cannabisnews.com: Budget Cutting? Take a Hatchet To The War on Drugs










  Budget Cutting? Take a Hatchet To The War on Drugs

Posted by CN Staff on October 19, 2008 at 19:07:03 PT
By Joe Conason 
Source: Salon  

USA -- If Barack Obama or John McCain wants to find a federal program that wastes hundreds of billions of dollars, he can take the scalpel (or better yet the hatchet) to the national war on drugs. Economists, physicians, police chiefs and prison wardens have repeatedly concluded that the drug war has been a very costly failure over the past four decades, but then neither Obama nor McCain needs to hear the truth from any expert -- because each of them can draw on his own painful personal experience.
From opposite ends of the social and economic scale, both candidates have observed the casualties and injustices of American drug policy. Both should be able to understand why the system of punishment must be replaced by a paradigm of medical treatment. And both seem reluctant to discuss the subject for obvious reasons.In "Dreams From My Father," his candid and moving memoir, Obama admits that as a young man he got high, using marijuana regularly, and that he was on the way toward something worse during his high school and college years. Although he stops just short of confessing that he snorted cocaine occasionally, when he could "afford" it, he has never denied using coke, as the book clearly implies. He watched at least one friend go to prison while others succumbed to heroin addiction."Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man," he writes.After Obama overcame the angst that had had caused him to seek solace in dope, he tells of watching the devastation of Chicago's South Side -- and especially of the children who lived there -- by the crack epidemic. Government and society seemed powerless to prevent the ruin caused by crack and smack; the Prohibition-like policies that drove up prices, tempted kids to become dealers and corrupted the police force accomplished nothing.As a community organizer, Obama came to know those alienated, dangerous kids and their families intimately. The only certainty for him was that the young people swept up into addiction, prosecution and incarceration were not to blame for their circumstances -- that they were "the consequences of a malnourished world."Meanwhile, upstairs in the overnourished world, beer heiress and Senate wife Cindy McCain was scheduled to write her own memoir this year. Last spring she got an advance that reportedly came close to a million dollars for a book that would tell not only about her relationship with her husband, John, but, according to the Wall Street Journal, would also recount "her past battle with an addiction to painkillers." Originally scheduled to appear in September, her book was abruptly canceled only a month after the publisher bought it. The McCain campaign explained that with the demands of campaigning, she simply wouldn't have the time (despite the hiring of a ghostwriter).But it is hard to imagine why she or husband John would want to excavate any unhappy memories of her Percocet period. Her battle with addiction included a series of major felony offenses in the early '90s, which included falsifying prescriptions, stealing drugs from a medical charity she founded and underwrote with her family fortune, and inducing doctors and other employees of that charity to help her obtain Percocet and other Schedule III narcotics illegally. The Drug Enforcement Administration opened an investigation of her after a former employee, whose name she had used to obtain drugs, reported her criminal misuse of her charity. At the time, seasoned defense attorneys in Arizona believed that she could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on half a dozen counts (and that if her name had been José Lopez, she surely would have).But Cindy McCain avoided prosecution by federal authorities. Instead, like so many other wealthy and high-profile drug offenders -- and unlike so many of the young offenders Obama knew, whose crimes were no worse than hers -- she was allowed into what is known as a "diversion" program. Rather than being sent to jail, she went into rehab. Now it's as if none of those terrible things had ever happened to her -- and why would anyone bring them up?The only reason to talk about past drug abuse by Barack Obama or Cindy McCain is to point out the waste and injustice of the ongoing drug war. Both of them broke the law, repeatedly, by their own admission, but neither deserved to go to prison and no useful purpose would have been served by punishing them.Today we spend well over $50 billion annually at the federal, state and local levels on a domestic war that has never achieved any of its objectives and never will. If either of the presidential candidates still believes that this is a worthwhile investment of our money, despite his own experience, it would be fascinating to hear him explain why.Note: Every year we throw away billions on a failed program to punish addicts -- an approach both candidates should know doesn't work.Source: Salon (US Web)Author: Joe ConasonPublished: October 20, 2008Copyright: 2008 SalonWebsite: http://www.salon.com/Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/lBfCTn4aCannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml

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Comment #25 posted by FoM on October 21, 2008 at 19:34:33 PT

