NPR this morning (and a host of major media sources around the world):
Report: ‘The Drug War Has Failed’
The global war on drugs has failed and governments should explore legalizing marijuana and other controlled substances, according to a commission that includes former heads of state, a former U.N. secretary-general and a business mogul.
A new report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy argues that the decades-old “global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.” The 24-page paper will be released Thursday.
“Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won,” the report said.
The 19-member commission includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former U.S. official George P. Schultz, who held cabinet posts under U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. Others include former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, former presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, writers Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa, U.K. business mogul Richard Branson and the current prime minister of Greece.
Instead of punishing users who the report says “do no harm to others,” the commission argues that governments should end criminalization of drug use, experiment with legal models that would undermine organized crime syndicates and offer health and treatment services for drug-users in need.
The commission called for drug policies based on methods empirically proven to reduce crime, lead to better health and promote economic and social development.
The commission is especially critical of the United States, which its members say must lead changing its anti-drug policies from being guided by anti-crime approaches to ones rooted in healthcare and human rights.
“We hope this country [the U.S.] at least starts to think there are alternatives,” former Colombian president Cesar Gaviria told The Associated Press by phone. “We don’t see the U.S. evolving in a way that is compatible with our [countries’] long-term interests.”
The office of White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said the report was misguided.
The report is available to read here.
Good luck getting our crooked politicians to legalize anything drug related…
Oh and…the only thing misguided Mr Drug Czar.. is you and The ONDCP and those who wrote your rules of engagement.
“We don’t see the U.S. evolving in a way that is compatible with our [countries’] long-term interests.â€
“The office of White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said the report was misguided.”
Well, that about says it all, dunnit?
Hey Duncan! Happy Birthday? Heard somewhere you have a b-day today….ripe old age of 103 I understand 😉
102, don’t be giving me the bum’s rush to the University of Tennessee cadaver farm, err, I mean Forensic Anthropology Center. Did you know that people that give their bodies to that place have to pay for transportation? Sheesh, I’d think they could at the very least provide curbside pickup. But so far it’s the only way I’ve found to be legally allowed to decompose naturally. Talk about absurd prohibition laws, that one takes the cake.
Don’t believe everything you read DC. I don’t even recall why I picked 6/2/1909. Perhaps 6/2/2009 was the day I started my Facebook page.
And I recently read somewhere that Geminis rule the world.
Happy Birthday Duncan!
Sorry, Duncan, 102. Here: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=0&oq=green+burial&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ACGW_en___US378&q=green+burial
No rush, mind you, but a man your age may need this link RIGHT AWAY. I wouldn’t be buying any green bananas, if ya know what I mean….
Well, we all hope you had a very happy unbirthday. (P.S. knew it was a joke, but I couldn’t resist. Tried to bring everybody along, but they weren’t having any 😉
Gil’s response
Uk Home Office response had a similar rejection saying drugs are harmful blah blah.. so obviously no debate but more blind adhering to failed policy.
Also, on the same day here in the UK, the charity Release published a full page advert in the Guardian calling on the prime minister to review the effectiveness of current drug policy http://www.release.org.uk/images/stories/pdf/Release_Guardian_Advert_Final.pdf. Some big names there. Is all kicking off today!
This was the UK Home Office response:
So much deliberate misunderstanding in that statement. Gallon of Vodka anyone?
Humm…lies and corruption are harmful and destroy lives ..we dont see such vigor at stopping that from harming people….Oh thats right….birds of feather flock together.
I wonder, what will Gil say after he retires?
The panel’s report is getting a lot of attention this morning. CBSNews.com is running the story as one of its top headlines.
As for the official U.S. government response, the only thing proven by the ONDCP’s rejection of the report via ONDCP spokesman Rafael Lemaitre is that when Rafael Lemaitre speaks or takes Viagra, his nose gets longer.
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That’s just an occupational hazard Servetus. John Walters had the same problem.
http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/files/images/4891-Walters_is_Pinocchio.jpg
http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/images/1556shows-1554shows-john.pinocchio.walters.gif
All it takes is a few minutes at ONDCP HQ.
