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Subject: Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1215 -- 6/26/24-Table of Contents plus
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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 ==========