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21US TX: Horse Sense at Border Pays OffMon, 28 Nov 2011
Source:USA Today (US) Author:Jervis, Rick Area:Texas Lines:Excerpt Added:11/29/2011

HIDALGO, Texas - Clyde knows a thing or two about men hiding.

If there's someone squatting in the bush near the Rio Grande, the 5-year-old gelding will prick up his ears, give a snort and stop in his tracks, despite gentle rib kicks from his rider.

If people make a run for the river, he'll crash through brush and branches after them. Or he could be quiet as a breath and walk right up to a circle of unsuspecting smugglers.

[continues 786 words]

22 US TX: PUB LTE: Going Further On Drug IssueFri, 25 Nov 2011
Source:Austin American-Statesman (TX) Author:Wills, Suzanne Area:Texas Lines:42 Added:11/26/2011

Re: Nov. 19 Arnold Garcia column, "Effects of Mexican drug war lasting, far-reaching."

Garcia's description of the bleak situation caused by criminal violence in Mexico is accurate as far as he goes. He fails to name the reason for the situation - global drug prohibition - or the solution - replace that policy with drug regulation and destroy the cartels' monopoly.

A number of Latin American leaders are not so reticent. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox is outspoken in calling for legalization and regulation of all drugs.

[continues 78 words]

23 US TX: Laredo Businessman's Conviction A Window Into DrugSun, 13 Nov 2011
Source:Monitor, The (McAllen, TX) Author:Aguilar, Julian Area:Texas Lines:192 Added:11/15/2011

The high walls of Alexander Estates, an affluent development nestled near this border city's country club and golf course, were supposed to keep the narcotics world at bay. But when federal agents raided the stately home of a downtown perfume salesman in January, it reinforced a notion that is feared by Texas leaders: The drug war spillover from Mexico is much broader than shootouts and kidnappings -- it is cloaked in the seemingly routine business transactions of the border economy.

Neighbors stood, mouths agape, as federal agents seized loads of cash from the home of Vikram Datta, a polite family man who acquaintances said was so concerned with the quality of Laredo schools that he moved his teenage daughters back to their native New York. Federal agents leveled an accusation that shocked other residents: that Datta, 51, was a major player in the Black Market Peso Exchange, a decades-old system of laundering drug money and reinvesting it back into the economy.

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24US TX: Editorial: 'Money Talks' Is No Way To Deter DrugThu, 27 Oct 2011
Source:Dallas Morning News (TX)          Area:Texas Lines:Excerpt Added:10/30/2011

In recent years, small-town police and prosecutors along smuggling corridors in Texas have had a field day seizing the assets of motorists accused of drug-related offenses. We don't quibble with vigorous law enforcement - except when the pursuit of money overtakes justice as the main goal.

In Shelby County and the town of Tenaha, southeast of Tyler, seizure practices have crossed way over the line. Now a federal investigation could land District Attorney Lynda Kaye Russell and other officials in court to answer for questionable practices that had the effect of encouraging drug traffickers while striking fear into the law-abiding public.

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25 US TX: PUB LTE: Change Drug War EconomicsWed, 26 Oct 2011
Source:Dallas Morning News (TX) Author:Milward, Bryan Area:Texas Lines:37 Added:10/28/2011

Re: "Mexico: Failed State?" Sunday Letters.

Almost all of Sunday's letters to the editor about the Mexican drug war blamed either U.S. drug consumers or Mexican institutions without posing a reasonable solution. The fact of the matter is that only a permanent altering of the economics of the drug trade can lead to an opening for Mexico to reform itself.

Taking marijuana out of the black market, regulating it and taxing it similar to alcohol would be a big blow to the cartels. Experts have said that 50 percent to 70 percent of the cartels' funding comes from marijuana, and Anthony Coulson, a former DEA special agent and supporter of the war on drugs, stated that if the U.S. were to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana, it would cause the cartels' infrastructure for trafficking hard drugs to collapse.

In short, with 50 percent of Americans now in support of legalization, it's time for us to put the cartels out of business permanently.

Bryan Milward

Richardson

[end]

26 US TX: Customs Helicopter Crashes In South TexasTue, 04 Oct 2011
Source:Seattle Times (WA)          Area:Texas Lines:52 Added:10/09/2011

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Helicopter Crashed Tuesday Near the Mexican Border While Supporting the Chase of a Pickup Truck Carrying Marijuana in South Texas, Officials Said.

A pilot and observer were hospitalized for observation, but there were no serious injuries, CBP spokeswoman Gina Gray said.

The crash occurred in a rural area south of San Juan and Alamo surrounded by farm fields, though the crash site appeared to be a small landfill. Border Patrol and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers restricted access to the site, but the white belly of the customs helicopter could be seen as it rested on its side in the distance.

[continues 244 words]

27 US TX: PUB LTE: Fighting With Fact-ChecksTue, 04 Oct 2011
Source:Dallas Morning News (TX) Author:Wills, Suzanne Area:Texas Lines:29 Added:10/05/2011

Re: "A Border War of Words - Flawed study on narco-violence a disservice," Sunday Editorials.