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQSS83kdJcYRwXXfgocIlciV-4QrR6b04PBssqYouHkj8xFB2JmEg
The drug war has not failed to provide employment for moral degenerates like Gil Kerlokowski and Barry McCaffrey. It is nothing but an oppression machine run of by and for the benefit of its operators.
Prohibition creates racketeer government and a criminal businesses. It is the antithesis of a free society. (Nothing new to other victims of the federal government’s oppression, who are ususally non-citizens of a brownish hue.)
So to recap, a UN report calls the war on drugs a failure. The drug czar yells “nah ah” and points to some statistical blips that show reduced drug use over the last few years. Of course the reporter doesn’t follow up by asking how a 40 year drug war could be credited with a drop in drug use that started in the last 5 years.
Then Gil goes on to say that legalization would just make the problem worse (without anything to back that up, just trust me, Itll be worse)
And finally finishes with his schtick about drugs use being an addiction. Which honestly makes it all the more horrible that we lock people up for it. We don’t lock up alcoholics, or smokers, but those drug addicts…they belong in a cage. Thanks Gil.
What is the real agenda? We know its not public health, peace and order, or less drug addiction.
I believe that the pols are so intransigent about prohibition is not so much to keep all the otherwise-unemployable-sociopaths that swell the ranks of the authorities employed, rather its to keep the whole corrupt economic system running. Take out the illegal drug money being laundered through the banks and the whole economic system collapses.
The neo-whatever economic voodoo is unsustainble, the only thing that trickles down is a yellow shower. It truly is a house of cards built on a skein of lies. The wealthy hoard their luchre, its the average person that spends their money (and actually has to work for it).
UN: Drug money saved banks in crisis
http://financialcrimeonline.com/archives/780
….and wait for it….. oh, there it is! The expected nothing happens.
I really wish it wasn’t this way. We have a huge number of people clamoring for change and whenever anything gets presented to the public the media turns to the prohibitionists who say “yep, that report is totally wrong.” And then absolutely nothing happens.
I actually saw the commission’s report discussed on CNN with Judge Gray. The interview with Randi Kaye was fair and the discussion was impressive for a mainstream source like CNN. She read the Obama administration’s response and it was nothing short of disgusting. As we all could have predicted, it mentioned their “balanced” approach to drug policy. Judge Gray rightly refuted this response.
The same as always. It gets a slight bit of non-negative press and then a slight bit more press coverage slaping down common sense with pretzel logic = NOTHING
Don’t give up fellow travelers. Any “light” we can bring to the subject is positive even if it doesn’t pan-out.
Reminds me of the Change dot org thing a year or two ago, now it’s AVAAZ emailing me with stuff that does not apply to the war on drugs.
Sorry for the negative attitude. Quitting tobacco.
Happy Birthday Duncan. Are you old enough for a gray ponytail yet? I’m getting ready to cut mine off and need someone to donate it to. lol
Locks for Love – that’s where I gave mine. I believe it must be at least 12″ long, though.
The War on Drugs failed Billions of dollars ago! This money could have been used for outreach programs to clean up the bad end of drug abuse by providing free HIV testing, free rehab, and clean needles. Harmless drugs like marijuana could be legalized to help boost our damaged economy. Cannabis can provide hemp for countless natural recourses and the tax revenue from sales alone would pull every state in our country out of the red! Vote Teapot, PASS IT, and legalize it. Voice you opinion with the movement and download my FREE poster at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/01/vote-teapot-2011.html
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Hey, this is like the 35th time today I’ve read the post above.
What was Canada’s response!?
I worry for them with their harpy gov.
I asked a canadian why they voted conserv and they said
“better a devil you know than one you don’t”
What kind of voting rational is that?!!!
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The kind that gets Richard Nixon re-elected in a landslide.
Hey, don’t blame me, I voted for Mr. McGovern. But I just wanted the free $1000.
The drug war HAS FAILED any one conneced to any semblance of humble connection with reality has realized this or will eventually realize it.
