COMMENTS: 18
Obama's Choice: Sane U.N. Drug Policy or the Same Old Failed War-on-Drugs Routine?
January 27, 2009 |
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Everyone knows that Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States last Tuesday, Jan. 20. As an advocate for sound, sane drug policy and HIV prevention, I hope that his inauguration will mark a change to an administration that chooses science over dogma.
By contrast, practically no one knows about the Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting that will take place in Vienna, Austria, six weeks from now, March 12-13. This meeting of United Nations member states will review the results of the1998 U.N. General Assembly Special Session on drugs that set the framework for the last decade's international drug policy. They will then release a political declaration that will set the framework for the next decade -- and, by implication, the course for the global response to the HIV epidemic as it affects drug users.
It is imperative that the new Obama administration act quickly to ensure that the U.S. delegation to this upcoming UNGASS review reflect Obama's publicly stated position that he, per the official White House site, "supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of [HIV] infection among drug users."
Otherwise, our new president will miss a vital early opportunity to lead us back into an era of evidence-based policy.
Our current U.S. delegation is primarily made up of State Department bureaucrats soldiering in the war on drugs. They promote policies that have had dramatic negative consequences (intended and unintended) on the lives of drug users, their families and their communities but very little impact on reducing drug supply, consumption or cultivation.
By making drug use as dangerous as possible, the United States has facilitated the spread of HIV and viral hepatitis, has allowed death from overdose to remain unchecked and has created a prison system unlike anything since the Soviet gulags. At the same time, U.S. commitment to providing effective drug treatment on demand is virtually nonexistent. Moreover, in critical negotiations in international settings, Team USA is rabidly hostile toward harm reduction and syringe exchange at a time when Australia, Canada, Iran and most European Union countries embrace them as important drug policy tools.
The UNGASS review presents an opportunity for the Obama administration not only to lose these Bush-era ideologues, but also to join with other nations to create a genuinely balanced and useful blueprint for international drug policy.
We should follow the example of other U.N. member states, including some countries in the Caribbean as well as the U.K., and the Netherlands, and expand the U.S. contingent to include members of civil society -- people with a distinct viewpoint who can engage in the proceedings and represent the views of drug users.
After all, countries around the world, including the United States, have long understood the importance of including people living with HIV/AIDS at U.N. meetings. Yet, when it comes to making U.N. drug policy, the current U.S. framework renders the most affected community, individuals who use drugs, silent. It will be easier to design effective solutions with input from all affected parties.
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The Resulting Effects of the Drug War on US! -Part I
Posted by: aussidawg on Jan 27, 2009 5:38 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: aussidawg on Jan 27, 2009 5:38 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I have to admit, I am very prejudiced when it comes to the drug war. I am a chronic pain sufferer with degenerative joint disease including degenerative disk disease (I have more metal in my back than most iron mines in the northern parts of Mn. and Mich. combined), my shoulders are all locked up with arthritis, I just had a failed knee surgery, and finally, am just recovering from a severe spiral fracture of the tibia and fibula in my right leg as the result of being broadsided on my motorcycle by an inattentive motorist in a pickup. As a result of this chronic pain, I am in pain management, in which I use prescription pain medicine on a daily basis just to be able to function as normal as possible. Yes, I do have a physical dependence on the painkillers, but that is not the same as addiction, which is a psychlogical need and craving for the indirect effects of the drug (euphoria.) I got that at one time, a very long time ago, but it is no longer present.
Unlike the way a physician can give you antibiotics, antidepressants, vaccines, or other medications, the police tell my doctor how much and how often I can take and refill my pain medications. I do not sell them or give themn away, because if I run out, I wind up in excruciating pain from the injuries plus sick from the withdrawal symptoms from the sudden lack of the medication. I also take Nonsteroidal Antiinflamitory medications NSAIDS). The police don't care how many of these I take, even though they have caused bleeding ulcers in myself, and severe heart conditions in some. They just want to be sure you don't get the benefit of a buzz with the medication because that is a sin.
I don't use marijuana, mainly because I don't like the effect, however, I have heard that it is a good, nonhabitforming medicine with few dangerous side effects. I certainly feel those who do benefit from this drug, be it medicinally or through pleasure should have the right to use it without some jerk trying to catch them in the act of enjoying themselves and putting them in a cage because they choose to do so!!! In addition, IMHO, it is a safe intoxicant with many medicinal uses for many other people. As far as I am concerned, marijuana is far less dangerous than tobacco, alcohol, most prescription drugs, and should be free for the use of anyone of adult age to use in the privacy of their own home. ACtually, I feel this way about ALL drugs. I believe that if a person wants to use cocaine, methamphetemine, alcohol, tobacco, barbituartes, Quaaludes, Seconal, whatever, in the privacy of their own home and causes no one else any harm, they should be free to do so. And frankly, I would like to see in the Consititution where there is anything whatsoever stating the contrary.
Anyone who remembers back to the glorious days of when Dean Martin seemed to get a grin from his audience when he pulled out his bottle of booze, started drinking, caught a buzz then started stumbling, talking with slurred speach, pawing at women and acting like an ass. I wonder though, would it have been as funny if he pulled out a couple of capsules of Seconal, swallowed them, and started acting the same? I think not. Same effect, just a different substance leading to the same end result. Logical huh?
