tagged w/ Drug War Reform
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WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama plans to take questions from YouTube viewers Thursday afternoon, and for the third time in as many years, the overwhelmingly most popular query involves the legalization of marijuana.
Of the top 100 most popular questions as rated by YouTube users, 99 are about the drug war or pot. Of the next one hundred, 99 are again about drug policy. Somehow, two questions about clean energy made their way into the top 200.
The pot questions don't stop there, but HuffPost stopped counting deep into the 200s, as the president is unlikely to answer all of them. If past history is any guide, he may not answer any of them.
A White House spokesman tells HuffPost that the president on Thursday will answer whatever questions YouTube puts before him. "A selection of top voted questions has been made to insure that as many of the most important questions as voted by the YouTube community will be asked," a YouTube spokesperson told HuffPost.
Obama did answer the question in 2009, addressing folks who asked if the president would consider legalizing marijuana to boost the economy and tax revenue.
"Can I just interrupt, Jared, before you ask the next question, just to say that we -- we took votes about which questions were going to be asked and I think 3 million people voted," he said to aide Jared Bernstein. "I have to say that there was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy -- (laughter) -- and job creation. And I don't know what this says about the online audience -- (laughter) -- but I just want -- I don't want people to think that -- this was a fairly popular question; we want to make sure that it was answered. The answer is, no, I don't think that is a good strategy -- (laughter) -- to grow our economy in 2009."
That answer tortured legalization backers as much as being ignored, if this year's questions are an indication. Many of them knock the president for laughing at their issue.
The major drug-policy reform organizations say they have had little to do with the popularity of the pot questions and that it has largely been a "grassroots" response. The top question is from an official associated with the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, but the second- and third-most popular, judging by their YouTube pages, are clearly not connected to a mainstream advocacy group.
LEAP, the Drug Policy Alliance, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Marijuana Policy Project released what they called a "joint" statement Thursday calling on the president to address an issue that is "bubbling up."
The statement appears below:
Following his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama asked the public to submit questions for an exclusive YouTube Interview that will take place on Thursday January 27. The "Ask Obama" forum promises to take questions from the American people on the issues they find most important in terms of national policy.
The people have spoken, and the message is loud and clear: the top 100 most popular questions (193,000 were submitted) are on marijuana reform and the harms of drug prohibition, with the first-place question coming from a former police officer who has first-hand experience with the failure of these policies. The questions dominating the forum deal with marijuana legalization, prohibition-related violence, and the fiscal and human consequences of mass incarceration. The American people want to know why our country is continuing the failed, catastrophic policy of drug prohibition.
Several of the most popular questions also address why our elected leaders have virtually ignored these important issues. This is not the first time marijuana legalization and drug reform have dominated the response to Obama's call for questions. There were similar results in both 2009 and 2010 when people asked Obama about ending prohibition and using science instead of politics to guide our drug policies. In 2009, Obama's response was to laugh off the question about taxing and controlling marijuana. In 2010, Obama ignored the questions, despite the questions dominating in quantity and quality.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/27/obama-youtube-pot-questions_n_814811.html?ref=fb&src=spWASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama plans to take questions from YouTube viewers... more
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We offer two stories this evening. The first is from Gaum one of 17 nations that the UN lists as being colonies (they have a more polite term it but you'll see) The other is an excerpt fro a German TV special (it's in English) about the American drug war.
There are thousands of American bases spread across the globe costing billions of dollars a year to maintain, staff and operate. All across America the infrastructure is crumbling and schools are running out of money. Meantime we roam the world at will imposing ourselves where we need to and doing whatever it takes to keep our control. This post which from the Nation magazine web site gives us a look on the tiny island of Guam. In it we learn of the devestating impact our military is having on the island and it's people.
“I returned to Guam for a monthlong visit with old friends this past November. I was stunned to find the forests of my childhood being replaced by tarmac at an alarming rate; the remaining wild beaches and valleys being surveyed as potential live-fire shooting ranges; and an enormous, magnificently rich coral reef slated for dredging in order to build a port for the Navy's largest aircraft carrier. I witnessed the rage and hurt, exploding suddenly--and so unexpectedly--from the Chamorro people and other island residents, who have had no say in the planning of cataclysmic changes that will turn their homeland into an overcrowded waste dump for the creation of the hemisphere's pre-eminent military fortress. My friends told me it's all part of what's called the Guam Buildup. “
And on another front we have this video on the drug war and one of those interviewed is the man who wrote some of the toughest anti drug laws in the 80's and what he thinks about the work he did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki-Nh5qtVVE
MindsiMedia is a series of online projects. The video link above is from out Mindsi2 station on YouTube. We have several channels on YouTube and other video sharing outlets. We can also be found on Facebook, My Space, Twitter, Pandora, Current, Cafe Press and more. You can access all of this (most of it at least) from our web portal at
http://www.mindsimedia.info/ .We offer two stories this evening. The first is from Gaum one of 17 nations that the... more
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Why are heroin and cocaine illegal? Why do we maintain this prohibition if the collateral damage from it is so vast and so enduring?
