The UNODC has spent a lot of effort complaining about marijuana legalization in places like Uruguay, Colorado, and Washington, but focus should really be on the damage being caused by the UNODC.
UN urged to act on Vietnam over death penalty
HANOI, Vietnam — The United Nations should immediately freeze anti-drug assistance to Vietnam after the communist country sentenced 30 people to die for drug-related offenses, three human rights groups working to get countries to abolish the death penalty said Wednesday. […]
Last month, a court in northern Vietnam sentenced 30 people to death last month for heroin trafficking, the largest number of defendants sentenced to death in a single trial in the country’s court history. The trial of each defendant lasted around a day. There are nearly 700 people on the death row in Vietnam, many of them for drugs. […]
UNODC aid to Vietnam will exceed $5 million for technical assistance, equipment, training and other support for the 2012-2017 period, the letter said. Drug control is the largest component of the program.
And, of course, when you have 30 people sentenced to death in one heroin trafficking sweep, you can bet that a majority of those are low-level participants.
UNODC funding to such countries (along with their praise of anti-trafficking efforts) gives cover to horrendous human rights violations in the name of the drug war.
And this is not the only way in which the UNODC’s hands are bloody. The organization has fully admitted the simple truth that world-wide drug prohibition causes black market violence. And yet they refuse to consider alternatives and push for more of the same.
Look at how many high paying jobs they opened up.
When we can reduce tobacco use by 50% ,,which is nearly as addictive as heroin,without even arresting someone then they can reduce heroin use even if it requires hash oil to do it.
Without the black market, there is no profit from drugs.
Unless you’re a pharmaceutical company.
Speaking of profits from drugs; How are legal cannabis sales going in Colorado? In the first week or so, the sales figures were released but I haven’t heard anything since. Have sales kept up, decreased or increased? How much has Colorado been enriched by taxes on legal cannabis? If one thing will bring other states on board it is tax revenue. To a politician, tax revenue is as addictive as opiates.
Over $3 million in taxes in less than 30 days,,no spike or even a bump in expected market activity as promised by SAM or increased mayhem on the highways,,DUI’s New years weekend dropped along with deaths from traffic accidents,,,everything the opposite of what the prohibitch’s predicted.
Looks like a couple of the prohibitches don’t like those facts, clay. And they definitely don’t like those facts being spread around, either; therefore let us spread them as widely as possible, especially to States considering legislation or voter’s initiatives to re-legalize cannabis for recreational use.
(I expect this comment to get at least 2 down votes, too.)
Talk about click bait! I thought the story was going to be about UNODC losing their funding. Maybe next lifetime…
Dreamer.
To save confusion I stuck a thumb up both of you…US funding is very close to ending,,they can’t afford to buy 20 countries back into prohibition resulting in legal markets that every country will want a part of,,except maybe the US,CAN and the UK.
I think we can eventually bring addiction rates under control,,greed is the problem we can’t fix without revolution or violent removal of the top of the pile.
Get with the picture Pete,you dirty hippie elite. You be a jizz ragging,yah teachings weak,and morality obsolete. Your a criminal who supports death & rape of innocence.i know its true,my friend Kevin,Mark & Paul told me so. Marijuana leads to rape and murder. Most marijuana activist are kittie porn watchers. Stop fucking up America bro,get a real job ,theater is for them qweers who dishonor their families & socity. I dont drink ,shoot up,or take X. All I need in this like is Rush,Sam and a noose around a potheads neck,they can be the pendulum that swings under the sun. Murder decorate the landscape as everones hangs shake from quality they found.
Oh Mr Bulkner ,you’re not feeling well today. No percs
or oxys to steal from the evidence locker ?
Here I’ve got some Ex Lax for you,,,take a couple,they’re very nice.
Uh…Hey Pete, that whacko is outside on the lawn yelling at the house again. He’s foaming at the mouth drunk. Looks like he’s not wearing any pants this time. Doesn’t he have a house to go to? I mean…someone ELSES? Can I borrow your camera to put it up on youtube?
Help yourself.
I just think of him as a unique lawn gnome.
as opposed to a unique lawn genome…
OT… my first wwweb piece for Cannabis Now Magazine’s wwwebsite (the only cannabis magazine on iTunes):
Blue Collar Cannabis Economics
And there is commenting allowed… or you can tell me here if you think it works or not.
