Drug War Chronicle 1213 -- Table of Contents plus lead story- CA Police Support MJ Legalization Now, VT Governor Vetoes Safe Injection Sites, more...

rug War Chronicle, Issue #1213 -- 6/3/24
Phillip S. Smith, Editor,psmith@drcnet.org
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1213
A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org
David Borden, Executive Director,borden@drcnet.org
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
APPEAL: Help Us Respond to the Opportunities and the Challenges of This Time:
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/help_us_respond
Table of Contents:
1. FEDERAL BILL WOULD RESTRICT .50 CALIBER RIFLES IN BID TO BLOCK CARTEL ACCESS [FEATURE]
.50 caliber sniper rifles can take down a chopper, penetrate armor, and hit a target from a mile away. For $9,000 one can be yours. The Mexican cartels say "yes, please."
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/federal-bill-would-restrict-50-caliber-rifles-bid-block-cartel-access-feature
2. CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW: THE SUBURBAN CRISIS
Trying to deal with car culture kids in the post-World War II Los Angeles suburbs laid the groundwork for the war on drugs.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/chronicle-book-review-suburban-crisis
3. CHRONICLE BOOK REVIEW: SMOKE AND ASHES
Amitav Ghosh creates a rich, provocative, and eye-opening portrait of the rise of the opium trade.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/chronicle-book-review-smoke-and-ashes
4. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
An Arkansas cop gets caught slinging dope in uniform and a West Virginia federal prison guard breaks bad.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/weeks-corrupt-cops-stories-2
5. MN LAWMAKERS SET STAGE FOR LEGAL WEED INDUSTRY, AFGHANS ERADICATE MILES OF OPIUM POPPIES, MORE... (5/24/24)
The DEA releases its annual drug threat assessment, a new poll finds Texans are ready to legalize weed even if their political leaders are not, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/mn-lawmakers-set-stage-legal-weed-industry-afghans-eradicates-miles-opium-poppies-more
6. LA FIRST STATE TO MAKE ABORTION DRUGS CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES, NH SENATE APPROVES MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION BILL, MORE... (5/28/24)
South Korea threatens to arrest its citizens if they smoke pot in countries where it is legal, Ireland wields harm reduction services as summer festival season arrives, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/la-first-state-make-abortion-drugs-controlled-substances
7. SOUTH AFRICA LEGALIZES MARIJUANA, DE GOVERNOR SIGNS MEDMJ EXPANSION BILL, MORE... (5/29/24)
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime issues a new report on East and Southeast Asian drug trafficking, California psychedelic reform proponents ponder a 2026 initiative, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/south-africa-legalizes-marijuana-de-governor-signs-medmj-expansion-bill-more-52924
8. CA COPS NOW SUPPORT MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF SAN FRANCISCO DRUG CRACKDOWN, MORE... (5/30/24)
A dangerous new substance is entering the nation's illicit powder drug supply, the New Hampshire marijuana legalization bill is now going to conference committee, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/ca-cops-now-support-marijuana-legalization-one-year-anniversary-san-francisco-drug
9. ONE-THIRD OF AMERICANS KNOW SOMEONE WHO DIED OF AN OVERDOSE, LA BANS "GAS STATION HEROIN," MORE... (5/31/24)
A new Tennessee poll has a strong majority for marijuana legalization, a Japanese three-year-old is honored for spotting an opium poppy, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/one-third-americans-know-someone-who-died-overdose-la-bans-gas-station-heroin-more-53124
10. CA KRATOM REGULATION BILL ADVANCES, VT GOVERNOR VETOES SAFE INJECTION SITE BILL, MORE... (6/3/24)
Customs and Border Patrol has cut the period of acceptable last marijuana use for recruits from two years to 90 days, the federal defense bill is the locus of several drug policy-related amendments, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/ca-kratom-regulation-bill-advances-vt-governor-vetoes-safe-injection-site-bill-more-6324
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1. FEDERAL BILL WOULD RESTRICT .50 CALIBER RIFLES IN BID TO BLOCK CARTEL ACCESS [FEATURE]
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/federal-bill-would-restrict-50-caliber-rifles-bid-block-cartel-access-feature
.50 caliber rifles are among the most powerful weapons civilians can
buy in the United States. The anti-armor sniper rifles were designed
for military use and can strike a target from more than a mile away
(https://www.vpc.org/studies/50danger.pdf), penetrate light armor,
down a helicopter, destroy commercial aircraft, and blow through rail
cars and storage tanks filled with chemicals.
