Masonic Frat Member for U.S. Drug Czar?

http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/2008/11/17.html#a3122

Monday, November 17, 2008

More drug czar speculation...

Keep in mind that I really think this is really too early to be picking drug czars, but people can't help speculating. The latest comes from Ryan Grim at the Politico.

Rep. Jim Ramstad's name is bouncing around as a possible "drug czar" -- the name given the head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Ramstad, a Minnesota Republican, is in recovery himself and has been a longtime proponent of treatment for drug abuse.

Along with Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), he has been an advocate for mental health parity -- the push to treat mental illness with the same effort as physical illness. Ramstad has consistently voted against medical marijuana in Congress, opposing an effort to prevent the federal government from raiding or arresting medical marijuana clubs in states where it is legal.

While certainly it could be a positive step to focus on treatment more than enforcement, as Radley says:

Fear the ex-addict who enters the public policy debate to "prevent others from making my mistakes."

http://www.phideltatheta.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=454&Itemid=1

Over the years, Phi Delta Theta members have played an integral role in the shaping of our democracy through their service in local government, state houses, the United States Congress and, yes, even the presidency. Jim Ramstad, U.S. Congressman from Minnesota, is another example of the prominent role Phi Delta Theta has within the Fraternity world.

Jim Ramstad was first elected to Congress in 1990. He is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Health Subcommittee and Oversight Subcommittee. Jim also co-chairs the Addiction Treatment and Recovery Caucus, as well as the Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus, Law Enforcement Caucus and Medical Technology Caucus.

Congressman Ramstad is the 1998 recipient of the "Fullbright Distinguished Public Service Award." Jim was also named "Legislator of the Year" in 1998 by the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Counselors, in 1999 by the National Mental Health Association and in 1997 and 2000 by the National Association of Police Organizations.

Jim Ramstad has a long history of civic and community involvement. He currently serves as a board member of Minnesota D.A.R.E. and the Lake Country Food Bank. Jim is also a member of American Legion Post 118, Minnesota Prayer Breakfast Committee, Plymouth Lions Club and the MetroNorth and Wayzata Area Chambers of Commerce.

Born in Jamestown, North Dakota, Jim is the third generation member of a small business family. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1968 (Phi Beta Kappa) and his J.D. (with Honors) from George Washington University in 1973. He was an officer in the United States National Guard from 1968 to 1974. He also worked as a private practice attorney and as a legislative aide to the Minnesota House of Representatives.

After a combined 27 years in the Minnesota Senate and U.S. Congress, Jim will be retiring from Congress to spend more time in Minnesota. Congratulations Jim!

According to his Wikipedia article, the man is a recovering alcoholic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Ramstad

Personal life

Ramstad has identified himself as a recovering alcoholic, having been sober since 1981; he is Patrick J. Kennedy's AA sponsor. Ramstad's sister, Sheryl Ramstad-Hvass, is currently a Tax Court judge in Minnesota.

On February 25, 2008 it was announced that Ramstad had been elected to the board of directors of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University ^[11]

Yet he opposes even the limited medical use of Marijuana - a far far safer substance.

Perhaps he is a fool.

But definitely he is a member of a secret society (fraternity):

http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/fraternalism/greek_pins.htm

What sort of "hope" for "change" is this supposed to represent?

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Coca, Bolivia, and 'Law' 1008

Coca, Bolivia, and Law 1008
Drug War Rant Friday, March 7, 2008
http://rcs.salon.com/rcsComments/comments?u=2762&p=3114&link=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.salon.com%2F0002762%2F2008%2F11%2F10.html%23a3114

There's a fascinating 5-part series of videos on Bolivia and coca at vbs.tv. Definitely worth watching -- I learned quite a bit about the coca leaf. I was particularly interested in Law 1008 -- a law written by an American in English controlling what Bolivians could do with their coca leaves. A law, like every drug prohibition law, that had roots in racism and lies. And a law, like every other drug prohibition law, that actually caused the conditions for developing a massive international black market.

The first three parts of the video are the most interesting, and you do have to get past the smarmy fashion disaster correspondent, but it's worth it.
Thanks to Drug War Flipside



Coca Cookies and Constitutional Dreams By Jean Friedsky
Special to The Narco News Bulletin December 2, 2005

Decriminalization and How It Could Change Life for Bolivia’s Cocaleros


Coca leaves at market.
Photo: D.R. 2004 Jeremy Bigwood

The Contradictions of Coca Eradication in Bolivia By Reed Lindsay
Narco News Authentic Journalism Scholar
February 15, 2003

The drug war in Bolivia has hit a brick wall. While the Bolivian government wiped out more than 70 percent of the nation’s coca production in the late 1990s, the U.S.-backed eradication program has ignited a firestorm of opposition from coca growers, called cocaleros, in the Chapare region of central Bolivia. A growing movement of coca growers has not only stopped the eradication program in its tracks, it has gained widespread popular support that nearly swept cocalero leader, Evo Morales, into the presidency.

