The 40 Year War on LSD

This writer of this article criticizes the 40 year war on LSD and other psychedelic drugs by the U. S. government. He asserts that LSD and other psychedelic compounds can have a “profound life-altering affect on the user that serves t o connect them to the universal compassion and love for life that is inherent in our species. It invariably causes them to question the validity of the status quo and what surrounds them in terms of beliefs and values. The article asserts that psychedelic drugs are needed by our society to treat certain disorders such as addiction, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder,, migraine and as palliatives for the sick and dying. Recently the U. S. government has approved clinical trials for use of MDMA theropy for returning veterans and victims of violence and abuse. The writer further asserts that technology and the structure of contemporary life have taken us away from our emotions as to create pathological conditions and that systemic violence, selfishness and greed in our society need treatement.

Shaw, Charles, “Emerging from the Drug War Dark age: LSD and Other Psychedelic Medicines Make a Comeback” Alternet July 11, 2008

Post By Alexandra Chunn

Pot Prisoners Cost Americans $1 Billion a Year..

This article cites statistics about the cost of incarcerating and prosecuting people on marijuana charges. The article cites that in 2004 12.7% of state inmates (33,655) and 12.4% of federal inmates (10,785) are incarcerated for marijuana offences. The cost of housing these prisoners is about $1 Billion per year. The article further cites that in 2005 786,545 people were arrested on marijuana charges, double the number 12 years previously. Another $8 Billion annually is the additional criminal justice cost of handling these arrests. It is pointed out that about 88% of those arrested (696,074) were charged with possession only. The article claims that 40% of the U. S. population over the age of 12 has used marijuana at some point in their lives and further claims that few acknowledged having suffered significant adverse health effects due to their use. The article concludes with the proposition that it makes no sense to treat nearly half of all Americans as criminals.


Armentano, Paul, “Pot Prisoners Cost Americans $1 Billion a Year”, Alternet, February 10, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/rights/47815/

Post By: Alexandra Chunn

92 YEAR OLD WOMAN A DRUG RAID?

This is a story about three policemen in Atlanta, Georgia who planted marijuana near an informant and threatened him to tell them information otherwise they would arrest him but if he told them what they wanted to know, they would let him go. The informant told them that he sow a drug deal at a house that he pointed out. The police raided the house and shot the 92 year resident and planted pot in her house to justify their entry. The article reveals that some of the law enforcement officers in the War on Drugs are corrupt and cause more harm than good in their activities.


Cook, Rhonda, “Documents Reveal: Cops Planted Pot on 92-Year Old Woman They Killed in Botched Drug Raid”, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 30, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/51151/

Post By: Alexandra Chunn

Is the War on Drugs Worth Our Time?

This article reveals new thinking by police officers, prosecutors and judges who now question whether the war on drugs is worth the cost of ruined American lives and the lives of police officers over a costly and possibly unwinnable war. There is now a debate on the decriminalizing of minor possession of marijuana which could result in the U. S. gaining $77 billion in revenue a year by legalizing and taxing marijuana, cocaine and heroin. However “legalization” is not in the presidents vocabulary. Also legalization may send the wrong message that it is ok to take drugs. Also, if legalized, drug use may increase and cause an increase in other crimes.

Jonsson, Patrik, “Is war on drugs worth it? Maybe not, new FBI data suggest.”, The Christian Science Monitor, September 15, 2009
http://csmonitor.com/2009/0916/p02s01-usgn.html

Post By Alexandra Chunn

They Are Controlled Because They Are Harmful

This article reports on a meeting in Vienna by European Union countries to discuss a draft policy
declaration of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs at which they are expected to sign up to 10 more years of the “war on drugs”. The policy did not mention “harm reduction” strategies such as needle exchange programs that had been advocated. A European Commission report stated that the strategy had not made any progress in cutting supply or demand. Although the declaration is expected to be signed, some countries were going to file reservations, including Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Portugal, Spain, Finland and Slovenia.


Green, Toby, “War on drugs ‘has enriched cartels’”, The Independent, Thursday, March 12, 2009
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/war-on-drugs-has-enriched-cartels-1643097.html

Post By: Alexandra Chunn

Bring Marijuana Under Responsible Controls and End the Monopoly We've Handed to Gangsters.

This article presents the argument that Prohibition of alcohol did not work and ended with a system that regulates the production, taxes the sale of, and treats the abuse of alcohol, all with benefits to government and society and that Prohibition of marijuana is not working and a similar change in policy should be adopted with regard to drugs.

Kampia, Rob, “Prohibition ended 75 years Ago, But What have We learned?”, Alternet, December 5, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/110318/

Post By: Alexandra Chunn

The Growing of Coca in Bolivia

This article points out that without the growing of coca in Bolivia, there would be much more unemployment and hunger. The sale of coca there is legal and controlled by union markets.
This is excerpted from Dangl's new book,"The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia."-->

"When Zurita had finished spraying a section of the crop, she sat down in the shade. Between gulps of water, she told me of the mobilizations she participated in as a union leader. She saw her life shaped by her struggle against militarization and coca eradication. In a women's march from Cochabamba to La Paz from December 1995 to January 1996, she told me, coca farmers demanded an end to the violence in the Chapare. They also demanded a meeting with President Sánchez de Lozada's wife, who refused. "They didn't understand our situation, and so we began a hunger strike, which lasted 12 days," she said.

Through coca unions, numerous blockades and protests have been organized to defend the farmers' right to grow coca. A highway that goes through the Chapare links the economically booming city of Santa Cruz to Cochabamba and La Paz. Blocking this important route puts pressure on the government to meet cocalero demands. Blockades constructed out of dirt, rocks, logs and tires are sometimes sustained for weeks, or are spontaneous and mobile, harder for security forces to break up. Blockade committees are developed by coca unions with a structure and leadership in place that allows blockaders to coordinate their work and activities.

Yet coca unions have done much more than protest. Zurita said that a goal of her work is "to bring the women ahead, by organizing, empowering and orienting them and setting up seminars. [Many] women in the Chapare don't know how to read or write. So the best school for the women is the union. There, we have empowered people. We learn about which laws are in favor of us and which are not. This has all shown us that the union organization is important to defend mother earth, defend the coca and defend our natural resources …"

Dangl, Benjamin, “The U.S. ‘War on Drugs’ Is an Assault on South America’s Poorest”, AKPress, April 12. 2007

Post By Alexandra Chunn