International Panel: “End the War on Drugs”
This probably won’t change anything. For decades, prominent American politicians — including conservatives — have called for an end to the war on drugs. It falls on deaf ears every time. The multi-trillion-dollar Prison Industrial Complex is perfectly happy with our drug laws just the way they are. Case closed.
Now an international panel, commissioned by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, is calling for an end to the war on drugs. This commission includes the Prime Minister of Greece; the former presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia; former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan; and George Schultz and Paul Volcker.
The panel issued a statement saying:
“Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won.”
The former president of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, said:
“The fact is that the war on drugs is a failure. Being a failure is not saying that you have nothing to do with drugs. You have to act. The drug are infiltrating the local power in several parts of the world. Corruption is increasing and the consumption of drugs is also increasing.”
The former president of Colombia said:
“We hope the U.S. at least starts to think there are alternatives. We don't see the U.S. evolving in a way that is compatible with our countries’ long-term interests.”
In a related story: Mexico’s violent crime rate is through the roof; and not just in Juarez and other border cities. Monterray, an industrial powerhouse and one of Mexico’s wealthiest cities, is being swallowed up by drug-related gang killings and kidnappings. Monterray has already had as many drug-related murders so far this year as it had in all of 2010.
Imagine the outrage in the U.S. if a law in Mexico was causing tens of thousands of Americans to be kidnapped and murdered every year. Mexico has some of the highest anti-American sentiment in the world. We can thank the war on drugs for that.
Labels: Global Commission on Drug Policy, Monterrey Mexico, prison industrial complex, War on Drugs
posted by Tom Harper @ 11:51 AM
10 Comments:
Sounds like someone wants coke available at the corner drug store!
You're right, Tom, the drug war has too many vested big-money and even small-money interests. It's not just the prison biz, either. It's swollen law enforcement all over the country.
But check around and if your area is like mine there's a booming business in private rehab counseling outfits. It's SOP for courts to order drug users and sellers who get caught to go for counseling. Slam dunk.
Even when the help wanted ads in the paper shrunk to nearly nothing a couple of years ago, there were constantly ads for certified substance abuse counselors.
Filthy hippies, pasy me now or pay me later.
;-)
The Story that rarely gets out is that these Mexican Gangs buy most of their arms in the US especially gun happy border states like Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico - not as much from California, which has tougher gun laws.
Us Peaceniks
Erik
Decriminalization is the only option left. Take the risk out of it, and you take the huge profits out of it. And, just maybe, we finally get on some kind of a sane path again.
We've been told for a generation now that addiction is a disease that needs to be treated medically.
I don't know of any other non-communicable disease that we try and treat with automatic weapons and expanded arrest powers.
Take the PROFIT out?
Hahahaha, good luck with THAT.
We don't WANT sanity, obviously.
What a marroon that new "drug czar" is.
Randal: And the corner newsstand, grocery store, five and dime...
SW: That's why the prison industrial complex is so huge. The burgeoning private prison industry, thousands of extra jobs for law enforcement officers and the ubiquitous rehab centers -- this is one cure for the high unemployment rate.
In California they call the 3-strikes law (which is much more severe than Washington's) the Prison Guards' Full Employment Act.
Anon.: I'll pay later.
Erik: Yup, that's the exchange. They supply the drugs; we supply the weapons.
JR: Decriminalization is definitely the answer. But will the Powers That Be ever permit it?
Thomas: They keep insisting that more automatic weapons and more expanded arrest powers will solve everything. Doing the same thing over and over...
Anon.: This new drug czar shows how little difference there is between Obama and his predecessors.
I've been trying to tell you that tOM.
Excuse me, .."Tom".
Damn capslock
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