Tag Archives: drugs

Crime and Punishment

According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Using the most recent data available, in the U.S. 753 of every 100, 000 people are in prison or jail. This rate is 20% higher than Russia, the second place country and more than 25% higher than Rwanda, the third place country. The U.S. rate is over seven times higher than the median rate for the OECD countries and about 17 times higher than the rate in Iceland, the country with the lowest incarceration rate.

With the high incarceration rate comes additional problems. The U.S. prison system costs taxpayers over $75 billion, a figure that is larger than the GDP of 133 nations. Our prison population has grown by 800% since 1980. Seventy percent of the prison population is black or Hispanic and half of those imprisoned today were sentenced for drug infractions.

Given our exploding prison population and its unsustainable costs, it was welcome news to hear that Attorney General Eric Holder plans to allow thousands of prisoners to apply for reduced sentences. The Justice Department also will expand the pool of eligibility for presidential clemency for non-violent drug offenders serving long sentences due, primarily, to mandatory federal drug laws.

In 2010, President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act reducing unfair disparities in sentences imposed on people for offenses involving different forms of cocaine. But there’s still far too many people in federal prison who were sentenced under the previous administration and who, as a result, will have to spend far more time in prison than they would if sentenced today for exactly the same crime.

As more states legalize small amounts of pot, it makes sense both economically and morally to review the cases of those currently incarcerated for drug offenses. There is no justifiable reason that our prison population should be so significantly higher than Russia or third world countries like Rwanda, or that the system should be filled with so many non-violent drug offenders.

The Real Reason Drugs Are Illegal

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As was doing research for the fifth book in my mystery series featuring Homicide Detective John Santana, I came across some interesting facts, which reinforced my believe that drugs have as much chance of being legalized as I do of becoming president. But my skepticism is based on something quite different than you might think.

Whenever those opposed to legalizing drugs are asked to defend their position, they often cite health concerns and moral, spiritual, and political reasons for their opposition. In some instances they’ll cite economic concerns, arguing that when compared to the social costs of drug abuse and addiction, government spending on drug control is minimal.

But there’s one economic argument for keeping drugs illegal that is rarely mentioned, and it has to do with the billions of dollars that are laundered through the global banking system every year.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates the amount of money laundered globally in one year to be 2 – 5% of global GDP, or $800 billion – $2 trillion US dollars. Senator Carl Levin estimates that “$500 billion to $1 trillion of international criminal proceeds are moved internationally and deposited into bank accounts annually.” Estimates place the dirty money flowing into U.S. coffers during the 1990s amounted at $3-$5.5 trillion.

According to a report prepared by James Petras, Professor of Sociology at Binghamton University, the dirty money flowing through the major U.S. banks far exceeds the net revenues of all the IT companies in the U.S. The yearly inflows also surpass all the net transfers by the major U.S. oil producers, military industries and airplane manufacturers.

The bottom line is that “without dirty money the U.S. economy would be totally unsustainable, living standards would plummet, the dollar would weaken, the available investment and loan capital would shrink and Washington would not be able to sustain its global empire.”

And here’s the bad news. Petras believes the amount and importance of laundered money is increasing.

Conservative economist Milton Friedman once said that, “if you look at the drug war from a purely economic point of view, the role of the government is to protect the drug cartel,”––and, I would add, by extension the banks that illegally launder their drug money.

So the next time someone asks you why we can’t legalize drugs forget the traditional arguments and tell them the truth. The world and U.S. economy and banking systems are dependent on keeping drugs illegal.

Time To End The War On Drugs

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Benjamin Arellano-Felix

Benjamin Arellano-Felix, the former leader of the Tijuana Cartel was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court in San Diego to serve 25 years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $100 million in criminal proceeds. The sentence followed his conviction for racketeering and conspiring to launder monetary instruments. After serving out his time in the U.S., he will be deported to Mexico to finish a 22-year sentence.

Jose Antonio Acosta-Hernandez, the Juarez Drug Cartel’s leader in Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico, also pled guilty in El Paso, Texas last week, and was sentenced to life in prison for his participation in drug trafficking and numerous acts of violence in connection with the Barrio Azteca gang.

Despite these successes, the War on Drugs has been an abject failure. Drug smuggling and distribution are currently estimated to be a $300-$400 billion global business.

In a recent article, Jess Rigelhaupt, an assistant professor of history and American studies at the University of Mary Washington noted that the U.S. currently has more than 2.3 million people behind bars. One in every 100 adults is in jail. The incarceration rate is 750 per 100,000 residents, the highest rate in the world. We have 5 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of the people in jail. We imprison people at a rate five times higher than comparable Western industrial nations. More than half of new prison sentences to state prisons between 1985 and 2000 were for drug offenses.

According to the Drug Sense website, the U.S. federal government spent over $15 billion on the war in 2010, which amounts to about $500 per second. Someone is arrested for violating a drug law every 19 seconds. Police arrested an estimated 858,408 persons for cannabis violations in 2009. Of those charged with cannabis violations, approximately 89 percent were charged with possession only. An American is arrested for violating cannabis laws every 30 seconds.