Listening to M.Medved radio show today he went to college I think it was during the time the Clintons were there.
He would not like to arrest Marijuana users but,drug dealers yes they must be arrested because Marijuana damages the synopsis in brain he fails to mention recent cancer research concerning cannabis and he is a vegetarian. who drinks beer and he thinks George Soros and the crazy communists are behind this whole plan.
A few callers came on not one agreed with him,and were not articulate enough to get their points across I think that well.
Mr. Medved also praised The drug Bill Bennet and current Drug czar and praised him for job well done and said drug war had been somewhat of a success because it had lowered rates and crack cocaine epidemic was almost wiped out, I’m serious here this man gets about 7 million or so listeners most conservatives a smattering of dems and independents these folks will be voting on issues God I hope they question his comments. These folks really believe the drug war is working there is getting to first base with them on any level.
He just told a caller believes use would skyrocket with legality.
Its extremely difficult to through to these folks and he is a practicing Jew who sit on panels with evangelicals who they usually address foreign policy issues I have heard some of the discussions they sound half way intelligent but when it comes to the drug issue all commonsense goes out window.
Mitt Romney throw his hat in the Presidential ring today I’m sure he will say something about this commission eventually and trash George Soros also and anyway I don’t give a FUCK about George Soros and or any other bogie man on any side of these fights but I’m willing to listen to any one who is willing decriminalize or legalize and maybe keep our butts or our family and our friends out of trouble with authorities for using the substances of our choice.
These are my thoughts for now in another day in this crazy yes not FREE anymore America of MINE YEAH i Know has it ever been truly free. Someone in power always ragging up our asses.
C’mon Vicki, you can really look a the stats and not think that they’re doing a heckuva job?
In 1992 there were 185,820 Americans in “treatment” for cocaine (smoked) and 21,703 in “treatment” for amphetamines which I presume includes meth.
In 2008 there were 164,723 Americans in “treatment” for cocaine (smoked) and 127,025 in “treatment” for amphetamines (still presuming the inclusion of meth).
In 1992 there were 184,041 Americans in “treatment” for opioid addiction.
In 2008 there were 403,118 Americans in “treatment” for opioid addiction.
Between 1992 and 2008 there was an increase of 29.24% of Americans in “treatment” for anything. The US population increased 20.36% in that same time frame.
Yeah, we’re winning, that’s the ticket, winning. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/webt/quicklink/us92.htm
http://wwwdasis.samhsa.gov/webt/quicklink/us08.htm
Why 1992 and 2008? Because those are the earliest and latest stats available from SAMHSA.
Heckuva job, no doubt. Soon we’ll be able to say “mission accomplished” too.
This is my favorite story this week cool,I guess he did it using an a hidden camera app in laptop not sure name of it, anyway congrats to proactive citizens these days cannot wait for police to get going on your case,so you nudge them a little Oh in this insane society I would not be surprised if someone tried to make what he did illegal some how.you all probably heard this story anyway, by now.
Police are only interested in your computer if it involves you and a drug crime or porn.
http://thisguyhasmymacbook.tumblr.com/
Oh and in England folks suffering from MS whom Cannabis helps with well with some of there symptoms are being limited and denied treatment in England and only neurologists and pain consultants are being allowed to prescribe it and PCT Primary Care Trust group I guess are making decisions that don’t let enough folks use the Sativex costs involved also.
would that happen here.
http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2011/05/31/MS-Patients-Denied-Licensed-Cannabis-Drug-NHS
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Wow. Did anyone see this coming?
“Feds working with states to resolve medical-marijuana issues, U.S. Attorney General says”
http://www.projo.com/news/content/HOLDER_MARIJUANA_06-03-11_3LOEEIN_v20.33ae691.html
“Thursday, Holder sidestepped questions about whether he would support the arrest of state employees in Rhode Island involved in any medical-marijuana licensing or regulation.”
Duncan, I think he got flustered by the questioning. They are still the same Obama J.D., and I don’t think they intend to stop.
