cannabisnews.com: Time To Rethink America's Drug War 










  Time To Rethink America's Drug War 

Posted by FoM on October 02, 2000 at 11:46:45 PT
By Dr. Chuck Baldwin  
Source: WorldNetDaily 

America is fighting its war on drugs the way it fought the Vietnam War: as a deliberate no-win war. Not only are we not winning the war on drugs, we are surrendering our constitutional liberties in the process. Like any war, the only way to win is to want to win. Our government has no intention of winning the war on drugs. The reason? Too much of our economy and too many "big shots" are profiting from the trafficking of illegal drugs. 
I've talked with several Vietnam veterans that have said they personally saw our government dealing drugs in Southeast Asia. Men like L.D. Brown have testified to having personally observed our government run drugs out of places like Mena, Ark. Powerful, influential businessmen all over America are enjoying the financial and political fruits of this corrupt industry. In fact, there is significant evidence to support the proposition that one of the chief reasons America's military was used to bomb Yugoslavia into the Stone Age was to provide open corridors for Albanian drug lords to transport their illegal wares into Europe. Furthermore, in the name of fighting drugs, America is sacrificing its constitutional liberties at a pace never seen before. Since President Reagan signed the National Security Decision Directive in 1986, the Fourth Amendment guarantee against "unreasonable searches and seizures" and The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 (which prevents the use of U.S. military forces against American citizens) have been practically eviscerated. You will recall that our government manufactured a non-existent methamphetamine plant in the Branch Davidian communal home that served as the facade for U.S. military forces (including tanks) being used in the assault that killed nearly 80 American citizens, most of whom were old men, women and children. Using the magic "war on drugs," government agents have kicked down the doors of untold numbers of innocent, unsuspecting Americans leaving hundreds of honest, law-abiding folks traumatized, or dead. Pat Buchanan and Howard Phillips know what needs to be done, but few people are paying attention to them. There is only one solution, and it's not that difficult to figure out. We must close that border with Mexico because that is where most illegal drugs are coming from. However, neither Bush nor Gore wants to close our Southern border. In the name of "free trade" and "immigration" they desire to keep a wide-open, unrestricted border. So, drugs keep streaming across that border at a rate impossible for American law enforcement to restrain. Corrupt politicians and businessmen continue to bask in the luxury of drug-inspired wealth and prosperity. American citizens continue to see their constitutional liberties obliterated. And, the war on drugs drags on.Source: WorldNetDaily (US Web)Author: Dr. Chuck BaldwinPublished: Monday, October 2, 2000Copyright: 2000, WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.Contact: letters worldnetdaily.comAddress: PO Box 409, Cave Junction, OR 97523-0409Fax: (541) 597-1700Website: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/CannabisNews Articles - WorldNetDaily:http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=WorldNetDaily

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Comment #7 posted by smokallotty on August 24, 2001 at 10:06:44 PT

political dung
thank you guys for this unexpected comentary first time reader long time reader and will tell freinds I aswell as other smokers think that the war on drugs is a waste of time the way they are going about it my personal feelings are that they shouldnot try to be the govmt. and organize it and if you want to go out and kill or rob someone then you should get enough of that drug to o.d if you wanted to stop drugs a ccronic user stereotyped as jobless and on the savage hunt for the next blast no job no ins. guerss what no help its allabout the money if you dont have it you wont get it some say that i am salty but theirs got to be something that we the people can do to merger some kind of agreement as this nation stands its not we the p its us p and them if a neutral country came seized our govt. promised a neutral surroundng to where if you committed a crime that crime would be the same to you how many people would actually and honestly fight i mean come on people lets think sweeden s got it these are just thoughts why dont a police officer have to take a drug test or a mayor or...these are just thoughts thank you once again
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Comment #6 posted by military officer guy on October 02, 2000 at 20:11:43 PT

i know Ethan Russo, MD

Ethan Russo, MD,you're right, i was reading this article thinking this guy has a clue, but then he threw me for a total lose when he said the thing about closing off the mexico border...that isn't the answer, legalizing drugs, is THE ONLY answer...that will get rid of the black market that is fueling corruption and deaths, and prison sentences...we can win this war...
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Comment #5 posted by observer on October 02, 2000 at 14:37:14 PT

re: Baldwin's Cry: Lock in the Slaves

> Here's a link to the Constitution Party's website. Notice the advertisement for an interview of Harold Phillips by...you guessed it! Chuck Baldwin!I've encountered members of this party (formerly the Taxpayer's Party) before: they're largely fundamentalist Baptists, and have absolutely no intention of returning any traditional freedoms back to Americans. Ask yourself "What would Jerry Falwell do?", and that will be the "Constitution" Party's position on the subject. More morality police, more witch-hunting is what that crowd covets. People are misled, I think, by the "Constitution" part of the party name, believing that they might uphold the Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, most in that party believe that the Bill of Rights doesn't apply to the "drug war." They're on a Holy Crusade for The Children, the ones I've debated. ... here we go:Drug AbuseThe Constitution Party will uphold the right of states and localities to restrict access to drugs and to enforce such restrictions in appropriate cases with application of the death penalty. We support legislation to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States from foreign sources. As a matter of self-defense, retaliatory policies including embargoes, sanctions, and tariffs, should be considered.http://www.constitutionparty.com/ustp-99p1.html#Drugabuse No intention to restore traditional freedoms Americans have been swindled out of. Quite the opposite.Thanks Dan, for making the connection between that fascistic party and Mr Baldwin. 
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Comment #4 posted by legalizeit on October 02, 2000 at 13:54:41 PT

