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Legislation

Europe, Legislation, War on Drugs
North Wales Chief Constable calls for legalisation of drugs
10.15.07 | Permalink | Comment?

Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable for North Wales, says that a drugs policy based on prohibition has failed, in a presentation he made to North Wales Police Authority today.
The Independent has covered his main points critical of drug prohibition, which are not new to critics of government drug policies but which have been welcomed […]
Legislation, Middle East
Sheesha ban in Jeddah cafes
09.08.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second largest city, is the latest target of a worldwide crackdown on tobacco products being consumed in public places, with the news that an apparently years-old government regulation against the smoking of sheesha - otherwise known as the hookah or water pipe - will start to be enforced.

According to Arabnews.com, from now on the city’s more than 300 cafes that serve sheeshas face being warned, fined and then shut down if caught violating the legislation by roving municipal inspectors. The main reason for the application of the legislation is said to be because of one Jeddah cafe having added more than just tobacco in their pipes, with the municipality also receiving complaints that boys and girls were visiting the cafes; no doubt public health fears have a part to play as well.
Europe, Legislation
Tony Blair: “pre-birth” intervention required
09.04.06 | Permalink | Comment?

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has caught some flack recently for suggesting that the government should intervene early in the lives of problematic families and teenage mothers out of which children could grow up to be a “menace to society” and “a threat to themselves”, even if it means intervening “pre-birth”.

So far it is all a little vague, allowing veteran Laborite and former MP Tony Benn, to respond that “[t]his one about identifying troublesome children in the foetus - this is eugenics, the sort of thing Hitler talked about.” Well, the kind of talk Benn thinks he is hearing actually goes back a bit further than Hitler - see, for example, Edwin Black’s “War Against the Weak” - but until Blair clarifies what he is on about, the accusations will continue to fly. What we do know for now is that the guardians of potential troublemakers - by definition current troublemakers themselves, including those with troubles of a drug- and alcohol-related variety - could be forced to take some form of “help” before it is too late.
Legislation, North America, War on Drugs
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
08.21.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is an organisation made up of current and former members of the police force and judiciary who want an end to drug prohibition and for it to be replaced by a regime of drug regulation. LEAP argues the former would address the crime problem associated with the black market for illicit drugs, while the latter could help address the drug problem itself. Check out their promotional video below:

via The Agitator
Legislation, North America, War on Drugs, Websites
DEA Targets America vs. Target America
08.11.06 | Permalink | Comment?

The indefatigable Pete Guither of DrugWarRant.com isn’t happy with a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) exhibition that just opened this Friday at Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry and will run until the third of December. And, in conjunction with Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, he has set up a website and will hand out flyers this weekend at the museum to counter what he sees as self-serving DEA propaganda.

“Target America: Opening Eyes to the Damage Drugs Cause” was created a few years ago by the DEA Museum and Visitors Centre as a travelling exhibit. After an initial showing in Arlington, Virginia, it has been open to the public in cities like Dallas, New York City and Detroit.
Legislation, North America, War on Drugs
“BUSTED: The Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Police Encounters”
08.07.06 | Permalink | Comment?

The Flex Your Rights Foundation (FYR), as the tagline on their website indicates, is dedicated to providing information about how to “protect your constitutional rights during police encounters” in the United States, either through their website, blog, or DVD for sale or viewable for free on the internet.
Legislation, North America, Reviews, Studies, War on Drugs
A review of “Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America”
08.06.06 | Permalink | Comment?

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been reading through Cato Institute analyst Radley Balko’s new paper, “Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America“, on the ever increasing use of heavily armed SWAT teams against non-violent drug suspects.

Now that I’ve had a more detailed read I do have one criticism, but overall I am sticking with my initial impression of Overkill, namely that

“I agree with the thrust of what he is saying, namely that paramilitary tactics are only applicable to extraordinary, violent crimes in civil society - such as hostage-taking and bank robberies - as well as battlegrounds overseas.
Thanks to federal funding, encouragement and support, the militarisation of drug prosecutions is not only unnecessarily endangering and adding turmoil to the lives of countless citizens but is in many cases counter-productive in its aims of preventing violence.”

The thing that struck me the most about the paper is not just the way in which innocent lives were cruelly disrupted and trampled upon, but the cold, casual and even deliberate disregard the police in question had for their victims; it was as if they were seen as enemy soldiers on a foreign battleground. Most people instinctively apologise for bumping into someone on the street, but certain law enforcement officers couldn’t even bring themselves to offer a similar, nominal, apology - let alone a more substantial one - for inflicting on what is for some people the most traumatic moment of their lives.
Africa, Legislation
Will regulations and zoning restrictions cut Botswana’s drinking?
07.26.06 | Permalink | Comment?

As part of a campaign to reduce the consumption of alcohol in Botswana, President Festus Mogae wants legislation implemented that would not only restrict the hours in which alcohol can be sold, but also refuse licences to bars wanting to open near schools, churches and roads, with similar businesses already in existence being given five years to relocate.

President Mogae talked up the plan this week with residents of Molepolole, a town west of the capital Gabarone, blaming alcohol abuse for weakening the economy, increasing road accidents, contributing to high rates of murder, assaults and rape cases, reducing “capable people to nothing” and diminishing the effectiveness of anti-retroviral drugs used against the Southern African country’s large HIV/AIDS problem. Even though he recognised it might mean the end of many alcohol-related businesses and jobs, he thought the rewards outweighed the costs.
Asia, Legislation, War on Drugs
Conservative Party leader urged to back Afghan opium legalisation
07.24.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Senior MPs (Members of Parliament) of the UK’s opposition Conservative Party are reportedly calling for their leader, David Cameron, to get behind a move to get opium production legalised in Afghanistan, as he pays a surprise visit to the war-torn country.

According to The Guardian, opposition whip Tobias Ellwood would like the opium to be sold on the open market for opiate-based medicines, because:

* the opium eradication programs, highly unpopular with poor farmers, puts British soldiers in danger as farmers give their support to the Taliban;

* £600m was spent last year on eradication and opium exports were the biggest ever;

* it could divert some production away from the illegal market; and

* there is a worldwide shortage of opiate based-medicines.
Kids and Drugs, Legislation, North America, Treatment
Parents in Alberta, Canada allowed to force kids into detox
07.16.06 | Permalink | Comment?

Parents in Alberta, Canada will now be able to compel their kids to attend drug detox programs if approved by a provincial court, thanks to the passing of The Protection of Children Abusing Drugs Act on the first of July. Eight successful applications have already been granted in Calgary, with more likely to follow. It is aimed at alcohol- and drug-using children who are at risk of endangering themselves or others, and can be utilised by either parents or legal guardians.

Although some supporters of the bill, tabled by Red Deer MLA Mary Anne Jablonski in October 2005, wanted a 90 day-length detox period, only five days was eventually granted. While disappointed, they thought it was better than nothing and gave support to parents who have lost control. Chris Uttley of Parents Empowering Parents thought that it would at least give the kids “a chance to start thinking clearly”.