Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1222 -- 9/13/24
Phillip S. Smith, Editor,
psmith@drcnet.orghttps://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1222A 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_respondTable of Contents:
1. BIPARTISAN SENATE BILL TAKES AIM AT SHEIN AND TEMU -- AND FENTANYL, TOO [FEATURE]
A billion "low-value" packages skate past Customs each year. Some contain cheap clothing from China; others contain fentanyl, and a new Senate bill aims to do something about both. But will it actually help?
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/bipartisan-senate-bill-takes-aim-shein-and-temu-and-fentanyl-too-feature2. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A small-town Utah police chief develops a bad habit, a small-town Texas police chief and her fellow cop partner had a side business slinging meth, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/weeks-corrupt-cops-stories-63. NC TRIBE OPENS MJ SALES TO ADULT, TRUMP SUPPORTS BIDEN RESCHEDULING MOVE, MORE... (9/9/24)
Nebraska's Republican attorney general is leading a crackdown on shops selling delta-8 THC products, Texas voters strongly support marijuana decriminalization, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/nc-tribe-adult-us-marijuana-sales-nebraska-delta8-crackdown-more-99244. HARRIS CAMPAIGN ACCUSES TRUMP OF LYING ABOUT POT POLICY, HOUSTON NARC GOES ON TRIAL FOR MURDER, MORE... (9/10/24)
The Colombia government and a dissident FARC faction are headed back to the table for peace talks in Havana, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/harris-campaign-accuses-trump-lying-about-pot-policy-houston-narc-goes-trial-murder-more5. FL GOP AT ODDS OVER MARIJUANA INIT, FEDERAL FENTANYL BILL FILED, MORE... (9/11/24)
Rhode Island marijuana regulators are moving toward a hybrid licensing process, Iran's new president says his country needs new drug policies, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/fl-gop-odds-over-pot-initiative-federal-fentanyl-package-bill-filed-more-911246. USUAL SUSPECTS OPPOSE NORTH DAKOTA LEGALIZATION INIT, FEARS RISE OF SINALOA CARTEL CIVIL WAR, MORE... (9/12/24)
Massachusetts psychedelic initiative analyzed, Zurich legal weed pilot program evaluated at the one-year mark, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/usual-suspects-oppose-nd-marijuana-legalization-initiative-fears-rise-sinaloa-cartel(Not subscribed? Visit
https://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up today!)
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1. BIPARTISAN SENATE BILL TAKES AIM AT SHEIN AND TEMU -- AND FENTANYL, TOO [FEATURE]
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/bipartisan-senate-bill-takes-aim-shein-and-temu-and-fentanyl-too-featureA billion "low-value" packages skate past Customs each year. Some
contain cheap clothing from China; others contain fentanyl, and a new
Senate bill aims to do something about both. But will it actually
help?
Led by Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden
(D-OR), a bipartisan group of senators has filed a bill to tighten
Customs controls over packages sent into the United States, justified
in part by the effort to interdict small shipments of fentanyl being
sent into the country. The cutely-acronymed Fighting Illicit Goods,
Helping Trustworthy Importers, and Netting Gains (FIGHTING) for
America Act
(
https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fighting_for_america_bill_textpdf.pdf)
would also target other "illicit goods," including "counterfeits, and
products made with forced labor," according to a press release
(
https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-lummis-brown-collins-and-casey-release-bipartisan-legislation-to-halt-the-flood-of-illicit-packages-into-the-united-states)
from the Senate Finance Committee.
The legislation was provoked by a massive increase in "low-value
shipments" (valued at less than $800) of packages into the country
from 299 million in 2016 to one billion in 2023, according to a Senate
Finance Committee backgrounder
(
https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fighting_for_america_act_one-pagerpdf.pdf).
That increase was facilitated by a US policy known as "de minimis
entry," allowing those low-value packages to enter the country
tariff-free and under a streamlined process to try to conserve scarce
government resources and simplify customs procedures for small
businesses and consumers.
