.: Politics Outside US

News2020.com for the latest sceptical slant on the 'Drugs War' lunacy." Drugs do not kill people. Drug laws kill people.This might seem hard to accept to those raised with strict opposition to all drugs could benefit from the access to higher thought that famous users throughout the ages have experienced. When will we feel we are ready to grow up and enjoy personal freedom? So it seems pretty clear that logically and legally, conducting a war on a vice is misguided, but what about the other issues? What about all the damage illegal drugs do to our communities? What about all those children who would fall prey to nasty drug pushers was it not for those ever-popular "this-is-your-brain-on-drugs" commercials? I would still argue that most, if not all, of the problems with drugs are a direct result of the fact that they have been criminalized by the state. If the criminality associated with "illegal" drug use was removed, the positive effects would be"

Two arrested during search warrant -Operation Plante:18 August 2007

 Two people have been arrested and almost $300,000 worth of cannabis has been seized during a search warrant at a house in south-western Sydney yesterday.
About 4.15pm, police executed a search warrant in Kalang Road, Edensor Park, and allegedly located a sophisticated indoor cannabis cultivation system. Two people were arrested at the house.
Police allegedly seized 145 large cannabis plants with an estimated potential street value of $290,000 and a large quantity of hydroponic equipment.
The two men, both aged 44 years, will appear in Parramatta Local Court today charged with numerous drug offences including cultivating a prohibited plant. The Condell Park man has been charged with seven offences. The Edensor Park man has been charged with six offences.
Operation Plante involves the Wetherill Park Region Enforcement Squad which, with the assistance of local police, has been proactively investigating an organised drug syndicate in
south-western Sydney.
Operation Plante has executed search warrants on 16 hydroponic houses and seized 2938 cannabis plants with an estimated potential street value of about $5 million.
Seven people have been arrested and charged with 32 cultivation and drug-related offences. These figures are inclusive of yesterday's search warrant.
Operation Plante investigations continues.

'cannabis crackdown'
News Agency of Kashmir
July 14th 2007

Srinagar July 13 (NAK): Police today destroyed Cannabis crop spread over hundreds of Kanals of land in parts of Anantnag District and arrested 15 persons in this connection.
Official sources quoting SSP Anantnag told News Agency of Kashmir that a special drive was launched against cannabis cultivation in village Dupatyar in Anantnag during which cannabis crop spread over hundreds of Kanals of land was destroyed in presence of a Magistrate.
They said that during the crackdown, 15 persons including smugglers and land owners involved in the cultivation of cannabis were arrested and booked under NDPS Act.
“Sixty more villages involved in Cannabis cultivation have been identified and similar action will be taken against them in a phased manner”, sources added. (NAK)

' white powder, cash and paraphernalia associated with drug supply'
Salisburyjournal.co.uk
May 20th 2007

2 arrests were made after three warrants were executed by police during drug raids in Durrington last month The raids were carried out on April 19 but police only released details last Wednesday. One of the warrants was executed at premises in Anne Crescent, where police say they found a significant quantity of white powder, cash and paraphernalia associated with drug supply. Two men were arrested and later released on bail and police say they are conducting a thorough investigation into the matter. Community beat officer for Durrington, PC Dave Ridler, said: "Working together with the local community helped the neighbourhood policing team gather the evidence required to carry out this latest series of successful warrants. We value information which comes to us through the community channel and since the roll-out of Durrington's Neighbourhood policing team we have had a number of successes - one case resulting in the closure of a cannabis factory, which was highly adapted for large-scale production of cannabis." Full Tale.......

Colombia Bans Coca Products - Except Coca-Cola
Stop the Drug War
May 13th 2007

While Bolivia's Evo Morales and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, along with hundreds of thousands of Andean coca growers, are seeking to expand legal markets for the venerable leaf, the Colombian government is moving in the opposite direction. For years, Bogota has allowed indigenous coca farmers to sell coca products, promoting the enterprise as one of the few successful commercial opportunities available to recognized tribes like the Nasa, who have grown it for years and regard it as sacred. But in February, the Colombian government quietly imposed a ban on the sale of products outside indigenous reserves.

But Invima said it is merely heeding the wishes of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). While Colombia formally adheres to the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which considers coca a drug to be eradicated, Colombian indigenous communities grow coca legally under indigenous autonomy provisions of the 1991 constitution, and have been selling coca products throughout Colombia. But last year, the INCB sent the Colombian foreign ministry a letter asking whether the "refreshing drink made from coca and produced by an Indian community" didn't violate the 1961 treaty.

While the treaty considers the coca plant a drug to be suppressed and eradicated, it also contains a provision allowing coca products to be used if the cocaine alkaloid has been extracted. That is Coca-Cola's loophole, and the Nasa call it hypocrisy.

"They lose their fight in October and then in February the government decides to prohibit Coca Sek," said David Curtidor, a Nasa in charge of the company that produces the drink. He is leading a legal challenge to the ban. In the meantime, the community is losing $15,000 a month from lost sales of Coca Sek and other coca products. "Why don't they also ban Coca-Cola? It's also made of coca leaves," he complained to the Associated Press .

Coca-Cola wouldn't confirm or deny to the AP that it even uses a cocaine-free coca extract, as is widely believed. It did deny having anything to do with Invima's decision. Invima told the AP Coca-Cola had no role.

But the Nasa are suspicious, and they're not the only ones who think Coca-Cola gets special treatment. Last year, Bolivia's Morales, a former coca grower union leader himself, complained to the UN General Assembly that "the coca leaf is legal for Coca Cola and illegal for medicinal purposes in our country and in the whole world."

And now, whether at the bidding of the INCB or Coca-Cola, Colombia is moving to strangle the legal market for coca, even as it leads the world in coca production despite $4 billion in US aid this decade and the widespread aerial spraying of herbicides. In so doing, it places itself directly against the current in a region where coca is increasingly gaining the respect it deserves and the power of the coca growers is on the increase.

'15,000 cannabis plants and 250 kilos of herbal cannabis'
Ukcia.org
May 10th 2007

Fourteen people have been arrested as part of a major operation targeting cannabis factories. Four hundred officers took part in early morning raids on 20 houses in London, Hampshire and Dorset. Those arrested were taken to police stations in Hampshire and forensic
teams are searching the properties. Police said they are trying to smash an organised crime syndicate controlling cannabis factories in Hertfordshire Hampshire, London, Norfolk and Sussex. Police said the 14 people, who were arrested during raids in Southampton, Fareham and Portsmouth, all in Hampshire, and Bournemouth and Swanage, both in Dorset. Det Insp Dave Powell said: "These arrests are part of a lengthy investigation into an organised crime syndicate, producing cannabis on a massive scale. "The profits realised from this enterprise are vast." In Southampton alone about 15,000 cannabis plants and 250 kilos of herbal cannabis have been discovered and destroyed in the last 18 months, according to police.

' 20 times more money from poppy cultivation than from rice '
Fayaz Bukhari
Ndtv.com
May 3rd 2007

The Jammu and Kashmir government has launched a massive drive against poppy cultivation as more and more farmers in Kashmir cultivate the crop as a means of quick buck. For personnel of the Excise department the ongoing drive against poppy cultivation is proving hectic. Every day hundreds of men take to the fields to destroy the standing crop and so far only 50 acres has been covered.
''There is a lot of money in the cultivation that is why large number of people are shifting to poppy cultivation. Another reason is that we were launching a drive,'' said Qasim Wani, Deputy Excise Commissioner. A farmer gets 20 times more money from poppy cultivation than from rice and that too with minimal efforts. There's no need to bother about irrigation facilities, de-weeding and pesticides, that's why over 3,000 acres of land in South Kashmir is under poppy and cannabis cultivation. Every year more farmers are taking to this illegal yet lucrative cultivation, which has become a headache for the law-enforcing agencies. ''We thought it would be cultivated in two-three villages. Now it's the eighth village. Last year we destroyed poppy cultivated on 100 acres of land,'' said Sardar Khan, SP, Awantipora. The drive against poppy cultivation is launched every year here but these fields re-appear without fail as farmers never give up.

