"War on Drugs" & Decriminalization Efforts

Neither Pagan Institute nor the editor approve of drug abuse. However, if our government REALLY wanted to end the demand side of the drug problem, they would provide immediate, free, and high quality extended drug abuse treatment on demand, to anyone who requests it. 

In many places, addicts must wait 6 months or more if they have no insurance. You tell me whether  the money spent on the "war" on drugs has accomplished much and if there's REALLY much of a commitment to ending addiction in our lifetimes.

A case in point:

Decriminalization of possession of marijuana would effectively destroy the criminal marijuana drug industry, while building the horticultural and indoor gardening industries ;^).  It would remove barriers to appropriate research into the actual medical, palliative, and toxic properties of cannabinoids. It would empty our prisons of non-violent offenders at a time when our economy is critically overburdened. In time, it would reduce social services needs by bringing those men and women back to raise their families and contribute to society.

Further, the personnel and resources now used to persecute non-violent users of marijuana can be better used for real homeland security, such as

  • determining which homes and apartments have been used as meth labs and assuring that they
    are detoxified before they are again sold or inhabited;
     
  • moving to FDA and testing substances in the food, water, and cosmetics we consume;
     
  • examining imported foods and other substances for toxics, disease, and environmental hazards, such as stowaway pestilential species.

That's my opinion!

Christa Landon, ed.
 

Below you'll find:

Supreme Court OK's Hallucinagenic Tea
for Traditional Sect's Communion Ritual under RFRA

In February 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that members of the Brazilian CENTRO SPIRITA BENEFICIENTE UNIAO DO VEGETAL sect could use a hallucinogenic tea made of hoasca combined with local plants in their traditional religious ritual.  The group has about 130 members. In 1999, U.S. Customs inspectors seized a shipment of the psychotropic chemical which is banned under the Controlled Substances Act.

CENTRO SPIRITA BENEFICIENTE UNIAO DO VEGETAL appealed citing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 which requires that the government present a "compelling interest" before placing substantial burden on any religious practice, and if it does so, must use the "least restrictive means."

Critics say that RFRA spawned a "two-tier" system of justice, and unfairly exempted religious sects from "neutral civil laws" that apply to all other individuals and groups. Columbia University law professor Michael C. Dorf wrote at the www.findlaw.com  web site:

"In last week's ruling in the hoasca case, the Supreme Court tacitly adopted this theory. It remarked in a footnote that the Court had invalidated RFRA as to state and local government in BOERNE, and it proceeded on the assumption that, with respect to the federal drug laws, RFRA could simply be treated as authorization for the courts to find religious exemptions from those laws..."

Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists, contends that the new trend to provide "religious exemptions" constitutes bad law and dangerous public policy.  "Government should exercise 'strict neutrality' in respect to religious groups and practices, and that means neither discriminating in favor of or against religion" ... "RFRA and this latest court decision clearly demonstrate that the justices are elevating religion above legal standards which apply to private individuals, groups and businesses."

Proponents of the statute claimed that the legislation served to protect religious groups from intrusion by government.  Chief Justice John Roberts argued that the government's case missed the very point behind the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and noted that the even Congress had permitted unchallenged exemption to select drug laws for members of the Native American Church who use peyote during their worship services.

"If such use is permitted ... for hundreds of thousands of Native Americans practicing their faith, it is difficult to see how those same findings alone can preclude any consideration of a similar exception for the 130 or so American members of the UDV who want to practice theirs..."

The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious liberty joined with other religious organizations including the National Association of Evangelicals and the American Jewish Committee in filing amicus or "friend of the court" briefs in support of the UDV and the RFRA legislation.

In the endless "war on drugs," the government may have found a way to disrupt Pagan festivals. PLEASE, if you attend a Pagan festival, for the sake of the organizers and landowners, leave contraband at home. cl.