I just think the republicans are in full campaign mode Duncan they think we will convince everyone there policy’s started years ago have WON drug war soon and they will fix economy and erase Obama’s Health Care Yeah Right and Governor Brewer from Arizona will be nice lady for a season no that’s crazy.HA HA.
So they really believe drug use and crime is down and every thing getting better, has soon has there elected.
Everything is always rosey when you hand out the rose colored glasses..with instrutions stating “Removel could alter your reality.”
Its always lolli pops and lemonade when election time comes…bring in the clowns !
No really..they are clowns…with rose colored glasses.
Prohibition is the engine that runs the United States Government. Without it local Police Forces will lose Millions of dollars of Federal funding and it will force them to return to the days of Protecting and Serving the community. The prison systems will shrink, the court systems will shrink, the Politicians will have to do their jobs once more. How will the government grab automobiles, property, ect? Follow the MONEY. Prohibition will never end in the United States…
“Prohibition will never end in the United States…
..”
Guess you shouldn’t be wasting your time on drug law reform sites then, huh?
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Don’t be so tough on the guy DC, he’s just a Rookie.
But I’ve got to admit that I’m completely baffled about the reason people will post that sentiment. Don’t they ever think about the way Senator Sheppard decided to taste his foot in 1930?
If the powers that be were in such total control Russia would still have a Czar, Marie Antoinette would have died of old age and in one piece, and the Titanic would still be taking people deep sea fishing.
Duncan, love that ballad, it’s always good a for a laugh. Here’s the link to the whole thing on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XFYMjkFYPg
It definitly wont end without forcing it to do so.
One claim from the US Drug Czar’s office that crops up in news stories is this: “…the office cites statistics showing declines in U.S. drug use compared to 30 years ago, along with a more recent 46 percent drop in current cocaine use among young adults over the last five years.”
Has anyone run across the actual relevant statistics they’re citing? The use of what drugs exactly is down compared to 30 years ago?
I haven’t found (searchable) statistics from before 1992.
There’s no doubt that these people are master cherry pickers when it comes to statistics. Heroin use is down, hip hip hooray, but let’s not mention that the heroin addicts decided they prefer oxycodone. Cocaine use has gone out of style, but is anyone mentioning that meth use has gone through the roof?
If you scroll up you’ll notice that I posted some stats using SAMHSA numbers. The drug warriors congratulate themselves for the reduction of in “treatment” for cocaine smoking of 21,097 (-11.35%) but don’t mention that the number in “treatment” for meth increased by 105,592 (+502.79%) for the same time period.
21,097/304,374,846 (2008 US population) = 0.00693% of the population or just one heckuva job.
jesus dudes, you can find all the data about drug use on my site.
here is the mtf index page: http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/mtf/index.htm
and here is the one for nshda/nsduh data: http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/nsduh/index.htm
keep clicking the little graphs — they navigate to large scale graphics with data tables or to other slices of the data.
it’s no secret that the stuff is out there and i’m not doing this shit for my health.
*anything* you need to know about drug related data is easily found by doing a search for briancbennett,com and the criteria for the data you are looking for.
and sorry, but no, meth use has not gone through the roof — it’s traditionally not a very attractive drug and has been that way for 40 years!
indeed, check this out to see the relative popularity of the various drugs over time:http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/nsduh/popularity/drug-popularity.htm
here’s another handy page listing almost everything you can find on my site: http://www.briancbennett.com/pagelist.htm
It sure isn’t “Prescription Drug Abuse” (as the headlines read). They’ve been telling us that has “skyrocketed” recently…
they tell us all kinds of shit — and it’s always blown out of proportion and devoid of intelligent context. here: http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/nsduh/pills-type.htm
Those who assert that the drug war has failed are confusing the stated purposes for the actual ones.
Outlawing normal human behavior such as the use of mind altering chemicals generates so many breaches of the law that available resources only allow detection and prosecution of a fraction of them. In such cases it is easy to skew enforcement towards the usual suspects whom all righteous people know to be intrinsically evil.