Awaiting moderation:
Over regulation and over taxing will keep a green market alive and thriving just like prohibition because you can’t charge $5 per gram for a product that can be grown outdoors for less than $1 per gram and grows anywhere there is enough water and soil.
Elected legislators love to add “sin†taxes,,forget marijuana users paying you back for the nearly $5 trillion dollars THEY wasted following a policy built on lies and myths,,tax the sinners,,the politicians that are still keeping it going today.
I guess this headline should not be a surprise to anyone:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/out-shadows-pot-sellers-can-now-do-business-banks-n30661
“”In a seven-page memo, the Treasury Department said it will not target bank transactions with marijuana businesses in those states as long as the businesses are properly licensed and the banks are taking steps to make sure the businesses don’t show signs of gang or cartel-connected activity.””
Memos can be shredded anytime and the banks will refuse to honor them,,memos are not admissible in a court of law when and if banking funds are seized,,,,and until the DOJ removes cannabis from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 the DOJ can’t write regulations for any business connected with a schedule 1 drug,,the same reason all legal marijuana businesses have is memos and no Federal regulations.
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Could we consider the possibility that the cannabis vendors could start their own bank or credit union? Sure, it’s a good possibility that they’re just being set up. But in my mind it isn’t even arguable that there are a lot of people who want to be legitimate cannabis vendors they’ll take some pretty extreme legal risks. It’s just not farfetched to argue that there would be some of those people willing to open a bank or credit union to
One of my biggest pet peeves with the sycophants of prohibition is their habit of basing arguments against us on the laughably absurd notion that we walk in lockstep and speak with one voice. Of course that doesn’t even bear a passing resemblance to our reality. If you like to hear people quibble, argue, bitch and moan with each other just put 100 of us in a room and ask that we pick a subject for debate. You’ll get more quibbling/arguing/bitching/moaning than you could ever imagine from the arguments over which subject we should debate.
Our cohort is ~20 million in the U.S. There isn’t any cohort of people that size where you’re not going to find examples of every different kind of human being that you can possibly imagine. Not even 20 million funnymental christians that belong to the same sect. The BTK killer was (is?) a devout lutheran very involved in his local church. There are only 5 million Lutherans.
Of course I’ll stipulate that there aren’t 20 million banks. But we’re talking about a boatload of money and a carload of profit. I would think that we could agree that greed makes people do things which you would never predict. Ditto hunger. The vendors don’t need more than one greedy or hungry bank to make this work.
I like the article Allan. Especially the last line about starting a victim fund and pursuing war crimes.
thanks TC. The victims’ fund has been rolling around in my head since the old days when Tod McCormick’s mom would visit the DrugSense Sunday eve chatroom sessions. Donald Scott’s widow (or his daughter?) too.
And I doubt Jennifer Odom’s parents ever found satisfaction. Hell, I can include me. W/o the WOD I’d still be driving Conde’s hemp leaf garland adorned truck around Oregon. Of course… w/o the WOD we wouldn’t have had to advocate for hemp…
I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of LE types dead from drug war violence whose families feel robbed of their loved ones. The WOD is a war with victims bodies strewn everywhere – and most can’t see them.
What I’d really like to see? A piece like doc Gupta’s but on drug war victims. If I want to find my angry place quickly I start thinking about Peter McW.
That whole part of drug war just isn’t EVER discussed and the prohibs are deft at dodging it and I think it’s time that ends.
I liked the article as well Allan;
“Cannabis activists have for decades been arguing for freedom from a defensive position.”
Amen to that!
(even if I do mention tar and feather sometimes)
Excellent. Truly excellent, Allan. The war crimes issue creates a second drug war front. Along with the grass-roots upheaval against prohibition, prosecuting human rights violations in the ICC or elsewhere will crush prohibitionists from the top. It’s like a vise. The prohibidiots are in the middle, begging to be flattened.
I have been thinking, lately, about our coined terms “prohibitches” and “prohibidiots” and I believe I have come up with working definitions for each:
Prohibitches — those who KNOW the truth about the prohibited drug list and that prohibition of these substances is absolutely unconstitutional but want to keep it going, nevertheless, because they either make money or gain power from it.
