Drug WarRant

Back in a 1999 Congressional hearing on drug policy in Washington, DC, here’s what some of our representatives, sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States of America, had to say:

“Legalization is a surrender to despair,” said Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman, Republican of upstate New York. “It cannot and ought not be any topic of serious discussion in our nation’s debate of the challenges of illicit drugs.”

Suggesting the depth of hostility toward the notion of legal drugs, Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., asked whether anti-racketeering laws could be used to prosecute people conspiring to legalize drugs.

For decades, drug policy activists have faced this kind of extreme, government-led opposition to the core principles of our country.

It’s no wonder, then, that so many people today are unable to even discern the Grand-Canyon-sized gap between:

1. Doing something illegal – and
2. Advocating changes in the law

The second is not only legal, but part of our responsibility as citizens.

It’s sad to see how often this occurs, particularly in business services such as advertising policy.

Now, private businesses absolutely have the right to set and follow their own policies and choose what advertising they wish to accept. A savvy business sets such policies with care to insure maximum advertising revenue while not alienating large segments of the population.

But too many are unable to distinguish between drug abuse and drug policy.

A recent example occurred again with Facebook.

Chelsea Green Publishing decided to run some ads for the book they published: Marijuana Is Safer: So Why are we Driving People to Drink?. Facebook rejected the ads.

Their reason:

“I took a look at your account and noticed that the content advertised by this ad is prohibited. We reserve the right to determine what advertising we accept, and we may choose to not accept ads containing or relating to certain products or services. We do not allow ads for marijuana and any products related to it, and will not allow the creation of any further Facebook Ads for this product. We appreciate your cooperation with this policy.”

Note the incoherent conflation of ads for selling marijuana with an ad for a book about marijuana policy.

There’s a huge difference, and we can see it, but as a society we have become conditioned to accept that advocating legalization is, in fact, illegal.

I am absolutely certain that an ad for a book titled: “Marijuana: the demon drug that rots your brain” would have been deemed perfectly acceptable to the robots (ie, minimum wage humans) who were staffing the rejection post.

Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. The issue got the attention of someone higher up in Facebook – someone with a brain, and they stepped in to overrule the censors.

”We would like to sincerely apologize for the situation that occurred with your experience with our system yesterday. After further investigation into the ads that were submitted and disapproved, our policy team determined that the ads for your book were acceptable to run on the site…Again, we want to apologize for any frustration this situation has caused. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions regarding this situation and I’ll be happy to help out.”

This is very nice to see. It’s also exceedingly rare.

I had my own run-in recently with the inability to distinguish between illegal drugs and drug policy advocacy.

For awhile I tried using Ad-Brite for banner ads on this site. One of the advantages of Ad-Brite was the fact that, in addition to the standard ad rotation, people could specifically purchase ads to run on DrugWarRant.com — and I wanted to allow that possibility.

After a number of months of running Ad-Brite, I was extremely disappointed with the results – essentially no revenue at all. So I decided to tinker with the placement of the ads and submitted a change of location on the page.

I got this notice:

We’ve completed the review of your zone, Right Banner Bottom ( Zone ID #1902676 ), that you’ve submitted. Unfortunately, we are unable to approve it for our marketplace at this time due to the following reasons:

– Illegal Drugs

To view our publisher zone policy, please visit use our searchable FAQs or click here: Publisher Acceptable Use Policy.

If you wish to petition our decision or you have changed your site’s content to meet our standards, please forward this email to support@adbrite.com with a request to have your zone re-reviewed.

Since I was already fed up with their service and found no reason to keep using it, I decided to write them and tell them what I really thought…

Are you kidding me?

Does your staff not know the difference between advocating for an illegal substance and advocating for changing the law?

Drug WarRant.com is a political activism site. It is a site about
stopping the bigoted narrow-mindedness of ignorant people who think talking about fixing the laws is somehow the same as advocating breaking them.

It is because of such short-sighted viewpoints that we have thousands of deaths in Mexico from the drug war, shootouts in our streets, and young children using drugs (because we have no regulation of them). It’s about the way the drug war corrupts law enforcement and our Fourth Amendment rights. It’s about comparisons with failed Prohibition 1 that resulted in Al Capone. It’s about finding ways to make our children safer.

We are facing a crisis in this country, but some idiots see the word “marijuana” and can only giggle and say “drugs are bad, mm-kay?”

This knee-jerk and simplistic reaction to my site is symptomatic of the problem.

The ironic thing is that the site hasn’t changed at all since Ad-Brite approved my ad months ago. I was merely re-configuring the ad in an attempt to see if I could actually get Ad-Brite to perform, since I’ve been extremely disappointed with the results so far.

The loss of Ad-Brite doesn’t affect Drug WarRant at all (unfortunately), but I am protesting the decision on principle because it doesn’t, in fact violate the Publisher Acceptable Use Policy in any way (there are no illegal activities, nor is there promotion of drugs), and because it bothers me when I find people who don’t know the difference between political activism and promoting drugs.

Thank you.