More Trouble in Peru's Coca Fields
StopthedrugWar
April 21st 2007

Tensions continue to rise in the coca fields of Peru's Upper Huallaga Valley, with a coca eradication team attacked over the weekend, a strike by growers bubbling up in Huanuco state, more tough talk from President Alan Garcia, and a Wednesday announcement by the Peruvian police that they had found the link between growers and the violent remnants of the Shining Path guerrilla movement. The unrest comes just three weeks after a similar strike in Tocache province in San Martin state. That strike was settled by an agreement to halt forced eradication of coca crops, but the Garcia government ended that moratorium last week, with the president himself calling for the "bombing" of coca fields and maceration pits.

Last weekend, as eradication commenced again, a team of almost 200 civilian and police eradicators were ambushed in Yanajanca in the Tocache district, leaving one civilian eradicator dead and five police wounded. While the identity of the attackers remains unknown, police were quick to note that the area where the attack occurred is an area where a Shining Path remnant led by "Comrade Artemio" operates.

On Tuesday, coca farmers in Tingo Maria and Aucayacu went on strike, as did their comrades in Leoncio Prado province. Few reports were in by mid-week, but farmers had vowed to block highways. Among other things, they are asking for a meeting with a high-level government delegation.

But President Garcia Tuesday dismissed that call . "What delegation of high ranking officials?" he scoffed. "There is nothing to dialogue about because Peru needs to promote responsible agricultural development with alternative crop programs that will help put an end to drug production."

Drug traffickers are behind the strike, Garcia claimed. "It is evident that drug lords are orchestrating the strike. Just as in Colombia where drug lords have purchased the protection of para-military guerrilla groups to protect their illicit operations, they have done same with groups of coca farmers who run around protesting, 'let me grow whatever I feel like growing' and I am here to tell you that is not how it works," the Peruvian leader said.

By Wednesday, Peruvian authorities had switched from traffickers to the Shining Path as the culprits. In a loudly trumpeted (and conveniently timed) bust , Peruvian Police announced they had "finally placed the link" between restive coca farmers and the Shining Path. Police claimed two Shining Path members were arrested in Aucayacu as they awaited a meeting with coca farmer representatives. Police said they found weapons, ammunition, Shining Path propaganda, and detailed plans for blocking roads during protests.

Peru is the world's second largest producer of coca behind Colombia. Some 60,000 peasant families grow about 100 tons of the bushy plant, much more than is bought up by the state coca monopoly as a legitimate crop.

South Australia's Adelaide Hills
Abc.net.au
April 20th 2007

A man and woman aged in their 60s from South Australia's Adelaide Hills have been arrested and charged over the production of cannabis. Police say they found 103 cannabis plants and 33 kilograms of dried cannabis when they searched the pair's house at Foreston in the Adelaide Hills yesterday. The 68-year-old man and 64-year-old woman have been bailed to appear in the Holden Hill Magistrates Court at a later date.

Police raids smash Perth drug ring
Thewest.com.au
April 19th 2007

Police claim to have broken up a drug manufacturing ring they allege could have produced $1 million worth of methylamphetamine after raids on a number of homes in Perth and Mandurah yesterday.
Four people were arrested after police and customs investigators swooped on a Barragup home, allegedly discovering a clandestine drug laboratory at the semi-rural property near Mandurah. As a result of their investigations, police then raided homes in Halls Head, Wembley, Girrawheen and Mandurah, a vehicle and self-storage unit. During their raids police allegedly seized 450g of the precursor chemical ephedrine - used to manufacture methylamphetamine - $4500 cash, a handgun and a small quantity of cannabis and methylamphetamine.
A police spokesman said the ephedrine seized had the potential to produce approximately 3.6kg of methylamphetamine, which would have a street value of up to $1 million. A 35-year-old Wembley woman, a 49-year-old Halls Head man, and a 25-year-old man and a 30-year-old man, both from Queensland, have been charged with manufacturing a prohibited drug.

Couple face two drug charges
News2019.com
April 10th 2007

SUNGAI PETANI: A couple were charged yesterday with two counts of trafficking in more than 10kg of cannabis. In the first case, Mazmin Murad, 50, and his wife, Zaiton Hassan, 48, were charged with trafficking in 9,680g of cannabis at the Sungai Merbok jetty complex here at 2.25pm on March 26. In the second case, they were charged with trafficking in 960g of cannabis at an unnumbered house in Kampung Pengkalan Langgar, Bedong, about 3.30pm on the same date. The couple, who were unrepresented, nodded to signify that they understood the charges when they were read to them. Both cases will be mentioned on June 10.

'cannabis as a 'cure' gets 3 years jail'
Georgetown
April 2nd 2007

Magistrate Geeta Chandan sentenced a woman to three years imprisonment after she told the court that she is sick and uses cannabis as a cure. According to the Fort Wellington Court report Jennifer Glasgow of Lamaha Springs, Georgetown, pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking when she appeared at court. She was also fined $10,000 or an additional 20 days imprisonment. Glasgow on Wednesday had in her possession 2.2 kilograms of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking. Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Hatty Anthony, told the court that the woman was travelling in a minibus which was stopped and searched during a police roadblock and she was found with the items that included weeds, seeds and stems. Glasgow told the magistrate that she was sorry for the offence and that she is sick and takes the drugs to cure her fibroids.

The Independent's born-again drug war: Round Two
Transform-drugs.blogspot.com
March 26th 2007

The Independent on Sunday have followed on last week's Cannabis panic front page splash with another front page splash. This time it is 'The Great Cannabis Debate'. Inside we get more news coverage revelling in the faux-controversy they have stirred up, scary brain scans showing how cannabis 'may' melt your brain, two opinion pieces; one by the head of the UN drug agencies Antonio Costa, another by child psychotherapist Julie Lynn Evans, and another leader defending their retraction of support for cannabis law reform (on the basis that it is more dangerous than they thought).

Jonathan Owen from the Independent on Sunday, who is apparently taking the lead on this latest salvo of cannabis coverage, rang me on Friday. He had read the Transform blog critique on last weekend's IOS cannabis 'apology' and wanted a response for this weeks 'Great Debate' follow up piece. This is what I sent in:

"The IOS makes the mistake of confusing their legitimate concern with the health impacts of cannabis misuse amongst a small group vulnerable young people, with support for the failed ideological policy of prohibition. Rather than supporting an evidence-led regulatory response based on public health and harm reduction principles, they advocate a policy that has not only failed to address the problems they describe (and has arguably created many of them), but also one that offers no prospect of sorting them out. The blanket criminalisation of millions of non-problematic occasional users that the IOS has now re-stated its support for, cannot be justified on the basis of a relatively tiny vulnerable population, especially of teenage heavy users, who have serious problems with the drug (even if this group has grown proportionally with the overall population of users over the last three decades). This is akin to prohibiting cars because of a small population of teenage joy-riders.

