In Drug War, Tribe Feels Invaded by Both Sides
By ERIK ECKHOLM
Published: January 24, 2010

SELLS, Ariz. — An eerie hush settles in at sundown on the Tohono O’odham Nation, which straddles 75 miles of border with Mexico.

Few residents leave their homes. The roads crawl with the trucks of Border Patrol agents, who stop unfamiliar vehicles, scrutinize back roads for footprints and hike into the desert wilds to intercept smugglers carrying marijuana on their backs and droves of migrants trying to make it north.

By the bad luck of geography, the only large Indian reservation on the embattled border is caught in the middle, emerging as a major transit point for drugs as well as people.

A long-insular tribe of 28,000 people and its culture are paying a steep price: the land is swarming with outsiders, residents are afraid to walk in the hallowed desert, and some members, lured by drug cartel cash in a place with high unemployment, are ending up in prison.

“People will knock on your door, flash a wad of money and ask if you can drive this bale of marijuana up north,” said Marla Henry, 38, chairwoman of Chukut Kuk district, which covers much of the border zone.

The tightening of border security to the east and west, which started in the 1990s and intensified after the Sept. 11 attacks, funneled more drug traffic through the Tohono O’odham reservation, federal officials said, and especially more marijuana, which is hard to slip through vehicle crossings because of its bulk.

A record 319,000 pounds of marijuana were seized on the reservation in 2009, up from 201,000 pounds the previous year, along with small amounts of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.

Hundreds of tribal members have been prosecuted in federal, state or tribal courts for smuggling drugs or humans, taking offers that reach $5,000 for storing marijuana or transporting it across the reservation. In a few families, both parents have been sent to prison, leaving grandparents to raise the children.

“People are afraid that if they say no, they’ll be threatened by the cartel,” Ms. Henry said.

If residents of remote villages tried to call the police, she said, help might not arrive for two hours or more.

At the same time, some residents are angry at the intrusion of hundreds of federal agents, including some who stay for a week at a time on bases in remote parts of the reservation. The surge in agents who cruise the roads has meant more checkpoints and tighter controls on a border that tribal members, 1,500 of whom live in Mexico, once freely crossed.

The once-placid reservation feels like a “militarized zone,” said Ned Norris Jr., the tribal chairman, who also says the tribe must cooperate to stem the cartels. “Drug smuggling is a problem we didn’t create, but now we’re having to deal with the consequences.”

Many residents say they live in fear of the smugglers and hordes of migrants who lurk around their homes, and also of being subjected to a humiliating search by federal agents.

The elderly avoid the desert, even in the daytime, because they might stumble upon a cache of marijuana or drug “mules” hiding in desert washes until dark.

“We can’t even go out to collect wood for the stove,” said Verna Miguel, 63, who was traumatized three years ago when a group of migrants forced her to stop on a road, beat her and stole her vehicle.

“We’ve always picked saguaro fruits and cholla buds,” Ms. Miguel said, using such desert products for consumption and rituals. “But now we don’t dare do that.”

Until recently, the reservation’s international border was porous, defended by three strands of barbed wire. Over the last two years, it has been lined with metal posts and Normandy-style barriers to stop the trucks that used to barrel through and head for Phoenix.

Federal officials describe the rise in drug seizures on the reservation as a sign of growing success on what had long been a vulnerable section of border. Barriers and surveillance have forced most of the smugglers to enter on foot rather than in vehicles and spend hours or days sneaking through the reservation, making them more vulnerable to detection, said Agent Robert Gilbert, chief of the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol.

But the large busts, here and elsewhere on the border, are also a measure of the continued trade and profits reaped by the cartels.

“The cartels use the profit from marijuana to purchase cocaine in Colombia and Peru and the ingredients for meth and heroin from other regions,” said Elizabeth W. Kempshall, special agent in charge of the Arizona office of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “So marijuana is the catalyst for the rest of the drug trade.”

The drug smugglers, mainly working for the Sinaloa Cartel, officials said, place scouts for days at a time on mountainsides, with night-vision goggles to monitor movements of the Border Patrol. The scouts communicate with Mexican or Indian guides using cellphones or two-way radios with rolling codes that cannot be intercepted, said Sgt. David Cray of the tribal police force, which has spent major amounts of money on border issues. During the day, the scouts hide in caves or under camouflage.

The Border Patrol has its own spotters and trucks with infrared video cameras that detect heat miles away. The tribe has agreed to electronic surveillance towers that in coming years will make a “virtual fence” across their lands.

Many agents spend their nights “cutting for sign,” a tracker’s term, making slow drives on dirt roads in search of footprints.

One recent chilly night, a Border Patrol spotter detected eight white dots on his screen moving steadily north, not meandering the way cows or wild mules do. With a laser beam he fixed their coordinates at a spot five miles from his mountaintop post.

Two agents in four-wheel-drive vehicles set out over a rutted ranch track, then hiked through half a mile of mesquite, cholla and prickly pear to intercept the group. Six escaped, but two Mexican men were captured with seven burlap packs, each filled with 50 pounds of marijuana that sells wholesale for $500 or more per pound.

For the agents, it was a good night’s work. “This is what we live for, stopping drugs,” said an agent who hiked in shortly after the bust to help bring in the smugglers and the contraband.

