California lawmakers are finally considering legislation to regulate medical marijuana, which has been legal under state law for nearly two decades. Among the proposals is a bill calling for an excise tax on marijuana that could raise nearly $60 million in revenue each year. As a fiscal conservative and opponent of recreational marijuana, I'm an unlikely voice in the cannabis tax policy debate. Yet after speaking with parties on all sides of the issue, I'm convinced an excise tax on medical marijuana could make sense, and if done correctly, would help ensure California taxpayers are treated fairly. [continues 419 words]
SACRAMENTO - President Franklin D. Roosevelt cheered the end of Prohibition in 1933 with these famous words: "What America needs now is a drink." Roosevelt and other federal officials had been expecting the demise of America's widely panned policy of banning the sale, transportation, production and importation of booze. As various states put an end to the prohibition of marijuana, I've heard of no politicians extolling Americans to enjoy a good "toke" - but many are nevertheless plotting the regulatory and tax strategies for a post-legalization world. To many California officials, the issue is not whether to legalize recreational uses in a state that 19 years ago approved medical marijuana. It's about when change will happen and what the world is going to look like after it does. [continues 2760 words]
Federal Penalties Reduced by Up to Five Years, Even for Those Already in Prison It was nearly 20 years ago that Francisco Mejia's career as a customs and border officer came to an inglorious end, when he was sentenced to 24 years in prison for aiding in the smuggling of tons of cocaine through the Calexico border crossing. After he was sentenced in 1997, he pretty much vanished into the federal prison system, remembered only as an early example of the corruption that still plagues border law enforcement agencies. [continues 528 words]
CHICAGO - Don Winslow's epic new novel, "The Cartel," about Mexican drug lord Adan Barrera's desperate moves to stay on top of a quickly changing political and competitive landscape, couldn't have been released at a better time. The book, which begins with a Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-esque prison break, came out mere weeks before the real Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa cartel, disappeared from a Mexican prison cell through a tunnel. This wasn't solely coincidental - "The Cartel," along with Winslow's 2005 novel "The Power of the Dog," is well researched and chronicles the recent history of the Mexican drug cartels from 1975 to 2004. [continues 636 words]
In expectation of legalization, state officials are charting the regulatory and tax framework for a coming marijuana boom President Franklin D. Roosevelt cheered the end of Prohibition in 1933 with these famous words: "What America needs now is a drink." Roosevelt and other federal officials had been expecting the demise of America's widely panned policy of banning the sale, transportation, production and importation of booze. As various states put an end to the prohibition of marijuana, I've heard of no politicians extolling Americans to enjoy a good "toke" - but many are nevertheless plotting the regulatory and tax strategies for a post-legalization world. To many California officials, the issue is not whether to legalize recreational uses in a state that 19 years ago approved medical marijuana. It's about when change will happen and what the world is going to look like after it does. [continues 2441 words]
WASHINGTON - Novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," Don Winslow was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Mexico's top drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has twice escaped from a maximum-security prison. Guzman reportedly escaped through a five-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. [continues 647 words]
A Drug Kingpin's Escape Builds to an Epic Showdown Talk about timing. Don Winslow's new novel, The Cartel, which fictionally chronicles the past decade of Mexico's brutal drug-lord wars, echoes the stunning, headline grabbing jail break from a maximum-security prison by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the legendary billionaire drug kingpin. Want to know why El Chapo probably won't be captured anytime soon? Never mind the evening news: Truth is in fiction. Read this disturbing and, yes, addictive epic tale instead. Within the first 70 of its 600-plus vivid pages, Adan Barrera, the fascinating, suave, drug-cartel patron - loosely based on El Chapo - escapes from his country's most secure prison to rebuild his Sinaloan drug-trafficking empire. [continues 471 words]
A Drug Kingpin's Escape Builds to an Epic Showdown Talk about timing. Don Winslow's new novel, The Cartel, which fictionally chronicles the past decade of Mexico's brutal drug-lord wars, echoes the stunning, headline-grabbing jail break from a maximum-security prison by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the legendary billionaire drug kingpin. Want to know why El Chapo probably won't be captured anytime soon? Never mind the evening news: Truth is in fiction. Read this disturbing and, yes, addictive epic tale instead. Within the first 70 of its 600-plus vivid pages, Adan Barrera, the fascinating, suave, drug-cartel patron - loosely based on El Chapo - escapes from his country's most secure prison to rebuild his Sinaloan drug-trafficking empire. [continues 468 words]
Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman reportedly escaped through a five-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. Fourteen years ago, Guzman escaped from another "maximum security" prison simply by hiding in a laundry cart. With exquisite understatement, The Wall Street Journal reports that his recent escape raised "new concerns about corruption in Mexican law enforcement." [continues 612 words]
It Was the Largest Dismissal in One Day in City History. A Philadelphia judge on Friday reversed 158 narcotics convictions tainted by allegations of police corruption - the largest such dismissal in one day in city history. The rulings by Common Pleas Court President Judge Sheila Woods-Skipper were the latest fallout from the federal prosecution of seven police narcotics officers. The officers - Thomas Liciardello, Brian Reynolds, Michael Spicer, Perry Betts, Linwood Norman, and John Speiser - were acquitted of all charges at a federal trial in May. [continues 501 words]
Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman reportedly escaped through a five-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. [continues 649 words]
Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman reportedly escaped through a 5-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow dryly said he thinks Guzman actually might have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. [continues 595 words]
WASHINGTON - Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman reportedly escaped through a 5-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. Fourteen years ago, Guzman escaped from another "maximum security" prison simply by hiding in a laundry cart. With exquisite understatement, The Wall Street Journal reports that his recent escape raised "new concerns about corruption in Mexican law enforcement." [continues 610 words]
WASHINGTON - Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman reportedly escaped through a 5-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. Fourteen years ago, Guzman escaped from another "maximum security" prison simply by hiding in a laundry cart. With exquisite understatement, The Wall Street Journal reports that his recent escape raised "new concerns about corruption in Mexican law enforcement." [continues 605 words]
WASHINGTON - Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman reportedly escaped through a 5-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. Fourteen years ago, Guzman escaped from another "maximum security" prison simply by hiding in a laundry cart. With exquisite understatement, the Wall Street Journal reports that his recent escape raised "new concerns about corruption in Mexican law enforcement." [continues 456 words]
Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman reportedly escaped through a five-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. Fourteen years ago, Guzman escaped from another "maximum security" prison simply by hiding in a laundry cart. With exquisite understatement, The Wall Street Journal reports that his recent escape raised "new concerns about corruption in Mexican law enforcement." [continues 610 words]
Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum-security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman reportedly disappeared through a tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. [continues 647 words]
Yee Indictment, PG&E Charges Among Key Cases U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag is stepping down as the Bay Area's top federal law enforcement official, ending a five-year tenure that has included the prosecution of state Sen. Leland Yee and cases against corporate powers such as FedEx and PG&E. Haag announced the decision at a meeting with staff on Wednesday after notifying U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch earlier in the week. Haag's resignation takes effect on Sept. 1. [continues 777 words]
A recent example of the logical abandon of today's backers of legal marijuana is the plan to defund the Drug Enforcement Administration's program to eradicate illegal marijuana (DEA/CESP), an $18 million program that eliminates millions of plants a year and arrests thousands of criminals, many of whom were brought here to labor for Mexican drug cartels controlling the marijuana black market. Yet Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) wants to end the effort as a "ridiculous waste" of federal resources, when multiple states "have already legalized marijuana," use of which should "no longer be a federal crime." Clearly, the congressman has not thought this through. He is, in fact, arguing against his own legal marijuana case. [continues 558 words]
Drug Enforcement Administration informants - some paid, others working to stay out of jail - can sell large quantities of drugs without much supervision, and sometimes set up busts for years while simultaneously collecting federal workers' compensation, according to a scathing report issued Tuesday by the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General. The report, a year in the making, described one informant who was injured in 1997, and from then on got $500 a week in federal workers' compensation, even while continuing to serve as a paid source. Inspectors "estimate that between 1997 and 2012, the DEA paid this individual a total of $ 2,186,813," including $353,000 in workers' compensation, a $1 million award for a bust, plus other payments and housing expense checks, the inspectors wrote. [continues 740 words]