Prohibidiots — Those who never look beneath the surface of the propaganda the prohibitches spew.
You’re right, Windy. There’s a science to how prohibition fails that’s generating a whole new vocabulary. As we venture deeper into the abyss of the drug war, sub-structures of the termite-eaten edifice will emerge into plain view. These structures will require new words and definitions to describe the decay and rot. It’s not so terrible, though. I think the way the drug war demise is playing out is as entertaining as science fiction.
Maybe you should submit those to the Urban Dictionary. That’s what I did years ago with sadomoralist.
Thanks, Pete, I think I will do just that, with one minor alteration:
Prohibitches — those who KNOW the truth about the prohibited drug list and that prohibition of these substances is absolutely unconstitutional but want to keep it going, nevertheless, in spite of that legal fact or the science, because they either make money or gain power from it.
allan, good job. I have only one minor nitpick, where you wrote: “It will also be saving money by no longer creating the burden of hundreds of thousands of annual pot arrestees going through the justice system every year.” Instead of
“hundreds of thousands” I would have used “nearly a million” for the greater shock value to those who may just be tuning in to the debate.
noted Windy, thank you for the feedback and for reading my humble offering young lady!
You’re welcome, I’d read anything you wrote, and I love that you call me “young lady” when I’m quite certain you know I am older than you, it is very flattering.
PS I posted a link to the article on FB and put your secondary comment on the victims fund as a comment to the posting, Spreading the message as much as I am able.
and there was an evil upon the land… terrible wraiths terrorized family homes, often stealing family members, maybe killing them… but always locking them in their dark and heartless dungeons.
And the priests shrieked, “they deserved it! They were evil and partook of devilish potions. Let the wraiths take them!”
Some spoke that it was not the droogies that were bad but rather the priests and their wraiths and hounds that were the ones up to evil and dastardly deeds. But they were mocked and shunned, or suspected… and their voices not heard above the shrieking of the dark-eyed priests.
But soon, too many had been taken and those mocked voices began to sound reasonable. And then… the voices were not alone and more listened.
The priests shrieked. But their power had been taken and the people saw that the priests were not good and all knew someone or had a relative that had been taken.
But the priests still had their tricks! And they brought forth their changelings, those beings that adapt and take on the appearance and manners of those among whom they hide.
They did not shriek. They did not sound unreasonable and they defended the priests and warned that the droogies had been weaving lies into a believable tapestry.
And so these two, the Kevkev and the Morkmork, acted their parts. Calm and persuasive they conjured and chanted with their singsong prattle hoping to lull the people (always easily distracted) into a hypnotic complacency.
But the Kevkev and the Morkmork could win no more than that for their foul leaders. Frustrated, the two begin to quirk and yelp at odd moments, uttering nonsense and crying out to some unknown woman. Calvina Calvina, help us…
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… to be continued? How will it end? Are the Kevkev and the Morkmork the last tools of the priests or are there even darker horrors awaiting the people… and especially the droogies…? And the bigger question… (da da da dum) WILL IT END???
I must blame that on a small, very nice bowl of kief from Kushbaby. It’ friday, Appleseed is in San Fran working, just me and the hounds. I don’t believe in Hallmark®, no gf if I did… I spent too much time today reading up on Project SAM (more on that to come;)(I will say it’s funny what one can find out by asking questions at the source)
ah Windy… I get that from my dad. While never declared I have long suspected one of his personal mottoes was “never miss a chance to flirt.” It works for me! To make a woman smile is a wonderful thing. (My mother was a woman don’tcha know)
Bless ya lass.
I live for thumbs down in news articles and no replies in news articles but here all we get is drive by thumb suckers,,,prohibs commenting here would be like a deer stumbling out on a redneck rifle range.
Out of the ‘Shadows’: Pot Sellers Can Now Do Business With Banks http://tinyurl.com/kn5qs5y
Pretty much what I expected, “guidance.” Not only that, but big responsibilities for the banks if they decide to handle mj money. Sounds like the banks are going to have to police their clients to make sure everything’s above board. (Isn’t that what the police are for?) No way any bank is going to jump through all those additional hoops (even if they weren’t impossible) based on guidance that says they probably won’t get prosecuted. My prediction: this announcement will have no significant effect on anything.