Unlike the way a physician can give you antibiotics, antidepressants, vaccines, or other medications, the police tell my doctor how much and how often I can take and refill my pain medications. I do not sell them or give themn away, because if I run out, I wind up in excruciating pain from the injuries plus sick from the withdrawal symptoms from the sudden lack of the medication. I also take Nonsteroidal Antiinflamitory medications NSAIDS). The police don't care how many of these I take, even though they have caused bleeding ulcers in myself, and severe heart conditions in some. They just want to be sure you don't get the benefit of a buzz with the medication because that is a sin.
I don't use marijuana, mainly because I don't like the effect, however, I have heard that it is a good, nonhabitforming medicine with few dangerous side effects. I certainly feel those who do benefit from this drug, be it medicinally or through pleasure should have the right to use it without some jerk trying to catch them in the act of enjoying themselves and putting them in a cage because they choose to do so!!! In addition, IMHO, it is a safe intoxicant with many medicinal uses for many other people. As far as I am concerned, marijuana is far less dangerous than tobacco, alcohol, most prescription drugs, and should be free for the use of anyone of adult age to use in the privacy of their own home. ACtually, I feel this way about ALL drugs. I believe that if a person wants to use cocaine, methamphetemine, alcohol, tobacco, barbituartes, Quaaludes, Seconal, whatever, in the privacy of their own home and causes no one else any harm, they should be free to do so. And frankly, I would like to see in the Consititution where there is anything whatsoever stating the contrary.
Anyone who remembers back to the glorious days of when Dean Martin seemed to get a grin from his audience when he pulled out his bottle of booze, started drinking, caught a buzz then started stumbling, talking with slurred speach, pawing at women and acting like an ass. I wonder though, would it have been as funny if he pulled out a couple of capsules of Seconal, swallowed them, and started acting the same? I think not. Same effect, just a different substance leading to the same end result. Logical huh?
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» RE: The Resulting Effects of the Drug War on US! -Part II
Posted by: aussidawg
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A History of Hypocrisy
Posted by: scared on Jan 27, 2009 6:25 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: scared on Jan 27, 2009 6:25 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Gotta love US drug policy.
Recreational drug use is just fine and acceptable if it makes your dick hard (viagra), impairs your motor skills and ability to think (alcohol), causes second hand harm (cigarettes), or helps you zip around your days (caffeine).
But it's downright evil and you're a lesser human if you seek some temporary euphoria (marijuana), let thoughts come into your mind unfiltered (acid, mushrooms), zone yourself out (opiates), or zip around your days in non-approved ways (cocaine, other stimulants).
The war on drugs is a fraud. Prohibition will never work. Any drug can be used responsibly, any drug can be used irresponsibly. Criminalizing responsible/non-harmful to others use of any drug is about the stupidest policy I can think of.
Recreational drug use is just fine and acceptable if it makes your dick hard (viagra), impairs your motor skills and ability to think (alcohol), causes second hand harm (cigarettes), or helps you zip around your days (caffeine).
But it's downright evil and you're a lesser human if you seek some temporary euphoria (marijuana), let thoughts come into your mind unfiltered (acid, mushrooms), zone yourself out (opiates), or zip around your days in non-approved ways (cocaine, other stimulants).
The war on drugs is a fraud. Prohibition will never work. Any drug can be used responsibly, any drug can be used irresponsibly. Criminalizing responsible/non-harmful to others use of any drug is about the stupidest policy I can think of.
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All sensible solutions begin with reform of
Posted by: paulmagillsmith on Jan 27, 2009 6:38 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: paulmagillsmith on Jan 27, 2009 6:38 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
the PIC (prison industrial complex), and revision of the attitude that all drug problems can be solved through incarceration & punishment. When there are large sums of money involved scoundrels come running, and the hundreds of billions spent on this latter day prohibition experiment have brought scoundrels out of the woodwork with greedy hands grasping.
The results are the same as with America's first failed experiment with prohibition in the 1920's & 1930's. Laws are passed against the will of the people (except a small vocal minority that get most media attention often through 'yellow' journalistic sensationalism), gangsters & profiteers enter the picture due to rapidly rising profits from sale of their product, forces on the extreme right institute repressive measures building more PIC infrastructure, the huge amounts of money involved corrupts politicians who constantly bombard the public with propaganda that they know what they are doing & can get the task done if they just have MORE money, more money is given from a public made fearful, then the criminals make even more money off of their product. Then the cycle repeats, but in the meantime we get a drug gulag system in the US that incarcerates more people than any other industrialized nation, 2.2+ million people incarcerated, and one out of 31 US citizens within the PIC 'system' (jail, prison, parole, probation, but this doesn't include those awaiting trial). Over 800,000 people yearly are incarcerated alone for the verifiably innocuous drug/herb marijuana, which has numerous proven medical benefits to patients in need.
All the while taxpayer money by the trainload is shoved at the wrong people who continually propagandize us with skewed ideological rants based not on science, but faux morality based in fear, our borders in a time of national security needs go unprotected, and the smugglers can raise their prices.
Americans spend over $100+ billion per year on recreational drugs, which is a balance of trade deficit we only gain a consumable product for, the PIC receives about $60+ billion per year (25% of which is completely wasted incarcerating people for marijuana possession), and with demands for continual expansion of the PIC the situation will only worsen.
Just like during alcohol prohibition in the last century YOU CAN'T LOCK UP EVERYONE WHO VIOLATES LAWS CITIZENS DON'T AGREE WITH!