 Drug Reform Coordination Network Press Release
 DEA Uses Rave Act to Block Benefit

An agent of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) used threats of Rave Act prosecutions to intimidate the owners of a Billings, Montana, venue into a canceling a combined benefit for the Montana chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws http://www.norml.org and Students for Sensible Drug Policy http://www.ssdp.org last week.

 The Rave Act, now known officially as the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act, championed by Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), was ostensibly aimed at so-called raves, the large electronic music concerts often associated with open drug use, but was so broadly written that opponents argued it could be applied against any event or venue where owners or organizers did not take sufficiently repressive steps to prevent drug use.  Opposition to the bill stalled it in the Senate last year, but this year Biden stealthily inserted it into the enormously popular Amber Alert Bill, which passed last month and was signed into law by President [sic] Bush.

While the Billings event was advertised as a benefit concert for two local groups interested in drug law reform -- not as a drug-taking orgy -- it still attracted the attention of the DEA.  On May 30, the day the event was set to take place, a Billings-based DEA agent showed up at the Eagle Lodge, which had booked the concert.  Waving a copy of the RAVE Act in one hand, the agent warned that the lodge could face a fine of $250,000 if someone smoked a joint during the benefit, according to Eagle Lodge manager Kelly, who asked that her last name not be used.

"He freaked me out," Kelly told DRCNet.  "He didn't tell us we couldn't have the event, but he showed me the law and told us what could happen if we did.  I talked to our trustees, they talked to our lawyers, and our lawyers said not to risk it, so we canceled," she said.  "I felt bad.  I knew the guys in the bands."

Primary event organizer Adam Jones was unavailable for comment, having been arrested and jailed by his probation officer for switching work-study jobs at Montana State University-Billings without first informing him.  He is on probation for possession of psychedelic mushrooms.  It has been speculated, but not yet confirmed, that the probation officer, described in unprintable terms by several local sources, was responsible for siccing the DEA on the benefit.

"The DEA guy kept talking about Adam Jones," Kelly said.  Jones apparently got the hint.  In a message relayed from jail, Jones announced that we was resigning from SSDP and NORML and foregoing further drug reform efforts until he is free from the clutches of the state.  That probably spells the temporary demise of Teachers Against Prohibition http://www.teachersagainstprohibition.org, a group that education major Jones founded after having run smack up against drug war reality with his arrest 
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/278.html#teachersagainstprohibition.

DEA Denver regional office spokesman Bill Wyman confirmed to DRCNet that an agent had visited the Eagle Lodge to warn of possible RAVE Act violations and their consequences, but deferred a more detailed response to Special Agent in Charge Jeff Sweet, whom Wyman promised would call back shortly.

We're stilling waiting for that call.

"This confirms all our fears about the RAVE Act," said Bill Piper of the Drug Policy Alliance http://www.drugpolicy.org, which spearheaded opposition to the bill, succeeding in blocking it last year.  "This isn't about drug parties or raves, it's about having a club to hold over people's heads, whether it's hemp festivals, circuit parties, dances, whatever.  The RAVE Act is being used to suppress political speech.  This is exactly what Senator Biden said would not happen, and now it's happening," he told DRCNet.

Biden's office did not respond to repeated DRCNet inquiries about whether the Montana intimidation effort was what he intended the act to accomplish.

But Biden wasn't alone in his silence.  None of the three members of the Montana congressional delegation, Sens. Max Baucus (D) and Conrad Burns (R), and Rep. Dennis Rehberg (R), responded to DRCNet inquiries either.

Other national drug reform organizations also expressed shock and outrage.

"This looks like the first application of the RAVE Act, and this is a very scary precedent, said NORML Foundation head Allen St. Pierre.  "Preemptively shutting down a First Amendment-protected event is something that just doesn't happen in America," he told DRCNet.  "This is absolutely what we feared and predicted would happen if the RAVE Act passed.  Isn't Montana known for being resistant to federal encroachment?  This should make them mighty uneasy."

"This is just more evidence that the current administration is engaged in a culture war targeting medical marijuana patients, glass blowers, festival goers and young people," said SSDP national director Shawn Heller.

