When the crazies come out to play

We’ve talked a little bit about the World Forum Against Drugs held in Sweden earlier in September, and their bizarre declaration.
But there’s so much more to ridicule…
You see, when these hard core sadomoralist drug warriors get together on vacation without bothering to unpack reason from the dusty corner of their checked bag, or worrying about appearing coherent to… the rest of the sentient world, well then their utterances become hilariously frightening.
For example, check out these amazing “rebuttals”

Seven arguments against cannabis

The journalist Pelle Olsson answered to the 7 most common pro cannabis arguments at his session

1. ‹It‰s a soft drug.Š
   Even though it is a ‹softŠ drug, it‰s still a drug.

2. ‹Alcohol is more dangerous.Š
   Cannabis is a harmful drug and it is not essential to compare it with alcohol.

3. ‹The use is widespread.Š
   Actually, only 4 % of the average adults worldwide have tested cannabis the last year.

4. ‹I‰m free to do whatever I want.Š
   The laws must be the same for everyone and dependence also takes away freedom.

5. ‹Marijuana can be used as medicine.Š
   Maybe you feel better for the moment if you are stoned or drunk, but it‰s not a medicine.

6. ‹Marijuana works as prevention from harder drugs.Š
   It is not true; cannabis is rather an entrance to the harder drugs.

7. ‹Putting cannabis in the Convention was a mistake.Š
   The cannabis-friends state that it was a mistake to put cannabis in the United Nation Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961. This is not true.

Wow, hard to argue with that kind of reasoning … because it isn’t. It’s argumentation of the form of:

The world is round. No it isn’t.

But wait, there’s more! There were speeches, and included in the speechifying was Drug Free America Foundation’s own Calvina Fay.

I think we can all agree that drugs are a problem. Today we are faced with new and more powerful drugs as well as a society that has, in many countries, become too tolerant of them.
As David Evans mentioned, In the United States, there is a very large and very well financed movement to normalize and legalize drug use and drug trafficking. Much of that movement is funded by a name that many of you know – George Soros, a convicted criminal who has publicly labeled himself as an atheist and yet has claimed that he is God…

I knew they didn’t like Soros, but…

Mr. Soros is about power and fame. His philosophy is to destroy societies that he does not like and then recreate them using his “open society” model. He destroys by creating chaos. And what better way to create chaos in society than to have a drug-addicted population that dominates. To have societies with drug-friendly laws and policies will certainly contribute to creating this chaos.
As in some other countries, Mr. Soros seeks to destroy our political system in the US and to create chaos in our judicial and law enforcement systems and even in our military.
He has contributed millions to the drug legalization movement as well as bought many of our politicians.

Yep. I believe it’s safe to say that Calvina doesn’t like George Soros.
George Soros is just a guy with a whole lot of money who wants to make a difference in the world. Instead of creating a pro-war media empire like Rupert Murdoch did, Soros put his money into efforts to encourage democracy and human rights. Yep, that’s pretty evil. But let’s get back to Ms. Fay.

Just since the beginning of 2008, we have seen an extraordinary increase in drug legalization efforts and activities in the US.

Awww… you noticed. Thanks.

Clearly, we are under attack. And this attack is not limited to the borders of the United States as has clearly been demonstrated from the presentations of others here at this conference. My work at Drug Free America Foundation takes me to many countries. I have had the honor and privilege of working with colleagues from around the world. And everywhere I go, the name and evil influence of Soros is known. His drug legalization blueprint is promoted globally.

Soros again? Come on, Calvina. I’m doing my fair share and I haven’t received one dime of Soros money. Don’t I count?
On to harm reduction.

Those who advocate for softening our drug laws and normalizing and legalizing drugs continuously raise the human rights issue. And certainly we all recognize that human rights are precious and should not be violated. But, these advocates have pushed the envelope too far when they began espousing that it is the “human right” of individuals to use drugs and endanger not only their own lives but the lives of others. With rights, come responsibilities and that is something that drug users know or care very little about.
I maintain that the harm reduction strategies promoted by the drug legalization advocates are a gross violation of human rights. Your and my rights who are drug free but would be affected by drug users – and the rights of addicts who are entitled to effective drug policies and treatment that will help them to get well.