The fact that Negroes and Hispanics are imprisoned for drug offenses at many times the rate of respectable whit people is not because they use drugs at a higher rate but because the criminal law efficiently channels and amplifies the effects of racial prejudice. every criminal case goes through these succesive stages:-
1/ Government decides which have the worst rate of drug crime and therefore will be subject to army of occupation policing;
2/ Police decide whom to treat as probal criminals and target;
3/ Arresting police decide what charges to lay;
4/ Prosecutor estimates strength of the evidence is;
5/ Prosecutor estimates his bargaining power relative to the accused and hence what plea bargains to offers;
6/ Defendants lawyer estimates how likely he is to be convicted if he goes to trial and advises whether to accept pleadespite mere factual innocence;
7/ Jury decides not to implement presumption of innocence for poor black people as white jurors know that all Blacks are thugs;
8/ Judge imposes more severe sentence since he knows that even though the Black person just convicted had no criminal record this is probably because he was not caught for earlier crimes and thus imposes severe sentence.
Every drug case moves through these 8 steps and even a slight racial bias at each stage compounds up the chain. The end result is that the bias against members of despised minorities is enormous and seems to justify the discrimination that lead to it.
If the lives of white children from the respectable classes were being trashed by drug convictions at the same rate relative to their drug use as are those of poor Blacks and Hispanics, the policy of prohibition would not survive 5 minutes. But the fact of discriminatory enforcement means that the collateral damage to white people is an acceptable toll to pay for the ethnic hygiene benefits.
One cannot understand why the US reacted to drug use in this way if one ignores the history of Negro slavery. The drug laws provide the only effective tool of ethnic and social hygiene policy. That most egregious case of big gummint political correctness and contempt for property rights, the abolition of slavery left the US facing the Negro Question. The drug law provides an effective though slow answer to this question, Blacks locked up until beyond reproductive age are not having children, locked up they are not competing with poor white trash for menial jobs and are not accumulating assets for their descendants. Once released was convicted felons they are stripped of the right to vote and the rights to government assistance with education and housing.
If you doubt my argument get hold of and read Michelle Alexander’s recent book, “The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”.
One thing that angers me about drug reform sites such as this one is that although they occasionally mention the racially discriminatory affects of prohibition they do not see them as a major reason justifying reform.
you were doing fine Carlyle until that last paragraph… if there is one catch-all site on drug policy, here it is. If you wish to promote that view, do it. Very few here are not aware of the glaring racism of the drug war.
I think more to your case is the point that there is a lack of black or hispanic organizational opposition to the WO(sf)D. A simple reminder to folks that one can be anti-drug and still be anti-WO(sf)D goes a long way.
I am a white man from Australia but the aspect of drug prohibition that is most obvious to me is how it has become an avenue for racial discrimination under color of law that is accepted as legitimate. Until Michelle Alexander produced her book, evidence for this was of the anecdotal type, but she has written chapter and verse on all the ways racism is entangled with prohibition laws. She has included the statistics and examined the court decisions (including those of SCOTUS) that have slammed the door in the faces of those who would attempt to raise the effective racial bias to delegitimize the laws.
I have not actually counted instances of drug reform sites tackling or failing to tackle the racism issue but my intuitive impression is that they refer it it much less than it deserves. In my view Michelle Alexander is the only analyst who has given the racism behind prohibition appropriate treatment.
For those who cannot get access to “The New Jim Crow” browsing the archives of Rev Alan Bean’s “Friend of Justice” website is an alternative. Their are reviews of the book, articles following on from the issues it raised and summaries of her arguments by Michelle Alexander herself.
go to MAP’s DrugNews search ( http://www.mapinc.org/search/index.htm ) and enter Michelle Alexander in the Body window, set the years to cover 2009 – 2011. The media has done a fair job and Leonard Pitts’ (from the Miami Herald) column on her book was covered in over a dozen papers. I’m sure Pete has a blogpost on it…
The drug war is sooo vast, it’s tentacles so intertwined in so many layers of social and civil society that I find it hard to say any particular aspect is the “most” important facet. The gutting and filleting of the Constitution, the US and its new Gulag, the use of lie as fact as means of policy mandates… the epidemic of SWAT… criminal syndicates controlling 8% of total annual global trade… it’s disgusting no matter the angle from which it’s viewed.
