The Drug War Seems to Have Failed

[JFrankA]

Recent post on the CBS website about Global Commission Report who reports that the War on Drugs has failed.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/02/501364/main20068210.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;1

You can even download the report here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Global_Commission_Report_English.pdf?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Personally, my knee-jerk reaction is "Yaaay! Can we NOW do something about this please?" But I'm at work and haven't read the report yet. So what about your reactions and thoughts.

 

[Mark6]

"It's the rest of the world which failed! Here in US we keep on fighting!"

Cynically, that's what I expect to hear from pretty much all levels of government.

 

[Monketi Ghost]

No, they're winning.

Eventually, people will stop wanting to get high and the problem will be solved forever.

 

[madurobob]

I'm still wondering how Richard Branson fits in with the rest of the folks on the panel. But, I don't disagree with the panel's decision.

 

[Taarkin]

That's assuming that the drug war's goal is to curb drug use, rather than to throw as many undesirables (WINK NUDGE) into for-profit prisons as possible.

 

[WildCat]

That's assuming that the drug war's goal is to curb drug use, rather than to throw as many undesirables (WINK NUDGE) into for-profit prisons as possible.

Conspiracy theories thataway ------------>

Drugs were prohibited during the temperance movement of the early 20th century, for much the same reasons alcohol was prohibited. You can throw racism in the mix for drugs.

 

[bookitty]

That's assuming that the drug war's goal is to curb drug use, rather than to throw as many undesirables (WINK NUDGE) into for-profit prisons as possible.

The war on drugs disproportionately affects low income families and people of color in huge numbers. But that is the horrible result of a flawed program, not the reason for the program.

 

[WildCat]

We'll continue to fight the drug war if it takes every drop of blood from every last Mexican.

 

[Dr. Keith]

But then who will mow the grass and pick the fruit?

 

[nota]

give peace a chance

 

[Varanid]

Conspiracy theories thataway ------------>

Drugs were prohibited during the temperance movement of the early 20th century, for much the same reasons alcohol was prohibited. You can throw racism in the mix for drugs.

The war on drugs disproportionately affects low income families and people of color in huge numbers. But that is the horrible result of a flawed program, not the reason for the program.

To my knowledge racism was an important component of the criminalization of marijuana. I don't even know how to go about documenting this, or back it up with evidence. I am sure the legislation didn't read:
"In an effort to lock up those people, we are going to make marijuana illegal". If I understand correctly it was more heavily used by the black population than the white population.

 

[MikeSun5]

"It's the rest of the world which failed! Here in US we keep on fighting!"

Cynically, that's what I expect to hear from pretty much all levels of government.

Agreed. Our government spends so much on this "war" that the organizations and law enforcement who the "War on Drugs" money goes to will never give those dollars up without a fight.

If the DEA can't raid legal marijuana dispensaries anymore, what on Earth will they spend that raid money on? Don't forget that this is a WAR, people.

What's funny is that people have been saying stuff outlined in that report for years, but now since the "right people" are saying it, the media and governments are finally paying attention.

 

[rjh01]

To my knowledge racism was an important component of the criminalization of marijuana. I don't even know how to go about documenting this, or back it up with evidence. I am sure the legislation didn't read:
"In an effort to lock up those people, we are going to make marijuana illegal". If I understand correctly it was more heavily used by the black population than the white population.

Here is a link that backs up your claim http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-marijuana-illegal/

You’ll also see that the history of marijuana’s criminalization is filled with:

Racism
Fear
Protection of Corporate Profits
Yellow Journalism
Ignorant, Incompetent, and/or Corrupt Legislators
Personal Career Advancement and Greed
These are the actual reasons marijuana is illegal.

 

[MikeSun5]

To my knowledge racism was an important component of the criminalization of marijuana. I don't even know how to go about documenting this, or back it up with evidence.

I didn't see it mentioned in rjh01's article there, but I actually heard once that the reason people started calling it "marijuana" in the first place is because "cannabis" didn't sound Mexican enough, and the powers that be were essentially trying to tie weed to Mexicans. I guess they thought if people believed only Mexicans smoked weed, then it HAD to be evil. Or something like that...

