Former Philippine President Duterte Arrested And Flown To The Hague For Trial

Real Reporting… 11 March 2025

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Tuesday, March 11, 2025 on a warrant from the International Criminal Court. The Associated Press reports ("Philippine ex-leader Duterte is being flown to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity," March 11, 2025) that:

"The global court in The Hague had ordered Duterte’s arrest through Interpol after accusing him of crimes against humanity over deadly anti-drug crackdowns he oversaw while in office, Marcos said in a late-night news conference. Duterte had been arrested at the Manila international airport Tuesday morning when he arrived with his family from Hong Kong."

According to The Guardian ("Duterte flown to The Hague after arrest over Philippines drug war killings," March 11, 2025):

"Duterte became president in 2016 after promising a merciless, bloody crackdown that would rid the country of drugs. On the campaign trail he once said there would be so many bodies dumped in Manila Bay that fish would grow fat from feeding on them. After taking office, he publicly stated he would kill suspected drug dealers and urged the public to kill addicts.

"Since his election, between 12,000 and 30,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in connection with anti-drugs operations, according to data cited by the ICC."

A copy of the International Criminal Court warrant for Duterte's arrest can be downloaded from the ICC website.

Rest In Power: Kevin B. Zeese, 1955-2020

We are sad to report that the co-founder and President of Common Sense for Drug Policy, Kevin B. Zeese, passed away on September Fifth, 2020. He is sorely missed.

Kevin was one of the nation's foremost authorities on drug policy issues. He worked on a wide array of drug related issues since he graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1980.

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Rest In Power: Kevin B. Zeese, 1955-2020

Real Reporting… 12 September 2020

We are sad to report that the co-founder and President of Common Sense for Drug Policy, Kevin B. Zeese, passed away on September Fifth, 2020. He is sorely missed.

Kevin was one of the nation's foremost authorities on drug policy issues. He worked on a wide array of drug related issues since he graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1980.

Kevin wrote for newspapers and journals on a range of drug issues, including an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on the Colombian drug war. He also appeared on every major television network as a commentator. He served as a consultant to Walter Cronkite for the Discovery Channel special: The Drug Dilemma: War or Peace? He spoke at nationally recognized legal seminars and testified before Congress on drug related issues.

A Feb. 2005 interview with Kevin on the syndicated radio program Cultural Baggage is available. In April 2002, Kevin debated DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson at a conference hosted by Rice University's James Baker Institute. Segments of the forum, "Moving Beyond the 'War on Drugs'," including the Zeese-Hutchinson debate, are available as streaming video. A listing of articles in which Kevin appears is available by clicking here.

He was the author of Drug Testing Legal Manual, Drug Testing Legal Manual and Practice Aids and co-author of Drug Law: Strategies and Tactics, all published by Clark Boardman Callaghan. Kevin served as editor of Drug Law Report for Clark Boardman Callaghan from 1983 to 1998. In addition, he was the author of Drug Prohibition and the Conscience of Nations. Mr. Zeese was the editor of Friedman and Szasz On Liberty and Drugs and edited numerous books on drug policy and manuals on criminal defense.

Kevin Zeese litigated a variety of drug policy-related issues. Among these are the medical use of marijuana, the use of the military and national guard in domestic drug enforcement, the spraying of herbicides in the United States and abroad on marijuana, drug testing of government workers and the right to privacy as it relates to marijuana in the home. He had been a legal advisor to needle exchange workers prosecuted for their anti-AIDS efforts, buyer's clubs who distribute marijuana to the seriously ill, and medical marijuana patients prosecuted for the medical use of marijuana.

Kevin facilitated the Alliance of Reform Organizations, a network of all the major reform organizations in the United States. He served on the Executive Committee of the Harm Reduction Coalition. He served on the Board of Directors of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas and was a Board member emeritus of the DrugSense.

He was a co-founder of the Drug Policy Foundation (now renamed the Drug Policy Alliance), where he served as Vice President and Counsel, and is a former Executive Director and Chief Counsel of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Zeese served on Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's Mayor's Working Group on Drug Policy Reform and served on San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan's Harm Reduction Council. Both were efforts to implement a model urban drug policy. Zeese was also involved with advocacy related to the fatal shooting of Esequiel Hernandez, the legal rights of patients, doctors and their caregivers in California, and the UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs (the UNGASS).

In 2000, Kevin Zeese was the recipient of the Richard J. Dennis DrugPeace Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Field of Drug Policy Reform from the Drug Policy Foundation at its 13th Annual International Conference on Drug Policy Reform.

Treatment for Alcohol or Other Substance Use Disorder Among People in State and Federal Prisons, 2016

"ƒƒAn estimated 33% of state and 46% of federal prisoners who met the criteria for having a substance use disorder in the 12 months prior to admission to prison participated in any alcohol or drug treatment program since admission to prison (table 7).

"ƒƒAbout 12% of state and 15% of federal prisoners who met the criteria for having a substance use disorder in the 12 months prior to admission to prison received alcohol or drug treatment in a residential facility or unit since admission.

Alcohol and Other Drug Use by People in State and Federal Prisons at the Times of Their Offenses

"ƒƒAmong state prisoners, about 3 in 10 whites (31%), blacks (30%), and Hispanics (33%) reported drinking alcohol at the time of the offense (table 4).

"ƒƒAn estimated 24% of state prisoners ages 18 to 24 reported drinking alcohol at the time of the offense, compared to 37% of those ages 45 to 54 and 55 to 64.

"ƒƒState prisoners sentenced for a violent (34%) offense were more likely to report drinking alcohol at the time of the offense than those sentenced for a property (24%) or drug (22%) offense.

Alcohol and Other Drug Use by People in State and Federal Prisons, 2016

"ƒƒAbout 9 in 10 state (91%) and federal (88%) prisoners reported ever drinking alcohol (table 2).

"ƒƒNinety percent of state and 81% of federal prisoners reported ever using at least one drug in their lifetime (table 3).

"ƒƒSixty-five percent of state and 53% of federal prisoners reported using at least one drug during the 30 days prior to arrest.

"ƒƒAn estimated 87% of state and 75% of federal prisoners reported ever using marijuana in their lifetime.

Alcohol and Other Drug Use by People in Prisons, 2016

"ƒThirty-one percent of state prisoners and 25% of federal prisoners reported drinking alcohol at the time of the offense.

"ƒNearly 4 in 10 state prisoners (39%) and 3 in 10 federal prisoners (31%) reported using drugs at the time of the offense.

"ƒAmong state prisoners, males (32%) were more likely than females (26%) to report drinking alcohol at the time of the offense but were less likely (39%) than females (49%) to report using at least one drug at the time of the offense.

Recent Substance Use by People in Prison at the Time of Their Offenses

"Nearly two-thirds (64%) of state and federal prisoners reported using at least one drug in the 30 days prior to arrest for the offense for which they were serving time. Among state and federal prisoners who were not incarcerated for the entire 12 months prior to admission to prison for the offense for which they were serving a sentence (916,900), nearly half (47%) met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for substance use disorder in the 12 months prior to admission to prison."

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