"Wow," said Marijuana Policy Project communications director Bruce Mirken.  "This appears to be a clear violation of the purpose and intent of the law.  The RAVE Act's sponsors said repeatedly it was to crack down on people knowingly allowing open drug use," he told DRCNet. 
  
 "To use it to crack down on reform organizations is an outrageous First Amendment violation.  If laws, no matter how wrongheaded, aimed at drug use and distribution are used to intimidate efforts to discuss reform or raise money for reform, we are getting really Orwellian.  I really hope the folks up there sue and sue hard."

Montana activists are also worried but undaunted.  Missoula Hempfest organizer and Montana NORML spokesman John Masterson told DRCNet the threat of RAVE Act prosecutions was being carefully considered.  "The Hempfest committee just spent most of our last meeting talking about this," he said.  "We have more than 5,000 people each year in a Missoula city park.  Is the DEA going to come after the city?  We are meeting with local attorneys to discuss this, but we're not talking about canceling Hempfest.  Screw that."

And the drug reformers are mobilizing.  A conference call among 
NORML, SSDP, MPP, Montana NORML and the Montana ACLU was set for Thursday night or this morning.  "We may have a coalition up to fight this by the end of the day," St. Pierre said Thursday.  "The Drug Policy Alliance warned us the RAVE Act would be used to suppress free speech, and they haven't been proven wrong.  Looks like we have our first case."

Source: http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/290/dearave.shtml
PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of The Week Online is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail drcnet@drcnet.org. 
 
First of all I would like to forgive all those who took part in my investigation, arrest, confinement, prosecution and sentencing.   Healing and communication does not begin until this happens.

I was planning on retiring in a year .   I was buying things from people half my age and there was no way that I could keep up with all night dance parties.   One can prolong one's youth only so long.   It was time for a change.

Another part of my changover is going to a vegetarian diet, catching up on my reading and finally starting my writing career.   Many of my friends and clients were writers.   They all encouraged me to live an interesting life which my happened to fit in with my career.   So in the past two years I wrote my autobiography and had it published in Liberty magazine, which has had such distinguished contributors as Milton Friedman and his son David who is a law professor.   I am a regular columnist on www.libertyforall.net  and a newsletter for the Unitarian Church.   I have also written for http://www.reason.com/ which once interviewed Reagan, Rational Review, strike the root, endervidualism and erhetorhic.   Very little of my writing is on the drug war.   I have film reviews, essays on art, spirituality, the new beginnings of freedom in Vietnam, fundraisng and humor and funeral practices.  I hope to have access to the internet while being confined so that I can make a career out of writing.
 
The writers who I have known come from all parts of the political spectrum and many are known for essays as well as fiction.   Spaulding Gray,  who the New York Times called the leading monologist of our day and a star in 60 films in its front page obituary was a proud psychedelic enthusiast and former customer.   D Keith Mano, a regular columnist for National Review for 20 years and successful novelist and screenplay writer wrote a letter on my behalf and called my autobiography brilliant.   Karl Hess who mentioned me as a friend in his autobiography also supported legalization.  He was a speech writer for Nixon and Ford and wrote the 1960 GOP platform.   He was also Goldwater's chief speechwriter and personal friend.   I have also smoked pot with three people who later became speechwriters for Reagan.   One is now Congressman Rohrabacher and has introduced legislation to allow for medical marijuana.
 
The most prestigeous conservative political action conference is CPAC.   This year vice president Cheney and 5 US senators spoke there.   There was also a scheduled debate on legalization of drugs.   The opposition to legalization conceded that drugs should be decriminalized.   William F Buckley, Milton Friedman and many others who have written for National Review advocate legalization. 
 