Cannabis use undoubtedly involves risk, as does all drug use, legal or illegal. But these risks have been well documented and well understood for generations. The debate around our response to cannabis use is not well served by hype and misrepresentation of statistics on potency, impact on mental health, or treatment and addiction – all of which last week’s IOS coverage was guilty of. This was scaremongering in the cause of an attention grabbing headline, very much in the pattern of many previous cannabis scares and precisely the sort of moral-panic the recent RSA report criticised for historically distorting policy priorities. The IOS also perpetuate the misunderstanding that the cause of cannabis law reform is predicated on the fact that cannabis is harmless. On the contrary – the exact opposite is true: Is precisely because drugs are dangerous that the need to be appropriately regulated and controlled by the State rather than be left in the hands unregulated criminal profiteers. This remains true however harmful a particular drug is shown to be.”
Whilst they have printed some..Full Blog....

Greek drug agents fight uphill battle on border smuggling
Monstersandcritics.com
March 22nd 2007

Ioannina, Greece - Sitting in an unmarked car a few metres away from the Greek-Albanian border, the head of Ioannina's narcotics police spots a driver behind the wheel of a silver Mercedes moving past customs officials at the entry point at Kakavia. Speaking into his two-way radio he alerts his fellow anti-drug officers stationed nearby to move into action.
'We have received a tip from one of our informants that something big will be coming through here from Albania in the next few days so we are not taking any chances,' says the Greek officer, who asked that his identity be withheld.
Within a matter of seconds, drug officials begin tailing the foreign-plated Mercedes through the remote mountainous hills of north-western Greece and quickly close in on the suspect as he approaches a roadblock on the outskirts of the city of Ioannina.

Forcing the car to the side of the road, drug officers armed with hand-guns and sporting bullet-proof vests, order the man out of the vehicle and sniffer dogs are immediately called in to conduct a thorough search.
'Every day there is a huge line of cars at the Greek-Albania crossing point - this makes it almost impossible for customs officials to do a proper check of all the cars coming into Greece because people are constantly finding new ways to hide drugs - so this is where we take over,' says the narcotics agent, who often goes undercover as a buyer.

With a 125-kilometre border that continues to be difficult to patrol, Albania, with its poverty, anarchy and hard-to-reach hills has flourished in recent years into one of the biggest exporters of drugs, mainly cannabis, into Greece and the rest of Europe.
Given its geographical position, Greece lies at the crossroads between countries that produce illegal substances and the markets that consume them.
'Large quantities of cannabis are smuggled every year into Greece and Italy from Albania which over recent years has become a major source country,' says Athanasios Palaiopanos, Ioannina police chief. 'Trafficking is controlled by Albanian organized crime groups that co-operate closely with Greek nationals.'

In 2005, Greek law enforcement agencies seized 8 tons of cannabis, up from 4.2 tons the year before, the majority of which originated in Albania. Cannabis is normally transported by foot or vehicle from Albania to Greece across the border through unguarded or steep paths or by speedboat. There have also been cases where drug smugglers used donkeys without riders to transport goods across the border.

'We just had a recent case where we confiscated 120 kilos of cannabis which was transported using mules from Albania over a mountain into Greece. The mules made their way to a remote area where the drug smugglers were waiting to unload the goods,' says the narcotics agent, who is responsible for monitoring five main points along the border.
Apart from cannabis, both Greece and Italy are increasingly affected by the trafficking of heroin which enters the country via Albania or from the Evros area in north-eastern Greece.

'Greece forms part of a southern Balkan axis and this is one of the main axes for transporting heroin from Afghanistan and other Asian opium producers to Europe. The drugs reach Turkey, then Greece and Italy where they are distributed to other European countries,' said Palaiopanos. 'The drugs are purchased cheaply in Turkey and the profits to be made are huge.'
Greek authorities insist that many parts of Albania, which are either beyond the control of authorities or are embedded with corruption, serve as an easy access route for heroin to make its way from Turkey and then for it to be transported into Greece.

Situated just 15 minutes from the Greek-Albanian border, the remote southern Albanian village of Lazarat is known as a drug traffickers' haven despite a recent clamping down on cannabis cultivation by Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Lazarat residents have become beholden to smugglers whose activities pump cash into the community, and in 2004 villagers reportedly shot at an Italian drug-spotting helicopter as it tried to photograph marijuana fields. 'The drug smugglers own the place and walk around the town with automatic machine guns. For many years the area was a no-go zone for Albanian police and in many ways still is,' says another undercover officer.

'These drug trafficking rings are big and the village is only a stone's throw away from the Greek border,' he adds.
While Greek and Albanian police chiefs have met on several occasions to discuss issues concerning organized crime as well as drugs and arms' trafficking, the problem will likely not fade unless Albania commits itself to meeting European Union regulations.
'In almost every case the drug smuggler that we encounter, whether he enters the country on foot or by car, will be armed with either a rifle or a hand grenade,' says the head of the narcotics police.
'In many cases, drug traffickers are more afraid of being killed and having their stuff taken away than being caught by police,' he says. 'It seems dirt can only be fought with dirt.'

UN warns of looming social crisis
Eastandard.net
March 19th 2007

Kenya is slowly becoming a country of drug abusers. It is now easier to obtain drugs on the streets, and a United Nations (UN) report has warned that a "spillover effect" of drugs being trafficked through Kenya and other African countries could cause a social crisis.
The report, by the UN’s International Narcotics Control Board names Nairobi as a hub for trafficking of cocaine and heroin and urges action and increased surveillance at airports. The effect of drugs on people and families is demonstrated by a shockingly high number of patients seeking treatment following mental imbalance after drug abuse. The report says more than 7,000 drug abusers made use of one outreach project in just a year. More than half of them were referred for voluntary counselling and testing, says the INCB’s annual report for last year, released two weeks ago.
It also shows how easy it is to obtain drugs. When we set out to investigate, it cost us just Sh20 to buy a roll of bhang (cannabis), which is cited in the report as the biggest challenge for anti-abuse campaigners and law enforcers across Africa., Full Crisis....

Macedonian border police seize cannabis on border with Greece
News2020.com
March 16th 2007

Skopje. The Macedonian border police have detained last night two illegal immigrants on the border with Greece smuggling 5 kg of cannabis, the correspondent of Focus Agency in Skopje reports.
The Interior Ministry announced the two were noticed in the region of Star Dojran where they tried to illegally cross the border. The police found 5 kg of cannabis, packed in 5 packages.

Police launch anti-drugs programme in schools
Caymannetnews.com
March 16th 2007

The 2007 Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) programme has kicked off in all primary schools across the Cayman Islands and it is hoped that, throughout the year, hundreds of children will benefit from the training.
Neighbourhood Policing Officer, PC Rob Stewart is delivering his first DARE course on Cayman Brac after qualifying as an instructor at the National Air Guard Base in Minnesota.
“I have been assisting with DARE for a while and have now begun teaching the course to a class of 16 children at Spot Bay School,” he said, adding, “I really enjoy teaching the course and take great pride in knowing I am helping young people learn about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.”
PC Stewart has also asked the DARE Headquarters in the USA to recognise his newly formed Little Cayman class as the smallest group ever to be taught under the programme. “We have two pupils in the class on Little Cayman and I am pretty sure there has never been a class so small,” he explained, Full Programm...

Cruise ship crew arrested for cannabis
Antiguasun.com
March 14th 2007

Two Ukrainians are now in police custody after being arrested last Friday for possession of cannabis. The two, Shshchuk Igor, 26, and 28-year-old Shumouyah Ruslan were passengers on board the Carnival Destiny, which had docked in St. John’s on Friday. The men, who had disembarked the ship and were touring the city, were arrested after being found with the illegal drug. They are expected to make an appearance before a St. John’s Magistrate.

'a tonne of cannabis in south-west Western Australia'
Abc.net.au
March 13th 2007

2 men will face court over the seizure of more than a tonne of cannabis in south-west Western Australia. Police estimate the haul is worth more than a million dollars. A police aircraft was used to find the plants, which were in 15 different locations in state forest at Nannup, Augusta and Margaret River. A 52-year-old man and a 48-year-old man have been charged with cultivating cannabis with intent to sell and supply. The 52-year-old has also been charged with possessing cannabis and will appear in court later this month.

