Marijuana.com

Niteshift

Maybe the author needs to pay closer attention to the news: Note that BOTH of these press releases are dated BEFORE the op-ed piece complaining that they are ignoring meth.

AUG 19--(Washington, D.C.)-On August 18th and 19th, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, along with other foreign, federal, state and local law enforcement conducted Operation Three Hour Tour- an extensive ten-month, DEA-led investigation which is part of the DEA’s sustained effort to target major drug trafficking organizations. The DEA led arrests dismantled three major drug transportation rings with international ties and 27 U.S. distribution groups that are responsible for moving enough meth into the U.S. that could have provided product for over 22,700 meth users every month.

The three Mexican and Colombian drug transportation organizations (DTO’s) and their U.S. distribution counterparts dismantled under Operation Three Hour Tour are known to have smuggled and distributed approximately 4,000 pounds of cocaine, 20-30 pounds of heroin and in excess of 50 pounds of methamphetamine on a monthly basis-throughout the United States. These drug amounts could have provided nearly 1.81 million cocaine users, 22,700 methamphetamine users and close to 13,620 heroin users with their drug of choice every month. These organizations are known to have been operating within the U.S. for several years.

More than 65 search warrants were conducted resulting in the arrests of 164 individuals in the Dominion Republic, Colombia, Los Angeles, California, New York, New Haven, Connecticut, and Des Moines, Iowa, as a result of Operation Three Hour Tour.

“The streets from Bogotá to Los Angeles are no longer a free trade zone for the criminals arrested today. Rest assured the DEA will be relentless in targeting drug traffickers and their illicit money until they no longer have the assets or means to put their poisons into the hands our children,” DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy today said of the arrests.

Operation Three Hour Tour highlights the dangerous and violent nature of the drug trade and the DTO’s associated with moving drugs over the border. Among the drugs, cash and luxury items seized during the investigation were multiple high-powered weapons, including a 50-caliber assault rifle with armor piercing ammunition.

Operation Three Hour Tour resulted in 164 arrests, the seizure of 3,163 pounds of cocaine, 55 pounds of methamphetamine, 15 pounds of heroin, 9 1/2 ounces of crack cocaine, 10,000 doses of ecstasy, $5.5 million in cash, 216 lbs. of marijuana, 58 vehicles, and 52 firearms.

http://www.dea.gov/pubs/pressrel/pr081905.html



Then there is this:


AUG 18--( Nashville, TN) – In a joint appearance by three members of the President’s Cabinet, John Walters, the Director of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP); Alberto R. Gonzales, U.S. Attorney General; and Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), today detailed the Federal government’s comprehensive, balanced approach to the methamphetamine challenge. Touring the Davidson County Drug Court and Treatment Center in Nashville, Tennessee, Administration officials highlighted progress in efforts to reduce meth production and trafficking, and to advance treatment and prevention for meth addiction and unveiled new Administration initiatives for continuing to combat the meth threat from all angles.

In recent years, many communities across the country have become all-too familiar with the public health and safety consequences of methamphetamine, as the drug’s production and abuse has migrated eastwards from the western United States. Methamphetamine presents unique challenges to state and local law enforcement professionals, who are often exposed to toxic and highly volatile lab sites, as well as the violent and dangerous behaviors of those who use the drug. Methamphetamine also burdens social service agencies, which must address the physiological and psychological affects on a generation of drug endangered children who have been traumatized and victimized through exposure to toxic labs, abuse, and neglect by their meth-involved adult caregivers.

The Administration strongly supports the development of Federal legislation to fight methamphetamine production, trafficking, and abuse. Effective Federal legislation would include an individual purchase limit of 3.6 grams per transaction for retail sales of products containing pseudoephedrine (PSE); elimination of the blister pack exemption for PSE products, thus requiring all products containing PSE to be subject to Federal law, regardless of how they are packaged; and, to prevent diversion of PSE shipments for illegal use, a requirement that importers of PSE request and receive approval from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) if there is a change in the shipment’s original purchase.

Putting the meth problem in a national perspective, ONDCP Director John Walters said, “The methamphetamine challenge has touched communities across this Nation differently, but its devastating consequences are borne by all Americans. Through the National Drug Control Strategy and the National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan, the Federal government has implemented a balanced approach to fighting meth. Together with our state and local partners, we are aggressively pushing back against the drug and our collaborative efforts are generating significant progress in several critical areas.”