In regards to my offense regarding MDMA I can point to several scientific studies done at universities showing successful treatment for people with terminal cancer in helping them deal with their oncoming demise.   There are studies showing good results in dealing with post traumatic stress syndrome.   On the other hand studies showing brain damage done by MDMA conducted by Dr Ricaute were recanted by him.   While that study was a basis for the current legislation there has been no notice by the courts or Congress.  There is also a quote from a Jan 2005 article in the New York Times that of the 19000 drug deaths recorded in NYC only 2 can be attributed to MDMA.   I am glad that after many years that the government is finally allowing studies on MDMA.  Perhaps this is due to MDMA's discoverer Dr. Alexander Shulgin who has had a close relationship and presided over the marriage of Dr. Segar   who was head of the DEA laboratories in the West.
 
Many of the facts presented here were shown in a documentary shown on ABC TV called "Ecstasy Rising".   There have been similar stories in other media.   The advocates of decriminalization include professors and doctors of medicine, law, economics, sociology,  theology as well as judges law enforcement and elected officials.

I am not arguing for a policy of no controls, not even for relatively benign drugs like hemp and psychedelics.   Penalties for drug use and sale should be based on the average potential harm and should include damage done by legal drugs as well. It is interesting to note that the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. used LSD and found it worthwhile in treatment for alcoholism.   He notes this in his autobiography, "Pass It On".  
 
Other noteworthy acidheads of the 20th century were Jack Nicholson who has won 3 Academy Awards,  Cary Grant, who wanted to star in a film about the benefits of LSD, Henry Luce, founder of Time, Life and Fortune and his wife Clare Booth Luce, who was a congresswoman and filmmaker.  
 
When the government exaggerates or gives misleading information on drugs it destroys its credibility.   The same is true for punishments that are out of proportion.   I saw this happen in the 60's when the government painted marijuana as being bad as cocaine and heroin.  It also helps to popularize drugs by banning them as a symbol of rebellion and forbidden fruit like books were in olden times that were banned in Boston.  
 
Nevertheless MDMA is being more accepted in the culture.   "Six Feet Under"  on HBO is regarded as one of the best shows ever on television if you look at the awards and accolades given.   There have been two episodes when showing two separate people taking MDMA accidently and recieving trancendent, informative and funny experiences.   No amount of anti-drug advertising can counteract this.   The only way to lure people from this is to give a better experience through another drug electronically through brain machines.

The pattern of acceptance of pot and psychedelics is like the path that minorities, women and gays have traveled to get acceptance.  Open-minded and cutting edge people especially in culture, academia and spirituality lead the way.  Then tolerance garners enthusiasm among college students, bohemians and the legal profession.  From there to the media and to grass roots organizing and resolutions by localities and professional groups and leading figures of the day, resulting in legal acceptance.   
 
The same pattern happened in ending Prohibition. The tragedy there was the ramping up of penalties in a last ditch attempt to forestall the inevitable.  This is happening in my case as well.   In 1987 I did 6 months for 2300 hits of LSD.  I now face 46-60 months for up to 3000 hits of MDMA.   My legal expenses also increased exponentially.  Experts will tell you that MDMA is less harmful and profound than LSD.   
 
There is a difference in the civil rights movements and the ending of Prohibition.  Alcohol legislation was handled on a state by state and eventually on a locality basis so that there are "dry" counties to this day.  Alchohol treatment is largely privately handled as well.  AA has wisely decided not to accept money from the government or even from foundations and is run largely by people in recovery.  The alcohol industry and bartenders alike have adopted a policy of not encouraging bad behavior.  Alcoholism and public, obnoxious drunkenness has declined because of this.   Other drugs, both good and bad have had their role in diversion from alcoholism.
 
Psychedelic and pot legalization is making progress using the civil rights model. There are more and more states allowing for medical marijuana and there are more social acceptance. As a libertarian I do not like the idea of discrimination laws, affirmative action or subsidies to groups that has followed from this path.  I prefer the conservative model of allowing localities to decide their own policies for enforcement and tolerance. 

Conservatives agree with libertarians that recognizing and dealing with abuse is something that is best done by families, spiritual and community groups or as a medical problem.  Liberals agree that his is better than the expense of loss of civil liberties and the emerging prison industrial complex. We should also realize that many people due to loss of manufacturing and agricultural careers need work that is more fulfilling than working in prisons.  