Perhaps even more hurtful to the citizens of this country/world is the propaganda that demonized ALL hemp products following repeal of alcohol prohibition because it could provide solutions to our most pressing problems today such as fuel source, better 'green' product manufacture, and even climate change.
With open minds we can move forward in the 21st century by moving past the greed inspired dogma & erroneous information spawned in 1930's America.
The results are the same as with America's first failed experiment with prohibition in the 1920's & 1930's. Laws are passed against the will of the people (except a small vocal minority that get most media attention often through 'yellow' journalistic sensationalism), gangsters & profiteers enter the picture due to rapidly rising profits from sale of their product, forces on the extreme right institute repressive measures building more PIC infrastructure, the huge amounts of money involved corrupts politicians who constantly bombard the public with propaganda that they know what they are doing & can get the task done if they just have MORE money, more money is given from a public made fearful, then the criminals make even more money off of their product. Then the cycle repeats, but in the meantime we get a drug gulag system in the US that incarcerates more people than any other industrialized nation, 2.2+ million people incarcerated, and one out of 31 US citizens within the PIC 'system' (jail, prison, parole, probation, but this doesn't include those awaiting trial). Over 800,000 people yearly are incarcerated alone for the verifiably innocuous drug/herb marijuana, which has numerous proven medical benefits to patients in need.
All the while taxpayer money by the trainload is shoved at the wrong people who continually propagandize us with skewed ideological rants based not on science, but faux morality based in fear, our borders in a time of national security needs go unprotected, and the smugglers can raise their prices.
Americans spend over $100+ billion per year on recreational drugs, which is a balance of trade deficit we only gain a consumable product for, the PIC receives about $60+ billion per year (25% of which is completely wasted incarcerating people for marijuana possession), and with demands for continual expansion of the PIC the situation will only worsen.
Just like during alcohol prohibition in the last century YOU CAN'T LOCK UP EVERYONE WHO VIOLATES LAWS CITIZENS DON'T AGREE WITH!
Perhaps even more hurtful to the citizens of this country/world is the propaganda that demonized ALL hemp products following repeal of alcohol prohibition because it could provide solutions to our most pressing problems today such as fuel source, better 'green' product manufacture, and even climate change.
With open minds we can move forward in the 21st century by moving past the greed inspired dogma & erroneous information spawned in 1930's America.
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» RE:No politician wants to be the first
Posted by: Sushi
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Feeding Al Capone
Posted by: PaulK on Jan 27, 2009 8:20 AM
Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: PaulK on Jan 27, 2009 8:20 AM
Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Mexico is not a failed state, it is a steady state, and the owner is some cartel's boss. Just as Al Capone owned Chicago, so the narcotraffickers own Mexico and quite a bit of the American Southwest. The current Mexican "government" is just a bunch of guys who go to work and who generally stay out of the way.
Is this what we want for the U.S. government too?
Our first national security priority now needs to be reducing the power of the cartels.
We need to start by sucking all the profit out of the marijuana smuggling business. Decriminalizing pot helps. We might also make it legal to have pot gardens, a maximum of six plants per house, as California has done for medical marijuana. An old law on the books still allows anyone to make 200 gallons of beer/wine per year, tax free, for family use.
As for the hard-core Oxycontin addicts, those who can't clean up, offer them a daily maintenance supply of some drug in exchange for their living in a safe camp far away from anyone. Don't punish them, just keep them safe, provide in-community jobs for them, and keep them away from my neighborhood until they clean up. Separate out the violent offenders, of course. The addicts won't mug anyone in these camps and they won't feed the drug cartels with new money.
Is this what we want for the U.S. government too?
Our first national security priority now needs to be reducing the power of the cartels.
We need to start by sucking all the profit out of the marijuana smuggling business. Decriminalizing pot helps. We might also make it legal to have pot gardens, a maximum of six plants per house, as California has done for medical marijuana. An old law on the books still allows anyone to make 200 gallons of beer/wine per year, tax free, for family use.
As for the hard-core Oxycontin addicts, those who can't clean up, offer them a daily maintenance supply of some drug in exchange for their living in a safe camp far away from anyone. Don't punish them, just keep them safe, provide in-community jobs for them, and keep them away from my neighborhood until they clean up. Separate out the violent offenders, of course. The addicts won't mug anyone in these camps and they won't feed the drug cartels with new money.
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» RE: Feeding Al Capone
Posted by: AUGUST-WEST420
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EFFICACY
Posted by: efficacy on Jan 27, 2009 9:17 AM
Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: efficacy on Jan 27, 2009 9:17 AM
Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
A politician's stance on the drug war is a true test of thier character or lack thereof
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» RE: FFICACY
Posted by: xmvince
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Drug War Facts
Posted by: Defenestrator on Jan 27, 2009 9:20 AM
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Posted by: Defenestrator on Jan 27, 2009 9:20 AM
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Drug War Facts
PDF file, for the "Foreign Policy" related section, scroll to page 206.
PDF file, for the "Foreign Policy" related section, scroll to page 206.
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Follow the money – again.
Posted by: monkeywrench on Jan 27, 2009 11:01 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: monkeywrench on Jan 27, 2009 11:01 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Obama is going to have to fight the greatest obstacle to drug policy reform, one that gets little or no reporting: the massive prison industry. There is easy money – BIG money, taxpayer money – to be made (I refuse to say "earned") by keeping as many people as possible locked up behind bars. This is one reason why the U.S. has the highest per capita prison population in the industrialized world, and why the prison industry has an enormous lobbying profile in Washington. It may also be a motivation behind determinate and minimum sentences, which takes away discretion from judges: mandatory sentences equal dependable income streams.
