cannabisnews.com: U.S. Defends Anti-Narcotics Policy





U.S. Defends Anti-Narcotics Policy
Posted by FoM on August 30, 2001 at 07:59:13 PT
By Alexandra Olson, Associated Press Writer
Source: Los Angeles Times
Two U.S. congressmen defended their country's efforts to combat drug trafficking in the Andean region, against criticism that the United States isn't doing enough to fight drugs at home.At the Andean Parliament summit on drug trafficking Wednesday, Rep. Cass Ballenger of North Carolina and Rep. Mark Souder of Indiana answered concerns that the United States is spending too much money on fighting drug trafficking and too little on reducing demand.
There is a "misnomer that the United States is only pointing the finger" at drug producing nations, Souder told representatives of the Andean Parliament, which includes Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela."It's important for you to understand that we understand we have a major problem with drug abuse, and we are trying to tackle it," he added.Souder listed several initiatives to reduce drug consumption in the United States: suspending federal student loans for those found to have abused drugs; encouraging private companies to submit their employees to drug tests; and guaranteeing college loans for students who maintain good grades and avoid drugs.Ballenger emphasized that the United States spends $15 billion a year battling substance abuse.The U.S. recently contributed $1.3 billion to Colombia to eradicate coca production in rebel-held territories using U.S.-trained soldiers and American Black Hawk helicopters.The Andean region, especially Colombia, is the world's biggest producer of cocaine while the United States is the world's biggest consumer.Earlier this year, Colombian President Andres Pastrana and Mexican President Vicente Fox criticized Washington's annual certification of other countries' cooperation in the drug war, saying the practice "offends our countries."During the Wednesday summit, Venezuelan Vice President Adina Bastidas questioned whether "rich countries" should not shift the resources they spend on combatting drug trafficking to cutting demand at home.Interior Minister Luis Miquilena said Venezuela was still concerned that Plan Colombia would lead to coca production spilling into Venezuela. Venezuela is not a narcotics-producing nation, but it is key transit point for Colombian cocaine being smuggled into the U.S. and Europe."We understand that drug production in Colombia will spill over. But we argue ... that the biggest threat to Venezuela is not getting control of (coca production in) Colombia," Souder said.The House of Representatives last month passed a $15.2 billion foreign aide bill that includes $676 million allotted for helping the Andean region fight drug trafficking. The bill is awaiting discussion in the Senate. Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)Author: Alexandra Olson, Associated Press WriterPublished: August 30, 2001Copyright: 2001 Los Angeles TimesContact: letters latimes.comWebsite: http://www.latimes.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Colombia Drug War Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/colombia.htmAdministration Tries To Steer Course in Colombiahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10759.shtmlMany Colombians Back Decriminalization http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10752.shtmlColombian Officials Cooling on Drug War http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10751.shtml
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Comment #7 posted by thornintheside on August 30, 2001 at 13:27:23 PT
DEA equals total hostility
When the DEA became an abbreviation they forgot to use the words 'total hostility' at the end of it. Thus the acronym, 'DEATH'. It fits them perfectly.