I am sick of these low-lifes stealing my things
Smh.com.au
March 10th 2007

A 75 year old New Zealand woman rang police to report a theft of cannabis plants she had been growing in buckets at her North Island home, local media reported today.
The crying woman told a constable at the police station in the city of Napier the plant theft was the fourth from her property in four years.
The woman lamented someone had again sneaked on to her property at night to steal her three carefully nurtured marijuana plants.
"I am a good person. I am sick of these low-lifes stealing my things," the unnamed woman told a police communications officer.
Senior Sergeant Mal Lochrie told local media late today the officer found it hard to stop smiling as the woman gave details of the theft over the phone. A community constable who visited her to take details of the theft had also warned her that her horticultural pursuits could have legal consequences, Snr Sgt Lochrie said. Police had decided no action would be taken against the gardener, he said.

'amphetamines, daggers, swords, fake handguns'
Yourguide.com.au
March 10th 2007

A Kangaroo Flat man charged with drug trafficking after this week's raids was yesterday bailed.
Nicholas Ferrari, 49, was arrested on Thursday after police seized about 60 grams of amphetamines, daggers, swords, fake handguns and other property when they swooped on his Mockridge Drive address. Ferrari is charged with 13 offences including trafficking amphetamines, possessing amphetamines and possessing prohibited weapons. He was remanded in custody on Thursday, before making a bail application yesterday in the Bendigo Magistrates Court. The application was not opposed by the prosecution. Magistrate Richard Wright bailed Ferrari until April 3. Bail conditions include that he report to Bendigo police station twice a week, abstain from the use of illicit drugs and not contact prosecution witnesses or co-accused, Full Stash...

'cannabis weighing about 10 quintals'
Dnaindia.com
March 10th 2007

A huge cache of cannabis weighing about 10 quintals was unearthed by police during a raid today on a house on the city's outskirts. The raid was carried out after four days of surveillance by sleuths of the anti-narcotics department engaged in an intensive combing operation in and around the city in the wake of the busting of a rave party on March four. Around 280 youths, including girls, were nabbed at the party for drug consumption. When police reached the house-cum-godown on the bank of a canal in Hadapsar, it was found abandoned by the peddlers, Deputy Commissioner of Police (anti-narcotics) Sunil Phulari said. The market price of the haul, according to a preliminary estimate, was put at least Rs 10 lakhs, he said. No arrests have been made in this connection, Phulari said.

40 Kgs at the port of Turku
Newsroom.finland.fi
March 10th 2007

Helsinki police said Thursday they had seized 40 kilogrammes of hashish at the port of Turku in early February. The drugs were found in a stash built in the place of the backseat of an estate driven by a Dutch man. "In Finland's scale, we are talking about a sizeable shipment," Inspector Juha Piippo told the Finnish News Agency (STT). Earlier in the week, Finnish police announced they had seized 30kg of hashish in Sipoo in what reportedly was the biggest cache discovered last year. Inspector Piippo said the cannabis seized from the Dutchman had been bound for the capital region's market, adding the Helsinki street value was at least 250,000 euros. "It goes without saying that a seizure of this quantity will be seen on the street for quite some time." The Dutch national, 60, is held suspected of an aggravated drug offence and will in due course face the charge before the Turku district court.

.: The News from Drug Policy Central

Stop the Drug War (DRCNet) - Politics Outside US

Press Release: Group Cries Foul Over U.N. Anti-Drug Agency Meddling with Stat...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                     

MARCH 9, 2010

Group Cries Foul Over U.N. Anti-Drug Agency Meddling with State Laws in the U.S.

International Narcotic Control Board says it is ?deeply concerned? that states? medical marijuana laws send ?wrong message to other countries?

CONTACT: Aaron Houston, MPP director of government relations ?? 202-905-2009 or ahouston@mpp.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. ? The Marijuana Policy Project today denounced efforts by the United Nations? International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) ? currently meeting in Vienna, Austria ? to meddle in marijuana reform in the United States. In a recent report, the INCB said they were ?deeply concerned? that the country?s 14 state medical marijuana laws are sending the ?wrong message to other countries.?

         Additionally, the INCB is ?concerned over the ongoing discussion in several states on legalizing and taxing the ?recreational? use of cannabis, which would be a serious contravention of the 1961 convention.? However, the Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs treaty explicitly grants exception for any country to make laws that agree with its constitutional and legal requirements; therefore, the U.S. is complying with the treaty.

         ?The last thing the INCB should be doing is meddling in our states? affairs,? stated Aaron Houston, MPP director of government relations. ?We are a federalist society and our states are granted the right to decide their own policy?not the federal government, and certainly not the United Nations. Who is the U.N. to tell Texas, Mississippi, Ohio or any other state what to do??

         The INCB has also criticized several Latin American countries (Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina) for decriminalizing possession of some narcotics, including marijuana.

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

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Brussels, 4 March 2010
To: Yang Amat Berhormat Dato? Sri Mohd Najib Bin Tun Abdul Razak
Prime Minister of Malaysia

Dear Excellency,

Today we write to you as European citizens concerned with the impact of global drug policies, with an urgent request. We believe the death sentence that is applied to drug law offenders in Malaysia is an inappropriate measure, and would like to offer you our collaboration in identifying better solutions to the drug problems in your country.

With certain regularity, reports appear in the Malaysian press on people being sentenced to death for the possession of illegal drugs, including cannabis. The exact number of those who are actually brought to death remains unknown. Human rights organisations estimate that currently some 300 convicted prisoners await execution on death row, most of them for drug-related offences.

These sentences clearly violate international standards for a fair trial. The presumption of guilt and the mandatory death sentence in drug cases places the charge on the accused to prove his or her innocence and leaves a judge with no discretion over the sentence. Competent legal assistance is unavailable to many of those people, leaving them with little capacity to mount a defence at any stage of the proceedings.

UN human rights bodies have concluded that drug offences fail to meet the condition of ?most serious crime?, under which the death penalty is allowed as an ?exceptional measure?.

We are aware of the argument that drugs cause problems in Malaysian society. However, we doubt that these problems will be solved by harsh punishments, let alone executions of drug offenders.

Malaysia, like any other country in the world, is not and never will be 100 % drug-free. As long as people in Malaysia want to consume drugs, other people will continue to supply them.

Because of the fact that drugs are prohibited, drug trafficking is the core business of criminal organizations that in most cases operate internationally. The people who are occasionally caught by authorities with relatively small amounts do not have major responsibilities in this business. Killing them will not scare the drug gangs away. On the contrary: thanks to these harsh punishments, the leaders in the drug business can continue to justify extraordinary high prices for their goods,. Thus it maintains a vicious circle of violence and danger.

On the other hand, it is important to make a serious assessment of the problems that drugs may or may not cause. Cannabis for instance is a plant, a natural product, a non-lethal substance. Its consumption has been widespread around the world for thousands of years among many different cultures and people. All these people do not use cannabis because it endangers their health or wellbeing, but rather because they experience the opposite. According to increasing amounts of scientific evidence, the so-called dangerousness of cannabis has been largely exaggerated and driven by moral in stead of rational considerations.

The prohibition of cannabis was installed and promoted worldwide by Western countries, especially the USA, during a period in which they dominated the world. Meanwhile, in most European countries, cannabis possession for personal consumption is not penalised anymore. In a growing number of states in the USA, major law changes are taking place that legally regulate the cultivation and distribution of cannabis to adults for medicinal purposes.

