really surprise me. Four more years. Actually now 3 years and 11 months. I think I'll start counting down. LOL! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Sukoi on February 23, 2005 at 14:52:42 PT This isn't cannabis related... ...but this op-ed certainly seems to fit with the brief above as well as the comments below:Freedoms Lost Under G.W. Bushhttp://baltimorechronicle.com/020105ChuckBaldwin.htmlFWIW, I agree with the comments made so far but then again I agree with most of the comments made here at CNews! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on February 23, 2005 at 14:43:34 PT Related Article from The AP Drug Czar Touts Speedier Justice for Non-Violent Drug Offenders February 23, 2005 White House drug czar John Walters is pushing for an expansion of drug courts, to keep non-violent offenders from overwhelming prisons.Unveiling the president's new drug control strategy in Miami today, Walters proposed an increase of more than 30 (m) million dollars for drug courts.That would allow judges to place thousands of non-violent offenders in treatment programs rather than in prison doing hard time. Right now, there are more than 16-hundred of these courts in the 50 states.Not everyone agrees with the approach.The White House is under fire on Capitol Hill for proposing cuts in numerous grant programs for state and local governments, including those that target drug trafficking areas in cities and those that help schools teach youngsters to avoid drugs.Copyright 2005 Associated Presshttp://www.onnnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=2989219 [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on February 23, 2005 at 10:11:15 PT JustGetnBy I know what you mean. I wish I didn't wonder about these things too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by JustGetnBy on February 23, 2005 at 09:32:44 PT I Wonder ??? if it will be a yellow star like it was last time they attempted to destroy a culture. Maybe it will be a chip implant that will electronicly track the movements of the targeted people. Or maybe it will be an implanted remote controlled chemical delivery system (think anout that one for a minute}.Whatever they decide upon, they are banging the drums of war, and we have been declared the enemy. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on February 23, 2005 at 08:13:58 PT Sam I really appreciate your comments. I agree with you about dieing and giving up. No one can take our freedom and peace from us. We can only give it up. This administration is so arrogant. They act like they are the messengers of God and we dare not disagree with them. Isn't that like it is when a country has a dictator? I want to say get off our backs and let people live and let live. We contribute to the prosperity of America by paying all the taxes we must pay and our views must be heard too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on February 23, 2005 at 08:05:30 PT not this again Anyone else notice that Bush & Co. are reverting back toward outright fascism lately? They have a 2 year grace period before they have to think about the next election, we'll probably see the worst of them in the next 2 years. Walters, the criminal, talking about terrorism and drugs again. Keep talking you vindictive crook, we're not listening. You can arrest 750,000 of us again but you'll never be able to tell us what to think.Most sickening was Bush's recent Europe trip. He basically gloated over having dinnner with Chirac. The only reason they'll have him at all is that they're stuck with him for the next 4 years & they know it. They held off dealing with him for the last 2 years hoping he would go away.Did anyone else see the Frontline special on the war in Iraq? Really scary, the soldiers are really in an absurd situation over there. All I could think of was, what are we doing over there? Why are we sending these guys to rebuild a country while they get shot at? Couldn't we rebuild THIS country - no one will take shots at you! Also I was imagining the staggering expense of our operation over there. What is the opportunity cost? We could have gone through this process in 1992, when Europe, Japan, Saudi Arabia, etc. were footing the bill. And before Saddam killed 100,000 Kurds.In one scene, an American shot someone's dog, just out of spite. It reminds me of here, where every year or two a cop shoots someone's dog in this area, for no reason. A couple years ago, a cop in my state, ran over someone's dog with his car on purpose, then pulled the shotgun out and blasted the poor, dying, animal. What a sicko! We're promoting this type of behavior, this type of culture. The more "War" we have, on drugs, Muslims, etc, the more we embrace and propagate human cruelty, the worst side of our species.And if the money ever runs out of our economy, we'll have millions of professional thugs on our hands, with no paycheck. In Russia, many cops & spies just became mafia thugs. FOM, re: your earlier comment, give up & die? hey, we're ALL going to die eventually, but we never have to give up. They can't lock all of us up, someone has to pay the taxes. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment