Please Make a Note of It: Don’t call police to your house about a burglary if you’re growing pot inside.

Some Crazy Shit: Ecstasy smuggled under toilet paper.

Zogby: We’ve lost the drug war, voters say.

Three in four likely voters (76 percent) believe the U.S. war on drugs is failing, a sentiment that cuts across the political spectrum — including the vast majority of Democrats (86 percent), political independents (81 percent), and most Republicans (61 percent). There is also a strong belief that the anti-drug effort is failing among those who intend to vote for Obama (89 percent) for president, as well as most supporters of McCain (61 percent).

When asked what they believe is the single best way to combat international drug trafficking and illicit use, 27 percent of likely voters said legalizing some drugs would be the best approach — 34 percent of Obama supporters and 20 percent of McCain backers agreed.

That may seem like a lot of pot, but some patient advocates—who are just reacting to the news—disagree. They say many patients use more marijuana than recreational users because they eat the pot, smoke it throughout the day, or have a high tolerance.

“Patients are not going to have enough,” says Joanna McKee, director of the medical marijuana advocacy group Green Cross. She says that if someone starts with 15 seeds, only three to five will survive to maturity. That will leave sickest patients without enough harvestable marijuana to treat their conditions, which range from intractable pain to cancer. “They are going to have to go to the black market to get it,” she says.

Tim Church, a spokesman for the Department of Health, says, “We were trying to come up with a number [of plants] and an amount [of marijuana] that the majority of patients need to treat their illness, and we think they have hit that.” He says there was very little scientific research on which to base the decision. The DoH gathered input from numerous public meetings with patients, doctors and law enforcement. “There is always someone who needs more for a particular reason,” he says.

“This basically means it is open season on every medical patient that law enforcement encounters because nobody is in compliance with this rule,” says Douglas Hiatt, a Seattle attorney who defends medical marijuana patients. Hiatt worries the rule would set a “clear bright line” that encourages police to arrest medical marijuana patients who exceed the amount set under the rule.

“I am going to file for an injunction to stop the rule from taking effect,” says Hiatt. He says scientific reports show that many patients need more marijuana that the rule would allow. “Then I am going to file to overturn the rule based on them failing to follow science.”

The legislature tasked the DoH with establishing the guidelines to clarify the amount of pot a patient could possess, because, under the law passed a decade ago, police would routinely arrest medical marijuana patients for any amount and allow a court to decide whether or not the patient was in compliance with the law. Although the rule still does not provide patients protection from arrest if they are under the limit, it may help them being arrested. The patients still retain retain their legal defense in court if they exceed the limits. “It’s a good start,” says McKee. The rule is slated to take effect on November 1.

Using a panel format and clap-on-cue audience, the talk-show-style program encourages people to talk about pot. It is quite bland, really. Nonetheless, KOMO billed thousands of dollars in production costs for recording the show its studio, then refused to air it; KING and KONG would air the program only after 1:00 a.m.

Today, the Seattle Community Access Network, notable for the lowest production values and highest level of raunch in regional television, announced it will air the show at 6:30 p.m. and a live panel discussion at 7:00 p.m. on Comcast channel 77 and Broadstripe channel 23 throughout King County. Sounds… almost as dull as Brokeback Mountain. (You can also view the show online.)

But here’s the thing. People often deride advocates of controversial issues for marginal tactics, like marching or rallying or blogging--generally for not taking a more mainstream tack. Well, the ACLU tried to take the most mainstream approach of all—network television with high-end production values—but network television gave bullshit excuses to reject it. Maybe America’s just not ready for certain mainstream tactics until those rallies earn a bit more respect.

The US Government Announces This: Record for marijuana arrests.

The Same Week It Does This: Toasts the the 75th anniversary of the end of alcohol prohibition. Here is part of the House’s irony-free resolution:

Whereas throughout American history, alcohol has been consumed by its citizens and regulated by the Government;

Whereas prior to the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which established Prohibition in the United States, abuses and insufficient regulation resulted in irresponsible overconsumption of alcohol;

Whereas passage of the 18th Amendment, which prohibited `the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors' in the United States, resulted in a dramatic increase in illegal activity, including unsafe black market alcohol production, organized crime, and noncompliance with alcohol laws;

Whereas members of the licensed alcoholic beverage industry have created and supported a wide range of national, State, and community programs to address problems associated with alcohol abuse, including drunk driving and underage drinking: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress--

(1) celebrates 75 years of effective State-based alcohol regulation since the passage of the 21st Amendment; (2) recognizes State lawmakers, regulators, law enforcement officers, the public health community and industry members for creating a workable, legal, and successful system of alcoholic beverage regulation, distribution, and sale; and (3) continues to support policies that allow States to effectively regulate alcohol.

Government Officials in Massachusetts Said This:

An army of young drug addicts and dealers could flood the streets if voters don’t snub out a proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, a cadre of Bay State officials said.

The Coalition for Safe Streets, a joint group of law enforcement, religious and community leaders backed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Attorney General Martha Coakley, warned yesterday the proposal would spark a crime wave and efforts to keep kids clean would go up in smoke.

In Harder News: FDA cracks down on online Viagra.

Down in Bolivia: Kicks out US ambassador, gets blacklisted by US for drugs.

Meanwhile, in Canada: Green Party leader says, “I apologise” for having “never used marijuana.”

Last week White House appointee John Walters claimed on C-SPAN that finding people in jail for "first-time nonviolent possession of marijuana... is like finding a unicorn ... because it doesn’t exist." I had a hunch that some of the 775,138 people arrested for pot possession last year were actually unicorns...

But the drug czar probably assumed that it's a freebie to call people with criminal convictions anything he wants, because they're likely to be too ashamed to defend themselves. That's certainly true, but it didn't take me long to find credible people willing to vouch for the existence of first-time, non-violent marijuana offenders—excuse me, unicorns.

In just one hour, I've found five people who have seen the Drug Czar's unicorns with their own eyes. Here are Slog’s exclusive unicorn reports:

Andy Robertson, criminal defense attorney for 10 years at the Rosen Law Firm in Seattle.

I have had it happen where [my client] goes to jail where they have one joint on them, and they have never gone to jail before. This is their first and only brush with the law. I don’t think that I have ever had a case where the person charged for marijuana is anything but the most peaceful person you can imagine.

A judge who I spoke to recently said that about every afternoon, he’ll put at least one person a day in jail for possession of marijuana or paraphernalia. He’s bee pro tem-ing for at least five years.

Sunil Abraham, public defender for the King County Defender Association. When asked how many people he has personally encountered with no prior record who have served time in jail for a nonviolent marijuana-possession charge, here's what he said:

I’d say 50 people and they have all done time in jail. I’d guess that if you obtained the booking history for the last 100 marijuana arrests for somebody who has no criminal history, 80 percent of them do time in jail. It may be one day, but they serve time in jail. [Police] don’t commonly arrest for marijuana and release; you are going to go to jail.

Alison Holcomb, drug policy director of the ACLU of Washington.

According to data compiled by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and requested by the ACLU of Washington, Washington police agencies reported 11,553 arrests for possession of marijuana in 2007. Misdemeanor possession of marijuana carries a mandatory day in jail, and up to ninety. Data obtained from the Washington State Patrol's Identification and Criminal History Section reveals that 3,588 convictions for misdemeanor marijuana possession were entered in Washington courts in 2007.

Muraco Kyashana-tocha, works in the law offices of Jeffrey Steinborn and Douglas Hiatt, the city’s leading marijuana-defense attorneys.

I know of two cases that were handled … in the last year. They were both over in Redmond. I know both of them by name. One gram [possessed] by one of them, and 12 grams by the other one. They were squeaky clean: no record no juvenile record. I know a lot of people who went to jail while their case was processing. They may be in jail over the weekend for three days. A lot of the people charged with misdemeanor [possession] cannot afford $3000-5000 for legal representation, so they are doing time.

Jeffrey Steinborn, the city’s leading marijuana defense attorney.

Walters is either shamefully ignorant, or intentionally lying to us. Sometimes we get lucky because a big shot in white shirt shows up. Sometimes the prosecutor will say the statute is mandatory, so they say, “Fuck you, your client’s going to jail.” Sometimes the judge will convert that to community service but the law says they can’t. To avoid that day in jail is the exception rather than the rule.

Surely, more of these magical animals walk among us. Have you seen a unicorn? Are you a unicorn? Put your unicorn-sighting story in comments or send me an email.

At a press conference last week, an activist pressed the Bush appointee to explain why Holland, which allows pot smoking, has lower use rates than the U.S., which arrests over a quarter-million pot smokers a year. And this is what happened:

“We didn’t arrest 800,000 marijuana users,” Walters says about 1:35 minutes into the video. That’s a “lie.”

But not only did law-enforcement agencies report over 800,000 pot arrests last year, they reported five percent more this year. That’s 872,721 arrests for pot. But Walters wasn’t done. He went on to equate people arrested for pot possession as fanciful creatures that don’t exist.

“The fact is today, people don’t go to jail for possession of marijuana. I know you like to pretend it does, and there’s a lot of misinformation about that. But finding someone in jail or prison for a first-time nonviolent possession of marijuana is like finding a unicorn. You find one, you will make a big story, because it doesn’t exist.”

Granted, he gets selective by describing these fantasy beasts as nonviolent first-time offenders. But out of the 775,138 people busted for possession last year, hundreds of thousands of them meet his criteria. For instance, the Seattle City Attorney's Office prosecuted 109 people for marijuana possession in 2007; 40 of them--unicorns, each one of them--were charged only for possession. And I’m not in a position to name manes here, but I’ve spoken to several unicorns.

Jackson Police spokesman Lt. Jeffery Scott said Ronnie Burton, 26, of Jackson, was shot once in the shoulder Friday when police and Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents attempted to serve a search warrant.

Scott could not discuss many details of the 8:30 p.m. raid at the house in the 6000 block of Lyndon B. Johnson Drive, except to say it was a “high risk” narcotics search.

Burton is charged with four counts of aggravated assault on police and one count of shooting into an occupied police vehicle. No other arrests were made and no other injuries were reported.

Absent from this report is mention of any drugs found. Who’da thunk? Sober people flip out and start shooting when police break down their doors.

Via.

Meanwhile, law enforcement made more arrests for drugs than for any other offense in 2007, the FBI reports in un-flashy text. The largest category of drug offenses is an all-time record for pot busts. Law enforcement arrested 872,720 people for pot (775,138 just for possession), up about 42,000 pot busts from 2006.

Can we take this to mean that cracking down on pot smokers—instigators of violent crime nationwide—has thus protected the citizenry from assault? Well, nobody’s saying that, of course, because most pot smokers would forgo assault for table salt.

But how many actual criminals are out there to be arrested? According to the federal drug survey released earlier this month, about 19.9 million people had used a drug within the last month when they were surveyed in 2007. This is more than all of the people arrested for anything at all: “In 2007... 14,209,365 arrests occurred nationwide for all offenses,” the FBI estimates.

There are more drug users than law enforcement's capacity for arresting them. So, rather then suggesting busting more people for pot smoking decreases violent crime, it would it be less ridiculous—perhaps even disgustingly plausible—that more people are getting away with assault, robbery, and theft because the cops are our busting record numbers of pot smokers.

Whiner: Colombian drug lord requests a bigger cell because he’s "claustrophobic."

Stoner: Man reeking of pot flags down police in the U-District. Cops take the dope and release the dopehead.

Popper: Cindy McCain the pill maven.

McCain's addiction also embroiled her with one of her charity's former employees, Tom Gosinski, who reported her drug use to the DEA and provided prosecutors with a contemporaneous journal that detailed the effects of her drug problems. He was later accused by a lawyer for McCain of trying to extort money from the McCain family.

Hired Help: FDA brings on 1300 employees to recoup from staff exodus.

Double Dutch: Tobacco ban getting pot smokers more stoned than ever.

Cannabis Camera: Police may post photos of folks busted in drug raids.

Winning the War on Drugs: In Nigeria.

A Nigerian was shot dead by police during a raid on suspected drug traffickers in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, police said Friday….

"In line with our procedures, they resisted and endangered police so they were shot," he said. Police found "hundreds of grams" of heroin in the raid, [police spokesman] Yoga Ana said. The Jakarta Post daily reported that both men were unarmed when they were shot by police.

I agree with the majority opinion and write separately only because I do not want the obvious to be lost: RCW 70.160.030 prohibits smoking "in a public place or in any place of employment." … The dissenters say that "private facilities" are excluded from the law, regardless of whether people are employed within the facility. If they are correct, then, as the majority points out, an office building that is not open to the public, i.e., a "private facility," will be excluded from the ban, despite the fact that the building may house hundreds of employees. This defies the "common sense" which the dissenters so liberally call upon, as well as the plain reading of the statute.

Not sure what this means for private clubs where servers and bartenders claim to be “volunteers.”

Shukovsky's revised piece isn't an anti-drug-war screed and it isn't advocacy journalism calling for the legalization of pot. Instead it's the kind of journalism daily papers take pride in delivering on other issues but typically fail to deliver when it comes to stories about drug busts. With the addition of a quote from a board member of NORML—Seattle defense attorney Jeff Steinborn—the PI and Shukovsky finally acknowledge the fact that there are two sides to this issue. By including Steinborn's comments, the PI let its readers know that not just police officers, federal prosecutors, and DEA agents have valid opinions about pot and the war on drugs.

Now was that so hard?

Seattle defense attorney Jeff Steinborn, who frequently takes drug cases, said Wednesday: "Is there no real crime out there? By golly, I guess we'll be safe from the giggles and the munchies for a while."

Steinborn, who is a member of the national board of the marijuana legalization group NORML, decried the "amount of resources they've expended to enforce a law that every government study for the last 160 years says should not be."

Keep it, Paul Shukovsky!

You'd think that since the PI's Paul Shukovsky reported how agents "swooped down" on pot growers for “Operation Green Reaper" in April, he'd attempt to figure out what the impact of the first set of busts were. You know, why are we doing this? Is it working so far?

But, of course, if he'd even asked the agents what they sought to achieve then, he'd be forced to answer those question now. But he did neither, because he’s a stupid fucking credulous hack.

The mistake Shukovsky and other SFCHs make is to argue that this is a regular crime-n’-punishment story. Someone gets busted so outline the offense and talk to the authorities. But this isn’t like other crimes. It’s not like murder, rape, or theft—crimes with victims. The victims of pot growing, in the relatively rare cases when they exist, are people who dunnit to themselves (we don’t lock up people who eat their way to a coronary), or people got hurt because pot is illegal (when it's sold on the dangerous black market). The latter problem is one that we created—it can go away—but crime reporters take this approach more arrests are the solution. Otherwise they’d ask, “Why are we doing this? Is it working so far?”

Law enforcement officials...announced that early this morning, federal agents and local authorities executed 13 search warrants on indoor marijuana grow operations in King County. Today’s activities are part of the collaborative effort by law enforcement in ‘Operation Green Reaper’, targeting the command and control components of the Puget Sound’s indoor marijuana grow organizations.

Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) David Dongilli stated, “It is important for the public to know how dangerous indoor marijuana cultivation is to our community. These drug trafficking organizations are concealing their illegal activities in the very heart of many of our neighborhoods.

ASAC Dongilli further stated, “These homes are more readily prone to fires and the mold contamination produced from the cultivation process poses significant health and safety concerns to the community. The unfortunate end result is that these drug dealers collect huge illicit profits and our community banks and other mortgage holders are left with virtually uninhabitable and foreclosed homes.”

In conjunction with these raids, law enforcement seized 4,578 marijuana plants, three weapons to include an assault rifle and a shotgun, approximately $50,000.00 in United States Currency, 20 vehicles and have taken 20 subjects into custody.

Just to prove how dangerous pot growers are, the DOJ provided some visual aids:

Fire!!!

Mold!!!

Thank Christ we've got the DEA to save us from moldy, burny pot farmers.

Of course, people wouldn't need to set up jury-rigged grow ops in basements if pot was, y'know, legal.

But whatever.

Look at abstinence-only drug education and you get the same disappointing results as with sex education.

Over two decades ago, as part of the escalating war on drugs and Nancy Reagan's "just say no" campaign, Congress implemented the 1986 Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act. Federally-funded drug prevention education for teens was mandated to adhere to a strict abstinence-only message….

These strategies have proven just as unsuccessful as abstinence-only sexuality education. Studies of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), still the most popular school-based prevention program in the United States, have consistently shown that there is no difference in terms of drug use between students who had D.A.R.E. and those who did not. … As for the drug czar's billion-dollar anti-drug media campaign -- several researchers, as well as the Government Accountability Office, have shown that the ads are ineffective and sometimes actually counterproductive in convincing teens to abstain.

The difference between drugs and sex, of course, is that almost everybody tries sex—and folks keep up that nasty habit, if they can—but only about half of people try drugs. Then most of 'em stop. But some people, no matter whatcha do or say, are going to get high. But pretending that we craft some silver-bullet prevention ad for television and 100 percent of will the population will resist the temptation is shamefully naďve. If nothing more, telling kids to “just say no” makes the forbidden fruit all the more appealing.

The reports portray a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush administration’s watch.

Nothing sounds better on a TV attack ad than "cocaine use" and "sexual misconduct"--along with "President Bush," "Republican party," and "corruption."