Prison guards—like cops—can apparently overdose just by looking at drugs. And two Democrats in Congress are now raising concern, seemingly building pressure to eliminate physical mail at federal prisons and outsource scanning services to private vendors. abcnews.go.com/Politics/burea… A prison guard union president claims one of his members touched meth-soaked paper and was "throwing up and having a violent reaction and was rushed to medical -- his vitals were off the chart." You sure about that? I see very little info about overdoses from minor skin contact.

Biden could deschedule marijuana with the stroke of a pen—a much more direct step against the continued criminalization of a substance that around 20% of Americans use. Of course, because this is Biden, we're instead getting things that should have been done 20 years ago.

https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1578097878094024712

Not that this action isn't significant—and in some ways, actually meaningful—but it's literally *the least he could do* ... which is probably exactly what we should expect from one of the godfathers of the war on drugs.

Officials in Spokane just approved $2,374,000 in ARPA COVID relief aid to buy 35 new police vehicles—including 5 electric Ford Mustang Mach-Es. How does giving cops new toys that go 0-60 in 3.5 seconds help the community recover from the pandemic? my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/… Cops around the country have been defending these sorts of purchases because they want to “electrify their fleets.” Downright comical to hear police woke-washing unnecessary spending on turbo-charged electric vehicles.

George Floyd’s murder led many to question why we shower cops with billions each year, without ever asking if it's an effective investment for public safety. Less than two years later, officials have responded by triggering a new carceral spending spree. theappeal.org/american-rescu… It’s important to note that for all of the controversy around the “defund” slogan, police overall were never defunded. Many cities expanded policing budgets to *new highs* last year. Lots of Americans simply will not challenge our overwhelming reliance on police and prisons.

Tucson police shot a man 9 times in the back as he rolled away in his wheelchair and the local NBC affiliate made the editorial choice to run an entire story about the dead man’s criminal record—complete with a mugshot. Truly depraved shit. Not to be outdone, the Phoenix NBC affiliate offered up an entire headline and story to the killer cop’s attorney, who explained that his client had no choice but to unload 9 rounds into the disabled man’s back.

Really shocking numbers on jail suicides in a new BJS report out this week: More than 75% of jail suicides involve people who had not been convicted of a crime. Almost half had been held for a week or less at the time they died. sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/… Between 2015-2019, more than half of all people who died by suicide in jails were charged with nonviolent offenses. Among the most common charges: probation or parole violation, drug possession, and theft. bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/…

Meanwhile, more active-duty police officers died of COVID-19 in 2020 than all other causes combined. thedaily.case.edu/study-finds-mo…

https://twitter.com/ericuman/status/1389619082274742275

145 police officers died of COVID in 2020, which is way more than are ever killed by suspects in a single year. Cops are apparently the biggest threat to cops.

Because so many people seem to be judging the idea of letting incarcerated folks vote based on the most extreme and unsympathetic examples, let's flip this on its head for a second. 1/ Do you think people convicted of felonies should be able to vote from prison? Even these inmates who rushed to help save this guard's life when he suffered a massive heart attack? 2/ usatoday.com/story/news/nat…

A lot to unpack in this Inquirer story about “deaths from kratom,” which is a phrase I’m sure a lot of people will take issue with www2.philly.com/philly/health/… NMS Labs says it’s seen 303 deaths in which mitragynine was found in the first 6 months of 2018. That’s a big new number but doesn’t tell us a whole lot. Using FDA’s loose classification, all of those would presumably be “kratom-related."

Maria Butina’s bail hearing is getting under way. Feds recently released explosive new allegations against her in a bid to keep her jailed. huffingtonpost.com/entry/maria-bu… Prosecutors have argued she’s a flight risk, citing among other factors, her alleged “ties to the Russian Intelligence Services” and other Russian billionaires. She also recently tried to move money out of the U.S. and appeared to be packing up her belongings, feds say.

.@US_FDA gives update on its review of kratom. A few takeaways: Using a new computational model, the agency feels "confident in calling compounds found in kratom, opioids." FDA is also updating its total count of kratom-associated deaths to 44, and has released reports regarding the 36 deaths it referenced in November. Here’s a link.

fda.gov/downloads/Drug…