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Comment #6 posted by jAHn on August 30, 2001 at 12:19:29 PT
Mumia delineates history upon Concentration Camps
This column is excerpted from Mumia's contribution to the book "Escape Routes", which you can get free by email at http://www.emailchapters.com I'm reading the email chapters and it's loaded with wisdom. Here's a short excerpt about Che Guevara, whom the author uses as an example:Che showed that when we have found a vision to live by, no sacrifice will be too great for us, not even our physical death-which explains the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre's remark that he was "the most complete human being of our age."His example would go on to inspire many, from the European student demonstrators of 1968, to Nelson Mandela in the 1980s, to the Zapatista rebels of Mexico today. What exactly was the heart of Che's vision, that it still animates young people around the world? His words on the revolutionary power of love hint at one answer. "Let me say, with the risk of appearing ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by strong feelings of love. It is impossible to think of an authentic revolutionary without this quality...One must have a large dose of humanity, a large dose of a sense of justice and truth, to avoid falling into extremes, into cold intellectualism, into isolation from the masses. Every day we must struggle so that this love of living humanity is transformed into concrete facts, into acts that will serve as an example ..."To quote him further, from his last letter to his children: "Above all, try always to feel deeply any injustice committed against any person in any part of the world. It is the most beautiful quality of a revolutionary."Here is Mumia's contribution:HELL ON EARTHby Mumia Abu-JamalAll Rights ReservedWhen most folks think of Hell, they think of depictions crafted by skilled artists, of fiery pits, of an underworld, or of red, tailed, horned beings.Whole religions have based their appeal on such visions, and in turn used fear to build their earthly mansions and cathedrals.But as the brilliant philosopher Schopenhauer asked,of Dante's Inferno, "For whence did Dante take the materials of his hell but from our actual world?" "And yet," he noted, "he made a very proper hell of it."There may well be a hell that is an underworld, but who among us will dare deny that hell has been an unquestionable reality on earth?It is not to the theologians, or other religious specialists, that one poses this question, but to average, everyday people of the world. And one must look, not to religious texts, but to literature, and to the history of the world, to perceive this reality.A true history of the Americas, while seemingly glorious for Europeans, can only be seen as hellish for the so-called Indians. Their history is one of massacre, genocide, and yes, holocaust.To the remainders of this nation's original people, a life of marginalization, of abject poverty, of rule and ridicule by the descendants of the invaders, must seem hellish indeed.And speaking of genocides and holocausts, one cannot ignore the experiences of millions of Jews, Poles, and Romani (so-called Gypsies) in 1930s-era Germany under the Reich. A Jewish poet, Kadya Molodovsky, speaks of a searing, hellish experience,in the poem "God of Mercy," which cries:  O God of Mercy  For the time being  Choose another people.  We are tired of death, tired of corpses,  We have no more prayers.   Penguin Book of Modern Yiddish Verse, Irring   Howe, Ruth R. Wisse and Khone Shmeruk, Eds. (Viking).Decades before there was a holocaust in Europe there was an African holocaust, in which whole tribes were wiped out by colonizers. The term "concentration camp" didn't arise from Nazi usage.In 1904, German Gen. Von Trotha issued his notoriousVernichtungsbefehl (or "extermination order") against the Herreros of Southwest Africa (what is today called Namibia). Von Trotha's troops poisoned their wells, and drove the Herreros and their cattle into the desert. A report made by the colonial army's General Staff noted "the death rattles of the dying and their insane screams of fury...resoundedin the sublime silence of infinity." Those few thousand who survived were penned into concentration camps. One of the colonial officials working with Von Trotha was Imperial Commissioner Heinrich Göring, whose son would one day rise to the hierarchy of the Nazis. Hell? The Herreros knew hell perfectly, as did millions of Africans the world over.The English dramatist, Christopher Marlowes (1564-1593), in his play, "Doctor Faustus," has the devil respond to Faust's question, on the location of hell, thusly:  Hell hath no limits nor is circumscribed   In one self place, where we are is Hell,  And to be short, when all the world dissolves,  And every creature shall be purified,  All places shall be hell, that are not heaven.Marlowe's Mephistopheles speaks, not of an underworld, but of the world at large: "...where we are is Hell," he explains.But enough about history and literature, for hell lies, not in the earth, but in the hearts and minds of men.When a child in poverty dies of starvation, there is hell.When people groan under the boot of oppression, there is hell.Where there is injustice, there is hell.The greatest Russian novelist Dostoyevsky described hell as "the suffering of being unable to love."This sounds like an apt description of far too much of the human condition.(c) 2001 MAJyou can read the rest of the book for free atwww.emailchapters.com
Mumia Abu-Jamaal: Fighting Injustice For EveryONE!!!
