As Apple always tells us in commercials, there's an iPhone app for evertyhing. Even this:

The app features the laws and consequences for possession in each state, facts and figures supporting why marijuana should be legal and a pre-written letter to President Obama that can be sent by pushing a button, described by David as “petition on the go.” It can also locate the nearest NORML chapter.

Why did they make it? [More..]

This weekend cops in Colorado (and I'm sure elsewhere) resume their 100 day "The Heat is On" campaign to bust drunk drivers.

One police chief outside of Vail has a new plan. He wants to force those stopped to take a blood test. What about our law that says you can choose between breath and blood or choose to refuse (and lose your license) unless there's an accident with serious injuries? He doesn't care. He says his officers will get a search warrant for your blood.

The courts will probably shoot him down. [More...]

Via Tom at Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: New drug czar Gil Kerlikowske was on KUOW radio today, talking about his new role.

He called the idea of legalization "waving the white flag" and said "legalization is off the the charts when it comes to discussion, from my viewpoint" and that "legalization vocabulary doesn't exist for me and it was made clear that it doesn't exist in President Obama's vocabulary."

Regarding marijuana, he said, "It's a dangerous drug" and, regarding its medical benefits, he said, "we will wait for evidence on whether smoked marijuana has any medicinal benefits - those aren't in." [More...]

You will be shocked -- shocked, I tell you -- to learn that there are prostitutes in New York City. Perhaps as many as sixteen.

New York's crusading Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, used the indictment of seven people who allegedly operated a prostitution ring in Queens as an opportunity to grandstand against the villainous Craigslist, which until recently hosted an "erotic services" category. Cuomo purports to be outraged that the prostitution ring used Craigslist as its exclusive advertising outlet.

Mr. Cuomo’s statement said, “Until Craigslist gets serious about putting real protections in place, it will continue to be an environment where criminal operations thrive with impunity.”

Right. As opposed to the Yellow Pages, the "adult" classified section of The Village Voice, and a plethora of websites. Even About.com offers a helpful guide to NYC escorts. So why pick on Craigslist? [more ...]

Bumped: Today the House Judiciary Committee (Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security)is holding a hearing on the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences.

Members of Congress will receive a petition with 21,000 signatures calling for an end to the disparity. The hearing is called “Unfairness in Federal Cocaine Sentencing: Is it Time to Crack the 100 to 1 Disparity?"

Among the witnesses is a former U.S. Attorney, Veronica Coleman-Davis (Tennessee). From her written testimony:

“After more than 20 years, multiple studies debunking the myths, recommendations from the United States Sentencing Commission, and at least two generations of families and children torn by the systemic imposition of imprisonment for one -100th the amount of cocaine than their white counterparts, it is surely not only good policy but also good politics to correct this injustice,”

The pending bills addressing the disparity are:[More...]

Via NPR:

What began a few years ago as a stopgap solution has become de facto public policy. For sex offenders with few resources who want to stay in Miami, there's just one option: an encampment of tents and shacks on the Julia Tuttle Causeway.

...State prison officials and probation officers are not happy about the situation under the bridge. They believe it is leading sex offenders to stop registering with the state and go underground.

In Alabama, Johnny Holly, Jr. has been freed after serving 30 years of a sentence of life without parole. His crime: he stole a toolbox. His sentence was the result of a three-strikes law.

How did he get free?

He is free today only because the Legislature changed the repeat-offender law early this decade.
The change in the law allowed for the possibility of parole. Even so, it took him several years to be resentenced and to get out.

Who helped him ? The prosecutor and a host of prison guards.[More...]

Arianna: Ending the War on Drugs: The Moment is Now :

So the question becomes: is the Obama administration really committed to a fundamental shift in America's approach to drug policy or is this about serving up a kinder, gentler drug war?

....But the cost of the drug war -- both human and financial -- is far too high to allow politics to dictate the administration's actions. Indeed, with all the budget cutting going on, how can anyone justify spending tens of billions of dollars a year on an unwinnable war against our own people?

[More...]

The new Drug Czar, Gil Kerlikowske, in an interview, suggests the war on drugs may be facing changes -- or is it just an image lift?

The Obama administration's new drug czar says he wants to banish the idea that the U.S. is fighting "a war on drugs," a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use.

In his first interview since being confirmed to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske said Wednesday the bellicose analogy was a barrier to dealing with the nation's drug issues.

There's some cause for hope: [More...]

Fingerprint analysis is often thought to be a foolproof science -- an opinion Brandon Mayfield doesn't share. Mayfield, you may recall, was detained after the FBI mistakenly determined that his fingerprints were found on a bag linked to the bombing of a train in Madrid.

Research conducted by British psychologist Itiel Dror explains how the power of suggestion can taint the supposedly "foolproof" science of fingerprint identification.

[more ...]

The recession and its impact on state tax revenues and budgeting may be the excuse that politicians need to shift their public positions from "just say no" to "just tax the smokers." California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week called for "a large-scale study" to assess the potential impact of legalizing and taxing the recreational use of marijuana in the state.

“I think it’s time for a debate,” he said. “I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues; I’m always for an open debate on it. And I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs. What effect did it have on those countries?”

A rational political debate is long overdue. The public is much more accepting of the medical and recreational use of marijuana than the legislators who represent them. Most legislators (particularly those who have served several terms) are stuck in the 1980's mindset that nobody ever won an election by being soft on crime. Whatever merit that assumption about voter attitudes retains as to violent and property crimes, it does not reflect the growing public acceptance (or at least tolerance) of recreational marijuana use. [more ...]

Looks like the medical pot raids under Obama and AG Eric Holder are continuing. The latest victim is the Green Cross in Bakersfield. It was raided yesterday as a search warrant was executed and there are reports of three arrests.