Marijuana Becomes Focus of Drug War; Less Emphasis on Heroin and Cocaine

Washington Post ^ | May 4, 2005 | Dan Eggen

[Crackingham]

The focus of the drug war in the United States has shifted significantly over the past decade from hard drugs to marijuana, which now accounts for nearly half of all drug arrests nationwide, according to an analysis of federal crime statistics released yesterday. The study of FBI data by a Washington-based think tank, the Sentencing Project, found that the proportion of heroin and cocaine cases plummeted from 55 percent of all drug arrests in 1992 to less than 30 percent 10 years later. During the same period, marijuana arrests rose from 28 percent of the total to 45 percent.

Coming in the wake of the focus on crack cocaine in the late 1980s, the increasing emphasis on marijuana enforcement was accompanied by a dramatic rise in overall drug arrests, from fewer than 1.1 million in 1990 to more than 1.5 million a decade later. Eighty percent of that increase came from marijuana arrests, the study found.

The rapid increase has not had a significant impact on prisons, however, because just 6 percent of the arrests resulted in felony convictions, the study found. The most widely quoted household survey on the topic has shown relatively little change in the overall rate of marijuana use over the same time period, experts said.

"In reality, the war on drugs as pursued in the 1990s was to a large degree a war on marijuana," said Ryan S. King, the study's co-author and a research associate at the Sentencing Project. "Marijuana is the most widely used illegal substance, but that doesn't explain this level of growth over time. . . . The question is, is this really where we want to be spending all our money?"

[Clemenza]

Our tax dollars at work...

[sushiman]

The War On Drugs is a joke ...Just an excuse to expand the police state web ...

[SittinYonder]

The question is, is this really where we want to be spending all our money?

Marijuana cases are easy to make and typically don't end in a shoot-out, generally don't involve people going to prison and they translate into nice fines and forfeitures for the local governments. It's a win-win-win for the government. Furthermore, in many states, even a misdemeanor drug conviction prevents one from ever owning a firearm, so there's the added benefit of removing weapons from the citizenry.

In our slip 'n' slide ride to becoming a socialist state, the war on drugs is working almost as nicely as Jimmy Carter's federal Department of Edumacation.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

[angkor]

It's easier to go after non-felony shipments of smelly, bulky, domestically produced MJ. The "increased focus" allows more free time to snack on donuts and coffee.

[adam_az]

Captain America and Evil Mullahs agree...




Legalize It!

[Stonedog]

Shouldn,t this be posted in the RLC Liberty Caucus? 'Cuz I don't think anyone else gives a rip!

[zarf]

The question is, is this really where we want to be spending all our money?"

LOL! When American pimples wake up to the fact that the WOD is a moral and social disaster then, perhaps, the political hacks we elect will spend our tax dollars wisely.

Until then....enjoy the futility of the WOD..

[econ_grad]

You are wrong. The mullahs want drugs to be illegal so they can continue profit from the high drug prices.

[Wolfie]

Not surprising. Marijuana Prohibition is the foundation of the Drug War. As the rest of the world abandons the U.S.-style Drug War, our leaders must crack down to keep the gravy train rolling.

[freepatriot32]

Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.

[pageonetoo]

houldn,t this be posted in the RLC Liberty Caucus? 'Cuz I don't think anyone else gives a rip!

If you don't give a rip, then why bother to bitch? If you care to add something, feel free. If you want to sit on the sidelines and troll, go back under your bridge!

[eno_]

There are 200,000+ armed federal agents of all types.

70%+ of criminal case wiretaps are for drug cases.

Drug cases are the bulk of the prison population.

Local PDs are the #2 tax-eater in town, right after the pubik skoolz.

If you pay taxes, you ought to care, even if you have not inhaled since the '70s.

[Lexington Green]

Nazis are as Nazis do.

[BJClinton]

Drug cases are the bulk of the prison population

By "bulk" do you mean a majority a just a whole bunch?

[philman_36]

Marijuana Prohibition is the foundation of the Drug War.
Marijuana Prohibition is the current "bread and butter", not the foundation, of the Drug War. The foundation of the Drug War was simple bigotry. (not meant in a contentious manner)

This article/study makes one wonder about all of those other studies that proclaim marijuana use is down.
Arrests are up, but use is down...hmmmmm...

[philman_36]

[TKDietz]

How would mullahs profit from marijuana being legal? Most all of the pot consumed in America is produced in Mexico. Almost all of the rest is produced here, in Canada, and in other countries south of the border. Some from Jamaica finds it's way here, and a little tiny bit of hash from the middle east makes it here. If it was legal here almost all would be produced here unless other countries legalized too and it was imported like other agricultural products. In any event, legal or not, middle easterners are not making a lot of money in the American marijuana markets. What is consumed here comes almost exclusively from the Americas and surrounding islands, mostly from Mexico.

