by TChris

Are people making fashion statements that you just don't like? Here's the solution: make the offensive dress illegal.

People who wear low-slung pants that expose skin or "intimate clothing" would face a fine of up to $500 and possible jail time under a bill filed by a Jefferson Parish [Louisiana] lawmaker.

Under the proposed law, a single instance of "plumber's butt" could result in a six month sentence. But why stop there? Why not a year for "big hair"? Three years for wearing a T-shirt advertising a bar that doesn't actually exist? And life for wearing any clothing that prominently displays the name or logo of the designer?

by TChris

Digital video cameras, a technology that has spawned a number of "real time" pornographic websites, may soon be coming to a police car near you. Police cars in Tyler, Texas are being equipped with "a digital video system designed to beam TV images of any police action in real-time from the police department's 60 cruisers over a wireless network back to headquarters."

The technology from International Business Machines Corp. will grab and store video on a hard drive in the police car, going back to retrieve data starting four minutes prior to the officer's hitting "record" or flipping on the overhead pursuit lights. This will help capture the probable cause for the police action, they said.

Just as importantly, the cameras will capture the absence of probable cause, as the "weaving" car is shown to be slowly drifting within its lane, or the "unsteady" driver is shown to be walking in a straight line without a problem.

Last week we wrote about KDrink, a new Peruvian beverage which provides a buzz from the coca leaf:

In need of a little pick-me-up? Head on down to Peru and hit the grocery stores, where you'll find a new kind of iced tea drink--KDrink--with a formula made from coca leaves, the prime ingredient in cocaine.... Silvia Dongo, a pharmaceutical chemist who helped develop Kdrink, says the beverage provides energy from its 15 vitamins and minerals, 12 amino acids and 14 to 16 alkaloids that are found naturally in coca leaves. "Drinking coca beverages is a way to seek a natural and healthy stimulation," she says.

We said, "Sounds no different than Red Bull to us, but somehow, we think Drug Czar John Walters and AG Ashcroft will find a way to keep it from coming to America. "

Today we received an e-mail from Royal Food and Drink Co. in Peru, owner and maker of KDrink, with a request we publish it. We're happy to oblige.

We're on lunch break, in the lobby where we have a wireless connection for a few minutes. There was a very interesting presentation this morning by five prosecutors and a judge. All have begun programs to find prison alternatives for drug offenders--the most innovative is in Brooklyn, New York, called DTAP.

DTAP is the first prosecution-run program in the country to divert prison-bound felony offenders to residential drug treatment. The program targets drug-addicted defendants arrested for nonviolent felony offenses who have previously been convicted of one or more nonviolent felonies. Qualified defendants enter a felony guilty plea and receive a deferred sentence that allows them to participate in a residential therapeutic community (TC) drug treatment program for a period of 15 to 24 months. Those who successfully complete the program have their charges dismissed; those who fail are brought back to court by a special warrant enforcement team and sentenced to prison. To prevent relapse and reduce recidivism, the District Attorney's Office has formed a Business Advisory Council to identify and develop employment sources in Brooklyn. DTAP also has a job developer to assist graduates in finding and maintaining employment.

What strikes us as particularly notewortthy is that they take repeat offenders. They realize that drug treatment fails the first few times around for many. In New York, under the Rockefellar drug laws, a first offense for over 1/8 ounce is 15 to life. For a second offense of less than 1/8 of an ounce, it's still 41/2 to 9 years. And these are mandatory minimum sentences.

In need of a little pick-me-up? Head on down to Peru and hit the grocery stores, where you'll find a new kind of iced tea drink--KDrink--with a formula made from coca leaves, the prime ingredient in cocaine.

Each bottle of Kdrink contains a trace 0.6 milligrams of the outlawed stimulant.

Before you get too excited, you should know that 0.6 mg "of natural, unprocessed cocaine" is less powerful than a cup of joe. So what's the big deal? Kdrink's manufacturer wants to bring it to the U.S.

by TChris

A Sheriff's deputy in Pasco County, Florida arrested a nine year old girl after he found a rabbit in her home that she took from a neighbor. Presumably concerned about "officer safety," the deputy handcuffed the girl, then transported her in his squad car to the police department for questioning.

A Sheriff's spokesperson claimed that the deputy had no choice but to act after the neighbor reported the crime. A local public defender disagrees that an arrest was required, explaining that the deputy could have referred charges to the state's attorney without taking the girl into custody.

The sheriff's department asserts that these heavy-handed tactics teach children to respect the law. Perhaps the girl will learn not to confuse her neighbor's rabbit with the Easter bunny, but there is little to respect in the deputy's actions.

