The never-ending, terrible human toll of the 'war on drugs'

Submitted by Jacob Hunter on Sat, 03/14/2009 - 7:03pm

Vancouver Sun

Friday, March 13, 2009

In Tijuana, Mexico, drug gangsters have been breaking into police radio frequencies and threatening specific police officers with death. These are no idle threats; shortly after they're made, the marked police officers are found dead.

This reveals just how powerful drug gangs are in Mexico, and has led to deeply demoralized and increasingly corrupt police forces. More than 500 officers have been killed in the past year, and their worn-out equipment and body armour is no match for the state-of-the-art gear used by drug lords.

Since the police can no longer handle the situation, Mexican President Felipe Calderon called in the military soon after he took office in 2006. The result of this move was predictable: Some 6,000 people are murdered annually in Mexico's drug wars, and more than 20 soldiers have been killed since last October. Read more »

The success of drug decriminalization in Portugal

Submitted by Jacob Hunter on Sat, 03/14/2009 - 7:01pm

It's been seven years since that country decriminalized all drugs. What lessons are there for American drug policy debates?

Glenn Greenwald

Mar. 14, 2009 | Read more »

De-escalating the Drug War

Submitted by Ellis Worthington on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 9:23pm
in

In These Times

March 13, 2009
Obama’s pick to head ONDCP is better than your average drug czar.
By Silja J.A. Talvi

President Obama caught even close observers off-guard with his mid-February nomination for the nation’s new drug czar, R. Gil Kerlikowske.

Kerlikowske, 59, Seattle’s police chief, with nearly 40 years in law enforcement behind his badge, will direct the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), pending Senate approval.

But Kerlikowske isn’t just any urban police chief. He’s the top cop of a city with a progressive reputation on several drug-related matters, including needle-exchange programs and marijuana possession laws. Read more »

MP Denise Savoie (NDP) Responds on C-15

Submitted by Jacob Hunter on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 6:06pm

Thank you for your email about your concerns with bill C-15, the Conservatives so-called Anti-Drug strategy. I oppose this bill and the government’s move toward a failed US style war on drugs. Canada already spends 73% of its drug strategy budget on enforcement and yet drug use continues to rise. Mandatory minimums for drug use do not deter organized and violent crime, and do nothing to address the root causes of drug problems.

I am very mindful that while we need immediate action to prevent gun violence and shootings on our streets, we cannot ignore the big question of our drug laws and prohibition and the impact it has on all of us. Read more »

Second chance to tell Parliament to Vote No on Bill C-15

Submitted by Jacob Hunter on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 2:08pm
in

Click here to email Members of Parliament! WhyProhibition.ca now has a form emailer for Members of Parliament! Check out the link above to send an email to members of parliament opposing C-15, which is now headed back to the House of Commons having been amended, very slightly, by the Senate. Simply scroll down to the bottom of the letter, fill in the fields and click send! It's that simple! If your account info is up to date, the form is automatically filled in for you! We need everyone to send emails to our Members of Parliament if we are going to defeat C-15! Email your members of Parliament today! Read more »

Obama Signals Readiness to Deploy National Guard to Mexico Border To Fight Drug War

Submitted by Jeremiah Vandermeer on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 1:01pm
in

President Obama is considering deploying National Guard troops along the border with Mexico in response to the escalating drug war. In his most direct comments so far on Mexico’s fight against drug cartels, Obama told reporters from regional newspapers, quote, “We’re going to examine whether and if National Guard deployments would make sense and under what circumstances they would make sense.” But Obama ruled out any immediate military move.

More than a thousand people have been killed in Mexico in drug-related violence this year. 6,000 people died last year. Vice President Joe Biden highlighted the threat posed by drug traffickers this week when he announced Gil Kerlikowske as the new drug czar.

Watch Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Read more »

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Should Hard Times Permit High Times?

Submitted by Ellis Worthington on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 12:01pm

New America Media

Recession Spotlights Rationale for Decriminalizing Marijuana

New America Media, News Report, Marcelo Ballvé, Posted: Mar 13, 2009

NEW YORK -- In 1977, President Jimmy Carter asked Congress to decriminalize marijuana possession (it never did). The next year, the Ladies Home Journal described a summer jazz festival on the White House's South Lawn where "a haze of marijuana smoke hung heavy under the low-bending branches of a magnolia tree."

The late 1970's may have been the high-water mark for permissiveness regarding marijuana. But advocates of decriminalized pot believe a confluence of factors, especially the country's economic malaise, are leading to another countrywide reappraisal of the drug. Read more »

Say no to C-15

Submitted by Kirk Tousaw on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 9:33am

This is a video I put together when C-15 was C-26...same Bill, same bad legislation, same wrongheaded approach. Enjoy, circulate widely and please write your MP today.

video: 

Why Won't Parliament End Marijuana Prohibition?

Submitted by Kirk Tousaw on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 9:30am

Please distribute this Public Service Announcement widely. And contact your member of Parliament today!

video: 

Report – Drug Czar’s Office Is Out Of Control

Submitted by Ellis Worthington on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 9:24am
in

or The ONDCP Has Gone to Pot

Salon.com

3/10/09- Chris Goldstein

http://www.napawash.org/pc_management_studies/ONDCP_12_09/ONDCP%20Buildi...

The National Academy of Public Administration recently issued a report on the infamous entity of Prohibition, the ONDCP. This is the throne-room of the Drug Czar, whose official title is the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

This young experiment in bureaucracy has been facing increased scrutiny from Congress as prohibition costs ever more billions of dollars. If the ONDCP were measured by any of the other government-accepted standards of performance and mission-success it would have been closed long ago. Read more »

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