Cocaine

Spending cuts imposed by sequestration are devastating efforts to block the flow of cocaine into the US, the director of the Joint Interagency Task Force told the Defense Writers Group in Washington Wednesday. Some 38 metric tons of cocaine that otherwise would have been interdicted will make it to US shores, claimed Coast Guard Rear Admiral Charles Michel.

Some, including the analysts who wrote a major report on drug policy for the Organization of American States (OAS) last week, wonder if it even matters.

[image:1 align:left caption:true]Three South American nations -- Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru -- produce the world's coca and cocaine supply, creating about 1,200 metric tons a year of the marching powder. About 500 tons of that are estimated to head for the US.

Michel said the joint command interdicted or disrupted about a third of cocaine shipments to the US last year, but that he expected that figure to drop to between 20% and 25% this year. Both figures are unusually high; the heuristic is that interdiction normally accounts for about 10% of drug trafficking.

"It breaks my heart to see multi-metric-ton cocaine shipments go by that we know are there and we don't have a ship to target it," Michel said. "Once it gets on land, it becomes almost impossible to police up."

Michel blamed not only sequestration, but also a history of declining support within the Defense Department. The task force depends on the US Southern Command for support, and even though that has "always been an economy-of-force theater," more ships and aircraft were devoted to the mission in the past.

"With sequestration, as well as other Department of Defense cuts, those resources become scarcer," he said. At his interagency group based in Key West, Fla., resources have been on a "multi-, multiyear downward trend," Michel said,"particularly for aircraft and vessels. There is more intelligence out there on the movement of cocaine than there are surface vessels to interdict this product," Michel said.

The task force covers an areas 12 times the size of the continental US, but only has a handful of assets, Michel complained.

"Right now… on any given day, I’d estimate that for US capital ships I have about three or four" and a like number of major aircraft assets such as P-3 Orions, he said. "Go back 20 years and we would have multiple times the number of ships and aircraft. It is difficult to resource this mission set, and sequestration has been devastating to it," he said.

Not everyone sees interdiction as a panacea. In last week's OAS report, The Drug Problem in the Americas, while analysts noted that interdiction successfully stopped some drugs from making it to consumer markets, producer countries were more likely to want to use their limited resources elsewhere. They also scoffed at the resort to interdiction in general.

"Interdiction is a joke. At most it will net you 5% of the drug flows, and this is seen by the traffickers as just a cost of doing business," they say in an unattributed quote include in the scenarios section of the report. "They will find another route. It's like just stopping up one mouse hole -- there are not enough resources to stop all routes. "

Business Day, 22 May 2013 - IN THE "war on drugs", drugs seem to be winning. As the approach to global drug policy is characterised by prohibition, to many it seems obvious that the only way forward is to substitute it with policies sometimes referred to as "legalisation" combined with "public health". If legalisation was a "magic bullet", it would have been used years ago. A more nuanced and evidence-based approach is required. This has now been provided by the Organisation for American States in a study that explores a range of drug policy options for the hemisphere.

Chronicle Herald, 21 May 2013 - There are some columnists, correspondents and commentators I call RAVEs - reporters against virtually everything - who believe that Canada's engagement in international operations is a waste of tax dollars. Operations such as the RCN's participation in the 28-nation Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), they say, are unnecessary and expensive. Canada's current contribution to the CMF, named Operation Artemis, is Halifax-based frigate HMCS Toronto. Since March 29, the ship has made three major drug busts, totalling almost 1,000 kilograms of heroin, in an area of the world internationally recognized as one where drug revenues contribute to terrorism.

Chicago Tribune, 21 May 2013 - Ex-Chicago cop given 18 years in prison for helping kidnap, rob drug dealers With prosecutors seeking a 30-year prison term for him, former veteran Chicago narcotics cop Glenn Lewellen closed his eyes tightly and held his palms together in prayer Monday as the judge was about to announce his sentence on federal drug conspiracy charges.

Sunshine Coast Daily, 21 May 2013 - COCAINE in toys and meth in curry paste are among the alarming discoveries Australian authorities are making as they battle record numbers of drug traffickers, a government crime report has revealed. In 2011-2012, more than 76,000 busts and 93,000 arrests took drug-related crime to its highest level in more than a decade.

Chicago Tribune, 21 May 2013 - With prosecutors seeking a 30-year prison term for him, former veteran Chicago narcotics cop Glenn Lewellen closed his eyes tightly and held his palms together in prayer Monday as the judge was about to announce his sentence on federal drug conspiracy charges. A smile cracked his lips as Lewellen heard his sentence: 18 years in federal prison. Moments later, as he was led away by deputy marshals, he turned and gave a thumbs-up to family members who had packed the courtroom.