OK, now this is just completely in la-la land. It amazes me when people make up new and creative definitions for the word “rights” that mean precisely the opposite.
She is apparently arguing for the right to not be bothered by other people having rights, and that her right trumps theirs. It’s as if she was saying…

Abolitionists claim they’re advocating for the human rights of slaves, but the true rights they would violate is the right of us white plantation owners to sip mint juleps while being served by our slaves. They would take away our right to our life of ease and our right to own other people. And, I maintain, abolition of slavery would harm the rights of the slaves themselves — yes, to have a structured life of work that keeps them out of trouble and away from the pesky cares of free men. Abolitionists would bring chaos and endanger all of us.

That is the argument world of Calvina Fay.
OK, Calvina, can you take that bizarre thought even further?

And speaking of getting well – let’s talk a minute about the fraudulent campaigns to legalize marijuana as a so-called medicine. This illusion that has been created by the Soros [Soros, again?] minions that marijuana is a so-called medicine is a huge violation of human rights!

You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.

Truly sick people who deserve legitimate medical treatment have been duped into believing that marijuana will help them, while in reality it is hurting them. All because a special interest group is advancing a hidden agenda to normalize and legalize marijuana use. The sad thing is that people smoking pot probably do feel better even if they are not getting better but they could also feel better by smoking crack cocaine or injecting heroin. Will these be the next drugs to legalize as so-called medicine?

Nothing new here. The same old claptrap that they always trot out to argue against medical marijuana. I’ve countered it so many times that it’s boring. But if anyone wants me to do it again, just ask. (Go ahead, Calvina. Ask. But you won’t, because you already know the answer.)

The drug legalization movement certainly has more money than we do but, we are on the right side.

God, that one cracks me up every time I hear it. Drug Free America Foundation receives funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Department of State. The drug prohibition lobby has the resources of the governments of many countries, the United Nations, police forces, DEA, business interests, and tons of our own taxpayer money for media campaigns.
I get Google ads.
But Calvina continues…

We have science and solid data behind us. History has shown that restrictive drug policies do work. The very successful restrictive drug policy of Sweden is a perfect example of what works!

Sweden is often invoked by the prohibitionists (that’s why this was held in Sweden). Steve Rolles does a nice job of exploring the Sweden drug policy fantasy. Check it out. But back to Calvina…

Contrary to what the drug legalization advocates claim, it is not the restrictive drug policies that are harmful, it is the drug itself. There are no “safe” ways to use drugs. Policies that condone and prolong drug use should not be tolerated. Such policies are a travesty and a gross violation of the rights [again?] of individuals who suffer from addiction.

Note that there is absolutely not one word used to actually address the rock solid anti-prohibition argument that prohibition causes more harm than the drug. She merely asserts a harm for drug use and then studiously avoids acknowledging the existence of the elephant in the room.
And the “there are no ‘safe’ ways to use drugs.” Talk about nonsensical statements!
Calvina ends her speech with a long and very strange tribute to Ronald Reagan, whom she apparently admired greatly. She seems to want to compare her war against… well.. us, to Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” speech. Like I said, very odd.
Here are a couple of highlights from other speeches:
Jo Baxter of Drug Free Australia came up with a new one for describing harm reduction:

This policy equates to ‘parking the ambulance at the bottom of a cliff to catch the people as they fall off’.

Colorful. Wrong, but colorful.
Mr Sven-Olov Carlsson, President IOGT-NTO Sweden parrots the apparently ubiquitous talking point:

Human rights are incompatible with drug abuse. All individuals have the right to a life that is not harmed by drugs. Policy-makers need to defend and protect this right. The rights and interests of drug users are not served by supporting the continuation of drug abuse.

Apparently human rights are served by locking people up, smashing down doors, shooting their dogs, taking away their children, their jobs, their student loans, fueling black market violence and corruption, and making people piss in a cup.
HE General Khodaidad, Minister of Counternarcotics, Afghanistan:

This session is about whether Afghanistan can get rid of the opium problem and the short answer is of course “YES”. But when – I do not know.

I wish I could use non-answers like that in my job.

At the end I would like to thank once again the organizers of this important forum and I pray for a world free of drugs and terrorism.

Drugs and terrorism. Right.
There’s more, but this post is long enough. At a later point, I may discuss the truly disturbing words of Robert L. DuPont.