There's been a huge demand for these drugs for decades, a vast and lucrative market fully exploited by young men who, lacking other opportunities as lucrative, created distribution systems, formed gangs, armed themselves, killed to maintain their livelihoods, forced cities and towns to add police, forced states and counties to build more prisons and detention centers, made bad neighborhoods worse, intimidated law-abiding families, and ruined efforts at post-industrial urban progress. This underground commerce is responsible for a massive amount of violence and mayhem in Baltimore and other cities - and all because its top-selling products are illegal.
Drug addiction is a terrible thing. So is alcoholism. But booze and beer are legal, and Americans stopped killing each other over booze and beer 75 years ago.Why are heroin and cocaine illegal? Why do we maintain this prohibition if the... more
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When it comes to addressing America's disastrous war on drugs, the Obama administration appears to be moving in the right direction -- albeit very, very cautiously.When it comes to addressing America's disastrous war on drugs, the Obama... more
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"Yesterday marked the first time in history that a nationwide poll showed majority support for taxing and regulating marijuana (at 52%). The poll, conducted by Zogby International at the end of April, was also one of the largest sample sizes of any national polls on the subject, with almost 4,000 respondents and a margin of error of +/- 1.6%."
Let's legalize it!"Yesterday marked the first time in history that a nationwide poll showed... more
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LOS ANGELES — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the discussion over whether to legalize and tax marijuana for recreational use in California would benefit from a large-scale study, including international case comparisons, to show the possible impact of such a change. ........LOS ANGELES — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the discussion over... more
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Movie description>>"Based on true events during the 2000 election, AMERICAN VIOLET tells the astonishing story of Dee Roberts (critically hailed newcomer Nicole Beharie), a 24 year-old African American single mother of four young girls living in a small Texas town who is barely able to make ends meet.
While police drag Dee from work in handcuffs, dumping her in the squalor of the women’s county prison, the powerful local district attorney (Academy Award® nominee Michael O’Keefe) leads an extensive drug bust, sweeping her housing project with military precision. Dee soon discovers she has been charged as a drug dealer.
Even though Dee has no prior drug record and no drugs were found on her in the raid, she is offered a hellish choice: plead guilty and go home as a convicted felon or remain in prison, jeopardizing her custody and risking a long prison sentence.
She chooses to fight the district attorney and the unyielding criminal justice system, risking everything in a battle that forever changes her life and the Texas justice system. AMERICAN VIOLET also stars Academy Award® nominee Alfre Woodard, Emmy Award® winner Charles S. Dutton, Tim Blake Nelson, Will Patton and Xzibit.
NOTE: American Violet was initially inspired by an NPR story by Wade Goodwyn.
That was six years ago. Much of the film was informed by thousands of pages of information provided on a range of stories by the ACLU among others. A variety of media reports and legal documents, including sworn testimony, depositions and affidavits, all of which can be found on the public record also helped us find authentic patterns and voices for our storytelling. Finally, taped interviews with community members who had experienced circumstances similar to those outlined in our work proved useful.
However, American Violet is not a documentary. It is a narrative feature film that is, as it says, based on true events. Some scenes and characters have been fictionalized for dramatic effect and have no relationship to the historical record. Names have been changed to protect the innocent and also to protect this film."Movie description>>"Based on true events during the 2000 election, AMERICAN... more
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Prohibition has failed; legalisation is the least bad solution
"The failure of the drug war has led a few of its braver generals, especially from Europe and Latin America, to suggest shifting the focus from locking up people to public health and “harm reduction” (such as encouraging addicts to use clean needles). This approach would put more emphasis on public education and the treatment of addicts, and less on the harassment of peasants who grow coca and the punishment of consumers of “soft” drugs for personal use. That would be a step in the right direction. But it is unlikely to be adequately funded, and it does nothing to take organised crime out of the picture."Prohibition has failed; legalisation is the least bad solution
"The failure of... more
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My name is Becca Ray Dylan, and I thought you might want to check out my slideshow featuring Barack Obama and Coldplay, with a twist. I found a new organization called Heads of Humanity, the Hemp Education and Decriminalization Society, which I am describing as a revolutionary new marijuana movement.