It would be extremely sad to see Malaysia continue executing people found in possession of cannabis, while the countries that have installed its prohibition have come to the insight that this is a useful substance whose consumption can be perfectly integrated in society.

In Europe, during the past decades, we have been able to compare the results of different, sometimes opposing drug policies in societies that are similar in demographical, material and socio-cultural development. The conclusion is that drug policies, whether they are repressive or flexible, have a very minor impact on the drug phenomenon itself. In countries where authorities are relatively tolerant, the use of drugs may be lower than in neighboring countries where policies are more repressive.

Another conclusion is that drugs-related harms can only be reduced by effective social and health policies. Innovative strategies for reaching out to the affected population and reducing the harms related to drug use are needed. The harsh implementation of drug law enforcement is an impediment to the introduction of these strategies.

For these reasons, we are convinced that the death penalty is actually counterproductive to efforts to reduce the harm caused by drugs.

We call upon your wisdom to apply principles of sound governance and let Malaysia join the majority of nations by declaring a moratorium on executions with a view to total abolition of all death sentences for drug offenses, as called for by the United Nations.

We offer you our kind co-operation in transmitting knowledge and experience of public health policies that have proven effective in addressing drug-related problems.

Sincerely yours,

Marisa Felicissimo, Fredrick Polak, Jorge Roque and Antonio Escobar
Members of the Steering Committee of the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies

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In its annual report on countries' compliance with the global drug prohibition regime, released Wednesday, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) challenged the trend toward the decriminalization of drug possession in Latin America, saying it undermines the three international treaties that define the international framework for drug prohibition. Critics were quick to strike back, saying the INCB was overstepping its boundaries.

Under the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, the INCB is charged with being the "nattering nanny" of the global prohibition regime. It "identifies weaknesses in national and international control systems and contributes to correcting such situations."

Its powers are primarily rhetorical, and it used them in the annual report to lash out at creeping decriminalization in the Western Hemisphere:

The Board notes with concern that in countries in South America, such as Argentina, Brazil and Colombia (and in countries in North America, such as Mexico and the United States), there is a growing movement to decriminalize the possession of controlled drugs, in particular cannabis, for personal use. Regrettably, influential personalities, including former high-level politicians in countries in South America, have publicly expressed their support for that movement. The Board is concerned that the movement, if not resolutely countered by the respective Governments, will undermine national and international efforts to combat the abuse of and illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs. In any case, the movement poses a threat to the coherence and effectiveness of the international drug control system and sends the wrong message to the general public.

Brazil quasi-decriminalized drug possession in 2006 (drug users are still charged, but cannot be sentenced to jail terms), a series of Argentine court decisions in recent years culminating in a Supreme Court decision last year has decriminalized marijuana position (and implies the looming decriminalization of the possession of any drug), and Mexico last year decriminalized the possession of small amounts of drug for personal use. In addition, possession of small amounts of marijuana has been decriminalized in 13 US states.

The "influential personalities" to whom the INCB critically referred, include former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former Colombian President Carlos Gaviria, and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, who, as members of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy last year issued a report highly critical of the US-led war on drugs in the region. That report called on the US to decriminalize marijuana possession and treat drug use as a public health -- not a criminal -- matter. To that list could be added former Mexican President Vicente Fox, who just this week reiterated his call for a debate on drug legalization (See related story here.)

While the former presidents have yet to respond to the INCB's critique, non-governmental organizations working in the field have come out swinging. They accuse the INCB of overstepping its bounds and attempting to block necessary and desirable drug law reforms.

"There are too many consumers and small-time drug offenders overcrowding Latin American jails. This is not only inhumane, it also means justice systems are diverting their scarce resources and attention away from big traffickers," said Pien Metaal, Drugs and Democracy Program Researcher for the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute (TNI). "Part of the overcrowding problem stems from disproportionate prison sentences for nonviolent offenders."

Decriminalization has not been shown to increase drug use. Portugal decriminalized the possession of all drugs for personal use nine years ago, and its usage rates are squarely in the middle of European averages. Similarly, the Dutch experience with de facto personal legalization has not led to Dutch usage rates outside the European norm, nor are marijuana usage rates in American states where it is decriminalized substantially different from those where it is not.

John Walsh, head of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), criticized the INCB for "reminding" governments that the treaties require that drug possession be criminalized. "Apparently it's the INCB that needs reminding, both about the limits of its own role and about what the treaties actually require," said Walsh. "Not only does the INCB lack the mandate to raise such issues, the INCB misreads the 1988 Convention itself, asserting an absolute obligation to criminalize drug possession when the Convention explicitly affords some flexibility on this matter."

Walsh noted that while the 1988 Convention requires each party to "establish as a criminal offence [...] the possession, purchase or cultivation of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances for personal consumption," an article within the convention explicitly states that such laws are subject to each country's "constitutional principles and basic concepts of its legal system." Thus, he argued, countries have "a certain latitude" within the global prohibition regime to reform their drug laws.

"In the case of the Argentine Supreme Court ruling, it is arrogant interference by the INCB to question the judgment of the highest judicial authority of a sovereign State. The INCB has neither the mandate nor the expertise to challenge such a decision," said Martin Jelsma, TNI Drugs and Democracy Program Coordinator.

The INCB also expressed its concern about medical marijuana in Canada:

Canada continues to be one of the few countries in the world that allows cannabis to be prescribed by doctors to patients with certain serious illnesses. [?] Until 2009, cannabis could be either obtained from a Government supplier or grown in small amounts by the patient, or a person designated by the patient, with the sole limitation that only one patient could be supplied by a licensed supplier. In 2009, following court decisions stipulating that that approach unjustifiably restricted the patient's access to cannabis used for medical purposes, the Government increased the number of cultivation licenses a person could hold from one to two. The Government intends to reassess the program for controlling medical access to cannabis. According to article 23 of the 1961 Convention, a party to the Convention, if it is to allow the licit cultivation of cannabis, must fulfill specific requirements, including the establishment of a national cannabis agency to which all cannabis growers must deliver their crops. [?] The Board therefore requests the Government to respect the provisions of article 23.

But as with the case of the decriminalization decision by the Argentine Supreme Court, the Canadian courts were acting within their "constitutional principles and basic concepts of its legal system."

And in the US:

While the consumption and cultivation of cannabis, except for scientific purposes, are illegal activities according to federal law in the United States, several states have enacted laws that provide for the 'medical use' of cannabis. The control measures applied in those states for the cultivation of cannabis plants and the production, distribution and use of cannabis fall short of the control requirements laid down in the 1961 Convention. The Board is deeply concerned that those insufficient control provisions have contributed substantially to the increase in illicit cultivation and abuse of cannabis in the United States. In addition, that development sends a wrong message to other countries.

The INCB also again went after Bolivia, which enshrined the coca leaf in its constitution as part of its cultural heritage in 2008 and which has called for coca to be removed from the 1961 Single Convention. The tone, however, was a bit softer than last year, when it reprimanded Bolivia over coca production, coca chewing, and other traditional uses of the Andean plant:

The Board wishes to remind the Governments of all countries concerned, in particular the Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, that unless any further amendments to the 1961 Convention are put into effect, the use or importation of coca leaf from which cocaine has not been extracted, for purposes other than those allowed under the 1961 Convention, constitutes a breach of obligations under the Convention.

"The INCB again shows itself to be out of touch with reality by demanding that Bolivia stamp out coca use, also wrongfully prohibited in the Conventions," said TNI's Pien Metaal. "The controversies around Article 3 of the 1988 Convention and the erroneous treatment of the coca leaf in the 1961 Convention are two examples of why the drug control treaty system, including the role played by the INCB, needs to be revised."