Thank you for pointing out the gross errors and exaggerations in the Texas Department of Agriculture's report on violence along the Texas/Mexico border.

Baseless, alarmist propaganda got us into the drug war. Calm, unbiased, accurate information is essential if we are to get out.

Suzanne Wills

Drug Policy Forum of Texas

Dallas

[end]

28 US TX: Crime Down, Except For MurderFri, 23 Sep 2011
Source:Austin Chronicle (TX) Author:Smith, Jordan Area:Texas Lines:40 Added:09/22/2011

Austin Homicides Up; Everything Else Down

Tracking the national average, violent crimes reported to Austin police in 2010 decreased by 6% from the previous year. It was the fourth year in a row that violent crime has decreased nationally. Property crimes in Austin - burglary, larceny, and auto theft - also decreased last year, by roughly 4.6%, outpacing the national decline of 2.7%. That said, Austin saw a big spike in murder in 2010 - from 22 in 2009 to 38 in 2010, a 72% increase.

[continues 186 words]

29 US TX: Reefer Roundup: 9/9/11Fri, 09 Sep 2011
Source:Austin Chronicle (TX) Author:Smith, Jordan Area:Texas Lines:173 Added:09/10/2011

This week we've got lots of news from the feds (none of it particularly good), new drug laws on the books in Texas, and the connection between Facebook and crack.

Lets get to it.

Among the hundreds of new Texas laws that went into effect Sept. 1 are the state's new drug crackdowns. Specifically, the ban of both not-pot - - the synthetic marijuana mimicker known as "K2" or "Spice" - and the powdery stimulant known as a "bath salts." Possession - or manufacture or sale - of either can now net you a hefty prison term: Indeed, possession of less than a gram can earn up to two years in a state jail; possession of up to four grams can turn up to 10 years in the pen; possession of between four and 400 grams can get you up to 20 years; more than 400 grams can net you life in the clink.

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30 US TX: City Cracks Down On Synthetic MarijuanaSun, 31 Jul 2011
Source:Gazette-Enterprise (TX) Author:Frazar, Felicia Area:Texas Lines:86 Added:07/31/2011

SEGUIN - The Seguin Police Department says Kush is no longer available as an over-the-counter marijuana and they are cracking down on the sales of the synthetic drug.

"It is a synthetic form of marijuana that has been placed on the DEA's (Drug Enforcement Administration) list of banned substances," said Seguin Police Chief Kevin Kelso. "Up until that point it was kind of a legal marijuana, so folks were buying and stores were selling it like hotcakes because it was legal to buy.

[continues 476 words]

31 US TX: PUB LTE: Apparently All States' Right Are Not CreatedFri, 15 Jul 2011
Source:Kerrville Daily Times (TX) Author:Wills, Suzanne Area:Texas Lines:31 Added:07/16/2011

Citing federal interference, the legislature has exempted Texas from federal energy standards regarding light bulbs. Texas State Rep. George Lavender hopes incandescent light bulb manufacturers will move to Texas and create jobs and tax revenue.

In contrast, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, says he will not give U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's "Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011" a hearing. This is a pure states' rights bill. It makes no new law. According to Harvard economist Jeffery Miron, Texas spends $644,477,000 every year enforcing federal marijuana prohibition and loses potential tax revenue of $171,430,000.

Where are conservative principles when we need them?

Suzanne Wills

Dallas

[end]

32 US TX: Editorial: Preserving Safety And Fairness In War OnMon, 11 Jul 2011
Source:Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (TX)          Area:Texas Lines:94 Added:07/13/2011

Last year, after more than two decades of debate, Congress finally addressed a gross disparity in sentencing for crimes involving different types of cocaine, crack and powder.

Now, the U.S. Sentencing Commission has adopted federal sentencing guideline revisions that would allow thousands of convicted drug offenders to petition for reduced prison terms.

It's not a universally popular move, but it's a revision that makes sense.

The federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine were well-intentioned but turned out to be an overreaction to drug-related violence in the mid-1980s. Lawmakers, concluding that crack was far more dangerous than the powered form of the drug, made mandatory minimum sentences for crack 100 times higher than those for powder.

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33US TX: Editorial: Victories Elusive, Casualties Many After 40-YearFri, 24 Jun 2011
Source:Dallas Morning News (TX)          Area:Texas Lines:Excerpt Added:06/26/2011

Fighting an exhausting, expensive war with little progress to show draws into question the strategy and wisdom of continuing the fight.

So it goes with this nation's most wearisome and longest-declared war: the war on drugs.

This month is the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's famous call for a national offensive against drug abuse, which he called "public enemy number one."

It often feels like the enemy is winning. The reasons are many.

Despite estimates that the war has cost up to $1 trillion, use of illicit drugs is holding steady or showing sharp increases in different groups. In the past 20 years, a national study found, illicit drug use has been climbing among all ages of young people.