There is also a growing social isolation of police and prosecutors from the community.  Many are not invited to socialize with families and neighbors because of the obligation to report any infraction of the law.  In my otherwise law abiding family, children were allowed to drink wine on special occasions as a way to encourage a proper enculturation of alcohol into their lifestyle.   This is forbidden by law.
 
One way of dealing with youth coming to grips with alcohol is to have drinking permit.   After all we ask teens to get a permit and then license for driving.   In Germany a youth can drink beer or wine at 16 and drink spirits at 18.   It is good that there are classes already that deal with recognizing incipient alcoholism among cohorts, etc.   What I would also suggest is that students while being videotaped on a driving test machine take progressively more alcohol so that they can see and review their changes in behavior and reaction time.  Licences can be given in response to good behavior such as good grades, community service or joining the military.  The same can be done for other drugs. 

The psychedelic community has performed better than any other drug community including alcohol and tobacco.  I know of many cases where people went on to obtain advanced degrees and written books becuse of their psychedelic experiences.  There are over 100 books like this and many scientific papers and studies.  There is a website that contains over 20,000 pages of information where everyone can go and get questions answered anonymously by a doctor.  The website is http://www.erowid.com/ and the webhosts have spoken at NIDA conferences and were commended there for their service.

I am saddened that so little regard and so much hostility is given by Congress and those administering the drug laws to these efforts to achieve harm reduction.   Approval of studies are held back by years due to legal roadblocks.  Even open legislative hearings on the safety of MDMA were sidestepped.  Perhaps this is a result of the 60's when these drugs became symbol of a culture that was in protest against war, racism and violation of civil liberties.

It doesn't have to be this way.  We are working with the drug treatment community and reasonable law enforcement people already in handling large events such as rock concerts for drug problems.  We are looking for open, confidential even anonymous dialog with the legal community and other interested groups to help deal with the problems and opportunities of a more free society. 
 

I hope that this can be a new beginning.  I hope also that the judge and whatever institution that I am sent to will allow me to help in counseling, teaching and writing; allow me access to the internet and nutritional supplements to deal with my diabetes, allergies, athsma and arthritis.   I intend for this to be published and invite the judge, prosecutor, the law enforcement community and other interested individuals to comment on this when published to begin the dialog of healing and liberty. 

To respond, write to him where he is serving his sentence; he needs pen pals.

Don Meinshausen Inmate #08996-050
FCI Fort Dix
Ft Dix, NJ 08640

  
This article is a fine example of how a vigilant press can help overcome a centuries-old disinformation campaign. Roses for the gentleman from Tennessee.

Accessed 11/17/03 at
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/03/11/42570989.shtml?
Element_ID=42570989

Religious books removed from drug items display 
after inquiry

Until last week, a glass case in the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department lobby displayed books related to the Wicca religion and Celtic lore alongside drug paraphernalia.

No labels explained why the bongs, pipes and drug-related items were in the case with books, including Living Wicca, Celtic Lore, The Witches' Almanac and Celtic Magic.

The religious items, which had been on display for at least most of 2003, were removed after The Tennessean asked where the items had come from and why they were on display.

Civil liberties experts and those familiar with the Wicca religion expressed concern when they were shown photos of the original display. They later praised the department for removing the items.
''Is this supposed to be a message that these items are contraband?'' asked Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, upon seeing the photographs.

''The written materials are all accessible, available to the public and protected under the First Amendment. Don't they recognize they're legal and protected? It sends a very bad message to link books and bongs.''

Deputy Chief Virgil Gammon said the assembly of the confiscated items by deputies was not directly supervised and once the ranking officials were made aware there might have been offensive items in it, they were removed. He said the department had not received any complaints from the public about the display.

Wicca is described as an earth-based religion, whose basic principle is ''do as you will, harm none.'' The religion has some roots in pre-Christian times.

John Ferguson, an attorney and scholar who looks at religious issues for the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, said the original display raised constitutional issues.