Along with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the INCB is the bureaucratic backbone of the global prohibition regime. That it continues to work to uphold the prohibitionist principles of the regime is no surprise. That it is now subject to increasing criticism and attack in the face of the myriad failures of global drug prohibition is no surprise either.

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On Monday, Denmark opened its first heroin distribution clinic, two years after the Danish parliament passed a law legalizing the distribution of medicinal heroin. The opening was delayed until after the city of Copenhagen agreed to house the program.

Denmark thus joins Germany, the Netherland, and Switzerland, and to a lesser extent, Great Britain, as countries that allow for the provision of heroin to hard-core users who have proven unamenable to the traditional treatments, such as methadone maintenance. A pilot heroin maintenance program is also underway in Vancouver, Canada.

The Copenhagen clinic will serve about 120 of Denmark's 300 or so identified hard-core users. Only addicts who have been referred from a methadone treatment center will be accepted. While subjects will be prescribed heroin, they will have to consume it at the clinic.

"Our objective is not to cure heroin addicts, but to help those who are not satisfied by methadone by providing them with clean heroin, allowing them to avoid disease and the temptation of criminal acts to obtain the drug," a doctor and head of the clinic Inger Nielsen told Agence-France Presse. People in the program will get methadone for the first two weeks "so we can determine how much heroin to prescribe," she added.

The Danish User Association, a group that represents drug users, while supportive of heroin maintenance, criticized the program for requiring users to go to the clinic twice a day, seven days a week, to get their fixes. "This means living like a zombie, without being able to hold down a job or study or have hobbies," said head of the association Joergen Kjaer.

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The Belgian Court of Appeal in Antwerp Thursday acquitted a group of activists who had publicly planted marijuana seeds of "incitement to drug use." Board members of the group, calling itself "Trekt Uw Plant" (Grow Your Plant), had each planted one seed in a container in a May 2008 action in a bid to win the right to create a collective marijuana garden.

Instead they were arrested. They were convicted of "incitement to drug use" by the Antwerp Correctional Court in 2009, but the appeals court decision has now reversed that ruling.

In so doing, the appeals court accepted the group's argument that it was attempting to create legal space for the collective cultivation of marijuana for personal use. The group also argued before the court that accepting collective cultivation could reduce illegal cultivation and resort to the black market or Dutch coffee shops just across the border.

Under Belgian ministerial guidelines in effect since January 2005, authorities will not prosecute people possessing three grams of marijuana or less or one plant. Trekt Uw Plant used the action as a test case to push for collective gardens, as are allowed in Spain.

Thursday's ruling marks the second time Trekt Uw Plant has been acquitted of a crime for its action. "This second acquittal encourages us to continue in the fight for a coherent and effective cannabis policy in Belgium," the group said.

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THE INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD ON CANNABIS

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DrugSense FOCUS Alert #434 - Thursday, 25 February 2010

Today major newspapers across Canada printed articles with headlines like 'Strengthen Medical Marijuana Laws, UN Drug Watchdog Warns' which appeared in the National Post: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n140.a11.html

The key paragraph from the article states "The Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board said Canada is operating outside international treaty rules aimed at minimizing the risk criminals will get hold of cannabis grown under the program."

The Board has only the power to encourage governments to act in accordance with the United Nations Conventions on Narcotic Drugs. Governments are free to express their sovereignty as their laws allow. The media is more often than not clueless about this.

Understanding this may help you to counter the issues raised in your letters to the editor and your other efforts in support of marijuana law reform.

MAP's news clippings are updated a few times each day at http://www.drugnews.org/ Some may touch on this issue, but many will not. Most clippings are worthy of consideration for your letter to the editor writing efforts.

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The Board's report is at http://www.incb.org/incb/en/annual-report-2009.html and Chapter III, Americas is at http://mapinc.org/url/8FhqCC7M. The paragraph about the United States and cannabis is below.

400. While the consumption and cultivation of cannabis, except for scientific purposes, are illegal activities according to federal law in the United States, several states have enacted laws that provide for the "medical use" of cannabis.41 The control measures applied in those states for the cultivation of cannabis plants and the production, distribution and use of cannabis fall short of the control requirements laid down in the 1961 Convention. The Board is deeply concerned that those insufficient control provisions have contributed substantially to the increase in illicit cultivation and abuse of cannabis in the United States. In addition, that development sends a wrong message to other countries. The Board welcomes the reaffirmation by the Government of the United States that cannabis continues to be considered a dangerous drug. The Government has also underscored that it is the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration to approve all medicines in the United States. The Board notes with appreciation that the Government, following new guidelines on prosecution, which stipulate that activities should not focus on individuals who comply with "medical" cannabis regulations in states, has confirmed that it has no intention to legalize cannabis. The Board is concerned over the ongoing discussion in several states on legalizing and taxing the "recreational" use of cannabis, which would be a serious contravention of the 1961 Convention. The Board emphasizes that it is the responsibility of the Government of the United States to fully implement the provisions of the 1961 Convention with respect to all narcotic drugs, including cannabis (see paragraphs 61-64 above).

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Suggestions for Writing LTEs Are at Our Media Activism Center

http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides

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Prepared by: Richard Lake, Senior Editor www.mapinc.org

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The Winds of Change: Drug Policy in the World opened yesterday in Colonia Napoles, a ritzy area of Mexico City. I would have blogged about it yesterday, but I was in the conference all day long, and in the evening, I attended a related event where they plied us with wine, so I never got around to it.

Former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castaneda got it all started in fine provocative form. He suggested during the opening session that Mexico needs to go back to the "good old days" of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), at least when it comes to dealing with drug trafficking organizations.

The PRI, of course, ruled Mexico in a virtual one-party state for 70 years before being defeated by Vicente Fox and the conservative National Action Party (PAN) in the 2000 elections. It was widely (and correctly) seen as not fighting the drug trade so much as managing it. Fox, under whom Castaneda served, started to move against the cartels, and his successor, Calderon, accelerated the offensive by bringing in the military in a big way. The result has been a bloody disaster, with Mexico being wracked by an ever mounting death toll as the army and federal police wage war on the so-called cartels, the cartels wage war on the police and the army, and when they're not busy killing cops and soldiers, turn their guns on each other. And the drugs keep flowing north and the guns and cash keep flowing south.

Perhaps it is time to return to a quiet arrangement with the cartels, Castaneda suggested. "How do we construct a modus vivendi?" he asked. "The Americans have a modus vivendi in Afghanistan," he noted pointedly. "They don't care if Afghanistan exports heroin to the rest of the world; they are at war with Al Qaeda."

Castenada's comments on Afghanistan rang especially true this week, as American soldiers push through poppy fields in their offensive on Marja. The US has made an explicit decision to arrive at a modus vivendi with poppy farmers, although it still fights the trade by interdiction and going after traffickers?or at least those linked to the Taliban. President Karzai's buddies, not so much.

Casteneda also came up with another provocative example, especially for Mexican leftists in the audience. "We had a modus vivendi with the Zapatistas in Chiapas," he noted. "We also pretended they were real guerrillas with their wooden rifles. We created a liberated zone, and the army respected it, and it's still there. But it is a simulation?the army could eliminate it in 90 seconds."

And in yet another provocative comment on the theme, Casteneda suggested that somebody may already have arrived at a modus vivendi with the Sinaloa Cartel?a suggestion that is getting big play in Mexican newspapers these days. "Why is it that of the 70,000 drug war prisoners in Mexico, only 800 are Chapo Guzman's men?" he asked. "Many people think the government has made a deal with the Sinaloa cartel. I don't know if it's true."

This isn't the first time Castaneda has made provocative statements in recent months. At the Drug Policy Alliance conference in Albuquerque in November, he said bluntly that the Mexican military is committing extrajudicial executions of drug gang members and blithely repeated the charge when called on it.