[econ_grad]

I wasn't talking about pot but drugs in general to someone who seems to suggest that drug legalization is preferred by the mullahs.

[traviskicks]

Great picture! never seen it before. thanks for posting it.

[adam_az]

"I wasn't talking about pot but drugs in general to someone who seems to suggest that drug legalization is preferred by the mullahs"

Actually I was just being silly. ;)

[vin-one]

the thing about this article that got me was the increase in arrests for non dealing......except in my hometown of Northern VA.......

[Wolfie]

Most all of the pot consumed in America is produced in Mexico.

Actually, the number one supplier to the U.S. is the U.S. I guess "Buy American!" caught on in at least one marketplace.

[cowboyway]

Now that cartoon is just plain dumb. Which amendment in the Bill of Rights states that "The right of the people to grow and smoke dope shall not be infringed,"?

Dope heads are all alike. They think taking away their dope is a constitutional infringement. I guess that's why they're dope heads.

How anybody can claim to be a 'conservative' and believe in Judeo-Christian values and still advocate dope usage is insane.

[Ken H]

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
--Tenth Amendment

Where does the Constitution delegate power to the Federal government in intrastate drug policies, in your opinion?

[TKDietz]

"Actually, the number one supplier to the U.S. is the U.S. I guess "Buy American!" caught on in at least one marketplace."

I'm pretty certain that isn't true, Wolfie. Government estimates I've seen generally say that better than 90% of that consumed here comes from Mexico. Certainly the lions share of that seized in this country comes from there, according to government estimates which are in line with what I see as a criminal defense attorney handling an awful lot of marijuana cases. They seize several tons of it every year off the highway going through my county and we are a couple of days drive from Mexico unless you don't stop to sleep. They're always stopping someone carrying several hundred pounds or more, and it's all compressed seedy Mexican brickweed. I've never seen a big load of the sticky fluffy buds. When they find some of that it's generally only a small personal amount or every once in a while maybe just a few pounds. Even the stuff seized on little personal use busts is almost always Mexican. I see it in court all the time when the officers bring in their little evidence bags.

Now there are places in this country like the Pacific Northwest where there is an awful lot of homegrown and Canadian pot, and there are people probably everywhere that will only buy the super expensive indoor grown stuff which is generally produced here or maybe Canada if the people buying it live near the border. But throughout most of the country what is most often found is regular old Mexican pot. Tons and tons and tons of it, probably many thousands of tons, come across the border every year. It's cheap, and it's everywhere. The really expensive stuff is available but most people don't have that kind of money to spend on pot. Most are smoking cheapo Mexican that probably costs a few dollars a pound from the Mexican farmers and a few hundred a pound up to a couple of thousand a pound tops depending on where you are in the states and who you know.

[TKDietz]

The pictures he posted depicted only marijuana use so figured that was all he was talking about especially since that's what the original article seems to be about.

Even if we were talking about other drugs though, I think it's pretty obvious that most of the drugs being used in the states are coming from this part of the world and not the Middle East. Cocaine we know is all produced south of our borders. Afghanistan may be the worlds biggest producer of heroin but almost all of what they produce is consumed in that part of the world in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and so on. Most all of the heroin used in this country comes from countries south of Texas. That's what the government says anyway. Maybe it's not true.

By the way, I would be against legalizing drugs like heroin, meth, and cocaine. But I'm all for legalizing and regulating the marijuana industry in this country.

[cowboyway]

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

So you want to go there, do you?

First of all, which state has legalized marijuana use?

Second, if you believe so much in states rights, where do you stand on The War for Southern Independence?

[PaxMacian]

"How anybody can claim to be a 'conservative' and believe in Judeo-Christian values and still advocate dope usage is insane."

What do you think you are conserving? Not the Constitution! Not Liberty!
How does any believer in Judeo-Christian values advocating waging war
upon our own citizenry for possessing, propagating or protecting a gift
from the garden of God? How do you advocate taking someone's children
or property for merely possessing a flower?

"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?" --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia, 1782.

GOD MADE HERB
GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD
GOD GAVE IT TO MAN

Genesis 1:11
Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so.

Genesis 1:12
And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:29
And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.

Some seem to believe that an herb given by God to man and beast alike at the beginning of time and which has grown freely almost everywhere, including here long before our nation was formed, is permissibly eradicable or controllable by the federal government through powers granted by the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution. In light of the rest of the Constitution any such insanely perceived mandate dissolves into a delusion of grandeur amounting to the deification of the state.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their
Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness."

Preamble: ...secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity...

Amendment V: nor shall (anyone) be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the PEOPLE.



Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the PEOPLE.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

Nowhere in the Constitution is it enumerated what one may put into ones body. Therefore, that right is reserved for the states or the people. However,
since God has already specified in the Bible what one may consume, it is, in fact, the People’s God given right.

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.

[PaxMacian]

Learn to read__________"OR TO THE PEOPLE"

"...declaring war against the natural rights of all mankind, and extirpating the defenders thereof from the face of the earth, is the concern of every man to whom nature hath given the power of feeling" Thomas Paine from 'Common Sense'

[Ken H]

Where does the Constitution delegate power to the Federal government in intrastate drug policies, in your opinion?

First of all, which state has legalized marijuana use?

Alaska for personal posession in the home of up to 3 ounces, IIRC. Other States have approved it for medical use under State law.

Second, if you believe so much in states rights, where do you stand on The War for Southern Independence?

As I read the US Constitution from 1860, a State had the power to secede, IMO.

Now, where do you think the Constitution delegates power to the Federal government in intrastate drug policies?

[econ_grad]

Production isn't all. The sales, trafficking, etc. is in large part done by people more unsavory than the ones peddling at the street. I bet you terrorists take a huge chunk of the trafficking profit because there is money for them and they are already high risk-takers so they are natural candidates for that job.

[eno_]

Second, if you believe so much in states rights, where do you stand on The War for Southern Independence?

I'm against the Drug War. I would also support peaceful secession of any state, if that is the will of the people.

Remember, the Drug War is 90% of the reason for there being 200,000+ armed federal agents. How do you propose to change that without ending the Drug War?

[eno_]

Production isn't all. The sales, trafficking, etc. is in large part done by people more unsavory than the ones peddling at the street. I bet you terrorists take a huge chunk of the trafficking profit because there is money for them and they are already high risk-takers so they are natural candidates for that job.

When is the last time someone was murdered over a beer distributorship? Why do you think those murders stopped?

[econ_grad]

Preaching to the choir.

[cowboyway]

Dope heads will drag up any quote, even try to use Biblical justification, to support their dope smoking lifestyle.

Well, the Bible supports slavery. Where do you stand on that?

“I will sell your sons and your daughters to the Judians, and they shall in turn sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off.” Joel 3:8

“Slaves obey your master." Colossians 3:22

And many more.

[cowboyway]

I'm against the Drug War.

Are you for the legalization of recreational drug use?

I would also support peaceful secession of any state, if that is the will of the people.

That's good to know. We'll count on you when the time comes.

Remember, the Drug War is 90% of the reason for there being 200,000+ armed federal agents. How do you propose to change that without ending the Drug War?

Do you really think that if the War on Drugs were to stop that these federal agents would simply go away?

[PaxMacian]

"Dope heads will drag up any quote, even try to use Biblical justification, to support their dope smoking lifestyle."

Drug warriors. too, will use Biblical quotes or even baseless 'morality' to justify the tyranny of their warrior lifestyle. They think they are my God and my father yet they end up my Pilate, but the blood stains will not wash from their hands.

We are all slaves and to deny it is futile.
We win a war now and become slaves to
those we defeat for generations instead
of enslaving those we free from tyranny
with the blood of our children and our
hard earned tax dollars which should be
providing for our social security. We are
slaves to the 100% of our nations growth
encompassed in a mass invasion of illegal
immigrants that have not payed into the
social security system for their entire lives.
We are slaves to failing government socialism.

[Ken H]

I gave straight, clear answers to your questions.

Are you going to answer where you think the Constitution delegates power to the Federal government in intrastate drug policies?

[PaxMacian]

"How anybody can claim to be a 'conservative' and believe in Judeo-Christian values and still advocate dope usage is insane."

Romans 14: 2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. 3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.

[cowboyway]

We've reached an impasse.

If you want to get high and sodomize your buddy, go ahead. But don't ask the rest of us to sanction these acts through legalization of recreational drug use and same sex marriage.

[eno_]

Uunless you are teatotal, you are a hypocrit. Far more violence and debauchery takes place in drunkeness, and far more addiction is to alcohol than to any other drug. Pick up a magazine aimed at gay men and count the ads for liquor.

[68 grunt]

... I guess "Buy American!" caught on in at least one marketplace.

The last bastion of free enterprise.

[68 grunt]

The promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness doesn't mean much to you, does it?

[tacticalogic]

The promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness doesn't mean much to you, does it?

That went by the wayside along with the Articles of the Constitution.

[tacticalogic]

Uunless you are teatotal, you are a hypocrit.

More likely a DU troll trying to make people think that holding Judeo-Christian values makes you too dumb to understand the Constitution.

[tacticalogic]

We should not legalize drugs. That is another dumb idea.

Hanging on to the New Deal's living document Commerce Clause in order to make it a federal crime is getting pretty far down the stupid scale, too.