"I think this is a little unusual to say the very least," Cecka Green of Voices for Florida's Children said. "To treat children as hardened criminals, when back in the old days that may have just been seen as mischief that could have been handled by the parents, can contribute to some problems with our kids in this society."

The lesson that is likely to stick with the little girl? The deputy who arrested her was a jerk.

"He put one handcuff on me really tight," she said Thursday. In the patrol car, "He just stared at me in the mirror."

No, it's not a joke. President Bush actually declared today, April 8, National D.A.R.E. Day 2004:

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 8, 2004, as National D.A.R.E. Day.

Drug War Rant provides some appropriate reading to accompany your celebration.

The Religion of Jesus Church and TheTHC Ministry have sued Attorney General John Ashcroft and the DEA seeking to prevent the arrest of those who use marijuana for religious and medicinal purposes.

A Complaint for injunctive relief was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii against U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, D.E.A. Administrator Karen Tandy, and local U.S. District Attorney Ed Kubo by religious and medicinal consumers of cannabis. The suit seeks to enjoin the Federal government from arresting and prosecuting those residents of Hawaii whose religions and religious beliefs require the consumption of cannabis (the herb governments derogatorily label as “marijuana”).

The lawsuit also seeks protection from federal prosecution for those citizens of Hawaii who cultivate, consume and/or distribute cannabis legally pursuant to legislatively enacted Department of Public Safety Narcotics Enforcement Division guidelines and valid patient/caregiver registration certificates.

THC says they believe they will prevail based upon the recent 9th Circuit case of Raich v. Ashcroft.

The Plaintiffs also rely upon the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to secure their definitive right to free exercise of religion. That Act was recently used to prevent the federal government from prosecuting a New Mexico based, Brazilian Uniao Do Vegetal themed religion for their importation and distribution of Ayahoasca, a hallucinogenic-laced tea from the Brazilian rainforest.

The lawyer for the Plaintiff adds:

by TChris

If your allergies act up or you catch a cold in Oklahoma, you're going to need a picture ID to buy popular cold tablets. The Governor just signed a law requiring users of pseudoephedrine to purchase the medication from a pharmacist, who must keep a record of the sale that includes the buyer's signature. No more picking up a box of Sudaphed at the grocery store, unless you get it in liquid or gel capsule form.

Pseudoephedrine is used by do-it-yourself chemists to make methamphetamine, prompting Oklahoma to regulate its sale. The purchase of other items often used in the process of making meth -- including drain cleaner, antifreeze, iodine, and water -- has not yet been restricted.

The Justice Department is waging a war on porn and Instapundit blames John Ashcroft:

I blame John Ashcroft. No, really, this time I mean it. And if the Administration thinks that this is a good use of their "computer forensics" experts, then they must have decided that terrorists aren't a threat any more. This is so ham-handed and sure to blow up in the Administration's face, making them look like stooges for the religious right while accomplishing nothing, that one almost suspects a Democratic mole in their ranks.

Here's what it's all about:

32 prosecutors, investigators and a handful of FBI agents are spending millions of dollars to bring anti-obscenity cases to courthouses across the country for the first time in 10 years. Nothing is off limits, they warn, even soft-core cable programs such as HBO's long-running Real Sex or the adult movies widely offered in guestrooms of major hotel chains.

More here. And one of Glenn's readers wrote in:

I voted for Bush and donated to his campaign and have been looking for reasons to support his reelection. But when I saw your post, I snapped. I just made a small donation to the Kerry campaign...and, living in Massachusetts, I have no reason to be thrilled about Kerry.

Keep it up, Mr. Ashcroft, you just might cost Bush the election all by yourself.

Last One Speaks has the latest in the DEA's war against patients in pain:

If you're Richard Paey, a 45-year-old father of three who sits in a wheelchair, debilitated by multiple sclerosis and chronic pain from botched back surgery, you will receive a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence for forging prescriptions to treat your pain.

The St. Petersburg Times, in an editorial, says:

This is an abuse of our criminal justice resources. Paey is not a man who belongs in prison. What he and other pain patients need is a health care system that will respond to their affliction. (Paey now has a morphine pump in his back to dull the pain. His wife says, ironically, it provides him with more narcotics than he was getting from the Percocet, which is 98.5 percent Tylenol.)

Back to Last One Speaks for the last word:

I think the agency has outlived any usefulness it may have ever had, but that aside, it's clearly long past time for the DEA to get out of the business of harassing and imprisoning the chronically ill citizens of this country and their caregivers.

Arthur at Light of Reason is asking freedom fighters to come to LA. The latest planned assault on liberty and the presumption of innocence: a plan to seize and keep the cars of suspected drunk drivers . Arthur says:

Just accuse someone of a crime -- a now a growing list of crimes -- and grab their property. It's becoming the American way.

Read the sourced column too, it's great.