Friday, October 01, 2004

Another friend... Thanks to Libby at Last One Speaks for a link to this site. Like all the blogs I mentioned in my earlier post today, Libby's blog is always full of new information and interesting commentary. Check them all out on a regular basis! 2:40:23 PM | permalink | comment [] Decrim in context, part 2 As noted in the previous post, cannabis decriminalization could have saved a life last week. But, it won't have the slightest impact on the black market for drugs that fuels crime in other ways. The Chicago Sun-Times reports today that drug dealers are laundering their profits through real estate transactions in the city: Gang leaders devised a scheme to launder $70 million in drug money by filing more than 100 fraudulent mortgage applications, Chicago Police Supt. Phil Cline said Thursday. "We've known that the gangs are sophisticated in how they launder their money. This is the first time we've seen it at this scale," Cline said. "We've executed search warrants and we've uncovered information that the gangs are using real estate deals and mortgage fraud applications to launder their drug proceeds." The Mayor and the Chief of Police say they'll deal with the problem aggressively. Well, they could focus the aggression of the whole police force on the issue and it still wouldn't go away. Decriminalization of marijuana is unlikely to have much of an effect on the situation. It leaves black market intact. The Mayor could kill this problem, and bring in a lot more revenue than decrim ever will, by setting up a regulatory system. 9:28:00 AM | permalink | comment [] Decrim in context, part 1 Some argue that marijuana decrimization is a minor reform that won't change the face of the drug war all that much. And perhaps that's true, but it could have saved a life recently. Drug WarRant today looks at a shocking tragedy in which a quadripeligic died in jail. He was there because of his first marijuana offense, according to the Washington Post: By the standards of D.C. Superior Court, the 10-day sentence rendered by Judge Judith E. Retchin was unusually punitive for a first-time offender such as Magbie. Along with his defense attorney, Boniface Cobbina, a pre-sentence report had recommended probation, and the U.S. attorney's office had not objected. There are lots of issues here, including the jail's ability to deal with a handicapped inmate, but a standard line from drug warriors is that first time marijuana possession rarely results in incarceration. Rare or not, the results can be devastating. 9:15:48 AM | permalink | comment [] It really is like a community... This blogosphere thing is pretty neat. Decrimwatch has only be up for a few days, but our friends are already helping to get the word out. Many thanks to Baylen at D'Alliance, Pete at Drug WarRant, and Jim at Vice-Squad for mentioning and linking Decrimwatch their sites. I've been a fan of all the sites for some time, and if you check them out, you'll probably like them too (if you don't already). Also, I don't understand the language, but thanks to Cannabiskultur for the link as well. 8:53:42 AM | permalink | comment []

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