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34 US TX: PUB LTE: Sagan Shows CourageMon, 20 Jun 2011
Source:Amarillo Globe-News (TX) Author:Mosteller, Bill Area:Texas Lines:41 Added:06/20/2011

In reply to Greg Sagan's opinion column on June 14 ("Anger, fear spur prison building boom"), I thank Sagan for having the courage to speak out against the war on drugs.

The war on drugs has been going on for decades and it is not working. While it is failing, it also is ruining a lot of lives.

This war is waged against our own citizens. Drug abuse is and will always be a real problem in our society, but treating the addicted like criminals does not help. Some drugs like marijuana, alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine can be used responsibly and people should retain, or in the case of marijuana regain the right to use these drugs for recreation or spiritual purposes.

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35US TX: Corruption Adds To Problems On BorderMon, 20 Jun 2011
Source:Houston Chronicle (TX) Author:Powell, Stewart M. Area:Texas Lines:Excerpt Added:06/20/2011

Even As It Works to Beef Up Security, the U.S. Government Is Turning Up Hundreds of Agents WHO May Already Be Compromised

WASHINGTON -- He was an ambitious drug smuggler with ties to a Mexican cartel; she a newly minted U.S. Border Patrol agent wooed into a romance with the trafficker.

"I asked her if she wanted to hang out with me, and she said yes," recalled Diego Esquivel, who, according to court testimony, hoped to start smuggling more lucrative shipments on his own. "I asked her what I could do to avoid being caught. ... She provided information."

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36 US TX: PUB LTE: No Change HereSat, 18 Jun 2011
Source:Houston Chronicle (TX) Author:Sharpe, Robert Area:Texas Lines:31 Added:06/18/2011

Regarding "Hard stuff; Get real about dealing with illegal drugs" (Page B11, Tuesday), don't look to the Obama administration for change. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy immediately rejected the high-profile Global Commission on Drug Policy call for reform and defended the "balanced drug control efforts" of the federal government.

These so-called balanced efforts have given the land of the free the highest incarceration rate in the world. Prohibition-related violence has caused upward of 35,000 deaths in Mexico over the past four years. Despite criminal penalties, the U.S. has higher rates of drug use than European Union countries like Portugal that have decriminalized.

With national debt soaring, we can no longer afford to throw good money after bad drug policy.

Robert Sharpe, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.

[end]

37 US TX: PUB LTE: Long OverdueFri, 17 Jun 2011
Source:Houston Chronicle (TX) Author:Epstein, Jerry Area:Texas Lines:23 Added:06/18/2011

Our last national commission on drug abuse was in 1973, and it begged us to "redirect" a strategy built on "incorrect assumptions."

This commission is the means to assessment and accountability that we should have done ourselves long ago.

We have reaped the whirlwind of dogged persistence in the face of miserable failure.

Jerry Epstein, president, Drug Policy Forum of Texas

[end]

38 US TX: PUB LTE: Utter FailureFri, 17 Jun 2011
Source:Houston Chronicle (TX) Author:Terrell, Buford C. Area:Texas Lines:35 Added:06/18/2011

Regarding "Hard stuff; Get real about dealing with illegal drugs" (Page B11, Tuesday), the emperor has no clothes. Thank you for your editorial praising the report of the Global Commission on Drugs. That commission, whose membership included some of the most conservative Republicans from recent administrations, showed what almost everyone knows but is afraid to mention: The 40-year-old War on Drugs is a costly and destructive failure.

It's time to strip this tired old fraud bare and look for better ways to deal with the problems of drug misuse.

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39 US TX: PUB LTE: Sick Of WasteFri, 17 Jun 2011
Source:Houston Chronicle (TX) Author:Dunn, Harry Area:Texas Lines:27 Added:06/18/2011

My congratulations on a good first effort to change our staggeringly stupid drug laws.

I am not your most likely fan, being Republican, mostly Libertarian, and quite conservative. What may be reassuring to you is that your fans in this effort are not just liberals. Many of my friends, who generally think about the same way as I do politically, are sick of the waste and terrible damage these laws are creating.

I would love to see a really comprehensive poll of how the ordinary citizen feels. It might be a surprise. President Fox's comments are also a good start. ("Fox didn't mince words," Page B6, May 11).

Harry Dunn, Houston

[end]

40 US TX: PUB LTE: Recalling HistoryFri, 17 Jun 2011
Source:Houston Chronicle (TX) Author:Russell, Dick Area:Texas Lines:35 Added:06/18/2011

The quote from the Global Commission on Drug Policy states the obvious solution quite well, i.e., that governments must end the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but who do no harm to others.

There was no way to fight a successful war on drugs, just as there was no way the constitutional amendment on prohibition of alcohol could be successful.

Now is the time for the U.S. to decriminalize drugs, just as we decriminalized alcohol in 1933 through repeal of Prohibition.

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