One can observe that most of the chatter about many social problems is misdirected, what is more interesting than the minor causes that get talked about is the major causes that do not.
For example the failure of children of the Black and Hispanic underclass to learn anything in ghetto schools is always explained as the result of incompetent teachers protected by self interested teachers unions and the fact that schools are government schools and therefore lack the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that they would have if they were sold off to profit making enterprises. The effect of massive social problems and poverty in the communities they serve is the invisible elephant that remains forever unnoticed.
White anti-Negro racism is similar, white people are incapable of seeing it now that only a few of the politically incorrect use the N-word. However the collection of negative comparisons of black skinned people with the white skinned to which the N-word once provided a convenient handle still exist in the minds of most whites and biases their actions towards discrimination especially where collective action is involved as for example via the legal system.
There are two broad types of racism, positive and negative. The positive racist is aware that certain collective actions damage members of despised minorities sees this as a good thing and supports it for that reason although he may not say so except in right thinking company, the negative racist simply has no experience of or empathy for people from the ghettos. Very few whites of the respectable classes actually know any Blacks from the inner city and so never realize that the negative stereotypes do not apply to all the residents.
Thanks for that media awareness project links. I did as you suggested but what strikes me as odd is how few mentions of the New Jim Crow there are, only 24. Nevertheless their may be hope that the book will cause change. In truth such a book was really needed thirty years ago. Other books that examine the racial dimension of the drug war are Nate Blakeslee’s “Tulia, Cocaine Crime and Corruption in a small Texas Town” and Alan Bean’s “Taking out the Trash in Tulia Texas”.
My belief is not just that the racial discrimination is unnoticed as a reason for opposing prohibition but that it is in fact a motivation for it. The reason drugs are seen as evil is that they are seen as involved with the deviant behavior of despised untermenchen. In many people this motivation is unconscious and many of them might be amenable to changing their beliefs if presented with the correct arguments. Not all racists are intrinsically evil and many would be horrified to realize how politicians are exploiting their worst tendencies.
There is a crying need for the methods of sensitization to racist bullying developed by Jane Elliott of fame for the Movies “Blue Eyed” and “A Class Divided” to be applied to the vast majority of US citizens.
“One thing that angers me about drug reform sites such as this one is that although they occasionally mention the racially discriminatory affects of prohibition they do not see them as a major reason justifying reform.”
The issue of racial disparities viv-a-vis prohibition has been aired here at DWR many times. And many of us have been doing our level best to spread awareness of this immense injustice.
About 4,790,000 results (0.20 seconds)Â
Thanks, gentlemen! Duncan’s point is valid, and thanks to Brian’s enormous data arsemal I can now probably back it up in debate.
Alan
One of the reasons that there is a lack of opposition to the drug laws from Black community leaders is that many of them are authoritarian. They may adopt white anti-drug attitudes to make themselves more acceptable to the white community or it may be that they have been brainwashed by the relentless drugs are evil propaganda.
Carlyle,
First of all you’re not a white man you’re a human.
Human’s suck as far as most of the animal kingdom is concerned.
Outside of a few Kochroaches and lapdogs.
occasionally mention the racially discriminatory affects…
It’s covered,.. Race Creed Color Rain Sleet Hail… The wages of Sinsi bring DEAth! It ain’t the color of the skin, it’s the color of the money. Anyone of any color making wages less than Prison charges, brings Obombo or ?evr more tax with yo ass in a cage than earning minimum wage. The prison industry needs raw materials to churn out profits for the Kochroaches. Cleaning the streets. fabricating snitches to bring in more business. It ain’t all chain gang road crews anymore. Mandatory minimums in telemarketing, 3 strikes long term non union slave wages. Same as outsourcing. It’s more on the streets and low rent districts. Because they are seen more… Black brown longhair or toothless white trash suits the suits, and their trained badges. If you make less than private prisons charge, you’re a potential commodity. Sold on the auction block same as great grand daddy. Only now its equal opportunity. Fascism is colorblind as far as counting the coins from the Ganjawar. What are you doing about it?
