DRUG BUSTS

THINGS WE HADN'T STARTED WORRYING ABOUT YET

STREET USE - According to the local news station in Huntsville Alabama,
the ubiquitous cheap Mr. Coffee pot in hotel rooms is often used as a
just-in-time makeshift mini-laboratory to make the drug meth. Ask just
about anyone in law enforcement, and they'll tell you to be careful if
you ever brew coffee in a hotel room. "I know enough now that whenever I
go to a hotel, regardless of how nice it is, I'll never use a coffee
pot," said Marshall County District Attorney Steve Marshall. . .

Rick Phillips of the Marshall County Drug Enforcement Unit says there's
definitely a risk. "The coffee makers that you find in every motel room
is an ideal heat source. They mix it up in the coffee pot, put it on a
heat source and let it sit there and cook," said Phillips. . . Phillips
says it's pretty easy to tell if a coffee pot has been used to cook
meth. It will have a dark reddish-orange stain.

http://www.kk.org/streetuse/archives/2007/02/coffee_pot_mini_meth_lab.php


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OBAMA, CLINTON, BIDEN AND DODD DID MEXICAN METH DEALERS A BIG FAVOR

NICK GILLESPIE, REASON - Over at Left Independent, Pat Rogers points out
that presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was one of the
co-sponsors of The Combat Meth Act, whose chief effects have been to
make it more difficult to buy cold medicines--and to juice up Mexican
drug cartels.

On his "crime" issue page U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has this to say about
the Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2005:

"Senator Obama cosponsored the Combat Meth Act, which provides more
money for fighting methamphetamine (meth), tightens controls on the sale
of meth ingredients, and provides assistance to the children of meth
abusers."

Bridget Johnson, Los Angeles Daily News, reported the government's own
National Drug Intelligence Center's assessment of the "success" of
Obama's Combat Meth Act:

"According to the National Drug Intelligence Center's 2007 National Drug
Threat Assessment, 'Marked success in decreasing domestic
methamphetamine production through law enforcement pressure and strong
precursor chemical sales restrictions has enabled Mexican (drug
trafficking organizations) to rapidly expand their control over
methamphetamine distribution - even in eastern states - as users and
distributors who previously produced the drug have sought new,
consistent sources."

Rogers notes that three other Democratic presidential candidates--Sens.
Joe Biden (Del.), Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), and Christopher Dodd
(Conn.)--are also proud co-sponsors of the Meth act.

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/118562.html

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DRUG WAR CRITIC KUCINICH CHAIRS KEY COMMITTEE

DEAN KUIPERS, LA CITY BEAT - The drug hawk's worst nightmare: Kucinich's
hearings will raise a ruckus. The Democratic sweep in the 2006 mid-term
elections has done more than finally install a woman as speaker of the
House. It has also put one of the most vocal critics of the ill-starred
"War on Drugs" in a position to affect federal drug policy. On January
18, Ohio Congressman and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, one of
the most progressive Democratic voices in the House, was appointed as
chair of the new House Government Reform and Oversight subcommittee on
domestic policy, causing drug reform organizations coast-to-coast to
rejoice in hopes that a moment for significant change may have finally
come. . . "He is certainly the polar opposite of his predecessor, Mark
Souder," says Allen St. Pierre, spokesman for the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. . .

For instance, St. Pierre notes, Kucinich is a supporter of industrial
hemp, the non-psychoactive product of the cannabis sativa plant. He is
also a supporter of medical marijuana and of the federal rescheduling of
marijuana, where it is currently illegal as a Schedule I drug,
classified as having "no medical value." . . .

Washington insiders, however, are not holding their breath for great
upheaval in federal drug policy overall. Sources close to the
appointment, who asked not to be named, say that Speaker Nancy Pelosi
and other members of the Democratic leadership have effectively
embargoed major crime or drug policy legislation for the next two years,
to avoid looking soft on crime in the 2008 election.

Kucinich, however, is promising a couple years of entertaining and
edifying hearings. "We're going to open up the discussion to new
hearings," says Kucinich.

http://lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=4969&IssueNum=191

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