Obama is going to be the next great human rights champ, and I'm hoping to get this video out to every young or undecided voter before November 4, 2008.
Look me up on My Space, member name Becca Ray Dylan. Time is of the essence!
Thank you.
VOTE! Go Obama!
My name is Becca Ray Dylan, and I thought you might want to check out my slideshow... more
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Barack Obama will be the next president, and the next great human rights champ. He will lead America into a new era of social evolution. In short, the world will be a nicer place to live in.
I'm Becca Ray Dylan, and I founded a new organization called HEADS of Humanity, the Hemp Education and Decriminalization Society. I'm hoping all young or undecided voters, along with the many members of the counterculture, will have a chance to see my video before November 4, 2008.
There will never be a politician to actively support pro-pot legislation until HEADS come together and make some noise. I'm not suggesting Obama is in favor of marijuana legislation, but he will help bring about a political and social environment conducive to this revolutionary new marijuana movement.
VOTE! Go Obama!
Barack Obama will be the next president, and the next great human rights champ. He... more
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On the ballot this November in Massachusetts, voters will have the opportunity to become the 13th state to decriminalize personal possession of marijuana. The initiative, known as Question 2, would make possession of an ounce or less of marijuana a civil fine of $100, and those under 18 have to complete a drug education program and community service, or else the fine goes as high as $1,000.
Most of all, the offense would not be listed in the Criminal Record Information System (CORI) database. Drug warriors like to say “nobody goes to prison for marijuana“, but the harm from a criminal arrest is bad enough. Once you’re in this CORI database, it’s a red flag that hurts you in getting jobs, housing, loans, security clearances, and more. Plus there is the time and money - about $30 million a year - that Massachusetts wastes busting people for small amounts of pot.
Since the measure is enjoying huge support in the polls, the drug warriors have banded together to mount a media offensive. And by “offensive”, I mean the offensively repugnant stench of reefer madness…[more]On the ballot this November in Massachusetts, voters will have the opportunity to... more
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More of your tax dollars at work, providing flashy interactive content full of drug war lies and distortions meant to encourage kids to avoid cannabis. Uh, guys, with 83.9% of 12th graders saying pot is “fairly easy” or “very easy” to get and 41.8% of them trying pot sometime in their life, it seems your efforts are for naught.[more]More of your tax dollars at work, providing flashy interactive content full of drug... more
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Norm Stamper is a cop who saw it all during his 34 years on active duty. As police of Seattle from 1994 through 2000, he was in charge during violent World Trade Organization protests in the Emerald City.
Stamper, who holds a Ph.D. in leadership and human behavior from United States International University, has emerged as one of the most thoughtful and outspoken critics of the war on drugs, which he believes causes untold misery, undermines effective law enforcement, and doesn't begin to pass any sort of cost-benefit analysis. As important, the libertarian Stamper believes that the drug war—and other wars on the behaviors on consenting adults—does great violence to the idea that we own our bodies.
Stamper is the author of the Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Exposé of the Dark Side of American Policing (2005) and now works with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a nonprofit created by former cops to "reduce the multitude of unintended harmful consequences resulting from fighting the war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction by ultimately ending drug prohibition.Norm Stamper is a cop who saw it all during his 34 years on active duty. As police of... more
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News from Narconon - TransWorldNews press release. It's not an ad or an anti-drug article ... Read it ...
Marijuana is addictive!
Narconon is an international drug rehabilitation organisation which claims a presence in 26 countries around the world. It is involved in a range of anti-drug activities, including lectures to schools, educational programmes and providing residential drug rehabilitation therapy for addicts. It claims extraordinarily high success rates - anything up to 85% - for those undergoing its treatment programme. Narconon is very energetic in publicising its claims and, over the years, it has managed to persuade a number of state and national governments to fund its activities. Founded in 1966, the modern Narconon programme is the work of the late L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction author and founder of the Church of Scientology. It combines what might be termed his moral philosophy with his theories on the nature of drug addiction and his solutions to the problem, providing a mixture of educational and therapeutic activities.
What is the Narconon programme?