The number of domestic methamphetamine “superlabs” (those capable of producing 10 pounds of meth or more in a 24-hour production cycle) has been dramatically reduced. Over the last three years, law enforcement has seized, on average, 45 small toxic meth labs or dumpsites each day across America. The DEA has aggressively targeted meth producers and traffickers, resulting in the initiation of 2,830 criminal cases related to meth production, distribution, or diversion of precursor chemicals in 2004 alone.

The DEA expects to initiate a Federal Clandestine Lab Container Program in Fiscal Year 2006. Toxic waste from meth labs will be transported by trained law enforcement personnel to centralized containers that meet all hazardous waste storage requirements and will then be picked up and removed by DEA contractors. In pilot projects, the container program significantly reduced the cost of lab cleanups, law enforcement overtime, and hazardous waste material removal by streamlining the processes. Additionally, the DEA successfully negotiated agreements with private sector companies like eBay as well as governments from China, Mexico, and Panama to restrict the diversion of precursor chemicals like pseudoephedrine to meth labs in the U.S. and elsewhere.

“The scourge of methamphetamine demands unconventional thinking and innovative solutions to fight the devastation it leaves behind,” said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. “Over the past 10 years, the Justice Department has more than quadrupled the number of methamphetamine cases filed nationwide, and the new initiatives announced today by the Administration will increase our efforts to target all aspects of the meth problem. By using expertise from across the Federal government in one comprehensive plan, and by working with state and local officials, we will continue to prove that the methamphetamine problem can be beaten and lives can be saved.”

HHS has significantly advanced prevention and treatment for meth addiction and technical assistance for social service agencies charged with protecting children in meth-affected homes. In FY 2004, HHS awarded $10.8 million in competitive grants for projects related to treatment for individuals using methamphetamine. In FY 2005, HHS is awarding 11 new grants worth $16.2 million over three years to address meth abuse in seven states. To help more people out of the destructive web of addiction, the President has proposed expanding the Access to Recovery program by $50 million in 2006. Tennessee already has an Access to Recovery grant – $7 million a year – and is using it to focus on making treatment and recovery programs available to meth abusers. Additionally, HHS funding of methamphetamine-related research has increased nearly 150 percent, from approximately $15 million in FY 2000, to more than $37 million in FY 2004.

To reduce the trauma and adverse impact of meth on children, families, and the child protective services system, HHS has developed and implemented a number of resources. Through mechanisms such as teleconference training for grantees and regional staff, websites (http://www.ncsacw.samhsa.gov/), as well as technical assistance for state and local CPS agencies, the Administration is assisting social service providers in effectively dealing with issues such as child welfare safety protocols for children affected by parental use.

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said, “Meth abuse causes great harm to children, families, and communities, but it is a preventable and treatable problem that we are taking steps to address. The President’s comprehensive approach, combining prevention, treatment, law enforcement, and education is the most effective approach to reducing the public health threat of methamphetamine.”

To build upon the progress already made in the effort against meth, the Bush Administration today announced several new Federal initiatives focused on four core areas: prevention and treatment; law enforcement; education; and management of the drug’s unique consequences. These new initiatives will leverage the impact of the extensive work being done at the state and local level and will provide additional resources to those working across the Nation to make their communities healthier and safer.


http://www.dea.gov/pubs/pressrel/pr081805.html



It appears to me that the author simply isn't paying attention.

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WNB

^Raw numbers mean nothing. On the other hand, the Bush administration's statements that they view marijuana as the main target are quite revealing.

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Niteshift

Apparently you didn't read it all......there are TWO articles.

The second lays out the governments meth program which includes laws, enforcement, rehabilitation and training.

That sure sounds like a PLAN and not "raw numbers".

Higher Logic

Did anyone catch the Meth special on A&E tonight? I missed it (was playing NCAA with roomates). Wondering if it said anything about marijuana and the drug war as a whole.