– Pete Guither
Executive Director, Prohibition Isn’t Free Foundation

Hey, at least it made me feel good, right?

Here was their response:

Hi Pete,

Thank you for contacting us.

Unfortunately we are not able to approve sites like yours in our exchange. Advertisers do not want their ads placed on controversial political discussion sites and as a result we are no longer allowing these types of sites in our exchange.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us.

Regards,

Eli S.
Customer Support

Of course, their acceptable-use policy still says absolutely nothing about “controversial political discussion sites.” And they still list such sites as “Glenn Beck is an Idiot,” “Morons with Signs,” “Balloon Juice,” and other obviously controversial political discussion sites as Ad-Brite websites.

No, it’s clear that the problem they had was with political discussion sites as relates to drug policy reform.

Again, it’s important to note that I support these companies’ legal right to refuse to serve me. I do find it extremely stupid, however. And a sad commentary on the range of acceptable political discussion in this country.

We’re doing pretty damn well considering our handicap.

We not only have to make our case, but we have to make a case for our right to attempt to make our case.

Excellent piece on Al Jazeera

Referenced in that piece is an important new documentary: “Breaking the Taboo” — which opened last week in Brazil and was also shown at the Global Commission press conference last week. It was filmed in eight countries and has been getting a lot of publicity in Brazil, but I hope that it’ll make its way here as well.

Here is the official trailer (English version)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXWdKsA8EFU

If you can’t control drug use in a maximum security prison, how can you control drugs in a free society? – Anthony Papa

“There are a lot of things that I would have done differently. I think that my opposition to needle exchange and medical Marijuana when I was president, both were wrong.”

“To think of it as society’s war is a little bit misleading, as if there were a military solution. And you know I have experience with this including personal experience I had a brother who was addicted to cocaine, so I know allot about this”

“Well, obviously, if the expected result was that we are have to eliminate serious drug use in America and eliminate the narcotraffic networks, it hasn’t worked” – President Bill Clinton

“There is a clear proof in our country of a racial discrimination in laws that apply to criminalizing the use of narcotics” – President Jimmy Carter

Sensible Washington Money Bomb

This week, we’re putting out an urgent call to all organizations and individuals who believe in this cause; that cannabis should be a legal substance. It’s both a medicine and a safe recreational choice that, despite years of propaganda, has no lethal dose. For those who understand the necessity of legalization, we call upon you to donate whatever you can to get Initiative 1149 – which ends criminal and civil penalties for adults – on the November ballot. We have a strong, dedicated and extremely proud group of volunteers that have put us in a position to win, but with your help we can augment our gatherers with paid professionals, assuring cannabis legalization in Washington has a better chance of becoming reality. Initiative 1149 offers up an opportunity unlike any other we’ve seen in recent years, a chance for true reform, and this is our chance to make a difference. However we need the help of everyone. The importance of achieving legalization in even one state and what that means for future attempts cannot be overstated.

With this call, we are holding a Sensible Washington Money Bomb starting on Wednesday June 8th and running through Wednesday, June 15th, with the help and sponsorship of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Cannabis Culture, Seattle Hempfest, Tacoma Hempfest, and the Cannabis Freedom March.

U.S. Can’t Justify It’s Drug War Spending, Reports Say

link

With typical push-back by gov officials claiming that we’re winning the war.

I’ve returned from a wonderful and exhausting week in New York with a cold and broken wifi. They say they’ll get to it on Friday.

It does make it difficult to post (the iPhone makes it possible, but it’s cumbersome to do links and quotes).

Here’s a press release for you..

June 17: 40th Anniversary of Nixon’s Declaration of a “War on Drugs”

Dozens of Rallies, Vigils, Actions around Country Commemorate Notorious Anniversary

High-Profile DC Events Call for Exit Strategy from Failed Drug War

June 17 will mark forty years since President Richard Nixon, citing drug abuse as “public enemy No. 1”, officially declared a “war on drugs.” A trillion dollars and millions of ruined lives later, a political consensus is emerging that the war on drugs is a counterproductive failure.

The Drug Policy Alliance is leading advocates all across the country in marking this auspicious date with a day of action to raise awareness about the catastrophic failure of drug prohibition and to call for an exit strategy from the failed war on drugs.

“Some anniversaries provide an occasion for celebration, others a time for reflection, still others a time for action,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Forty years after President Nixon declared his war on drugs, we’re seizing upon this anniversary to prompt both reflection and action. And we’re asking everyone who harbors reservations about the war on drugs — to join us in this enterprise.

“The objective is to work with legislators who dare to raise the important questions, by organizing public forums and online communities where citizens can take action. We are enlisting unprecedented numbers of powerful and distinguished individuals to voice their dissent publicly, and organizing in cities and states to instigate new dialogues and directions in local policies,” Nadelmann added.

Fifty events will be held in 15 states, including major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and New Orleans. The day of action will be highlighted by a high-profile event with elected officials in Washington, DC.

Prominent elected officials, celebrities and VIP’s, along with Nadelmann, will convene for a press conference on Thursday, June 16 at 1 p.m. at the Newseum in Washington, DC (555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) to set the stage for the anniversary and day of action.