* Narconon's clients go through four stages designed to detoxify their bodies and reform their lives and practices:
Drug-Free Withdrawal - equivalent to "cold turkey", stopping all drug taking and tackling the resulting physical and mental pain with vitamin doses and "assists", a form of spiritual healing.
Therapeutic TRs Course - a series of drills performed with another person which aim to "bring about interaction between the individual and the existing physical universe".
New Life Detoxification Program - an intensive programme of running, massive overdoses of vitamins and very long sauna sessions, designed to "run out" drugs and radiation from the body.
Life Improvement Courses - a series of short courses which aim to improve a person's ability to study, communicate and exercise moral judgements.
* The overall cost of the Narconon programme is a flat fee of about $15,000. It takes between 3 months and up to a year to complete.
"Many baby-boomers recall their younger years fondly," comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director for Narconon Drug Rehab in Georgia. "Part of the culture was the summer of love, and marijuana was passed around freely. As they grew up, and moved on, most left pot behind and became responsible adults.
"They would be in for a shock today. With THC content of modern commercial marijuana in some cases 15 to 20 times more powerful than the marijuana produced in the 60's and 70's, marijuana addiction is a real threat.
"Don't let kids or others fool you: It's not 'just pot' any more. These levels of THC now make marijuana extremely dangerous, extremely powerful, extremely addictive."
Don't get too scared by the rhetoric ... They've convinced our government that it's OK to rehab addicts into their church too.
Post Script:
I think some people were confuse after reading this article. I posted it to dramatize the narco-industrial complex in this country. If only all business could market their products based on lies.
Join the conversation by commenting below.News from Narconon - TransWorldNews press release. It's not an ad or an... more
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Alex White Plume called it his "field of dreams": an acre and a half of plants so tall and strong they seemed to touch the sky; a crop representing hope for a new and self-sufficient life for his family, residents of the desperately impoverished Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
But on Aug. 24, 2000 at sunrise, just four days before White Plume and his neighbors planned to harvest their bounty, White Plume awoke to the sounds of helicopters. He looked out the window and saw a convoy of vehicles heading for his field.
He raced down to investigate, and was met by a slew of black-clad and heavily armed figures -- 36 agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the US Marshal's office.
When White Plume rolled down the window of his pick-up to ask what was going on, he says, one US marshal pointed a gun in his face. Meanwhile, the other agents chopped down each plant near the roots and hauled them away.
You see, White Plume was growing industrial hemp, a botanical cousin of marijuana. According to tests conducted later by the BIA, White Plume's hemp contained only trace amounts of the psychoactive element THC. But US drug laws do not distinguish between marijuana, which has a higher THC content, and other kinds of hemp; growing either is illegal. (Federal law does permit the possession or sale of mature stalks, fiber, and products made from hemp fiber and hemp seed oil.)
Still, the raid at Pine Ridge wasn't your typical drug bust. The Oglala Sioux tribal government, which passed a resolution allowing White Plume to plant his crop, argues that the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 gave Pine Ridge absolute sovereign status as an independent nation. The BIA, however, says Pine Ridge enjoys only "limited" sovereignty: While the tribe has its own government, constitution, and laws, it is subject to some federal oversight.
White Plume and the tribe knew that they'd be walking a thin line between sovereignty and US drug law. Pine Ridge's ordinance makes a distinction between industrial hemp and its psychoactive cousin and sets a threshold for distinguishing between the two at 1 percent THC. The US government makes no such distinction; any THC is too much, according to US law.
Robert Ecoffey, superintendent of the BIA on Pine Ridge, gave the tribe some hefty warnings before the seeds were planted. Ecoffey says, "I told them, if you're going to plant, I want to be upfront with you, you may be subjecting yourself to arrest and penalties." No arrests were made in connection with the raid, but the South Dakota US attorney's office says it may still prosecute.
In the tribe's view, the decision to grow industrial hemp is well within its right to self-determination. The tribal council based its approval of the hemp ordinance on the Fort Laramie Treaty, which sets apart land for the "absolute and undisturbed use and occupation" of the Lakota.
The gray zone between the Oglala Lakota people's right to self-determination and federal drug laws is where Alex White Plume now finds himself trapped.
"They're treating us like second-class citizens, like wards of the state," says White Plume, who is considering suing the government for compensation and has started soliciting donations to a legal fund. "To me, it's like the US going into Canada and raiding a hemp field over there."Alex White Plume called it his "field of dreams": an acre and a half of... more
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The Court of Appeal decided that lawmakers overstepped their bounds by amending the Compassionate Use Act. Brown, the attorney general, disagrees with that ruling.