Northern Star, 20 May 2013 - OPINION: Is this the start of the legalisation of cannabis in Australia? Last week, a parliamentary inquiry in New South Wales recommended the government in that state change the law to allow the legal use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

The Observer, 19 May 2013 - You wouldn't know it from listening to UK officials but a game-changing debate is taking place in the Americas about the war on drugs. There is a growing belief that the current punitive-based approach has failed. It has visited a savage level of violence on Latin America as narco cartels, moving cocaine and cannabis into the US, have butchered and bribed their way through the continent. The killing and corrupting of public officials judges, police, politicians threatened, and still threatens, to demolish the institutions of those states. Those countries are now asking uncomfortable questions of the US and Europe, such as, why do we suffer so much in trying to prevent cocaine and cannabis leaving our countries in order to reach those markets where they are mostly consumed? There is near-unanimous agreement in Latin America that the war on drugs has failed.

New York Times, 18 May 2013 - MEXICO CITY - A comprehensive report on drug policy in the Americas released Friday by a consortium of nations suggests that the legalization of marijuana, but not other illicit drugs, be considered among a range of ideas to reassess how the drug war is carried out. The report, released by the Organization of American States walked a careful line in not recommending any single approach to the drug problem and encouraging "flexibility."

The Australian, 18 May 2013 - The Benefits Are Clear; a Ban on Marijuana for Medicinal Purposes Cannot Be Supported MEDICINAL use of cannabis should be permitted in Australia. In 2013, we should not still be merely discussing this possibility. On Wednesday, a NSW parliamentary committee, chaired by Nationals MP Sarah Mitchell, unanimously recommended that medicinal cannabis be permitted for some people with certain terminal conditions.

Cranbrook Daily Townsman, 17 May 2013 - Teenagers in the East Kootenay are using drugs less often in 2013 than they were eight years ago, according to a survey just released. The East Kootenay Addictions Services Society surveyed 3,500 students in Grades 7 through 12 in schools from Cranbrook to Golden and from Creston to Elkford.

Washington Post, 16 May 2013 - Barry, Wells Want to Help Those Caught With Small Amounts Some D.C. Council members are crafting legislation to lessen the penalties for marijuana possession, hoping to settle the matter before outside groups petition the issue onto the ballot.

Daily Review, 11 May 2013 - (MCT) BOGOTA, Colombia - Marijuana has long been accused of being a gateway to deadlier vices. But could cannabis be a swinging door that might also lead people away from hard drugs? That's what this capital city is trying to find out. In coming weeks, Bogota is embarking on a controversial public health project where it will begin supplying marijuana to 300 addicts of bazuco - a cheap cocaine derivative that generates cracklike highs and is as addictive as heroin.

Orlando Sentinel, 10 May 2013 - Today's moderator America's war on drugs is being fought on myriad fronts. One of the most controversial battlefields involves the schoolhouse. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Pottawatomie County v. Earls, expanded drug testing in public schools. The ruling allowed public schools not only to test athletes, but all middle- and high-schoolers involved in competitive extracurricular activities.

Seattle Times, 09 May 2013 - IN their meeting last week, President Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto had a chance to consider marijuana legalization. Millions of Americans are ready for this, at least as an option for the states. Mexicans have suffered 60,000 drug-related murders in the past seven years and should be open to such a policy. But Obama and Pena Nieto made no move to consider it.

Miami Herald, 07 May 2013 - BOGOTA, Colombia -- Marijuana has long been accused of being a gateway to deadlier vices. But could cannabis be a swinging door that might also lead people away from hard drugs? That's what this capital city is trying to find out. In coming weeks, Bogota is embarking on a controversial public health project where it will begin supplying marijuana to 300 addicts of bazuco - a cheap cocaine derivative that generates crack-like highs and is as addictive as heroin.

The Sonoma Index-Tribune, 07 May 2013 - Statistics rarely reveal the entire truth about anything, and numbers can be compiled and interpreted to confirm different conclusions from the same set of facts. But that caveat notwithstanding, virtually any statistical analysis of the war on drugs leads to an inescapable conclusion: It has been a hopeless failure.

The Desert Dispatch, 07 May 2013 - California Supreme Court Rules Cities and Counties Can Use Zoning to Ban Pot Shops The state Supreme Court decisively ruled Monday that cities and counties have the right to ban medical marijuana dispensaries from operating within their territory, but leading activists say their fight for easy access is not over.

The Observer, 06 May 2013 - A groundbreaking 'consumption room' keeps drugs off the streets, with staff on hand to help victims. The next may open in Brighton 'We can't change people. People can change themselves, and we can be there when they want to' Ivan Christensen, drug worker

The Trentonian, 06 May 2013 - Eighteen states, including New Jersey, plus Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for medical use. Two states, Washington and Colorado, have legalized it for recreational use - although "weed" remains illegal under federal law. Meanwhile, across the land, advocates such as New Jersey's "Weedman" advocate for coast-to-coast legalization. Advocates say marijuana's not addictive and studies generally have concluded it's not a "gateway drug" to harder stuff like heroin.