Behind the failure of the U.S.-promoted eradication policy in the Chapare region is a gross misunderstanding of the use of coca leaves in Bolivia and elsewhere, say activists and experts attending the Out of the Shadows drug legalization conference in Merida, Mexico.

Coca leaves have been consumed and used for thousands of years in Bolivia for medicinal and religious purposes. Today, coca is primarily “consumed orally,” in a manner similar to chewing tobacco, but it is also used to make tea and in indigenous ceremonies.


Peruvian Vintage Wine of Coca...
According to the Sears, Roebuck and Co. Consumers' Guide (1900)

A POLITICAL DRUG WAR IN BOLIVIA By Jens Gluesing
Is Coca the New Hemp? March 28, 2006

Bolivian President Evo Morales has put a stop to the eradication of coca plantations, triggering fears in Washington of a new wave in the illegal drug trade.


Bolivian President Evo Morales wants to make coca leaves the new hemp, but critics believe his promotion of the plant used to create cocaine will just boost the illegal drug trade.

The wine, a bit on the sweet side, is supposedly a remedy against Parkinson's disease and impotence and, according to the label, it is especially suitable for "athletes and singers." In small doses, that is, because the wine is pressed from coca leaves, enhancing the effect of the alcohol. If you get drunk, you don't have to worry about how you're going to feel the next day because "coca wine doesn't cause a hangover," says Melby Paz.


A Word From Our Sponsor...
His Holiness The Pope enjoyed the invigorating properties of coca wine. Leo XIII carried a personal hipflask to fortify himself in time of need. A grateful Pope awarded a Vatican gold medal to its distinguised orginator, the Corsican-born pharmacist and businessman Angelo Mariani. Mariani had a keen eye for the benefits of celebrity-endorsement.

ANDEAN DRUG WAR UPDATE By Bill Weinberg

Dissent Against Washington's Drug War Emerges as Chaos Spreads



Bolivia and Peru defend coca use


The UN lists coca as a controlled substance like cocaine or opium
Tonnes of coca leaves grown illegally in the village of Huaculi, central Bolivia, are burnt (Dec 2007)

The UN lists coca as a controlled substance like cocaine or opium
Bolivia and Peru have defended the continued, traditional use of coca leaves after they were criticised by a UN drugs agency report.


cocaine toothache drops (1885)

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Bolivia/Morales Charges U.S. with Powder Drug Running

US DEA Complicit in Drug Trade
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/DEA_encouraged_drug_trade_says_Morales_1106.html

Agence France-Presse
Published: Thursday November 6, 2008

Morales says evidence will be presented to President Obama

Bolivian leader Evo Morales on Thursday accused the US government of encouraging drug-trafficking as he explained his decision to banish the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Morales, a staunch opponent of the Washington government, said the staff from the US agency had three months to prepare to leave the country, because "the DEA did not respect the police, or even the (Bolivian) armed forces."

"The worst thing is, it did not fight drug trafficking; It encouraged it," the Bolivian leader said, adding that he had "quite a bit of evidence" backing up his charges.

Presidential Minister Juan Ramon Quintana presented a series of documents and press clippings at a news conference, which he described as "object data" that had influenced Morales' decision to suspend DEA activities last week.

Quintana said Morales was ready to present the evidence to incoming US president Barack Obama "to prove the illegality, abuse and arrogance of the DEA in Bolivia."

Throughout the 1990s, the DEA in Bolivia "bribed police officers, violated human rights, covered up murders, destroyed bridges and roads," said Quintana.

Morales earlier Thursday said that after a 1986 operation in Huanchaca National Park, it was determined that the largest cocaine processing plant "was under DEA protection."

He also charged that the DEA had investigated political and union leaders opposed to neoliberal economic policies, which he said amounted to political persecution.

On Wednesday, he had accused the DEA of shooting and killing Bolivians during their anti-drug operations, including members of the coca farmers' movement.

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, has served as the leader of the Bolivian coca-growers union. The coca plant, from which cocaine is derived, has many uses in traditional Andean culture.

The Bolivian leader announced last Saturday he was suspending the work of the DEA in the impoverished Andean nation, and accused it of having encouraged political unrest that killed 19 people in September.

"From today all the activities of the US DEA are suspended indefinitely," the Bolivian leader had said in the coca-growing region of Chimore, in the central province of Chapare, where he was evaluating efforts to combat drug trafficking.