A Moose Commercial from Moveon.org
I saw this on tv and thought it was funny. We all need to laugh a little sometimes.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z48QhMZ85k
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on October 20, 2008 at 19:37:38 PT

Just a Song
This song came to my mind. It's time for a new direction. So much to fix.Byrds - "Turn Turn Turn"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNopQq5lWqQ
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on October 20, 2008 at 19:25:36 PT

afterburner
Oh yes good music! 
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Comment #22 posted by FoM on October 20, 2008 at 19:24:03 PT

museman
I know what you are saying. I can't put it into words like you but I do understand. When I look at big buildings and marvel I think of how much work went into making them not necessarily the structures. There's a time to build up and a time to tear down. Now the time of tearing down is approaching. We can gain substance during these times. It will break some but more will be encouraged if they are patient.
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Comment #21 posted by museman on October 20, 2008 at 19:12:26 PT

FoM
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."And yet, our 'unity' has never actually been achieved to the point where we don't need 'masters' and 'bosses' riding herd over our lives. The 'unity' that is proclaimed of america is truly only seen -thus far- in times of adversity. The 'house' that america now finds itself in is like the old 'store-front' props of the old west; a big appearance of having it together -looking like a big franchise, city building, when behind the facade, its just a run-down shack.The real things that americans try to, and think they believe in, like freedom, liberty and justice for all, do not actually exist in application except in concept and theory. America has yet to be made real. But its coming.I think it ironic, that the 'national religion' -xtianity- believes in a man who said "I do not come to bring peace. But I bring a sword, to divide and conquer. I will set house against house, nation against nation, father against son." I recently have marveled at the complexity of that statement, and how that prophecy of Yashua has been so starkly fulfilled, apparently without witness by the ones who claim to know all about it.When the house is false, it is naturally divided, because all that live in that house cannot all possibly be duped and brainwashed at the same time. There will be challenge to the status quo, forcing the 'rulers of the house' to deal with them. The way in which our rulers of this house have been dealing with dissent is criminal, more criminal than the actual "crimes" that the non-dupees are accused of.This house was doomed thousands of years ago. This is the same house of Sumeria, Babylon, Egypt, and Rome. All law and government is just the prolongation of the fall. The status quo is the 'keeper of the house.'It was necessary, in the sense that Yashua meant and intended, to break apart that house, to divide it, 'as with a sword' so that the fall we are currently witnessing the final stages of would come about in due and proper time.When a house is true, as with the household of a loving family, the center and foundation being love, compassion, and care, naturally sharing, and cooperating to achieve goals, there is no danger of division, or collapse. A house built on the rock of truth might 'stand' forever.But this one is a pretty looking face on a damn putrid reality, build on the sands of temporal pride, ego, posession, greed, avorice, and immediate sense gratification. Such a house cannot stand forever, no matter how big a gun is pointed at the inevitability, how much fear is forced upon our hearts and minds, or how many coats of paint are put on the facade.FREE SPECIAL BROWNIES FOR EVERYONE (I'm havin' one)
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Comment #20 posted by afterburner on October 20, 2008 at 19:04:46 PT

kaptinemo #10
"And as to the 1970's, I recall those times too, and they were no fun." No, but they were good for creativity: good music and movies.
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on October 20, 2008 at 18:37:05 PT

museman
I know what you mean. I was just looking at it from how I see what's going wrong. Divide and conquer is what I mind. That mentality will cause us to fail. The structure of society is stretched to the max. We need to look at it honestly and start changing and that includes all things political. 
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Comment #18 posted by museman on October 20, 2008 at 18:24:37 PT

FoM
I see what you are saying, and I agree. The context of 'the house' and 'the people' as a foundation is absolutely applicable. I am just pointing out that the contemporary 'house' that so many are worried about falling, is not built on the right foundation, -the people- and thereore is doomed to fall.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on October 20, 2008 at 18:04:01 PT

museman
Nature has an order of things. Look at penguins. They work together and they survive. Elephants stand together and as big as they are they haven't been killed off yet. People are scattered and caught up in ways of thinking rather then ways of doing. My husband and I had a wonderful day yesterday. My nephews were back home one from the Philippines and one from Florida. I drove with my one nephew from Florida to the Re-hab Center where my niece with lung cancer is staying and I told him we need to take time like this and absorb it into our memories since time is going by very fast. My nephew is only 5 years younger then me. I hugged them so hard it probably hurt. I'm only kidding about that.I'm saying the structure of any society will not do well when people are disguarded. Animals are fairer then people.Sometimes that special element I believe is so necessary and good isn't present in some republicans I've personally known over the years.
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Comment #16 posted by museman on October 20, 2008 at 17:30:48 PT