But many tribal members see the federal presence as a mixed blessing at best.

Ofelia Rivas, 53, of Meneger’s Dam Village is an Indian rights advocate and a rare border resident who agreed to speak to a reporter. She said that most families in border villages, including her own, had had a relative imprisoned for drug offenses, but that such individuals should not be blamed for the lack of legal jobs. Ms. Rivas has criticized tribal leaders for acquiescing to what she calls an oppressive federal occupation.

Federal law officials praise the tribe for its cooperation, and the Border Patrol has fielded community relations officers to minimize frictions.

Even Mr. Norris, the tribal chairman, said he had been stopped and questioned. “Quite frankly, the people are getting sick of it,” he said of the heavy outside presence. But he added that the smuggling was beyond the tribe’s ability to control.

“I hope in my lifetime we can go back to the way it used to be,” Mr. Norris said, “where people could go and walk in the daylight on our own land.”

In another effort to change federal policy on medical marijuana, Congressional Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced the “Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act,” HR 2835, late yesterday. The bill, which was co-sponsored by 13 bipartisan Members of Congress at the time of introduction, would change federal policy on medical marijuana in a number of ways. Specifically, the Act would change marijuana from a Schedule I drug, classified as having no medical value, to a Schedule II drug, which would recognize marijuana’s medical efficacy and create a regulatory framework for the FDA to begin a drug approval process for marijuana. The act would also prevent interference by the federal government in any local or state run medical marijuana program.

Although similar versions of the Act have been introduced in previous Congressional terms, the Obama Administration’s willingness to change federal policy on medical marijuana creates a new political context and may facilitate passage of this important legislation. “We are encouraged by the federal government’s (more…)

A post from a Medical marijuana patient:

“I say smoke in the face of unjust laws.  I say prohibition helps drug dealers and law enforcers to keep jobs, at tax payers expense.  I say it’s time to end our weak begging for bits and bites of natural human rights that are ours unconditionally.  I say spark up, stand up and hold your ground - the might of being right is unwaivering.”

As everyone knows Canada is the first country in the world to sell marijuana to certified medical marijuana patients. Nonviolent drug offenders in that country are normally not given lengthy sentences by the court. There is a clear move towards marijuana decriminalization or even full legalization. Way back in 2002 Canada’s Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs did a comprehensive study on cannabis and concluded that the drug ought to be legalized. “Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that marijuana is substantially less harmful than alcohol, and should be treated not as a criminal issue, but as a social and public health issue,” said Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, Chair of the Special Committee. Unfortunately, America is putting pressure on Canada not to pass harm minimization laws. This is despite the fact that our northern neighbor seriously monitors and evaluates the reforms that it has taken.

US Drug policy is much more influential south of the border. Drugs are seized on the way to the US in expensive interdiction campaigns. US demand is responsible for the influx of drugs but the failure of the authorities to contain this problem seems to lie on the shoulders of Mexico. On October 14, 2008 a bill was proposed in Mexico City’s Congress to legalize the consumption, possession and commerce of Marijuana. The bill states that only a person over 18 can have access to the drug, the places where marijuana is sold cannot also sell alcoholic drinks, and must be at least 1000 meters away from schools. The Government would issue special licenses for the distribution of marijuana in special places, similar to the legislation in the Netherlands. The Bill has yet to pass.

The US government’s influence on the decision-making of our neighbors is evident. However, it is satisfactory to note that a counter-current now exists and we will soon positive changes in the horizon.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) Authorities have dropped charges against a school psychologist who was arrested on marijuana and child endangerment charges.
Cynthia Anne Norris, 33, and Alexander Balestrero, 30, were arrested in January after officers reportedly found 93 marijuana plants growing in the couple’s Christmas Valley home.
Norris, a psychologist with the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, said she was aware of Balestrero’s growing operation but believed it was legal under California’s medical marijuana laws. (more…)

Sensi Star is a very powerful indica, the bud is a contrast of light and dark green, with light and darker brownish hairs. It is very dense, compact with good coat of trichomes. After opening the container, a burst of fresh lemon zest, and out of the bag the bud smelled very rich and earthy. The smoke was on the harsh side, with a sour after taste. After a toke, I was in a more compact, and simple world, with a powerful head high, that puts you in a more comfortable or more relaxed state that does not couch-lock. The high is almost euphoric, things seemed much more alive, and vibrant when i stepped outside. Patients who would benefit from this strain the most are those with glaucoma, migraines, headaches, and anxiety problems.

- Found at GreenDragon Coop.

1. Up In Smoke: Cheech and Chongs first full length movie, where two stoners meet up on the highway, and embark on a adventure to get back home, after being deported to Mexico.

2. The Big Lebowski: “The Dude” (Jeff Bridges) is mistaken for a millionaire, who’s name is also Jeffrey Lebowski, During which two thugs tear apart his home, and urinate on his rug. Now “The Dude” along with his bowling buddies, try to to find this other Jeffrey Lebowski, and seek for retribution for his ruined rug.

3. Office Space: Peter Gibbons a Initech worker, who hates his job, life, and most of all his boss. After being brought to a hypnotist by his awful girlfriend, he remains in a worry free state, after the hypnotist failed to bring him out of the trance, due to a heart attack, which kills the therapist.

(more…)