The DEA has denied Morales' accusations.

US President George W. Bush, in a finding released in September, added Bolivia to a list of countries that have "failed demonstrably" in anti-drugs cooperation.

Morales could add that the U.S. has killed 10s of millions world wide with their market protection criminal mercantilism of adulterated-misbranded Tobacco cigarettes.

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Coca Issue Ignored By 2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign

Criminal mercantilism/market perversion angle ignored.


The 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign offers voters 3 better known choices, in addition to the 'mainstrean' 2 headed political party[s] of the 'Democrat' and 'Republican'; these are the:

Libertarian Party: Bob Barr/Wayne Root

Green Party: Cynthia McKinney/ Rosa Clemente

Constitution Party: Chuck Baldwin/ Darrell Castle


Libertarian Party:

http://www.lp.org/platform

1.0 Personal Liberty

Individuals should be free to make choices for themselves and to accept responsibility for the consequences of the choices they make. No individual, group, or government may initiate force against any other individual, group, or government. Our support of an individual's right to make choices in life does not mean that we necessarily approve or disapprove of those choices.

http://www.lp.org/news/press-releases/bob-barr-praises-federal-court-ruling-upholding-right-of-states-to-allow-medical

Press Release

For Immediate Release
Sep 02, 2008

Bob Barr Praises Federal Court Ruling Upholding Right of States to Allow Medical Use of Marijuana

“The principle of federalism seemed dead three years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the federal government to run roughshod over state laws permitting the medical use of marijuana,” says Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee.

Barr says the tide may be turning with the recent decision by U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel, who refused to dismiss a case by city and state officials against the federal government for raiding a medical marijuana group in San Cruz, California. “Keeping the case alive was significant enough,” notes Barr. “But Judge Fogel suggested that the Bush administration might have violated the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution in adopting a policy intended to effectively void California’s medical marijuana law."

As Judge Fogel explained, a trial must proceed on whether the federal government attempted to make ‘California’s medical marijuana laws impossible to implement and thereby forcing California and its political subdivisions to recriminalize medical marijuana.’ In short, says Barr, the courts may end up deciding that while the federal government may implement a policy that runs contrary to state rules in an area of traditional state authority, namely the criminal law, Washington may not work to overturn state law.

“After spending billions of dollars and arresting millions of people, we seem no closer to eliminating illicit drug use than we were at the start,” Barr says. “But we certainly have lost a lot of our freedom. While we might disagree about the best approach to problem drug use, we should be willing to accept the compassionate use of marijuana by those who are sick and dying. Certainly states have authority under the Constitution to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana as medicine. The federal government has no constitutional authority to interfere,” insists Barr.

Barr says that neither Sen. Barack Obama nor Sen. John McCain is willing to consider real change to current policy.

“Sen. Obama says the federal government shouldn’t interfere with state policy, but he says he doesn’t want to waste his political capital on the issue," Barr explains. "Sen. McCain was for respecting state authority before he was against it. Neither the Democratic nor the Republican presidential candidate is willing to put constitutional principle—or the lives of those who are suffering from AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and more—before federal power."

Barr says as president, he would "direct the DEA to initiate, for the first time, a truly open and objective scientific evaluation of the medical potential of marijuana." Moreover, Barr says he would ensure that all federal officials, including those in the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Agency, respect the decisions of states that choose to allow the medical use of marijuana. Finally, Barr would undertake a comprehensive review of federal crimes, which have expanded far beyond the few narrow cases foreseen by the nation’s Founders.

"What the federal government does, it should do well, but it attempts to do far too much today," Barr says. "We must never forget that we are supposed to be living in a free society."

Green Party:

http://www.gp.org/platform/2004/socjustice.html#1001998

28. We call for decriminalization of victimless crimes. For example, the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

29. We call for legalization of industrial hemp and all its many uses.

30. We call for an end to the "war on drugs." We support expanded drug counseling and treatment.

Constitution Party:

http://www.constitutionparty.com/party_platform.php

Drug Abuse

The 10th Amendment states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

The 4th Amendment states: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

The Constitution Party will uphold the right of states and localities to restrict access to drugs and to enforce such restrictions. We support legislation to stop the flow of illegal drugs into these United States from foreign sources. As a matter of self-defense, retaliatory policies including embargoes, sanctions, and tariffs, should be considered.

At the same time, we will take care to prevent violations of the Constitutional and civil rights of American citizens. Searches without probable cause and seizures without due process must be prohibited, and the presumption of innocence must be preserved.

