The Mix Is the Message V: Drug War Explosions

There is nothing more crazymaking in American society than the crashing crosscurrents of the drug war. On the one hand there is a population that has gone on record numerous times supporting decriminalization of pot and legal use of medical marijuana. On the other hand there is a rabid federal drug apparatus that clashes with local law enforcement and ignores public opinion expressed in statewide votes. Instead we are getting aggressive raids and punitive prosecutions. Between the clashing of these two world views, there is no middle ground.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court, led by Clarence Thomas, has extended the power of school districts to test and search students for drugs, underscoring once again, as Herman Schwartz writes in the Nation: "that for the Supreme Court, the rights of young people are shredded when they walk through the schoolhouse gates."

The latest crushing blow dealt by the Feds came on July 12 in Sacramento, Calif., where Bryan James Epis, a 35-year-old electrical engineer, was convicted for conspiracy and manufacturing of pot. Epis says he smokes pot for his own chronic pain and was cultivating it for other sick patients. He faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years.
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