Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Bobbie Sellers Newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.hemp,rec.drugs.misc,rec.drugs.psychedelic,talk.politics.drugs Subject: Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1215 -- 6/26/24-Table of Contents plus lead story Followup-To: talk.politics.drugs Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2024 14:14:29 -0700 Organization: none at all Lines: 215 Message-ID: Reply-To: blissInSanFrancisco@mouse-potato.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Sat, 06 Jul 2024 23:14:33 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="debebf507c54c7c606e24ee27d612191"; logging-data="4173962"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18zPd12qmWVqynqHz/tOjzp" User-Agent: Betterbird (Linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:XaIBaohXiK7q/sVkblVRQDOFz3I= Content-Language: en-US Bytes: 12076 Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1215 -- 6/26/24 Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1215 A Publication of StoptheDrugWar.org David Borden, Executive Director, borden@drcnet.org "Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition" APPEAL: Help Us Respond to the Opportunities and the Challenges of This Time: https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/help_us_respond Table of Contents: 1. LEADING FILIPINA CRITIC OF DUTERTE'S BLOODY DRUG WAR FINALLY FREE OF ALL CHARGES AFTER YEARS IN JAIL ON BOGUS CHARGES [FEATURE] Justice for Leila de Lima has been a long time coming. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/leading-filipina-critic-dutertes-bloody-drug-war-finally-free-all-charges-after-years 2. FDA PANEL REJECTS MDMA FOR PTSD APPLICATION, BUT RECOMMENDATION IS NOT BINDING [FEATURE] The Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee had doubts approving a treatment program that uses MDMA in psychotherapy as a treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Advocates are dismayed and say it's a lifesaver. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/fda-panel-rejects-mdma-treatment-ptsd-decision-not-final-feature 3. CHRONICLE MAGAZINE REVIEW: THE BAFFLER, NO. 74, ALTERED STATES Our first-ever magazine review. This smart and scrappy rag has earned it. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/chronicle-magazine-review-baffler-no-74-altered-states 4. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE Mississippi patients are going to catch a break starting next month, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/medical-marijuana-update 5. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES A CBP agent in San Diego got greedy, so did some coke-snatching cops in Columbus, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/weeks-corrupt-cops-stories-3 6. VT LAWMAKERS OVERRIDE SAFE INJECTION SITE VETO, DUTCH "WEED EXPERIMENT" EXPANDS, MORE... (6/18/24) A New Jersey psilocybin legalization bill gets amended into a therapeutic psilocybin services bill, bipartisan Pennsylvania lawmakers prepare to roll out a marijuana legalization bill, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/vt-lawmakers-override-safe-injection-site-veto-dutch-weed-experiment-expands-more-61824 7. CA STATE FAIR WILL BE FIRST IN NATION TO ALLOW WEED SALES, AZ GOVERNOR VETOES PSILOCYBIN SERVICES BILL, MORE... (6/19/24) Federal legislation has been filed to ensure Job Corp applicants are not automatically canned for a second positive pot test, San Francisco takes aim at "drug-permissive" housing for the homeless, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/ca-state-fair-will-be-first-nation-allow-weed-sales-az-governor-vetoes-psilocybin 8. NC SENATE APPROVES MEDMJ, DE HOUSE APPROVES EXPEDITED ADULT-USE SALES BILL, MORE... (6/20/24) The Colombian Army has raided a coca- and cocaine-processing complex in Norte de Santander just as it has raided countless complexes before in its fruitless quest to repress the cocaine trade, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/nc-senate-approves-medmj-de-house-approves-expedited-adult-use-sales-bill-more-62024 9. FORMER DEA HEADS AND GOP AGS SEEK HEARING ON MARIJUANA RESCHEDULING; CHINA-US MEETING ON FENTANYL, MORE... (6/21/24) Louisiana's hard right governor vetoes a bill that would have eased the pardon process for first-time marijuana possession offenders, the House Committee on the CCP forms a fentanyl working group, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/former-dea-heads-gop-ags-seek-hearing-marijuana-rescheduling-china-us-meeting-fentanyl 10. FL LEGAL POT CAMPAIGN NOW MOST HIGHLY-FUNDED EVER, UN HEALTH EXPERT CALLS FOR END TO WAR ON DRUGS, MORE... (6/24/24) Activists in Dallas hand in signatures for a municipal decriminalization initiative, Arizona's governor signs a bill that would allow for therapeutic MDMA with federal approval, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/fl-legal-pot-campaign-now-most-highly-funded-ever-un-special-expert-calls-end-war-drugs 11. TRUMP & ALLIES CALL FOR BIDEN DRUG TEST, BRAZIL SUPREME COURT MOVES TO DECRIMINALIZE POT, MORE... (6/25/24) A bipartisan marijuana legalization bill gets filed in the Pennsylvania House, Louisiana's governor signs a bill decriminalizing pot paraphernalia, and