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Friday, September 28, 2007

This Week on Drugs

posted by on September 28 at 12:00 PM

marijuana_arrests_chart.jpg

High Priority: A Department of Justice report shows marijuana arrests in 2006 hit record at 829,627.

Tripped: Amsterdam supports three-day waiting period for mushroom buyers after too many tourists wig out in the Van Gogh Museum.

Dogged: Vick on home detention after testing positive for pot.

Measured Progress: Four marijuana initiatives on the ballot in Idaho town.

“We made brownies and I think we’re dead”: Pot-brownie eating cop charged with misdemeanor.

Does this Cigarette Make Me Look Fat? Youtube criticized for tobacco clips.

Score Bar: Feds charge maker of laced candy.

Termination: After 15 years, Portland cuts drug-free zones.

Tribulation: FDA drug trials.

Rotation: Afghanistan opium farmers switch to ganja.

Incarceration: Prison population leveling as crack offenders serving mandatory-minimum sentences finish terms.

Meth-Awareness Month is Coming: Are you sufficiently aware? This gem from the ONDCP will have you singing its praises.

RSS icon Comments

1

In related news, smoking cigarettes is highly linked with male impotence.

So, if you're a girl, avoid guys who smoke.

If you're a guy who smokes, realize that it's not gonna help you do what you want to do ...

Posted by Will in Seattle | September 28, 2007 12:11 PM
2

Eight Hundred Fucking Thousand?!?!

And people wanna know why we're always talking about drug law reform. Jesus.

Posted by NaFun | September 28, 2007 12:19 PM
3

>>Tripped: Amsterdam enacts three-day waiting period for mushroom buyers after too many tourists wig out in the Van Gogh Museum.

Here's the entire text of the article you linked to:

Amsterdam city council backs plans by mayor Job Cohen to put tighter controls on the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms, after a number of serious incidents involving tourists. Cohen wants to introduce a three-day wait before tourists would be able to buy fresh mushrooms.


It doesn't say anything about museums, nor does it say this has been enacted; only that someone "wants to" have a 3 day wait. So basically the article is all pipe dream, and not actual news of anything happening, unlike what your slog post suggests.

either find a link that supports your reporting, or rewrite your slog post. as Nickels has proved, just because someone wants new restrictions, doesn't mean they've happened.

Posted by dutch treat | September 28, 2007 12:47 PM
4

i didn't know portland had "drug free zones".. sounds like something belltown would have come up with.

can we please legalize marajuana now? stop putting innocents in jail, diffuse some gang violence, and you know, if nothing else to stimulate the economy enough to pay off the war? oh and god forbid have a good time every once and awhile.

Posted by Cale | September 28, 2007 12:52 PM
5

Touche, Dutch Treat. Here's a link to a story that ran earlier this month about the mayor's proposal. The link in the post shows that the council now backs it, too, so it's not enacted but it looks like a done deal.

Posted by Dominic Holden | September 28, 2007 1:02 PM
6

Well at least it's not all bad news. Afgani weed is the best.

Posted by Dianna | September 28, 2007 1:14 PM
7

not defending, but for what it's worth, the arrests appear to be pretty even with population growth over the past 30 years... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US_Population_Graph_-_1790_to_Present.svg

Posted by stats | September 28, 2007 1:37 PM
8

that was *supposed* to be an ANTI-drug message, right?

Posted by K | September 28, 2007 1:53 PM
9

Cale @4:

Why do you hate America's for-profit incarceration industry so?

Posted by COMTE | September 28, 2007 1:58 PM
10

#9 oh... you know... something about life, liberty.. happiness something or other... can't quite seem to remember..

uh.

Posted by Cale | September 28, 2007 2:10 PM
11

That commercial is almost 10 years old. I thought they were running it in Seattle when I still lived there in 2000?

Posted by Dougsf | September 28, 2007 2:11 PM
12

Remember how the budget of King County was running dry cause it was 50 percent for the justice system around 2000?

It's 70 percent now.

Time for a referendum at the County like we had in Seattle.

Tax payers unite! Stop jailing harmless people.

Posted by Will in Seattle | September 28, 2007 2:14 PM
13

Hey, stats. Even though that population graph shows a similar curve to the pot graph, pot arrests are increasing at a faster rate than the population--by far.

The number of residents in the US increased roughly 40 percent from 1970 to 2000 (from 200 million to 280 million), but marijuana arrests rose 367 percent in that time (from 200 thousand to 734 thousand). Another way to look at is by the increase in the number of pot arrests per capita. In 1970 there was one arrest for every 1000 US residents, but by 2000 there was one arrest per 378 residents.

Posted by Dominic Holden | September 28, 2007 2:15 PM
14

Looking at the graph, clearly this is Clinton's fault.

Posted by Mahtli69 | September 28, 2007 3:13 PM
15

among his many faults, Clinton's utter fucking criminal cowardice on drugs ranks right up there (along with caving in to homophobes).

Just see his caving in on the subject of needle exchange as one example...thus helping to ensure the continued spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C.

Clinton's celebrated balls were made of glass.

Posted by gnossos | September 28, 2007 4:05 PM
16

word, @15, true dat.

Posted by Will in Seattle | September 28, 2007 4:20 PM
17

Michael Vick is a big douchebag, but the linked article is ridiculous. He was worth giving a second chance....BUT he tested positive for weed use. So fuck, he REALLY must BE evil! Fry the bastard!

Posted by Vapo Rub | September 28, 2007 4:21 PM

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