It’s been quite obvious for a while now that this administration is doing everything they can to avoid actually changing any laws. They best they’ll do is issue “guidance” and hope that satisfies the complainers. Which it doesn’t. It’s all just smoke and mirrors meant to confuse the issue. Which it doesn’t.
They expect the banks to stop cartel involvement,,,without banks and prohibition there would be no cartels.
That AIN’T funny right there,,I don’t care who you are.
Another reason to smirk at the Guv:
DEA’s Own Hiring Policy Admits Pot Isn’t As Bad As Other Drugs
I’ve been unable in a brief search to find out what Yury Fedotov’s pay is for his gig at UNODC….anybody help me out? As long as these people are leading the high life with all the diplomatic protections, chauffer driven cars and luxury housing that go with it they will kick and scream before they let go.
All I could find was pie charts about donor country donations. No slices for salaries, just multi-million dollar pie charts that didn’t reflect operating costs or salaries.
OT
Another drug war death. If this and all the other similar stories were shown on prime time tv the drug war would have ended long ago. It amazes me what the public will accept when “drugs” are part of equation.
http://reason.com/reasontv/2014/02/13/police-shoot-kill-80-year-old
If this doesn’t piss you off . . . .
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Rats. When I saw the headline I thought I was going to read that their money supply had been cut off.
But maybe some good news. Lots and lots of big name MSM outlets reporting this:
Banks cleared to accept marijuana business
7 page memo,,,TMK no banks have agreed yet
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington TimesUpdated: 4:20 p.m. on Friday, February 14, 2014
If the tough-on-crime paradigm worked, would a country like Vietnam that uses the death penalty for “drug crimes” (aka, capitalism), even have drugs?
If you read up on Malaysia (a country w/ abhorrent drug laws) it seems drugs and their distributors rule their prisons and the distributors rule the islands drug trade from those prisons.
Drug free? Bah, smoke this…
OT, again…
So kev-kev has reworked the Project SAM website. No where do they say who they are, where they are, where they get their money from… and while I was digging I did find one guy who lists their BOD, our buddy radical RussB. So I open this site: http://smartapproaches.com/about/leadership-team/ and didn’t realize (the problem w/ dial-up is slow loading pages, esp the ones with flash stuff) it was a spoof until I got to reading. Bwahahaha!
What a sickening display of misplaced outraged by the ASA!
OT alert: looks like gandhi was right:http://tinyurl.com/lhha69s this may be one reason why the war is going our way. the more they try to fight us the more illegitimate they are percieved to be.
What’s the bet this comment over at Kleiman’s blog gets nuked:
And it’s not even mine!
“And it’s not even mine!”
I would hope not! That slam against libertarians is so insulting to libertarians that it approaches hate speech (even though we libertarians do not agree that “hate speech” is a crime, but see it as a free speech issue). of course it is just more of the libertarians being called GOP lovers by dems, and dem lovers by GOPers, when neither is true.
I go green first this year if none,LBTN,,if none ME.
Looks like there will be more libertarians running every year since more people are leaning or downright ARE libertarian:
http://rare.us/story/youll-never-guess-the-top-political-label-in-america/
How horribly sad for those poor 30. Yet the man driving the beer truck to the local Vietnam bars gets to live.
Who wants to bet that 40yrs ago in Vietnam, drug money in the hands of the NVA and VC did in fact find its way into injuring or killing nothing less than 10,000 American GIs and even more Vietnamese civilians and their troops. They’ll execute their own because of drug trafficking after they used drug money to fund portions of their war (not all their war, just portions). I won’t even comment on the dope sold by America to fund combat actions in Cambodia and Laos.
Air America was more historic documentary than movie using top grade actors.
Get ready for some outrage. My advice? Sit down, pack a few bong hits, and take as many rage breaks as you need. But this will be coming back to us in many forms. I read it, you should, too. Have barf bag handy.
http://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/publicy-policy-statements/drug-testing-a-white-paper-by-asam.pdf?sfvrsn=2