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SkyTripper

As far as the entire "War on Drugs" goes, I only wish that law enforcement and the politicians would completely REMOVE marijuana from the equation and focus all of their efforts and resources to putting a serious dent in the meth problem.
Marijuana is just not something that ANYONE should be arrested over anymore, IMO.
To compare cannabis with those other "hard" drugs is the difference between night and day. Marijuana use is HERE TO STAY and a big part of American culture now. There just are not any true ill-effects posed on society as a whole, from marijuana use exclusively, to make it worth fighting over and spending huge amounts of money on. This just isn't the case with meth or crack or heroin and those who manufacture and distribute it NEED to face some serious punishment. Marijuana though......NOPE!
I wonder just how much money the government could save and use for the purpose of busting and incarcerating all the meth/coke/heroin dealers if they would only remove marijuana from the picture completely?.

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Stephanie S.

This is a critique of the Feds methods for dealing with the meth problem in the United States. This article disagrees with the methods by which the Feds intend to handle the growing meth problem here. The author thinks the money offered to help fix the problem is misdirected and not enough. He thinks that the focus should be on "drug labs in rural America and the gates of Asian pseudoephedrine factories." and that more money should be directed toward anti-meth ads. Considering that the government spends nearly $4,000,000,000 a year (smoem think its probably more) to target marijuana, perhaps they could allocate resources toward anti-meth programs.


Apparently after seeing the Admins "new" plan, these people think it's not enough.


peace

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Niteshift

Souder is a congressman. Congress controls the budget. If he thinks they need to do more, then he is in the position to propose more money.

narc emery

Below, in red is part of the reason this is ocurring. Pro-cannabis coalitions don't have the deep pockets that large corporations do...obviously, lobbyists for our cause write checks from a much smaller bank account!

US IA: Editorial: Feds Clueless About Meth
(22 Aug 2005) Des Moines Register Iowa

Meth is a contemporary plague. Yet the Bush administration seems dazed and confused about this reality.

The White House unveiled a federal anti-meth plan last week. Unlike Iowa law, it wouldn't require most cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine - a key ingredient in making meth - be sold only by pharmacies. It would allow consumers to purchase up to 110 pills in a single purchase.
It's essentially a non-policy. Even Republican lawmakers are criticizing it.

Sen. Charles Grassley said the White House is "listening more to Wal-Mart than to the economic and social problems" meth causes. Actually, White House officials are probably listening to drug companies, which stand to lose sales when drugs are difficult to purchase.
Or maybe they're not listening to anyone. Maybe they just can't get their eyes off their old enemy: marijuana. The administration has focused on this as a gateway drug that's widely used.

But being widely used doesn't make it the biggest problem. Ask governors, law-enforcement officers, child-welfare workers, landlords. Meth may not be the most common drug, but it's the biggest problem in many states. It's deadly. It's dangerous. It's destructive.

It makes pot look harmless.

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cd34

I did <off-topic fungus> recently and had a very bad trip, it’s was mainly about how the world is so messed up. I don’t even believe in satan, but I felt satan had taken over the world over 100 years ago, and that people imprisoned threw culture and drugs, and propaganda in television and music. Drugging the public is pefect for confusing/misleading the public, which is one of the biggest characteristic of successful propaganda.

I thought everyone in this world, but in reality probly just I, have conformed to the sixties counter-culture. I came up with a conspiracy that the counter culture had been created by satan and the capitalist government, because satan knew we would conform to a counter culture. I thought of this crazy conspiracy that didn’t really make a lot of sence but I knew I was onto something. Some things about society I couldn’t understand, like why fox would broadcast the Simpson’s with all its leftist views. Or why the capitalist music labels would support non-capitalist rock stars. I talked to a friend about this and hes like probly because those capitalist bastards would sell anything to get their green, this made some sense. Later I talked to my brother and he was like you only think of those things because that’s what humor is realized to your opinions and that’s what the simpsons does. The simpsons is probly a lot about ratings as with most television. It’s just about target market not about brainwashing me, and even if this conspiracy is true I will never have evidence of it so theres no point worrying about. I am a lot more cautious about what I learn now. During the shroom trip I thought maybe the media made up the counter culture phrase in order to make us conform to exactly how they wanted to. It made so much sence since the 60s was a time filled with a lot of scandal like landing on the moon, Vietnam, or Watergate.

After this trip I went into kind of a depression, thinking about how I have been manipulated and brainwashed my whole life, by the media. I used to be really into the hippy ideology but not after I realized it crimpled my own modern ideologies. I went up to whistler to chill around and get away for a bit, this was about 2 weeks after the trip, and I was still scared to watch television because I thought it would fill my mind with propaganda. I ended up watching a Simpson’s episode it made a point against conspiracies saying that usually the simplest way is the right way. I thought of this for like a day or two, because I didn’t want to just believe anything, but after thinking about it really does make sense.