The real battle over the failed war on drugs has little to do with the health and security of americans, and everything to do with the security of those who profit from our bloated prison system.
The real battle over the failed war on drugs has little to do with the health and security of americans, and everything to do with the security of those who profit from our bloated prison system.
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Drug "War"
Posted by: Archie1954 on Jan 27, 2009 11:31 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: Archie1954 on Jan 27, 2009 11:31 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What is the reason for the drug war? What is the government trying to accomplish? It seems to me that a very large part of the criminal activity we experience today is not a result of drug use so much as it is a result of the so called drug war. Remember what happened when Prohibition was introduced? It resulted in a decade of criminality such as the US had never experienced in its history. Criminality which is still with us today and which has been magnified 10 fold by the war on drugs. If you want to gain control of the drug trade, if you want to stop the killings associated with it, if you want to prevent addiction, overdosing, petty crime associated with it (theft) and all the other anti-social activity associated with it, if you want to reduce the policing costs and incarceration costs and the loss of penalized individuals to the job force and the marketplace then legalize the purchase and possession of recreational drugs, control them with regulation, keep a list of addicts so you can medically help them and arrange to know who are just starting to use recreational drugs so that they can be monitored. Best of all shut down the druglords by cutting them off at the pass, by undercutting their prices and by usurping their clientel.
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We can learn from the NRA and build a NDRA (National Drug Rights Association).
Posted by: Jennifer Bedingfield on Jan 27, 2009 12:08 PM
Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: Jennifer Bedingfield on Jan 27, 2009 12:08 PM
Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And then like guns, drugs would be a right. And don't forget to amend that Constitution to shut off those double standards freaks.
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A cheap, easy
Posted by: willymack on Jan 27, 2009 12:14 PM
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Posted by: willymack on Jan 27, 2009 12:14 PM
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And tremendously popular way to get a start on drug reform would be the complete and immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Taliban would quickly move to eliminate the opium poppies there, and our ten billion dollar a month drain in Iraq would cease. A bonus would be the happiness of those people to see us go, and maybe, just maybe they'd be our friends sometime in the future. The big lie of "terrorism" would be revealed for what it is and always was.
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» RE: A cheap, easy
Posted by: scared
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What "Narcotics" will this meeting cover?
Posted by: xmvince on Jan 27, 2009 1:40 PM
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Posted by: xmvince on Jan 27, 2009 1:40 PM
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Will this even cover marijuana at all or are they just focusing on the drugs that no one cares about?
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Miles to go
Posted by: factus on Jan 27, 2009 2:40 PM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: factus on Jan 27, 2009 2:40 PM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The UN drug treaties are the last line of defense that prohibitionists employ as a reason that our nation can not legalize marijuana. What they neglect to tell the American people is it was the USA who rammed worldwide marijuana prohibition down the throats of every other nation on Earth. Every nation had something to gain or lose from the USA if they didn't sign this treaty. The DEA has done an excellent job of putting it's watchers into nations that weren't playing the game to our standards. Nations in South America & other places are rebelling due to the devastation prohibition is doing to their countries. The CIA/DEA are working to overthrow these rebellious governments. The vast majority of Americans want marijuana prohibition ended due to the damage it's bringing here, too. The USA can just as easily end this treaty. But, Obama will most likely miss this golden opportunity to turn things around by pushing a new treaty featuring the legalization of marijuana. It's true that the prohibition industry is well entrenched & powerful. But, this nation & the world can no longer afford to support prohibiton. By the time this bailout/stimulus package is passed, every American citizen, even newborns, will owe $60,000.00 to the national debt. That's $240,000.00 for a family of four. Our debt will have to be repaid one day. We can forget about future generations going to college. They'll be slaving their lives away just to keep our nation afloat. While our economy is tanking & the war on drugs is draining our life blood away in taxes. The US Congress has quietly slipped $3 billion into this boondoggle to fund Byrne Grants. These are nothing more than blocks of money given to States to fund the war on drug users. Never mind the fact that there's very little over site for how this money will be spent. The point is that prohibitionists are insistent on running this country into the ground. Once that happens we won't have to worry about what new Hell prohibition is perpetrating. Our nation will be in a state of anarchy. Marijuana prohibition has been so successful that we better end it before it's too late. It's alcohol prohibition all over again. Only this time it's 100x worse.
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Don't get your hopes up about Obama
Posted by: aahpat on Jan 28, 2009 6:13 PM
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Posted by: aahpat on Jan 28, 2009 6:13 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The people around him are all career drug warriors. Obama had implied during the campaign that he would end medical pot raids. But on inauguration day he appointed as acting Drug Czar career ONDCP drug warrior Edward Jurith who two days later had the DEA busting down doors in California medical cannabis facilities.
This man Obama appointed to run drug policy said this in 2001.
"The 2000 DAWN report shows the undeniable health consequences of substance abuse. Drugs often touted as harmless, such as marijuana and Ecstasy, are obviously dangerous and addictive, and the numbers prove it," Jurith said.
Pot reform advocates are hoping that the raid on Jan. 22 was the last gasp of Bush holdovers. I believe that, since Jurith is one of those holdovers who Obama promoted minutes after being sworn in as the 44th president, the California raids were an inaugural event of the new administration to assure police and prison unions that they are still the boss in drug war policy.