 

[Praktik]

That's assuming that the drug war's goal is to curb drug use, rather than to throw as many undesirables (WINK NUDGE) into for-profit prisons as possible.

Actually this caught me up in an undergraduate Public Law class I took in university. See it's ok for a right to be violated in most western countries if the government can support a genuine societal interest that is served by the violation.

The Charter case law that really fleshed out how this was to be judged in Canada came, interestingly enough, from a possession case over a gram or so of hash. The Oakes Test states that any violation of one's rights must meet the following conditions:

1. There must be a pressing and substantial objective
2. The means must be proportional:

1. The means must be rationally connected to the objective
2. There must be minimal impairment of rights
3. There must be proportionality between the infringement and objective

And so I argued, in class, that if the objective of the law was to stop people from smoking hash, then the law was not "rationally connected" to the objective. Evidenced perhaps most handily by the stubborn persistence and long periods of extended upticks in use over the 8 or 9 decades of its prohibition.

But see- I was thinking the wrong way. I forgot that this is really a religious issue.

The objective is not to stamp out drug use - it never was. The goal was "to fight the good fight" in a noble and eternal war.

And once I realized that, I realized my Charter case that was gonna blow prohibition wide open wasn't gonna work on those grounds. I was thinking rationally about a policy rooted in irrationality.

A definite "moment" in my journey to skepticism!

 

[Puppycow]

Beat me to it.

Another story.

And our lame-o president's reaction is politically safe and predictable:

Rafael Lemaitre, Communications Director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy:

“Legalization remains a non-starter in the Obama administration because research shows that illegal drug use is associated with voluntary treatment admissions, fatal drugged driving accidents, mental illness, and emergency room admissions.”

All those things are equally true of alcohol.

 

[Joey McGee]

The harm that drugs do is made worse by their illegality, and it prevents us from helping those people effectively. If they really want to cut down on addiction, accidents and illness they should be pro-legalization. What an embarrassingly stupid statement. Rafael obviously didn't read the evidence that was in the report? The evidence points in one direction, their further adherence to ideology will continue to hurt people, but increasingly as more people look at the evidence, hurt themselves politically as well.

 

[MattusMaximus]

It's about damn time someone in the government actually acknowledges what the rest of us have known for many years. Now, whether or not they actually do something to remedy the problem, that's another question...

 

[Democracy Simulator]

I laughed at this reaction from the Mexican government:

“Legalization won’t stop organized crime, its turf wars or its violence. Nor will it strengthen our security institutions and law enforcement. To equate organized crime in Mexico with drug trafficking is to forget that organized crime commits other offences such as kidnapping, extortion and robbery.”

It's almost as if the Mexican government thinks that cutting off the number 1 source of funding for gang related activities is a bad idea.

Does anyone seriously think that legally available drugs will not greatly shrink the business of drug-dealing, which funds a tremendous amount of criminal activity, like kidnapping, extortion and robbery? I can't imagine that too many serious gang bosses would be rejoicing at the prospect of legalization.

Organised crime thrives on prohibition, make no mistake about it.

 

[Barsdamian]

To my knowledge racism was an important component of the criminalization of marijuana. I don't even know how to go about documenting this, or back it up with evidence. I am sure the legislation didn't read:
"In an effort to lock up those people, we are going to make marijuana illegal". If I understand correctly it was more heavily used by the black population than the white population.

Consider these quotes from Harry Anslinger during his campaign to have cannabis outlawed federally.

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."

"Colored students at the Univ. of Minn. partying with (white) female students, smoking [marijuana] and getting their sympathy with stories of racial persecution. Result: pregnancy"

"Two Negros took a girl fourteen years old and kept her for two days under the influence of hemp. Upon recovery she was found to be suffering from syphilis."

No racism there. In fact the term marijuana was popularized my Anslinger in an effort to paint the drug as a problem of mexican migrant workers. Prior to that the plant had been more commonly known as indian hemp weed or just hemp.