cannabisnews.com: US Anti-Drug Chief is Met With Shouts of 'Nazi'





US Anti-Drug Chief is Met With Shouts of 'Nazi'
Posted by FoM on October 25, 1999 at 19:43:35 PT
By Sandra Laville
Source: Electronic Telegraph
The controversial American anti-drugs chief, Gen Barry McCaffrey, was hounded by protesters in London yesterday on the first day of a visit to share ideas on fighting illegal drug use in society.
Gen McCaffrey, a proponent of hardline solutions to illegal drug use, including jail and a rejection of government-funded services for addicts, was chased out of Goldsmiths College and barracked by demonstrators.Steve Rolles, of the campaign group Transform, said they feared the arrival of the general, who is visiting several European countries to discuss the international fight against illegal drugs, reflected a hardening of the British Government's stance against drug abuse.He said America had the world's most punitive anti-drug strategy and the worst drugs problem. "The Government has nothing to learn from Barry McCaffrey. The US should not be exporting their drug policy. We should be looking to other far more progressive regimes, such as those in Holland." He expressed concern at Government plans to introduce compulsory drug testing for anyone arrested.Gen McCaffrey, accompanied by his British counterpart, Keith Hellawell, arrived at Goldsmiths to launch an Internet site for professionals in the drugs field. Demonstrators shouted "Go home Nazi scum" and "hypocrite".The demonstrators, who included students from the college in south-east London, claimed that the American government was responsible for flooding inner cities with cheap crack cocaine. The general joked: "You can tell this is a democracy."On Radio 4's Today, Gen McCaffrey refused to label his policies zero tolerance. "We are neither having a policy of zero tolerance nor a war on drugs. If you wish to use a metaphor, the metaphor of cancer is more useful to shaping our concept."He said the success of his policy was evident in the 13 per cent reduction in drug use in America last year. "We said the most dangerous drug user in America is a 12-year-old smoking pot and abusing alcohol. We are talking of gateway drugs and, taking the behaviour of a young person aged between nine and 18, we found that where you minimise their exposure to drug taking, statistically they will never have a compulsive drug-taking problem."In the past 50 years our own drug experience has been a disaster. It has gone from no drug abuse almost at all in the Sixties to the worst problem in modern times by 1979. In 1979 about 14 per cent of the population used drugs. That's come down to six per cent. Cocaine use is down 70 per cent."Gen McCaffrey stressed that he believed that education and prevention were the "heart and soul" of the issue. Each country had to develop its own policies to tackle its specific problems.He said: "All of us have different legal and historical contexts. The Dutch are a remarkably civilised, homogenous people in a small area. Their approach might not be appropriate for us. We think the approach we are trying is reflected in dramatically reduced rates of drug abuse."Mr Hellawell said Gen McCaffrey had come to learn, not to preach, and was interested in Britain's 10-year strategy to cut drug use. "It is an international problem that needs an international response."ISSUE 1614 Tuesday 26 October 1999Related Articles & Web Site:ResourceNet:http://www.resourcenet.org.uk/ Clinton's Drug Adviser Booed in Britain - 10/25/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3412.shtmlPro Drug Protesters Target US General - 10/25/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3410.shtmlAmericas Drug War General Brings Battle to Britain-10/24/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3400.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by Doctor Dave on October 26, 1999 at 18:11:59 PT
The State of the Netherlands
Drug Tsar Generaldo McCoffee says:> The Dutch are a remarkably civilised, homogenous people in > a small area.Huh, that sounds a lot like a "state" to me. And unless the federal government is regulating interstate commerce, I think the decision for marijuana prohibition and other recreational drug policy needs to be made by the people of each state, for the people of each stateDoctor Dave"A nation that makes war on huge numbers of its own people can never truly be free."
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Comment #4 posted by observer on October 26, 1999 at 12:51:41 PT
the metaphor of cancer is more useful to shaping o
[excerpt from: Holocaust Almanac: The Political Climate]  "Hitler's rabid antisemitism was not a sideshow designed to attract believers and distract others from the main event - his insatiable desire for power and world dominance. On the contrary, racism was at the heart of Nazi ideology. The supremacy of the Aryan race went hand in hand with the restoration of Germany to world power. Hitler railed against the Jews. To him, they were vile, subhuman, filth, vermin, "a CANCER on the body of the nation." He called on the populace to wage war against them.
Holocaust Almanac: The Political Climate
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Comment #3 posted by observer on October 25, 1999 at 21:22:35 PT
the dehumanizing Nazi metaphor of cancer
McCaffrey: ''If you wish to use a metaphor, the metaphor of cancer is more useful to shaping our concept.''Hmmm. Now where have I heard talk like that before? ''The rise of ____ was a reaction against the cancer of creeping ____, which, it should be appreciated, was a mighty wave striking the shores of human consciousness...''But that's hardly fair of me ... here's the full quote:''The rise of Nationalist Germany was a reaction against the cancer of creeping Communist Zionism, which, it should be appreciated, was a mighty wave striking the shores of human consciousness before World War I. Its influence grew substantially throughout Europe, and Germany could very easily have fallen to it.''[ from a "Holocaust deniers" web site ... http://www.eepo.com.au/~fountain/html/chapt27.html ]'' As with Nazi actions against Jews, drug warrior actions against users are made more palatable through rhetoric portraying victims as nonhuman. "We will not tolerate those who sell drugs and those who use drugs," said President Reagan. "All Americans of good will are determined to stamp out those parasites."127  "We are talking scum here," a drug cop told one reporter, "Air should be illegal if they breathe it."128  "One 'reality'-based crime program (Night Beat, WNYW-TV, 12/92) took us to a police briefing, where the chief of a narcotics unit on camera tells his assembled officers -- not once but twice -- 'Remember, you are dealing with the scum of the earth.'"129  One researcher of police attitudes found that "when confronted with the violence they sometimes inflict [against drug offenders], they justify themselves by asserting that their victims are not really human: 'they're scum,' 'they can't feel pain,' and so forth."130  One official described prisoners under his command: "Those aren't people -- they have to be treated quite differently."131  Such an attitude can be deadly, as demonstrated by the source of that particular description, an SS murderer. '' (Richard L Miller, Drug Warriors and their Prey, 1996, pgs.23-24) ''Military policy is like cancer-no one knows where it comes from, but it can't be ignored. ''-- Robert Anson Heinlein http://members.aol.com/alaricvg/quotes.html
Drug Warriors and their Prey (1996)
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Comment #2 posted by steve1 on October 25, 1999 at 21:05:10 PT
the dutch approach
The Dutch approach is appropriate for the US. Well regulating for age is an issue here, I'd say 21 should be the smoking cannabis age. Does anyone know if there is an age for smoking cannabis in Amsterdam?
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on October 25, 1999 at 20:14:30 PT
At last, some truth... and a revelation
Someone in the media finally said it...'hard line'. 'Jail'. 'Rejection of government funded services for addicts.' The hallmarks of a brutal and punitive policy that has created more problems than it has solved.Granted, the remarks of the demonstrators may seem to some extreme in their portrayals of him. But his remarks concerning them are of even greater import.Because something sinister was revealed, which I am sure quite a few will pick up on right away: the almost reflexive contempt this man has for democracy. Democracy he and his fellows are sworn to 'preserve, protect and defend.' Given his actions, given his policies, and now, given his overt and sneering derision of those who would challenge his 'authority', we see quite clearly his true feelings towards all who dare to question and voice their opinion. In short, the fascist shoe... or should I say jackboot?... does indeed fit. And the 'general' seems quite comfortable with it.
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