Obama's support for the for the stimulus package with $3-billion in new Byrne Grant funds further supports the contention that Obama is not a drug reformer in the slightest way shape or form.
This man Obama appointed to run drug policy said this in 2001.
"The 2000 DAWN report shows the undeniable health consequences of substance abuse. Drugs often touted as harmless, such as marijuana and Ecstasy, are obviously dangerous and addictive, and the numbers prove it," Jurith said.
Pot reform advocates are hoping that the raid on Jan. 22 was the last gasp of Bush holdovers. I believe that, since Jurith is one of those holdovers who Obama promoted minutes after being sworn in as the 44th president, the California raids were an inaugural event of the new administration to assure police and prison unions that they are still the boss in drug war policy.
Obama's support for the for the stimulus package with $3-billion in new Byrne Grant funds further supports the contention that Obama is not a drug reformer in the slightest way shape or form.
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Alternet Comments:
» RE: The Resulting Effects of the Drug War on US! -Part II
Posted by: aussidawg
» RE:No politician wants to be the first
Posted by: Sushi
» RE: Feeding Al Capone
Posted by: AUGUST-WEST420
» RE: FFICACY
Posted by: xmvince
» RE: A cheap, easy
Posted by: scared
Comments are closed-
The Resulting Effects of the Drug War on US! -Part I
Posted by: aussidawg on Jan 27, 2009 5:38 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: aussidawg on Jan 27, 2009 5:38 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I have to admit, I am very prejudiced when it comes to the drug war. I am a chronic pain sufferer with degenerative joint disease including degenerative disk disease (I have more metal in my back than most iron mines in the northern parts of Mn. and Mich. combined), my shoulders are all locked up with arthritis, I just had a failed knee surgery, and finally, am just recovering from a severe spiral fracture of the tibia and fibula in my right leg as the result of being broadsided on my motorcycle by an inattentive motorist in a pickup. As a result of this chronic pain, I am in pain management, in which I use prescription pain medicine on a daily basis just to be able to function as normal as possible. Yes, I do have a physical dependence on the painkillers, but that is not the same as addiction, which is a psychlogical need and craving for the indirect effects of the drug (euphoria.) I got that at one time, a very long time ago, but it is no longer present.
Unlike the way a physician can give you antibiotics, antidepressants, vaccines, or other medications, the police tell my doctor how much and how often I can take and refill my pain medications. I do not sell them or give themn away, because if I run out, I wind up in excruciating pain from the injuries plus sick from the withdrawal symptoms from the sudden lack of the medication. I also take Nonsteroidal Antiinflamitory medications NSAIDS). The police don't care how many of these I take, even though they have caused bleeding ulcers in myself, and severe heart conditions in some. They just want to be sure you don't get the benefit of a buzz with the medication because that is a sin.
I don't use marijuana, mainly because I don't like the effect, however, I have heard that it is a good, nonhabitforming medicine with few dangerous side effects. I certainly feel those who do benefit from this drug, be it medicinally or through pleasure should have the right to use it without some jerk trying to catch them in the act of enjoying themselves and putting them in a cage because they choose to do so!!! In addition, IMHO, it is a safe intoxicant with many medicinal uses for many other people. As far as I am concerned, marijuana is far less dangerous than tobacco, alcohol, most prescription drugs, and should be free for the use of anyone of adult age to use in the privacy of their own home. ACtually, I feel this way about ALL drugs. I believe that if a person wants to use cocaine, methamphetemine, alcohol, tobacco, barbituartes, Quaaludes, Seconal, whatever, in the privacy of their own home and causes no one else any harm, they should be free to do so. And frankly, I would like to see in the Consititution where there is anything whatsoever stating the contrary.
Anyone who remembers back to the glorious days of when Dean Martin seemed to get a grin from his audience when he pulled out his bottle of booze, started drinking, caught a buzz then started stumbling, talking with slurred speach, pawing at women and acting like an ass. I wonder though, would it have been as funny if he pulled out a couple of capsules of Seconal, swallowed them, and started acting the same? I think not. Same effect, just a different substance leading to the same end result. Logical huh?
Unlike the way a physician can give you antibiotics, antidepressants, vaccines, or other medications, the police tell my doctor how much and how often I can take and refill my pain medications. I do not sell them or give themn away, because if I run out, I wind up in excruciating pain from the injuries plus sick from the withdrawal symptoms from the sudden lack of the medication. I also take Nonsteroidal Antiinflamitory medications NSAIDS). The police don't care how many of these I take, even though they have caused bleeding ulcers in myself, and severe heart conditions in some. They just want to be sure you don't get the benefit of a buzz with the medication because that is a sin.
I don't use marijuana, mainly because I don't like the effect, however, I have heard that it is a good, nonhabitforming medicine with few dangerous side effects. I certainly feel those who do benefit from this drug, be it medicinally or through pleasure should have the right to use it without some jerk trying to catch them in the act of enjoying themselves and putting them in a cage because they choose to do so!!! In addition, IMHO, it is a safe intoxicant with many medicinal uses for many other people. As far as I am concerned, marijuana is far less dangerous than tobacco, alcohol, most prescription drugs, and should be free for the use of anyone of adult age to use in the privacy of their own home. ACtually, I feel this way about ALL drugs. I believe that if a person wants to use cocaine, methamphetemine, alcohol, tobacco, barbituartes, Quaaludes, Seconal, whatever, in the privacy of their own home and causes no one else any harm, they should be free to do so. And frankly, I would like to see in the Consititution where there is anything whatsoever stating the contrary.