I still couldn’t dismiss my <off-topic fungus>trip, until for some reason Mark Emery came up in conversation with a friend. We have both been to his store and café, and have even bought seeds. My friend has bought Cannabis Culture magazines and has even blazed with Mark Emery. But he said he hated Mark Emery because Emery makes marijuana users like addicts, and that he’s ****ing up the legalization process because he says to the Americans that marijuana cannot be used moderately. This made me think about my shroom conspiracies and how I couldn’t figure out why the DEA and the American government hated weed so much. Then I had a crazy epiphany, I thought of the Simpson’s episode that made a point against conspiracies saying that usually the simplest way is the right way. I then thought of John Walters babbling on how marijuana is very addictive and how everyone is in denial.

So when I got home last night, I wrote the next paragraphs. I was originally going to write a letter to Mark Emery but then decided that I wanted to post it on forums to get peoples opinions, to see what other people think, to prove me wrong or agree with me. So the writing style changes from a letter to an announcement.

----------

Mark emery you are a very intelligent man, you have said many interesting points which I have thought of, but wasn’t able to express so well. For example what you said on the news about using pure democracy to create change, instead of bombs or military. I support legalization and your seeds sales, “overgrowing the government” is a good strategy. I honestly believe marijuana is a very useful substance, but it’s also a drug, and with all drugs there is withdrawal & tolerance. I have smoked weed like crack for years, and find that when I’m stoned for like the forth day in a row, I start to just feel like a burn out. Lately I have been trying to cut back because I was feeling like an addict. I found it hard to wake up with out wanting to wake and bake. I found that when I had a bag of weed I just wanted to smoke it all, making my withdrawal and addiction worse. People claim that marijuana is not addictive, but I have realized that is only true when it is used moderately.

I am a lot happier now that I’m using marijuana more moderately, and think it would be a lot more of a positive and successful marijuana movement if instead it preached moderation. A movement that tries to understand why the Conservative government hates weed so much, without resorting to coincidental conspiracies. We should try to create a middle ground between the two sides, the pot-addict side and the anti-drug side of the drug war. If you think about it, the hippies probably made the drug war worse, probably caused the creation the DEA in 1968, probably because most of them were drug addicts and didn’t promote moderation. Why do you think there was a drug act of 1971? I honestly believe the solution to the drug war is moderation. I don’t think there has ever been a pro-marijuana movement that supported moderation, maybe that’s why this war has been going on for so long.

Mark emery is creating addicts instead of people who can benefit from the moderate use of marijuana. I just feel Mark Emery is presenting marijuana as an addictive substance, which is what John Walters and the Americans are claiming to want to protect us from. I feel the current drug war is not any closer to ending that it was during the sixties.



P.S. Pot TV is a good source of info for researching, even thought extremely bias it makes it easy to be informed about what’s happening in the drug war. Mark Emery you still have done lots of great things, this is my only beef. Please reply to this, and show it to friends.

uniquexperience

I have gone on smoking binges before and it tends to make you feel tired and amotivational.. Just as drinking binges can. Though, I must point out that it takes a lot more cannabis to get me feeling burnt out.

Over time, I started using cannabis as more of a recreational substance and used it more moderately. Maybe, half a joint after work and the other half after dinner. I felt much better using cannabis moderately and would encourage everyone to use the substance moderately.

I think that it goes without saying though, It SHOULD be common sense that moderation is key. Overusing ANY substance is abuse. You can even have too much chocolate, or too much steak. Moderation is important to have a healthy lifestyle. I disagree with the sentiment that using Cannabis results in abuse of cannabis. It takes no effort to keep me using it only moderately, my hypothesis is that the people abusing cannabis would just be abusing another substance if cannabis was not available to them.

When I started smoking a lot of weed, I was also drinking a lot, and was generally depressed. Just a part of my life that I went through. I think I'm a better person for having survived that. We all get depressed sometimes and that is when substance abuse starts. I think Cannabis probably saved my life as the withdrawal symptoms are nowhere near as bad as some of the other stuff I could have been abusing at the time.