more. https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/trump-allies-call-biden-drug-test-brazil-supreme-court-moves-decriminalize-pot-more-62524 (Not subscribed? Visit https://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up today!) ================ 1. LEADING FILIPINA CRITIC OF DUTERTE'S BLOODY DRUG WAR FINALLY FREE OF ALL CHARGES AFTER YEARS IN JAIL ON BOGUS CHARGES [FEATURE] https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/leading-filipina-critic-dutertes-bloody-drug-war-finally-free-all-charges-after-years Justice for Leila de Lima has been a long time coming. Philippines former senator Leila de Lima, a leading critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte's murderous anti-drug campaign, is finally free of all the bogus charges brought against her by the Duterte government. She was arrested in February 2017 and faced three fabricated drug-related charges. She remained in jail until last November, when she was freed on bail on the final charge against her. The first and second charges against her had been dropped in 2021 and 2023, respectively, following recantations by key witnesses who said they'd been coerced into accusing the senator. This past Tuesday, Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206 granted de Lima's motion to dismiss the case, clearing her of a final charge of conspiracy to commit drug trading. De Lima, then a sitting senator, was charged by Filipino authorities after she moved to investigate human rights and other violations committed during Duterte's bloody war on drugs, a campaign that NGOs estimate left somewhere north of 30,000 people dead. International human rights groups such as Amnesty International have said the campaign may amount to crimes against humanity (https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa35/0578/2019/en/), and the International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently investigating Duterte over the killings and other human rights abuses. The following year, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that de Lima's arrest and imprisonment were indeed arbitrary, citing the lack of a legal basis for the charges and the Philippine government's failure to observe international norms demanding the right to a fair trial. The court proceedings that dragged on for the last six years were plagued by undue delays, including changes in the judges handling her case. Prosecution witnesses repeatedly failed to appear in court, with some saying they had been threatened by government officials into making false statements about her. Amnesty International had designated her as a prisoner of conscience, solely imprisoned for her legitimate human rights work. The political persecution of de Lima reflects the broader context of increasing impunity for human rights violations in the country, not only under the Duterte administration but to a lesser degree, also under the administration of President Ferdinand "Bong Bong" Marcos, Jr., son of a former dictator. Those violations include killings, threats, and harassment of political activists, human rights defenders, members of the media, and other targeted groups. Amnesty International welcomed the closing of the final case against de Lima. "This is full freedom and vindication, finally, for human rights defender Leila de Lima, after her nearly seven years of arbitrary detention, as well as relentless political persecution," said Montse Ferrer (https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/06/philippines-vindication-for-leila-de-lima-as-last-bogus-charge-dismissed/), Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for Research. "De Lima's acquittal in this last outstanding case is long overdue, and every day she spent in jail until her temporary release in November 2023 was a gross injustice. She was viciously targeted by the administration of former President Duterte solely for her efforts to expose human rights violations in the so-called 'war on drugs'. Today's dismissal of the last drug-related allegation against her is a clear rejection of concerted government efforts to silence her and undermine her human rights work." But there is more work to be done, Ferrer said. "As de Lima fully regains her freedom, we urge the administration of President Marcos to work towards ensuring an enabling environment for her and for many other human rights defenders in the Philippines who continue to be targeted because of their critical work," Ferrer said. "We also challenge the Marcos administration to impartially and effectively investigate those responsible for the unfounded allegations against de Lima that led to her arbitrary detention and the other human rights violations she has endured -- and continues to endure -- and bring them to justice in fair trials." And the drug war killings have not stopped, the human rights group noted. "The government must work towards what de Lima, Amnesty International, and many other human rights defenders have been tirelessly calling for: an end to the continuing unlawful killings and other violations in the 'war on drugs', accountability for the perpetrators, and justice for the thousands of victims and their families," Ferrer said. ========== REMAINDER OF ARTICLE TRUNCATED ==========