Anyone who remembers back to the glorious days of when Dean Martin seemed to get a grin from his audience when he pulled out his bottle of booze, started drinking, caught a buzz then started stumbling, talking with slurred speach, pawing at women and acting like an ass. I wonder though, would it have been as funny if he pulled out a couple of capsules of Seconal, swallowed them, and started acting the same? I think not. Same effect, just a different substance leading to the same end result. Logical huh?
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» RE: The Resulting Effects of the Drug War on US! -Part II
Posted by: aussidawg
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A History of Hypocrisy
Posted by: scared on Jan 27, 2009 6:25 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: scared on Jan 27, 2009 6:25 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Gotta love US drug policy.
Recreational drug use is just fine and acceptable if it makes your dick hard (viagra), impairs your motor skills and ability to think (alcohol), causes second hand harm (cigarettes), or helps you zip around your days (caffeine).
But it's downright evil and you're a lesser human if you seek some temporary euphoria (marijuana), let thoughts come into your mind unfiltered (acid, mushrooms), zone yourself out (opiates), or zip around your days in non-approved ways (cocaine, other stimulants).
The war on drugs is a fraud. Prohibition will never work. Any drug can be used responsibly, any drug can be used irresponsibly. Criminalizing responsible/non-harmful to others use of any drug is about the stupidest policy I can think of.
Recreational drug use is just fine and acceptable if it makes your dick hard (viagra), impairs your motor skills and ability to think (alcohol), causes second hand harm (cigarettes), or helps you zip around your days (caffeine).
But it's downright evil and you're a lesser human if you seek some temporary euphoria (marijuana), let thoughts come into your mind unfiltered (acid, mushrooms), zone yourself out (opiates), or zip around your days in non-approved ways (cocaine, other stimulants).
The war on drugs is a fraud. Prohibition will never work. Any drug can be used responsibly, any drug can be used irresponsibly. Criminalizing responsible/non-harmful to others use of any drug is about the stupidest policy I can think of.
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All sensible solutions begin with reform of
Posted by: paulmagillsmith on Jan 27, 2009 6:38 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: paulmagillsmith on Jan 27, 2009 6:38 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
the PIC (prison industrial complex), and revision of the attitude that all drug problems can be solved through incarceration & punishment. When there are large sums of money involved scoundrels come running, and the hundreds of billions spent on this latter day prohibition experiment have brought scoundrels out of the woodwork with greedy hands grasping.
The results are the same as with America's first failed experiment with prohibition in the 1920's & 1930's. Laws are passed against the will of the people (except a small vocal minority that get most media attention often through 'yellow' journalistic sensationalism), gangsters & profiteers enter the picture due to rapidly rising profits from sale of their product, forces on the extreme right institute repressive measures building more PIC infrastructure, the huge amounts of money involved corrupts politicians who constantly bombard the public with propaganda that they know what they are doing & can get the task done if they just have MORE money, more money is given from a public made fearful, then the criminals make even more money off of their product. Then the cycle repeats, but in the meantime we get a drug gulag system in the US that incarcerates more people than any other industrialized nation, 2.2+ million people incarcerated, and one out of 31 US citizens within the PIC 'system' (jail, prison, parole, probation, but this doesn't include those awaiting trial). Over 800,000 people yearly are incarcerated alone for the verifiably innocuous drug/herb marijuana, which has numerous proven medical benefits to patients in need.
All the while taxpayer money by the trainload is shoved at the wrong people who continually propagandize us with skewed ideological rants based not on science, but faux morality based in fear, our borders in a time of national security needs go unprotected, and the smugglers can raise their prices.
Americans spend over $100+ billion per year on recreational drugs, which is a balance of trade deficit we only gain a consumable product for, the PIC receives about $60+ billion per year (25% of which is completely wasted incarcerating people for marijuana possession), and with demands for continual expansion of the PIC the situation will only worsen.
Just like during alcohol prohibition in the last century YOU CAN'T LOCK UP EVERYONE WHO VIOLATES LAWS CITIZENS DON'T AGREE WITH!
Perhaps even more hurtful to the citizens of this country/world is the propaganda that demonized ALL hemp products following repeal of alcohol prohibition because it could provide solutions to our most pressing problems today such as fuel source, better 'green' product manufacture, and even climate change.
With open minds we can move forward in the 21st century by moving past the greed inspired dogma & erroneous information spawned in 1930's America.
The results are the same as with America's first failed experiment with prohibition in the 1920's & 1930's. Laws are passed against the will of the people (except a small vocal minority that get most media attention often through 'yellow' journalistic sensationalism), gangsters & profiteers enter the picture due to rapidly rising profits from sale of their product, forces on the extreme right institute repressive measures building more PIC infrastructure, the huge amounts of money involved corrupts politicians who constantly bombard the public with propaganda that they know what they are doing & can get the task done if they just have MORE money, more money is given from a public made fearful, then the criminals make even more money off of their product. Then the cycle repeats, but in the meantime we get a drug gulag system in the US that incarcerates more people than any other industrialized nation, 2.2+ million people incarcerated, and one out of 31 US citizens within the PIC 'system' (jail, prison, parole, probation, but this doesn't include those awaiting trial). Over 800,000 people yearly are incarcerated alone for the verifiably innocuous drug/herb marijuana, which has numerous proven medical benefits to patients in need.