All of the Mexicans I've been talking to think Castaneda has political ambitions. Perhaps he's angling for a cabinet appointment in the next presidency or perhaps he's getting ready to run for political office himself. In any case, he certainly has no problem stirring things up when it comes to making allegations about what's going on beneath the surface in Mexico's drug war.

Stay tuned for some more blog posts about the conference, which ended just a couple of hours ago. Now that it's done, I have some time to write about it.

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I flew into Mexico City last night to attend the Winds of Change: Drug Policy in the World conference on Monday and Tuesday. I'll be blogging about and reporting on that next week.

But today, I want to provide you with one example of how much the narco-violence and the Mexican government's response to it dominates the political discourse in Mexico these days. In today's print edition of the well-respected, slightly left-leaning Mexico City newspaper La Jornada, we have the following headlines on the front page and adjoining main news section:

The front page is mainly a come-on for the rest of the paper. The big headline is "In Cancun, [Bolivian President] Evo [Morales] Announces a New OAS Without Canada or the United States." Then there is a half-page photo of the secretary of defense and two generals with a bikini-clad woman facing them, her upturned bottom getting plenty of space. The generals are announcing a pay raise for the troops. I have no idea what the bikini-clad woman was doing there. Then there are some teasers...

Page 2--letters to the editor

Page 3--The politics page. A story about Cuban-Mexican relations.

Page 4--"The PAN [ruling party] 'Unauthorizes' Criticisms by [PAN Sen. Manuel] Clouthier [of Sinaloa]. Clouthier had accused the federal government of coddling "a state government that colludes with delinquency [the narcos]." Clouthier is talking about the state government of his own state, home of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Page 5--"Secretary of Defense: It is Inconvenient and Undesirable to Make Permanent the Military Fight Against the Narco." On the same page, a cartoon with the defense secretary saying, "We need a legal framework for the drug war," and President Calderon replying, "Yes, a law that prohibits persecuting El Chapo [Guzman, head of the Sinaloa cartel], for example."

Page 6--"The Defense Department Reinforces Security at its Headquarters Fearing Possible Attacks From the Hampa (Narcos). The subhead reads: "The Navy is Also Taking Measures After the Death of [cartel head] Arturo Beltran Leyva," who was gunned down by Naval Marines a few weeks ago." Also on page 6: "Complaints Against the Army Increase 400%, Says the National Commission on Human Rights.'

Page 7--"It's Not the Army's Role to Fight the Narcos, Say Senators of the PRD, PRI, and PT." Those, of course, are the opposition parties. Also on page 7: "Initiatives Over Military Participation" about a legal framework for the military's role in the drug war. Also on page 7: "Colin Powell Singles Out the Work of Intelligence Against the Cartels" at a speech in Monterrey. The subhead reads: "He Recognizes the Role of the US in the Growth of Violence Here."

Page 8--"The Federal Government Will Inaugurate an Office in Ciudad Juarez to Make Social Programs More Responsive." Also on page 8: "Yesterday's Wave of Violence Leaves 31 Executed, 11 of the Victims in Chihuahua."

It is only by page 9 that La Jornada gets around to rest of the national news. The violence in Mexico may get the occasional 30-second treatment on the US networks and the occasional story in the US press, but down here it is a very big deal, all day and every day.

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As the death toll tops 17,000 since Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war on the so-called drug cartels in December 2006, and with no end to the killing in sight, demonstrators took to the streets of bloody Ciudad Juárez Sunday to denounce the killing and the government's approach. The next day, Calderon's drug policies came under attack from an entirely different direction: the Catholic Church in Mexico.

Council of Bishops event releasing report In Juárez, where more than 2,600 people were killed in prohibition-related violence last year and 15 teenagers were gunned down last week in an incident that shocked the nation, more than a thousand people took to the streets Sunday in a "March of Anger" against the drug violence, with some leaders saying the presence of 6,000 federal troops is only making things worse.

"The army's presence is anti-constitutional and violates citizens' rights. That's why we're asking them to withdraw," National Front Against Repression leader Javier Contreras told the crowd.

Human rights and civil society groups in Juárez and, more broadly, across Mexico, have charged that Mexican law enforcement and armed forces have harassed, tortured, kidnapped, "disappeared," and killed innocent people in overzealous prosecution of the drug war. That won't work, said Contreras.

"You can't fight violence with more violence and breaking the laws," he said.

The protest came just days after President Calderon visited Ciudad Juárez in a bid to placate angry and frightened citizens. He apologized to the families of the massacred teenagers for initially blaming their deaths on gang warfare, said he was sending in 400 more federal police, and vowed to seek community cooperation in setting a new strategy against crime and violence. Still, he was booed by crowds during that visit. He returned again this week, touting a new security plan.

If Calderon is having a hard time placating angry Juárez residents, he's not having much better luck with the Catholic Church. The day after the Juárez protest, the Mexican Church's Council of Bishops issued a report critical of Calderon's drug policies.

In the report, the bishops said that using thousands of army troops to police Mexican cities raises severe human rights concerns. The bishops also pointed at a corrupt judicial system. They said many suspects are paraded before the media in "perp walks" even before being charged with any crime and called on the government to speed up police reforms so the troops can return to their barracks.

The bishops conceded that Calderon's deployment of the military initially had broad public support, but warned it was eroding. "As time passed, the participation of the armed forces in the fight against organized crime has created uncertainty in the population," the report said. "The armed forces have the obligation to respect human rights."

The bishops also harshly criticized the criminal justice system, saying few criminals are brought to justice because of corruption and inefficiency, while at the same time, innocent people are too often jailed because of police tactics. They noted that many of those people arrested and paraded before the media end up being released or charged with much lesser crimes than those announced at the time of their arrest.

The "perp walks" should stop, the bishops said. Authorities must "respect the judicial principle that someone is innocent until proven otherwise, because now we see that detainees are exhibited before the media before they are brought before judicial authorities."

More than halfway through his six-year term, President Calderon faces the threat of seeing his presidency defined by the bloody drug wars his policies have not only failed to stop, but have exacerbated. He seems to have no response except more of the same.

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America's twin wars without end -- the war on drugs and the war on terror -- continue to play out in the heart of Southwest Asia as the Obama administration beefs up US troop levels, but tries new tactics in its battle against the opium poppy and the Taliban insurgency grown wealthy off the drug trade. Eradication is out -- at least for now -- and interdiction and going after Taliban-linked drug lords is in.

opium field in Marja (from unodc.org) The thousands of new troops are to provide the muscle to wrest and hold territory from the Taliban. The new drug strategy is designed to win over Afghan farmers long enough for economic development projects to take hold once the troops and their NATO and Afghan Army counterparts secure key areas.

One of those is Helmand province in the south, producer of more than half of all the opium poppies in Afghanistan. If Helmand were an independent country, it would be the world's largest opium producer. Most of Helmand's opium is produced in the Helmand River valley, whose largest town, Marja (pop. 80,000), is a commercial hub for the opium and heroin trade. It is also the main Taliban stronghold in the province.

The Taliban generates anywhere from $100 million to $450 million a year in revenues with which it can buy lots of shiny new weapons and pay lots of impoverished Afghans to pick up arms against the foreigners and their "puppet regime" in Kabul. (With the total Afghan opium and heroin economy valued at $3 billion to $4 billion a year, clearly, a lot of people other than the Taliban are profiting from the trade as well.)

Because of the weakness of the Afghan state and the relatively small NATO and US military presence in Helmand up until now, the area has been largely under Taliban control for the past several years. Occasional Western military sweeps have driven the Taliban from different locales, but only temporarily. Once the troops pass through and once local inhabitants realize the government and the West have not come through on their promises of assistance and development, let alone a permanent presence, the Taliban reassert control.