''Anytime the government puts up a display containing religious items, they need to make sure they're not promoting or denigrating them,'' he said. ''With no description or context, the average viewer could interpret it as having a negative connotation.''

Willie Jones, the owner of Magical Journey, a spiritual reality store on Louise Avenue in Nashville, said he didn't want to pass judgment on the display, but called it ''uninformed.''

He offered to give a presentation on Wicca to the department and donate a copy of the book, The Law Enforcement Guide To Wicca, which was written by a Wiccan police officer to explain the religion to his peers.

After learning that the display had been changed, he said, ''It always impresses me when someone re-evaluates their thinking.''
''I want to commend them for doing the right thing,'' the ACLU's Weinberg said.

And Ferguson agreed: ''I think it's a positive thing they decided to revisit the message they wanted to send the community.''

The case now contains the remaining drug-related items, over-the-counter energy supplements (sometimes called ''trucker speed''), two issues of High Times marijuana magazine and the book The Emperor Wears No Clothes: The Authoritative Historical Record of Cannabis and the Conspiracy Against Marijuana.

Ian Demsky covers Rutherford County for The Tennessean. He can be reached at idemsky@tennessean.com.

Used with permission.

 Utah Supreme Court OKs 
Non-Native Americans Use of Ceremonial Peyote

By Rev. Chuck Weibel

 Non-American Indian members of the Native American Church may legally use peyote in religious ceremonies. This was the ruling in a unanimous decision of the Utah Supreme Court on June 22nd, in the case of Utah v Mooney.

James and Linda Mooney, although not members of any federally recognized tribe, run the Oklevueha Earthwalks Native American Church. As such, they regularly dispense buttons of peyote cactus, a ceremonial intoxicant, to participants in Church ceremonies.

The six-acre Church complex was raided by officers who found about 12000 peyote buttons. In October, 2000 the Mooneys were then charged with drug distribution, 10 first-degree felony counts of operating a controlled-substance criminal enterprise, and one second-degree count of racketeering. The case did not come to trial, due to a defense pretrial motion to dismiss.

Federal law allows the use of peyote by tribal Indians and members of the Native American Church. The Mooneys' Church is recognized by the Native American Church, although they are not members of a federally recognized tribe.

Attorneys for the State of Utah argued that Utah state law does not have such an exception for peyote use by Native Americans, and that such an exception would not apply to the Mooneys in any case.

Justice Jill Parrish, in the written decision, affirmed that, "Use of the hallucinogenic drug is limited to bona fide religious ceremonies as part of the Native American Church." As Utah law incorporates the federal statute, but does not specifically add a restriction of peyote use to members of federally recognized tribes the Court ruled that the State of Utah cannot restrict use in that manner.

The court further said that the Utah statute is ambiguously worded, so that- "we interpret the Act in a manner that avoids a conflict with federal law and does not risk depriving the Mooneys of their constitutional rights to due process." In effect, the Mooneys were exercising their constitutional right to the free practice of religion, and had had no notice that their actions might violate state law.

The Court also cited the equal protection clause of the US Constitution, stating that permitting
exemptions for some individuals and not others would violate that principle.

James Mooney was serving as an election worker for Utah's primary elections, and so was not available for comment. A statement released by his attorney, Kathryn Collard, said that the decision "will help to preserve the religious diversity on which our nation and this state were founded and this is a very good thing."

Ms Collard further stated, "The decision was a victory for the free exercise of religion, due process and equal protection under the law"

Assistant Attorney General Kris Leonard said that her office had not yet fully reviewed the decision. Any action they might take would depend upon that review, so she did not yet know what it might be.

Leonard added that, "Utah law is constantly changing,. My guess is that they will probably consider this in the next (legislative) session or maybe at some point in the future."

James Mooney claims Native American descent, although this is not legally substantiated. The Mooneys have practiced Native American religion for years. They provided religious programs and services to Utah prison inmates before starting their church in Benjamin, about 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, in 1997.

Source: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=13562

Updated September 25, 2007