All the while taxpayer money by the trainload is shoved at the wrong people who continually propagandize us with skewed ideological rants based not on science, but faux morality based in fear, our borders in a time of national security needs go unprotected, and the smugglers can raise their prices.
Americans spend over $100+ billion per year on recreational drugs, which is a balance of trade deficit we only gain a consumable product for, the PIC receives about $60+ billion per year (25% of which is completely wasted incarcerating people for marijuana possession), and with demands for continual expansion of the PIC the situation will only worsen.
Just like during alcohol prohibition in the last century YOU CAN'T LOCK UP EVERYONE WHO VIOLATES LAWS CITIZENS DON'T AGREE WITH!
Perhaps even more hurtful to the citizens of this country/world is the propaganda that demonized ALL hemp products following repeal of alcohol prohibition because it could provide solutions to our most pressing problems today such as fuel source, better 'green' product manufacture, and even climate change.
With open minds we can move forward in the 21st century by moving past the greed inspired dogma & erroneous information spawned in 1930's America.
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» RE:No politician wants to be the first
Posted by: Sushi
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Feeding Al Capone
Posted by: PaulK on Jan 27, 2009 8:20 AM
Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: PaulK on Jan 27, 2009 8:20 AM
Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Mexico is not a failed state, it is a steady state, and the owner is some cartel's boss. Just as Al Capone owned Chicago, so the narcotraffickers own Mexico and quite a bit of the American Southwest. The current Mexican "government" is just a bunch of guys who go to work and who generally stay out of the way.
Is this what we want for the U.S. government too?
Our first national security priority now needs to be reducing the power of the cartels.
We need to start by sucking all the profit out of the marijuana smuggling business. Decriminalizing pot helps. We might also make it legal to have pot gardens, a maximum of six plants per house, as California has done for medical marijuana. An old law on the books still allows anyone to make 200 gallons of beer/wine per year, tax free, for family use.
As for the hard-core Oxycontin addicts, those who can't clean up, offer them a daily maintenance supply of some drug in exchange for their living in a safe camp far away from anyone. Don't punish them, just keep them safe, provide in-community jobs for them, and keep them away from my neighborhood until they clean up. Separate out the violent offenders, of course. The addicts won't mug anyone in these camps and they won't feed the drug cartels with new money.
Is this what we want for the U.S. government too?
Our first national security priority now needs to be reducing the power of the cartels.
We need to start by sucking all the profit out of the marijuana smuggling business. Decriminalizing pot helps. We might also make it legal to have pot gardens, a maximum of six plants per house, as California has done for medical marijuana. An old law on the books still allows anyone to make 200 gallons of beer/wine per year, tax free, for family use.
As for the hard-core Oxycontin addicts, those who can't clean up, offer them a daily maintenance supply of some drug in exchange for their living in a safe camp far away from anyone. Don't punish them, just keep them safe, provide in-community jobs for them, and keep them away from my neighborhood until they clean up. Separate out the violent offenders, of course. The addicts won't mug anyone in these camps and they won't feed the drug cartels with new money.
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» RE: Feeding Al Capone
Posted by: AUGUST-WEST420
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EFFICACY
Posted by: efficacy on Jan 27, 2009 9:17 AM
Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: efficacy on Jan 27, 2009 9:17 AM
Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
A politician's stance on the drug war is a true test of thier character or lack thereof
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» RE: FFICACY
Posted by: xmvince
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Drug War Facts
Posted by: Defenestrator on Jan 27, 2009 9:20 AM
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Posted by: Defenestrator on Jan 27, 2009 9:20 AM
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Drug War Facts
PDF file, for the "Foreign Policy" related section, scroll to page 206.
PDF file, for the "Foreign Policy" related section, scroll to page 206.
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Follow the money – again.
Posted by: monkeywrench on Jan 27, 2009 11:01 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: monkeywrench on Jan 27, 2009 11:01 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Obama is going to have to fight the greatest obstacle to drug policy reform, one that gets little or no reporting: the massive prison industry. There is easy money – BIG money, taxpayer money – to be made (I refuse to say "earned") by keeping as many people as possible locked up behind bars. This is one reason why the U.S. has the highest per capita prison population in the industrialized world, and why the prison industry has an enormous lobbying profile in Washington. It may also be a motivation behind determinate and minimum sentences, which takes away discretion from judges: mandatory sentences equal dependable income streams.
The real battle over the failed war on drugs has little to do with the health and security of americans, and everything to do with the security of those who profit from our bloated prison system.
The real battle over the failed war on drugs has little to do with the health and security of americans, and everything to do with the security of those who profit from our bloated prison system.
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Drug "War"
Posted by: Archie1954 on Jan 27, 2009 11:31 AM
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Posted by: Archie1954 on Jan 27, 2009 11:31 AM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What is the reason for the drug war? What is the government trying to accomplish? It seems to me that a very large part of the criminal activity we experience today is not a result of drug use so much as it is a result of the so called drug war. Remember what happened when Prohibition was introduced? It resulted in a decade of criminality such as the US had never experienced in its history. Criminality which is still with us today and which has been magnified 10 fold by the war on drugs. If you want to gain control of the drug trade, if you want to stop the killings associated with it, if you want to prevent addiction, overdosing, petty crime associated with it (theft) and all the other anti-social activity associated with it, if you want to reduce the policing costs and incarceration costs and the loss of penalized individuals to the job force and the marketplace then legalize the purchase and possession of recreational drugs, control them with regulation, keep a list of addicts so you can medically help them and arrange to know who are just starting to use recreational drugs so that they can be monitored. Best of all shut down the druglords by cutting them off at the pass, by undercutting their prices and by usurping their clientel.