Last November, president Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia declared that market alternatives to deal with narcotics trafficking should be considered. In February, President Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala called for a debate on drug regulation to reduce violence in Latin America. Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras and Mexico all voiced support for the initiative.

Three weeks ago, at the 55th annual session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Austria, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil and chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, said, “There is a clear rise in public perception on the flaws of the current approach to deal with drugs in our society. We can no longer afford the levels of violence in Mexico, Brazil, Central America and West Africa, the trillions of dollars spent on this endless war and the obstacles it presents to harm reduction policies. It is about time that the UN and politicians in office engage on a constructive debate towards decriminalization, regulation, and public health programs that may reduce violence whilst preventing and relieving the suffering of drug abusers.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Deficits and Drugs

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November 2, 2010 is the date of the mid-term elections. It’s also a date that may signal the beginning of a major change in our drug laws. While fourteen states and DC have enacted laws legalizing medical marijuana, if Proposition 19 passes in California, it will be the first U.S. state to legalize the drug.

Legalizing marijuana appears to have broad support in the state, with 51% to 56% of Californians surveyed in various polls saying they favored making marijuana legal for social use and taxing the sales proceeds to help bail out the cash-strapped state.

Those supporting the measure assert that banning marijuana has contributed to an increasingly deadly underground economy run by brutal drug cartels that have cost billions in scarce law enforcement resources and made criminals out of countless law-abiding citizens. Those opposed to the measure worry about increased drug usage and impaired driving crashes and say the social costs far outweigh the money it would bring in.

Under the initiative, simple possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, currently a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $100 fine, would be legal for anyone at least 21. It also would be lawful to grow limited amounts in one’s own home for personal use. While sales would not be legalized outright, cities and counties could pass laws permitting commercial distribution subject to local regulations and taxes. Retail sales would still be limited to an ounce for adults 21 and older.

Despite our decades long battle against the cartels and traffickers, the U.S. still has some of the highest rates of drug use in the world, and more than a quarter of its prison inmates are behind bars for drug-related offenses. Mexico’s U.S. backed war on drugs has left more than 28,000 people dead since December 2006. Recently, former Mexican President Vicente Fox said Mexico should consider legalizing the production, distribution and sale of drugs in order to “break the economic structure that allows the mafias to generate huge profits in their business.”

It is truly ironic that government budget deficits largely created by anti-drug politicians may lead to the legalization of marijuana in California. And its passage may spearhead a national movement toward decriminalizing the drug in states across the country.

Drug-Dealing Doctors

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By officially charging Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s cardiologist, with involuntary manslaughter today, Los Angeles will again be home to a show trial reminiscent of the media circus surrounding the celebrity trials of Robert Blake and O.J. Simpson, both of whom were acquitted of murder, mostly because of prosecutorial missteps. One hopes that the D.A.’s office is better prepared to deal with Murray and a charge of manslaughter.

Of course doctors dealing drugs for celebrities is nothing new. Dr. George Nichopoulos, Elvis Presley’s private physician, literally wrote thousands of prescriptions for Elvis at a time when it was obvious that the entertainer was abusing them. Many believe that prescription drug abuse severely compromised Presley’s health, and led to his sudden death in 1977 at the age of 42. Nichopoulos was eventually charged with 14 counts of abusing his license to prescribe in May of 1980, but was acquitted in November. The case was reopened in 1992, and in 1995, his medical license was revoked.

Conrad Murray gave Jackson propofol, also called “milk of amnesia,” a powerful anesthetic, which depresses breathing and heart rate while lowering blood pressure. It is only supposed to be administered by an anesthesia professional in a medical setting.

According to court documents, Murray told police he administered propofol just before 11 a.m. then stepped out of the room to go to the bathroom. Murray told police that when he returned to the bedroom, he saw that Jackson was not breathing and began trying to revive him. But an ambulance was not called until 12:21 p.m. Curiously, Murray spent much of the intervening time making non-emergency cell phone calls.

Last year, psychiatrists Khristine Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor were charged with felony conspiracy to furnish drugs to Anna Nicole Smith. They were also charged with prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict.

28-year-old actor Heath Ledger died just over a year ago as the result of acute intoxication from the combined effects of an accidental dose of oxycodone, Vicodin, Valium, Temazepam, Xanax, and doxylamine. This past December actress Brittany Murphy died at 32 from pneumonia, aided by anemia and drug intoxication. Doctors may not have directly administered the drugs to Smith, Ledger, and Murphy, but they certainly contributed to their deaths.

Drug deaths in Hollywood are nothing new. Celebrity worshipers have been watching actors and musicians unintentionally kill themselves for years. And for many years, going as far back as Marilyn Monroe, the law enforcement community often looked the other way. More recently, they have gone after the doctor suppliers. Eventually, prosecutions and convictions may convince these drug-dealing doctors to focus on their Hippocratic Oaths rather than on padding their bank accounts. The recent string of celebrity drug deaths may also change some behaviors in Hollywood.

As Ernest Hemingway famously wrote, “Isn’t it pretty to think so.”