They are used by militaries around
the world because of their ability to blow through armor and favored
by some gun enthusiasts here but also by less savory actors, including
Mexican drug trafficking organizations, the so-called cartels.
Grown obscenely wealthy thanks to the profits of drug prohibition, the
cartels have no problem with the $9,000 price tag for the high-powered
weapons. In one case alone
(https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/mexico-usa-guns/),
more than $600,000 worth of .50 calibers and other military-grade
firearms were purchased for the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG)
in Racine, Wisconsin, in the spring of 2018.
That case was made after a CJNG hit squad attempted to assassinate a
prosecutor in Jalisco and a subsequent raid in Guadalajara turned up
36 weapons including a Barrett .50 caliber traced back to a Racine
firearms dealer. The defendants in that case are on trial in federal
court right now.
.50 calibers have also been used by the CJNG
(https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/mexico-usa-guns/)
to kill 13 policemen in an ambush, in a failed assassination attempt
against Mexico City's top cop, and to shoot down a police helicopter.
It's not just the CJNG. When authorities in Culiacan, Sinaloa,
arrested Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's son in 2019, Sinaloa Cartel
gunmen used .50 calibers
(https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7vwyx/mexican-cartel-50-cal) to
battle government forces on the streets of the city, leading to the
decision to release him. Those battles produced videos that went
viral.
It is a peculiarity of American law and history that such weapons are
available for sale to the general public. But there is support in
Congress for changing that, at least on the Democratic side of the
aisle. This week, nearly two dozen Democratic US representatives
cosponsored the Stop Arming Cartels Act
(https://castro.house.gov/imo/media/doc/stop_arming_cartels_act.pdf),
which would restrict access to such weaponry in the name of preventing
it from ending up in the hands of people like the CJNG and the Sinaloa
Cartel.
The Stop Arming Cartels Act would prohibit the further sale of .50
caliber rifles and regulate existing .50 caliber rifles, applying the
same reporting requirements for handguns to rifles, and establishing
new avenues for the victims of gun violence to seek justice from
manufacturers and dealers who violate US laws.
"When I speak to leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean, their
number-one request is for Congress to stop American weapons of war
from falling into the hands of the gangs that are destabilizing their
countries," said bill sponsor Rep. Joaquin Castro
(https://castro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-castro-escobar-frost-introduce-stop-arming-cartels-act-to-prevent-trafficking-of-military-grade-weapons-to-mexican-cartels)
(D-TX). "Especially in Mexico, access to .50 caliber rifles has
fundamentally altered the balance of power between criminal
organizations and the government and allowed cartels to become
virtually untouchable" he continued.
Cosponsor Rep. Veronica Escobar
(https://castro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-castro-escobar-frost-introduce-stop-arming-cartels-act-to-prevent-trafficking-of-military-grade-weapons-to-mexican-cartels)
(D-TX) said that "[t]he gun laws championed by Republican legislators
in this country make Americans less safe. The consequences don't just
impact our communities but they also impact our neighbors in Latin
America and around the world," arguing that "a refusal to act would
mean continuing to arm transnational criminal organizations and
cartels that purchase these weapons for illicit acts."
Anything that touches on the 2nd Amendment is bound to stir up an
angry reaction. And most congressional legislation needs the votes of
60 Senators, in order to overcome the filibuster that is certain to be
initiated by legislators on the right. On the other hand, legislation
passed last year took some steps including licensing, purchase limits
and increased backround checks, the first federal gun regulation
measure to get enacted in many years.
In the meanwhile, there aren't many members of either party in
Congress who are ready to fully confront the role of drug prohibition
in driving the prevalence of these and other weapons.
The Stop Arming Cartels Act has been endorsed by Global Exchange/Stop
U.S. Arms to Mexico, Gun Violence Prevention, Newtown Action Alliance,
March for Our Lives, Everytown, Washington Office on Latin America
(WOLA), Center for American Progress, Brady: United Against Gun
Violence, Latin America Working Group (LAWG), Amnesty International,
Win Without War, and Global Action on Gun Violence.
================  ...
                                          ___________________
                                           It's time to correct the mistake:
                                         Truth:the Anti-drugwar
<http://www.briancbennett.com>
                                       Cops say legalize drugs--find out why:
<http://www.leap.cc>
                                        Stoners are people too:
<http://www.cannabisconsumers.org>
                                        ___________________
      bliss -- Cacao  Powered... (-SF4ever at DSLExtreme dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco
       "It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
       It is by the beans of cacao that the thoughts acquire speed,
       the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
       It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
          --from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.