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We can learn from the NRA and build a NDRA (National Drug Rights Association).
Posted by: Jennifer Bedingfield on Jan 27, 2009 12:08 PM
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Posted by: Jennifer Bedingfield on Jan 27, 2009 12:08 PM
Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And then like guns, drugs would be a right. And don't forget to amend that Constitution to shut off those double standards freaks.
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A cheap, easy
Posted by: willymack on Jan 27, 2009 12:14 PM
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Posted by: willymack on Jan 27, 2009 12:14 PM
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And tremendously popular way to get a start on drug reform would be the complete and immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Taliban would quickly move to eliminate the opium poppies there, and our ten billion dollar a month drain in Iraq would cease. A bonus would be the happiness of those people to see us go, and maybe, just maybe they'd be our friends sometime in the future. The big lie of "terrorism" would be revealed for what it is and always was.
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» RE: A cheap, easy
Posted by: scared
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What "Narcotics" will this meeting cover?
Posted by: xmvince on Jan 27, 2009 1:40 PM
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Posted by: xmvince on Jan 27, 2009 1:40 PM
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Will this even cover marijuana at all or are they just focusing on the drugs that no one cares about?
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Miles to go
Posted by: factus on Jan 27, 2009 2:40 PM
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Posted by: factus on Jan 27, 2009 2:40 PM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The UN drug treaties are the last line of defense that prohibitionists employ as a reason that our nation can not legalize marijuana. What they neglect to tell the American people is it was the USA who rammed worldwide marijuana prohibition down the throats of every other nation on Earth. Every nation had something to gain or lose from the USA if they didn't sign this treaty. The DEA has done an excellent job of putting it's watchers into nations that weren't playing the game to our standards. Nations in South America & other places are rebelling due to the devastation prohibition is doing to their countries. The CIA/DEA are working to overthrow these rebellious governments. The vast majority of Americans want marijuana prohibition ended due to the damage it's bringing here, too. The USA can just as easily end this treaty. But, Obama will most likely miss this golden opportunity to turn things around by pushing a new treaty featuring the legalization of marijuana. It's true that the prohibition industry is well entrenched & powerful. But, this nation & the world can no longer afford to support prohibiton. By the time this bailout/stimulus package is passed, every American citizen, even newborns, will owe $60,000.00 to the national debt. That's $240,000.00 for a family of four. Our debt will have to be repaid one day. We can forget about future generations going to college. They'll be slaving their lives away just to keep our nation afloat. While our economy is tanking & the war on drugs is draining our life blood away in taxes. The US Congress has quietly slipped $3 billion into this boondoggle to fund Byrne Grants. These are nothing more than blocks of money given to States to fund the war on drug users. Never mind the fact that there's very little over site for how this money will be spent. The point is that prohibitionists are insistent on running this country into the ground. Once that happens we won't have to worry about what new Hell prohibition is perpetrating. Our nation will be in a state of anarchy. Marijuana prohibition has been so successful that we better end it before it's too late. It's alcohol prohibition all over again. Only this time it's 100x worse.
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Don't get your hopes up about Obama
Posted by: aahpat on Jan 28, 2009 6:13 PM
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Posted by: aahpat on Jan 28, 2009 6:13 PM
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The people around him are all career drug warriors. Obama had implied during the campaign that he would end medical pot raids. But on inauguration day he appointed as acting Drug Czar career ONDCP drug warrior Edward Jurith who two days later had the DEA busting down doors in California medical cannabis facilities.
This man Obama appointed to run drug policy said this in 2001.
"The 2000 DAWN report shows the undeniable health consequences of substance abuse. Drugs often touted as harmless, such as marijuana and Ecstasy, are obviously dangerous and addictive, and the numbers prove it," Jurith said.
Pot reform advocates are hoping that the raid on Jan. 22 was the last gasp of Bush holdovers. I believe that, since Jurith is one of those holdovers who Obama promoted minutes after being sworn in as the 44th president, the California raids were an inaugural event of the new administration to assure police and prison unions that they are still the boss in drug war policy.
Obama's support for the for the stimulus package with $3-billion in new Byrne Grant funds further supports the contention that Obama is not a drug reformer in the slightest way shape or form.
This man Obama appointed to run drug policy said this in 2001.
"The 2000 DAWN report shows the undeniable health consequences of substance abuse. Drugs often touted as harmless, such as marijuana and Ecstasy, are obviously dangerous and addictive, and the numbers prove it," Jurith said.
Pot reform advocates are hoping that the raid on Jan. 22 was the last gasp of Bush holdovers. I believe that, since Jurith is one of those holdovers who Obama promoted minutes after being sworn in as the 44th president, the California raids were an inaugural event of the new administration to assure police and prison unions that they are still the boss in drug war policy.
Obama's support for the for the stimulus package with $3-billion in new Byrne Grant funds further supports the contention that Obama is not a drug reformer in the slightest way shape or form.
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PROGRESSIVE WIRE
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