Thank you Miss Rosa
* The Racist Ganjawar
* Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and MMJ Prohibition
PREJUDICE: MARIJUANA AND THE JIM CROW LAWS
Sister Somaya Kambui – 03/20/02
SLAVERY IN THE HEMP INDUSTRY James F. Hopkins
Remember Tulia? Race, Cocaine, and Corruption
* Race and Imprisonment in the Drug War
* Prisons: America’s Newest Growth Industry
Private prison companies have some powerful allies in the fight for stiffer sentences and more prison spending. For example, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which has grown from 4,000 to 23,000 in the last decade, gave more than $1 million to various California state politicians in 1996. The prison lobby is also supported by the National Rifle Association. Armed with an agenda of deflecting public fear away from guns and toward people, the NRA successfully lobbies for prison construction and three-strikes-and-you’re-out laws.
* Journey for Justice Pedaling for Pot
* The NRA strikes Back By Chris Bryson
An important and largely overlooked force driving the prison boom in the United States is the National Rifle Association. With a membership of some 3 million, an estimated war chest of $140 million, and paid lobbyists in ail 50 states, the NRA has thrown its weight behind so-called “get tough on crime†measures and prison-building initiatives.
* Slave Labor Means Big Bucks For U.S. Corporations
* Ganjawar: Slave Labor, Rape & Pillage Deterrent
At the same time, the United States blasts China for the the use of prison slave labor, engaging in the same practice itself. Prison labor is a pot of gold. No strikes, union organizing, health benefits, unemployment insurance or workers’ compensation to pay. As if exploiting the labor of prison inmates was not bad enough, it is legal in the United States to use slave labor. The 13th Amendment of the Constitution states that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted shall exist within the United States.â€
* FAMM – All about Mandatory Minimum Sentencing
Congress enacted mandatory minimum sentencing laws to catch drug “kingpins†and deter drug sales and use. But the laws undermine the American tradition of justice by preventing judges from fitting the punishment to the individual’s role in the offense. Because of mandatory sentencing laws, the population of federal prisons has soared and they are filled with low-level, nonviolent drug law violators – not the “kingpins†mandatory sentences intended to apprehend.
* Young Black Americans and the Criminal Justice System
Five Years Later. October 1995 report.
* U.S. Federal prison population
number and percent sentenced for drug offenses 1970-1997
* USA. Mandatory Life Without Parole for Woman after First Offense
* *Shattered Lives, Human Rights and the Drug Warâ€
Book by Mikki Norris, Chris Conrad, and Virginia Resner
The Nation on drug policy reform « Drug WarRant
Drugs, money, police, informants. Scandal in Tulsa. « Drug WarRant
What did you do about slavery, Daddy? « Drug WarRant
One thing that angers me is lazy people expecting others to provide them answers.
So really….how many times do we have to hear it said,
“The Drug War Is A failure.”, “The drug wars enrich the cartels” ,” The drug wars dont stop addiction” ,”The drug wars waste billions of dollars.”, “The drug war cant keep drugs out of the US or the hands of its citizens” , “The drug war ruins the lives of otherwise law abiding people” , ” The drug war is a war on the people”, “The drug war sees your kid with a joint no diferently than anyone else…that kids life will be ruined too.” “The drug wars are not about saving your kids…its about power , money and corruption.”
really..how many ways do we have to say this before the warmongers are kick on their can. How many times do we show that drug raids kill innocent people…people with one joint, which is not supposed to be a death sentence?
Really, how bad does it have to get before we stop the few who are TERRORIZING the many?
When does it stop….when do we say “ENOUGH!”
When thats done…will we do the same with the out of control spending, the wars around the world, the lies feed to us everyday.
“ENOUGH ! “