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Subject: Drug WarChronicle #1224 -- Czech MJ Legalization Draft Released, OR
 Town's Police Sued for Spying on Harm Reductionists, more...
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Drug War Chronicle, Issue #1224 -- 9/27/24
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@drcnet.org
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/1224

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. MEDFORD POLICE SUED FOR SPYING ON HARM REDUCTIONISTS, OTHER ACTIVISTS 
[FEATURE]
Are the police in this southern Oregon city protecting public safety, or 
chilling political expression?
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/or-aclu-sues-medford-police-over-spying-harm-reductionists-other-activists-feature

2. MEDICAL MARIJUANA UPDATE
A Georgia pharmacy challenges the DEA, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/medical-marijuana-update-1

3. THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
A Virginia prosecutor turns pot peddler, an Illinois cop gets caught 
with weed, cash, and testosterone, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/weeks-corrupt-cops-stories-7

4. METHADONE RULES TO BE EASED NEXT MONTH, GA PHARMACY BEGINS SELLING 
MEDMJ DESPITE DEA WARNING, MORE... (9/20/24)
The Illinois Supreme Court rules the odor of burnt weed is not probable 
cause to search a vehicle, Mexico's president says the US shares the 
blame for cartel violence in Sinaloa, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/methadone-rules-be-eased-next-month-ga-pharmacy-begins-selling-medmj-despite-dea-warning

5. DEA INCREASES QUOTAS FOR PSYCHEDELIC RESEARCH, SINALOA CARTEL 
INFIGHTING DEATH TOLL RISES, MORE... (9/23/24)
New Hampshire lawmakers are already rolling out marijuana reform 
proposals for next year, peace has come -- at least for now -- to a 
troubled Colombian coca-producing province, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/dea-increases-quotas-psychedelic-research-sinaloa-cartel-infighting-death-toll-rises-more

6. PITTSBURGH BARS JOB DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MEDMJ PATIENTS, CZECH 
MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION DRAFT RELEASED, MORE... (9/24/24)
The death toll keeps rising in Sinaloa Cartel factional fighting, 
Germany's move to legal marijuana commerce is increasingly in doubt, and 
more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/pittsburgh-bars-job-discrimination-against-medmj-patients-czech-marijuana-legalization

7. TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND POT ARRESTS LAST YEAR, CA EMERGENCY HEMP THC BAN 
NOW IN EFFECT, MORE... (9/25/24)
A pair of Democratic senators file a bill to keep fentanyl out of 
federal prisons, President Biden addresses the Global Coalition to 
Address Synthetic Drug Threats, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/two-hundred-thousand-pot-arrests-last-year-ca-emergency-hemp-thc-ban-now-effect-more

8. CA HEMP PRODUCT BAN CHALLENGED, NJ AG SUES HEALTHCARE PROVIDER OVER 
DRUG TESTING PREGNANT WOMEN, MORE... (9/26/24)
Another bill aimed at combatting the fentanyl trade advances in the 
House, the Florida marijuana legalization initiative campaign is getting 
very spendy, and more.
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/ca-hemp-product-ban-challenged-nj-ag-sues-healthcare-provider-over-drug-testing-pregnant

(Not subscribed? Visit https://stopthedrugwar.org to sign up today!)

================

1. MEDFORD POLICE SUED FOR SPYING ON HARM REDUCTIONISTS, OTHER ACTIVISTS 
[FEATURE]
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/or-aclu-sues-medford-police-over-spying-harm-reductionists-other-activists-feature

Are the police in this southern Oregon city protecting public safety,
or chilling political expression?

An Oregon state law -- ORS 181A.250
(https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_181a.250) -- prohibits police
from collecting or maintaining information about the political,
religious, or social views, and associations or activities of people
who are not reasonably suspected of criminal activity. But in a
lawsuit
(https://www.aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/240820_complaint_file_stamped64.pdf)
filed last month, the ACLU of Oregon accuses police in the Rogue
Valley city of Medford of violating that law by conducting social
media surveillance on various activists, including a harm reduction
group and its locally high-profile founder.

That statute, enacted by the legislature in the 1980s, came in
response to a history of state "law enforcement agencies using their
power to monitor, silence and criminalize the protected speech of
those whose views they disagree with or find distasteful, unorthodox,
or politically inconvenient," the complaint said. That history goes at
least as far back as the Portland Police Bureau's "Red Squad," which
spent most of the 20th Century monitoring and targeting the
constitutionally protected speech and protest activities of people and
groups whose viewpoints challenged prevailing political and social
norms.

Thanks to a public records request by the group Information for Public
Use
(https://info4publicuse.org/2023/11/illegal-spying-medford-police/),
the ACLU was able to find numerous records showing MPD employees
engaging in monitoring the social media activity of the three
plaintiffs. The plaintiffs are the Rogue Valley Pepper Shakers, a
LGBTQ rights group loudly critical of police misconduct; the Stabbin'
Wagon, a harm reduction outfit that has a history of recording
conflicts with the MPD; and Stabbin' Wagon founder Melissa Jones, who
"works to address racist and classist issues within the war on drugs
by advocating for decriminalization, safe supply and safe consumption
sites, and social justice work through an equity, equality, and
abolition lens."

MPD wanted to keep an eye on these "troublemakers," but that is
against state law, the complaint argues.

"Documents show the Medford Police Department has systematically
violated ORS 181A.250 by targeting civilian activists, advocates, and
grassroots organizations -- including Plaintiffs and like-minded
people and groups throughout the Rogue Valley -- for covert
surveillance and monitoring, outside of any criminal investigation,
and based upon the content of their protected political activities,"
the complaint reads.

"Simply put, MPD is abusing its power to spy on activists whose views
it dislikes -- and, not only that, building and maintaining files
about such people and organizations without any justifiable law
enforcement purpose, a blatant violation of Oregon law. The Court's
intervention is necessary to declare MPD's surveillance activities
unlawful and to put a stop to them -- once and for all."

The city of Medford and the MPD say they are not breaking the law. In
a statement
(https://www.opb.org/article/2024/08/21/oregon-aclu-sues-medford-alleging-police-illegally-monitored-political-activists/),
Medford City Attorney Eric Mitton said police were not breaking the
law because they were monitoring online activity for potential public
safety concerns -- not to collect information on political views.

"Incidents at public events, such as the conflicts and traffic
disruptions in Medford on June 1, 2020 [during George Floyd protests],
exemplify why being prepared is essential," said Mitton. "[T]he City
was able to reroute traffic and help mitigate conflicts between
counter-protesters and protesters."

Medford Police Chief Justin Ivens said in a statement that his
department upholds the constitutional rights of citizens.

"We use publicly accessible information to plan and staff events
impacting public safety," said Ivens. "This ensures our ability to
address potential safety concerns while safeguarding those exercising
their constitutional right to free speech."

But the ACLU of Oregon wasn't buying it.

"These aren't public safety threats. People aren’t engaged in
crime," said Kelly Simon
(https://www.opb.org/article/2024/08/21/oregon-aclu-sues-medford-alleging-police-illegally-monitored-political-activists/),
the group's legal director. "But the police are being distracted by
useless information and that sort of waste of resources that detracts
from real public safety concerns in the community… should concern
everyone."

MPD's online surveillance can discourage protected political activity,
she said.

"I think that's what makes this kind of invasive surveillance so
chilling," said Simon. "[Y]ou don't know you're being followed or
you're being watched or people are kind of infiltrating your group
until you know. And then once you know, it's quite terrifying."

The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop MPD monitoring of gay
activists and the harm reductionists and "other relief as the Court
deems just and proper."

================  ...


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