The backgrounder claims that "unscrupulous corporations like [online
retailers] Shein and Temu have abused the system, building entire
business models around their ability to flood the US market with
direct-to-consumer shipments that avoid both tariffs and Customs
scrutiny." Shein was founded in China but is now headquartered in
Singapore, while Temu is in Boston and is owned by a Chinese parent
company.
The backgrounder also argues that small packages shipped to individual
consumers are reliant on international air courier services, making
the practice more carbon-intensive than relying on shipping
containers. It also says passage of the bill would "level the playing
field for US manufacturers" by ensuring that tariffs are imposed.
The bill aims to tighten the rules for de minimis entry and "help the
CBP [Customs and Border Patrol] more effectively stop unlawful
imports" by prohibiting certain goods -- those that are
import-sensitive or facing additional trade remedies -- from being
shipped de minimis and by requiring CBP to do more monitoring and
information collecting on de minimus entry packages.
"Foreign corporate giants are inundating our borders with millions of
low-value packages, making it tough for customs agents to stop
dangerous goods like fentanyl from falling into Americans' hands,"
Wyden said in the statement. "Americans should feel confident that
anything arriving on their doorstep is safe, legal, and ethically
produced. Our legislation would crack down on foreign companies
abusing the law and make sure they play by the rules."
"Whether through the southwest border or in packages mailed into the
United States, China is using any tool available to get illicit drugs
across our border," Lummis said. "It is time for CBP to crack down on
shipments from China to ensure drugs and products made using slave
labor are encountered before making it into our communities."
"Countries like China are exploiting the de minimis loophole to cheat
our trade laws and flood our country with packages containing fentanyl
and other illicit substances," Brown said. "By cracking down on this
loophole and providing law enforcement with more resources, this
bipartisan legislation will begin to level the playing field for Ohio
workers and Ohio manufacturers and retailers -- while helping to stop
the deadly flow of fentanyl into Ohio communities."
It is not clear what law enforcement thinks about leveled playing
fields for the American economy, but it likes the notion of more
interdiction to fight fentanyl.
"Law enforcement is battling the trafficking of illegal narcotics on
multiple fronts, including the international mail system. The de
minimis loophole is severely exacerbating the opioid crisis by
allowing fentanyl and other illegal opioids to enter our country
largely uninspected. Substantial reform or the closing of this trade
loophole is necessary to remove significant fentanyl trafficking
routes into this country and is essential to any national strategy to
end the fentanyl crisis," said Bill Johnson, executive director of the
National Association of Police Organizations. "NAPO supports the
FIGHTING for America Act and we look forward to working with Chairman
Wyden to ensure the de minimis trade exemption will no longer be a
gateway for illicit drugs and goods to cross our borders."
The Fraternal Order of Police is also down with the bill.
"In an effort to evade detection and interdiction, drug smugglers are
using low-value, direct-to-consumer shipments that enter the country,
which allows these criminals to bypass the usual screening methods
employed by Customs and Border Protection and get fentanyl and other
drugs and illicit goods into the United States," said Patrick Yoes,
the group's national president. "The FOP supports legislation as
proposed by Senators Wyden and Lummis to tighten the rules and crack
down on these foreign-based drug traffickers who are using low-value
imports to game the system and flood our communities with fentanyl and
other illegal goods and substances."
Will the new bill actually help, though, assuming it passes?
Regardless of the its potential positive impact on strengthening the
US economy in the face of foreign competition -- or on the fight
against climate change, for that matter -- its effort to address the
fentanyl crisis by pursuing more, better interdiction is akin to
playing a game of whack-a-mole with traffickers. For decades, the
United States has maintained a policy of stricter and more intrusive
interdiction efforts. It has not yet worked yet, and there is no
indication this would be any different. Rather than chasing futile
pursuits, policymakers would be better off shedding the failed
prohibitionist model for dealing with the drug menace du jour and
begin going down the path of a safe and regulated drug supply.
================
...
___________________
It's time to correct the mistake:
Truth:the Anti-drugwar
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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.
-- b l i s s - S F 4 e v e r at D S L E x t r e m e dot com
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