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Comment #5 posted by observer on August 30, 2001 at 11:02:22 PT
Souder Deaf to Colombian Screams for Legalization
Two U.S. congressmen defended their country's efforts to combat drug trafficking in the Andean region, against criticism that the United States isn't doing enough to fight drugs at home.Chuckle. A false dilemma: the choices are not "oppress and poison the Colombian peasants," or "force more totalitarian government monitioring of or blood and urine." No, that is a classic false dilemma. A logical fallacy. A Falsehood. The sagacious congressmen and free press here forgot to mention the option that the US propaganda press always does its best to forget, or to smear: the option of returning to people their traditional freedoms is not mentioned.  Drug prohibition did not come down from heaven as a gift to mankind the value of which is unquestionable. Drug prohibition was thought up by narrow-minded controllers, petty tyrants, politicians . By an amazing coincidence, prohibition is implemented by taking away traditional rights from adults, and giving government more power. Prohibitionists want you to forget all that, though. Gung-ho drug warriors want us to believe that jailing drugs users is now and has eternally been the moral and righteous thing to do. Drug warriors are sadly deluded.Always a set up, or pretext for more totalitarian controls, eh? You have to wonder how these clowns forgot to mention gettng peppered with vocal calls for legalization.Maybe the drug (wars) these politicians are mainlining have affected their judgement?8/29 Colombia: Many Colombians Back Decriminalization...http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1596/a05.html ''A bipartisan group of legislators introduced bills in Colombia's congress this month on the themes of legalization and decriminalization. The legislators said part of their motivation is the angry public reaction in Colombia to an intensified herbicide-spraying campaign, funded by the United States ...''8/29 Colombia: Pressure Is On In Colombia To Legalize http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1596/a02.html
Drug War Propaganda Analysis
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Comment #4 posted by Lehder on August 30, 2001 at 10:57:33 PT
and the busts go on
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/ecstasy010830.htmlhttp://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/ecstacy_military010602.htmlhttp://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/fire_california_010829.html
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Comment #3 posted by Sudaca on August 30, 2001 at 08:42:31 PT
on the bright side
The US didn't have to defend it's narco policies before. Things are changing.
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Comment #2 posted by Patrick on August 30, 2001 at 08:21:56 PT
U.S. Defends Anti-Narcotics Policy
This article should be entitled…U.S. Exposes Anti-Narcotics PolicyOh and Souder is an "expert."Souder listed several initiatives to reduce drug consumption in the United States: suspending federal student loans for those found to have abused drugs; encouraging private companies to submit their employees to drug tests; and guaranteeing college loans for students who maintain good grades and avoid drugs.So, by taking away educational opportunities for those that have fallen victim to drug addiction, by violating our constitutional rights and invading persons for their bodily fluids and guaranteeing student loans only to the goody two shoe graduates of D.A.R.E. programs, you will cut drug consumption in the US? Please vote this moron out of office.Soulder must have gone to Nazi training camp as a youth. Why doesn't he also suggest that we tattoo drug user foreheads, shave their heads and make them wear the Star of David on their clothing ala Schindler's List.In addition, "Ballenger emphasized that the United States spends $15 billion a year battling substance abuse. Wrong. This is not money spent on battling "drug abuse!" It's money spent on law enforcement in a failed effort to prohibit use. It would not cost even 1 billion dollars to truly care and treat all the addicts in this country. However, it does take 15 billion bucks to keep law enforcement stocked with a good supply of body bags and high tech snooping toys.
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Comment #1 posted by auto on August 30, 2001 at 08:17:21 PT
What a joke.
You call these solutions? I call these the Feds attempt to instill even greater power over you and me while taking away the very freedoms our forefathers sought to provide for us. Each day I grow more angry at this administration and the power they choose to hold over you and I. This was once a democracy...now this has gotten way out of hand.FEDS WAY OF REDUCING DRUGS: suspending federal student loans for those found to have abused drugs; encouraging private companies to submit their employees to drug tests; and guaranteeing college loans for students who maintain good grades and avoid drugs.What a joke. These politicians have to defend their drug policies...election time is right around the corner...how else would you tell your constituents that you voted to spend $15 billion dollars to put poor farmers and innocent americans behind bars because you think this is the best thing for america? You ignorant pieces of sh*t. Go back under the rock you came from...when you wake up to reality run for re-election then!Truth the $15 billion keeps their buddies employed in cush, mis-informed, power-tripping, egotistical, gun carrying DEA uniforms. Amazing these guys cant tell the difference between Hemp and Cannabis. Can they tell the difference between Good and Bad Americans? Have the even read our Bill of Rights? Can they read...or do they just do as they are told? About time they listened to the majority wishes rather than the poweful minority agenda dont ya think?
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