Fallacious thinking

Interesting how he mentions a drug that is mostly produced within our borders (methamphetamine), then in the next paragraph he says closing the borders is the solution.That's like saying "a disease is killing our hens, so let's close the henhouse and it will go away."Doesn't surprise me, coming from a Pat Buchanan sympathizer.I see absolutely no connection between our border situation and the thugs well within our borders who wantonly kill, traumatize and confiscate (STEAL) possessions of innocent citizens.If they rounded up all the Drug Warriors, drug testers, and narks, booted them out, THEN closed the borders, then we'd be talking some sense in this argument. 
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Comment #3 posted by Dan B on October 02, 2000 at 13:29:22 PT:

Baldwin's Cry: Lock in the Slaves

Not content to erode all of our Constitutional freedoms in the name of the so-called war on drugs, prohibitionists like Dr. Baldwin now want to lock down the borders so there is no way to escape our government's tyranny. Next come the mass executions, folks. That is exactly where we are heading, led by Pat Robertson and his ilk (notably, Buchanan and Phillips can be classified as "Robertson's ilk"):Religion in Politics (Warning: Graphic WWII Photo):http://www.isrp.orgThe Eagle Cross Alliance (Christians in Politics Website):http://www.eaglecross.netKeep in mind that this is a professed Christian speaking here, yet I also understand the importance of the First Amendment. In contrast, Buchanan and Phillips (hailed by Chuck Baldwin for their intentions to further militarize our nation's southern border) are both kooks who pay lip service to the Constitution while simultaneously defecating on it. Both profess to be Christians while preaching a message of intolerance. And both of these idiots want an escalation of the drug war, with absolutely no thought given to the rights of American citizens. Here's a link to Pat Buchanan's speech to Bob Jones University concerning America's supposed Christian roots:http://www.buchananreform.com/library/default.asp?id=141Here's a link to the Constitution Party's website. Notice the advertisement for an interview of Harold Phillips by...you guessed it! Chuck Baldwin!http://www.constitutionparty.comRead his presidential nomination aceptance speech, and you will see that Howard Phillips is but Pat Robertson in disguise. He speaks out against a "New World Order" while simultaneously declaring that our country was founded on Christianity, that the God of Christianity is the Soverign God of America, that "Christianity is the basis of our law system," and that the Bible and the Constitution are the Constitution Party's foundation.Anyone else see danger here?Christianity is not the problem. The problem is Christians who believe it is their God-given right to force their religion upon everyone else. That kind of thinking leads to totalitarianism.One last link, this one to a page of the Ayn Rand Institute: Religion & Morality. I think you'll find it refreshing:http://religion.aynrand.org/
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Comment #2 posted by observer on October 02, 2000 at 12:10:45 PT

Lip Service to Reform, Cheerleading More 'War'

Like any war, the only way to win is to want to win.Poor Baldwin! Like so many other drug warriors, they are unable to distinguish between reality and metaphor, in this case the metaphor of "war". Metaphors don't make "war"; bales of cannabis don't mount military campaigns of conquest any more than bales of hay do. The "drug war" isn't a real war and can never be, because war cannot be waged against inanimate objects. War is waged against people.Our government has no intention of winning the war on drugs. The reason? Too much of our economy and too many "big shots" are profiting from the trafficking of illegal drugs. . . . We must close that border with Mexico because that is where most illegal drugs are coming from. Chuck Baldwin is like so many other prohibitionists. Unwilling to admit that the basic policy of prohibition itself, which fights against the law of supply and demand, has failed and is doomed to failure, just as prohibition of alcohol failed. Baldwin, like other "we have not yet begun to fight" authoritarians, thinks that we only need to just "get tough" on "drug" to "win" this "war." There are still some freedoms left (which Baldwin also pays lip service to, ironically), but Baldwin is eager to sacrifice yet more of yours freedoms on the altar of his sacred drug-war jihad, in this case, the freedom of travel. Baldwin likes the drug war. He just wants to tinker a little with the methods used, ratcheting up the harshness of punishments and loss of freedoms. 
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on October 02, 2000 at 12:03:24 PT:

Jekyll/Hyde

Did this fellow undergo a personality change in mid-editorial? He was going along great there, and suddenly he goes off the deep end and totally eviscerates his own argument. Shutting off the border with Mexico is equally fruitless as the War on Drugs. It will never happen, should never happen, and cannot be done. I hope this guy goes back on his Lithium.
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