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NY Times OK With Criminal Mercantilsm Against Bolivian Coca

Disgraceful editorial rubber stamp approval of cigarette racketeering against infinitely safer Coca

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/opinion/07tue3.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

We understand why the Bush administration and Congress are fed up with Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales. Bolivia has become markedly less cooperative with American counternarcotics efforts, as evidenced by a large increase in coca cultivation. [earth to the New York Times: Coca is not a 'narcotic', but the deceived are certainly dopes- particularly with the criminal mercantilism for protecting the market in adulterated misbranded cigarettes] And Mr. Morales regularly stokes anti-Yankee sentiment to undercut his opposition and divert attention from his government’s poor performance. Last month, Mr. Morales expelled the American ambassador, Philip Goldberg. [Why not instead arrest Mr. Goldberg for working for criminal mercantilsim against Coca and for subverting the health of Bolivians with adulterated, misbranded US cigarettes?]

Congress was so annoyed that when it voted to extend Andean trade preferences last week, it limited tariff-free benefits for Bolivia and Ecuador (which is expelling the American military from the airbase in the coastal city of Manta) to six months, with the possibility of a six-month extension. The White House, meanwhile, is proposing to suspend Bolivia’s trade benefits altogether. That is self-defeating. It would undermine the anti-drug strategy — which seeks to wean poor farmers from the coca trade by opening the American market to other products — and play right into Mr. Morales’s hands.

Mr. Morales doesn’t tire of saying Bolivia will neither “retreat nor submit” to Washington’s will, and he has been talking up relations with Iran and Venezuela. After Bolivia was classified as uncooperative with American anti-drug efforts last month, the government in La Paz said it would seek help — and military helicopters — from Russia instead. Last week, it rejected an American request to fly an anti-drug plane over Bolivian territory.

Generally, it’s a bad idea to tie foreign aid programs that are in the American interest to the behavior of foreign governments. “Decertifying” unhelpful countries in the drug wars always seemed particularly wrongheaded, a surefire way to anger allies and undermine support for Washington’s objectives in Latin America.

The Bush administration seemed to understand this logic. When it blacklisted Bolivia last month, it also waived potential sanctions against the country. Unfortunately, the justified anger at the expulsion of Mr. Goldberg seems to be clouding that judgment. The administration should reconsider.

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US DEA Administrator Tandy OK with Torture?!

From Randy Balko at Reason:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/128893.html

(excerpts)

Sandalio “Sandy” Gonzalez recently retired after a 32-year career in law enforcement, 27 as an agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), at one point serving as its head of operations in South America.

Three years ago, Gonzalez’s career came to an abrupt end after he blew the whistle in a horrifying case now known as the “House of Death,” in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stand accused of looking the other way while one of their drug informants participated in torturing and murdering at least a dozen people in the border town of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico....

...

Rather than give up a drug operation (and apparently an unrelated cigarette smuggling operation), Gonzalez learned that federal agents had allowed a paid government informant to participate in a dozen brutal murders—all but the first of which could have been prevented.

When Gonzalez sensed that internal investigations of the case were headed toward a cover-up, he fired off a letter to his counterpart at ICE demanding he take responsibility. Gonzalez’s letter reached the highest levels of the Justice Department, including the desk of DEA Administrator Karen Tandy.

But instead of praising Gonzalez’s efforts to expose this egregious mishandling of a paid government informant, Tandy and other government officials reprimanded him for creating a record of ICE’s transgressions. Tandy and U.S. Attorney Sutton called Gonzalez “hysterical,” warning him not to talk to the media. They eventually forced him into an early retirement in 2005.

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GW Bush Administration Shielding Drug Pushers

Suing A Drug Company

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/opinion/lweb26drug.html?ref=opinion

To the Editor:

Re “Drug Label, Maimed Patient and Crucial Test for Justices” (front page, Sept. 19):

The real argument about F.D.A. pre-emption is not whether the Food and Drug Administration sets minimal or optimal standards. Rather, the issue turns on versions of the Watergate questions: What did a company know? When did it know it?

What did it do?

While these questions are tangential in Wyeth v. Levine, they are at the core of litigation involving drugs like Vioxx, Baycol, fen-phen and others. Did the F.D.A. have the information required to make reasonable assessments? Did companies allow the F.D.A. to do so?

The Levine case is an outlier. Hard as it is to believe, the Bush F.D.A. and the Department of Justice have asserted that drug companies should be shielded from civil liability even if F.D.A. approval is based on deliberately faked or hidden data. That is, even if approval is obtained through felony fraud.

That is the core issue regarding F.D.A. pre-emption. The rest is mostly distraction.

Henry Greenspan
Ann Arbor, Mich., Sept. 19, 2008

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