The press conference and actions come on the heels of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which released a report on June 2 calling for a major paradigm shift in how our society deals with drugs, including decriminalization and legal regulation. The report sent a jolt around the world, generating thousands of international media stories. The commission is comprised of international dignitaries including Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations; Richard Branson, entrepreneur, founder of the Virgin Group; and the former Presidents of Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Switzerland. Representing the U.S. on the commission are George P. Shultz, Paul Volcker, and John Whitehead.

“What’s really needed is the sort of reckoning that identifies as the problem not just drug addiction but prohibition as well — and that aims to reduce the role of criminalization in drug control to the maximum extent possible while enhancing public safety and health,” Nadelmann said. “What better way to mark the 40th anniversary of the war on drugs than by breaking the taboos that have precluded frank assessment of the costs and failures of drug prohibition as well as its varied alternatives.”

Day of Action events include:

· Washington, DC: Leaders from African American and religious communities, including Rev. Jesse Jackson and Dr. Ron Daniels, will hold a forum at the National Press Club on June 17th to denounce current drug war policies. Leaders will call for a new direction in drug policy that reduces the role of the criminal justice system and that addresses the devastating impact of drug policies on black communities.

· Chicago: Hundreds of Chicagoans will gather at the James R Thompson Center to rally against the drug policies that have led to injustices such as the extreme racial disparities in Illinois’s prisons and jails.

· Los Angeles: Grassroots organizations and students, including Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Pico Youth and Family Center, Mothers United to End the War on Drugs, All of Us or None, Homies Unidos and other criminal justice organizations, will stage a Day of Action to call for an end to the war on drugs and mass incarceration. Also, the William C. Velasquez Institute will host a forum in Los Angeles with top Latino leaders to discuss the impact of the drug war on Latino communities.

· New York City: Advocates, community leaders and elected officials will attend a forum and silent vigil at the Harlem State Office Building to highlight the impacts of the drug war on NY communities. The event is being organized by Women on the Rise Telling HerStory (WORTH)

· New Orleans: Local criminal justice organizations will commemorate the 40th anniversary of President Nixon’s declaration of the war on drugs with a Second Line March that is a “Funeral for the failed war on drugs.”

To see a compilation of events around the nation please visit: http://www.nomoredrugwar.org/take-action

Still in New York with the group until Tuesday, and on a very tight schedule, but having a great time.

There are some excellent discussions going on in the comments of the past few posts, so be sure to check those out.

Here are some more things to spark conversations (this is an open thread).

The Saturday interview: Richard Branson

He hopes the commission can help focus a debate on the facts, because the alternative is unsustainable, he says. “In the US, prisons are literally loaded with people who have taken drugs on a few occasions. Mainly black people. It’s very much a racist set-up when it comes to the drug issues in America. It costs society a fortune, and these people, who could be productive members of society, have their lives ruined.”

The situation isn’t much different in the UK, he says, where 80,000 people a year get sentences for drugs. “The commission believes nobody should be sent to prison for taking drugs,” he says. In other countries the state of affairs is worse, with people executed for taking a small amount of dope. Branson has been working to get two women out of jail in Thailand who have, so far, served 27 years for what in other countries would be minor drug offences. He says it’s “incredible” how little the debate has moved on since the 1960s. “It has just got worse and worse and worse.”

The mother who gave her terminally-ill daughter Ecstasy to ease her suffering

Biologist Marilyn Howell claims giving her 32-year-old daughter Mara the drug ‘took away the pain’ and was ‘the best thing that happened’ at the end of her life.’

$1 billion for anti-narco programs, and no central database to track it

The Department of State, which received more $1 billion for international counter-narcotics programs last year, doesn’t have a central database to track its anti-drug programs.

Most of State’s $1 billion supports programs in Mexico, Afghanistan, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is responsible for programs that ran the gamut from eradication of illegal crops, drug interdiction and reducing drug demand.

Why would they bother with a central database? After all, it’s never been about creating effective programs.

The global drug war and the Nixon connection by Paul Rosenberg at Al Jazeera

On June 2, a report form the prestigious Global Commission on Drug Policy told the world what it already knew: the decades-long war on drugs has been a spectacular failure. […]

The other side begins with Richard Nixon, who ran for president on “law and order” in 1968. This was largely just code for lumping together his most voiceless political enemies – student demonstrators and “uppity” urban blacks – but it was given a rational veneer as a promise to crack down on street crime – something that presidents had virtually nothing to do with at the time.

Once elected, Nixon cast about for a way to make good on his impossible promise – or at least to look tough fighting against the odds. The war on drugs was the answer he came up with, and ever since it has survived on this strange conjunction of unacknowledged political motives on the one hand, and the impossibility of actual success on the other. Its political utility is grounded in the fact that it’s a war that can never be won. All it can do is keep piling up victims, year after year.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy calls that a “failure”. But Nixon would call it a tremendous success. And Washington is Nixon’s town, now more than ever before.