"State Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown is preparing to challenge a recent appellate court decision that struck down California's guidelines on medical marijuana possession and cultivation, leaving patients and police wondering how much weed is too much.
Brown said in an interview this week that he would ask the Supreme Court to overturn last month's decision by the state Court of Appeal in Los Angeles, because it inhibits the state's attempts to control abuses while protecting legitimate access to cannabis.
The court ruled that the Legislature in 2003 made an unconstitutional amendment to the 1996 voter-approved Compassionate Use Act by specifying the amount of marijuana that patients could possess for medicinal purposes.
The decision, hailed by some medical marijuana advocates, did not only cast doubt on the legality of the standard of eight ounces of dried pot and six mature or 12 immature plants, which is contained in the legislation. It also threw a cloud of uncertainty over more liberal guidelines adopted by some counties, particularly those in the marijuana belt of the North Coast.
Brown, who supports medicinal use of marijuana, said the legislation was a reasonable approach to implementing a vaguely written ballot measure. "The proposition is not as clear we would like," he said. "You do not need an unlimited quantity of marijuana for medicine. But what is the quantity?"
The medical marijuana law was designed to provide access to patients with cancer, AIDS and other ailments. But implementation has created a hodgepodge of local marijuana controls."
By Tim Reiterman
Los Angeles Times Staff WriterThe Court of Appeal decided that lawmakers overstepped their bounds by amending the... more
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Everyone has a stake in ending the war on drugs. Whether you’re a parent concerned about protecting children from drug-related harm, a social justice advocate worried about racially disproportionate incarceration rates, an environmentalist seeking to protect the Amazon rainforest or a fiscally conservative taxpayer you have a stake in ending the drug war. U.S. federal, state and local governments have spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to make America “drug-free.” Yet heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illicit drugs are cheaper, purer and easier to get than ever before. Nearly half a million people are behind bars on drug charges - more than all of western Europe (with a bigger population) incarcerates for all offenses. The war on drugs has become a war on families, a war on public health and a war on our constitutional rights.
Many of the problems the drug war purports to resolve are in fact caused by the drug war itself. So-called “drug-related” crime is a direct result of drug prohibition's distortion of immutable laws of supply and demand. Public health problems like HIV and Hepatitis C are all exacerbated by zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean needles. The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse.
Few public policies have compromised public health and undermined our fundamental civil liberties for so long and to such a degree as the war on drugs. The United States is now the world's largest jailer, imprisoning nearly half a million people for drug offenses alone. That's more people than Western Europe, with a bigger population, incarcerates for all offenses. Roughly 1.5 million people are arrested each year for drug law violations - 40% of them just for marijuana possession. People suffering from cancer, AIDS and other debilitating illnesses are regularly denied access to their medicine or even arrested and prosecuted for using medical marijuana. We can do better.Everyone has a stake in ending the war on drugs. Whether you’re a parent... more
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A spike in violence between rival drug gangs and police has exacerbated concern about security – and may lead to questions about a key US aid package.
As gang violence flares in Mexico and concerns rise on both sides of the border over Mexico's stability, a debate is intensifying over a Bush administration aid package to the Mexican government.
The conditions stem from concerns over corruption, as The Washington Post editorial points out.
"But there's substantial congressional skepticism about aid that could flow to the notoriously unaccountable, often corrupt, Mexican military and police forces. And then the tough, basic question: Realistically, how much could U.S. aid of roughly $500 million a year do to stem the gargantuan illegal drug trade that now flows across the Mexican border — about $23 billion a year by U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates?
A spike in violence between rival drug gangs and police has exacerbated concern about... more
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By FISNIK ABRASHI
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan will ask international donors next month for $4 billion to revive its agricultural sector, but it could be a hard sell with another massive crop of opium expected this year.
Despite the sharply rising price of grain, foreign-funded efforts to promote legal alternatives to the narcotic have largely failed.
Farmers still make much more from growing poppy, the raw material for heroin, which flourishes amid Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency and rampant lawlessness. Half of the country's production comes from Helmand province, a stronghold of insurgents.
Roughly one out of every seven farmers in this predominantly rural nation of 32 million people grow opium. Giving them alternatives is part of Afghanistan's plan to invest $4 billion over the next five years in its outdated agricultural sector.
Follow link for full scoop
By FISNIK ABRASHI
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan will ask international... more
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