The much ballyhooed Marja offensive now underway is designed to be different. This time, commanders say, the military occupation will be followed in short order by a "government in a box," a quick rolling out of Afghan police and officials accompanied by the provision of services and development and economic assistance. Once the military succeeds in driving the Taliban from Marja, the rapid-fire creation of a government presence will ensure that the local population switches loyalties from the insurgents to the national government.

Some 15,000 US, NATO, and Afghan Army forces are now one week into assault on Marja, a According to all accounts, the operation is going as expected, with Western and allied Afghan forces slowly occupying the town block by block. They raised the Afghan flag over Marja's central market Wednesday.

While the fighting is going as planned and the immediate result -- driving the Taliban from Marja -- is not in doubt, it hasn't been a cakewalk. While the local Taliban leadership and an unknown number of fighters fled before the fighting began, hundreds of fighters stayed behind to harass the incoming troops. NATO commanders report encountering a town laced with booby traps and bombs (IEDs), and soldiers have come under attack from machine gun and sniper fire. At least nine Western troops have been killed in the fighting so far, with Thursday being the bloodiest yet, with four killed.

And despite US commander Gen. Stanley McCrystal's repeated commitment to avoiding civilian casualties in order to squelch Afghans' anger at the death of their fellow citizens at the hands of foreign invaders, civilian casualties have occurred. At least 15 civilians have been killed, including 12 -- five children, five women, and two men -- were killed early on in a NATO missile strike. Three more died after being shot by NATO forces during an engagement with the Taliban.

Not everyone is buying Western assurances that this time will be any different than before. In an interview with the London newspaper The Independent, Afghanistan's "most famous woman," parliament member Malalai Joya, voiced deep skepticism about the operations aims and its impact on Afghan civilians.

"It is ridiculous," said Joya. "On the one hand they call on Mullah Omar to join the puppet regime. On another hand they launch this attack in which defenseless and poor people will be the prime victims. Like before, they will be killed in the NATO bombings and used as human shields by the Taliban. Helmand's people have suffered for years and thousands of innocent people have been killed so far."

Joya proved prescient on that count, with the NATO missile strike and shootings mentioned above and with repeated press accounts of the Taliban in fact using civilians as human shields. Reports have come of insurgent fighters shooting at troops from the second floor of a building while their family members stand on the third floor in a bid to either prevent retaliation against the shooter or to score propaganda points in the event Western forces kill or injure civilians.

She also scoffed at Allied claims that the West won't abandon Afghan civilians after the military surge. "They have launched such offensives a number of times in the past, but each time after clearing the area, they leave it and the Taliban retake it. This is just a military maneuver and removal of Taliban is not the prime objective."

Analysts who spoke to the Chronicle this week provided a decidedly mixed assessment of the offensive and what comes next. "That this is going well tactically is important progress," said Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on drugs and insurgencies at the Brookings Institution and author of the just published [and soon to be reviewed here] "Shooting Up: Counterinsurgency and the War on Drugs." "You have to remember that there have been a number of operations in Helmand where even tactically, we were losing because they were so under-resourced. Whether it will be a strategic success remains to be seen."

It isn't all up to the West, she noted. "What complicates things is that a lot of the outcomes aren't necessarily in the hands of NATO or the West, but will instead depend on the quality of the Afghan government," said Felbab-Brown. "This government-in-a-box plan has its drawbacks and flaws, but it is better than nothing. At least now there is some effort."

Watching the offensive unfold, Sanho Tree, international drug policy analyst for the Institute for Policy Studies, was reduced to quoting the ultimate realpolitiker, Henry Kissinger, on Vietnam. "As early as 1969, Kissinger wrote in the journal Foreign Affairs: 'We fought a military war; our opponents fought a political one. We sought physical attrition; our opponents aimed as psychological exhaustion. In the process we lost sight of one of the cardinal maxims of guerrilla war: the guerrilla wins if he does not lose; the conventional army loses if it does not win,'" Tree recited.

"This was a well-publicized invasion," Tree pointed out. "The leadership disappeared, but they'll be back to fight when the odds are better."

The Taliban weren't the only ones to take advantage of the warnings of a coming attack, said Raheem Yaseer of the University of Nebraska-Omaha Center for Afghan Studies. "The drug lords are very efficient," he said. "I'm sure they are all in safe havens now. NATO talked about the attack for so long that they've had time to take care of their commodities and themselves. The war on drugs part of this has not been very successful so far because of these warnings -- and these people are smart."

The offensive could cause some temporary disruptions of the drug trade in the area, Tree said, but was unlikely to make a major dent. "The lesson from the rest of the world is that these things don't really make much difference. Last year, it was a different 'opium capital,' next year, there will be another one."

The drug trade keeps shifting," agreed Yaseer. "When one place comes under attack, they go elsewhere. They buy the people, they buy the police; they will be the last to be affected."

"This won't have a great impact on the drug trade," said Felbab-Brown. "Marja doesn't determine what happens in Afghanistan -- that depends on interdiction and rural development, which is hard and takes a lot of time."

The ability of Western and Afghan government forces to conquer Marja was never in doubt. But the big question is whether they can build on the military success to turn the region into a bastion of support for the government, eliminate the insurgent threat once and for all, and continue to wage war on the opium poppy.

"Time will tell," said Tree. "Sequencing is key to a lot of this, and in terms of the drug stuff, sequencing is everything. That was the big argument with the advocates of eradication. They said eradicate first, then talk, but that was completely backwards. Now, with the hands-off policy for opium cultivation, you need to just let the prices fall, and people will switch to other crops, but that will only work until opium supplies shrink and prices go up again. So there is probably a one- or two-year window of opportunity to roll in infrastructure and install clean governance. You have to thread a lot of needles in a very short time, and the history of US involvement in Afghanistan doesn't suggest the odds are good."

"There will be a real temptation on the part of the West to define good government as suppressing poppies, but that could be just the opposite of how Afghans see it -- they will want to see economic development to replace their losses first," she said. "There will be a temptation for us to go for planting bans and suppression, but I don't think that's a model we should really be after. If a few months from now we decide it has stabilized and we try to prevent the harvest, people will be quite unhappy."

It's not a coincidence that the population is being somewhat receptive to the foreign troops, she said. "The troops are walking through poppy fields, not destroying them. The message is that the US is focusing on interdiction and development. If we eradicate later, that will result in great political destabilization.

"The Taliban have a lot of sympathizers there," said Yaseer. "The people are disillusioned with the government because for so long it couldn't do anything. And a lot of families have people on the payroll of the Quetta Shura [the now Pakistan-based Taliban led by Mullah Omar]. By some accounts, they were paying each household $700 a month. But now the pressure is on them to quit the Taliban."

Rapid economic and security development is key, said the Afghan scholar. "Destroying the poppy fields will help, but then you have to have an alternative ready," he said. "You can distribute food, help them grow wheat, provide fertilizer, things like that."

Taliban hard-liners will leave the area voluntarily to live to fight another day, Yaseer said, but unless an effective state presence is in place, they will come back. "The promises have to be kept and the aid has to move in immediately," he said. "They have to move in humanitarian assistance, reconstruction projects, sustenance for the people. And it has to be isolated from neighboring provinces where the Taliban will infiltrate back in from if those routes are not protected."

The military battle of Marja is winding toward its inevitable conclusion. Now, the battle for the hearts and minds of its residents is about to get underway. Meanwhile, the opium trade hiccups with minor disruptions, but lives on largely untouched, and the West remains mired in a land war in Asia fighting the twin ephemera of a war on an abstraction (terrorism) and a war on an inert substance (opium).

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