FoM#15
"A house is only as good as it's foundation. We the people are the foundation. If we crumble the whole wall will come tumbling down."I submit, that 'the house' that the current republican consciousness lives in, is not 'founded' on the people, but on inflated ideologies of false values -a debtors economy- so that when their house finishes collapsing, -as it currently is- what is left over IS the people, upon which a proper foundation can be re-realized as it was in the original concept of 'a government of the people, by the people.'When "ultimately that re-thinking will be dictated by economic necessity, not ideology" occurs -as kaptnemo put it, it is the real fundamental things of life itself that will become re-apparent. When enough of the 'house of cards' which is the socio/political 'ideology' of the current powers-that-be collapses, the real people will come to the front, just as when a disaster brings communities together to do with sheer will and determination, in days and hours, what all the legislation, funding, and committied allocation of resources can not accomplish in months and years. We the people, aren't 'strawmen' statistics in the Federal Reserves' registry of debt and potential debt, we aren't numbers represented by polls and 'averages,' we aren't a resource for the Power Elite, we are the absolute presence of what is determined -by our faith and beliefs (including our faiths and beliefs in techniques, studies, and sciences) as 'reality.' We, the people are the REAL power on planet earth, always have been, which is why the select few intend to keep the status quo in stasis for their exclusive benefit, and enforce capitulation, servitude, and ignorance upon all the 'non-exclusive' people.Its over though. Babylon is falling fast enough for some to get hit with falling mortar because they didn't 'come out' when they were warned. Oh yeah, its going to take a few years for the world to fully realize where the goods come from originally, and who the thieves are who stole it, and sold it back to us for their own profit, but the old world of power is going away. There is no choice. The damage done to our biosphere is too great. There will be many who continue to back a losing cause - the weights and measures of the apocalypse, but all of that is gasping its last, no matter how it appears to be in control.The future is definitely going to be interesting.FREE KGB FOR EVERYONE

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Comment #15 posted by FoM on October 20, 2008 at 15:15:06 PT

kaptinemo
I look at things sometimes very simply. The Republicans don't want any changes to the tax structure even though without workers nothing would be made and businesses won't have a lot of money. A house is only as good as it's foundation. We the people are the foundation. If we crumble the whole wall will come tumbling down.
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Comment #14 posted by kaptinemo on October 20, 2008 at 14:59:19 PT:

Nicodemus, I don't deserve any thanks
I do appreciate it, but I'm just a whisper in the wilderness. If anyone reads my scribblings, and gets any value out of it other than a good laugh, then it's more than I've hoped for.
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Comment #13 posted by kaptinemo on October 20, 2008 at 14:56:14 PT:

FoM, it's pretty much as I guessed
These are the bigshots of globalism, the same folks who colluded in the 'free trade' fiasco which is partly why we are in the mess we're in. What they seek to cement in place is the maintenance of the present economic order that benefits the top 1% of this and every other industrialized country. These are the same heavy-hitters who were behind NAFTA, GATT, CAFTA, etc. None of what we are experiencing and will experience was a surprise for them. They knew it was coming...as did some economists. One of whom was warning about the shock-wave effect of allowing so much wealth to be concentrated in the hands of a very few (words like 'eggs' and 'basket' should come to mind immediately). I suggest the curious look up Dr. Ravi Batra's works, and you'll see what I'm talking about. It's proven to us all very clearly what can happen if a 'mistake' or 'miscalculation' (or just plain ol' garden variety greed) on the part of a few were to cause the kind of economic meltdown we are presently enduring. Yet...some people are literally making a killing, with monopolistic control of such commodities as fertilizer leading to food riots in Third World countries. To understand the mechanism behind that little scam, I suggest that the curious read the works of Greg Palast on the IMF. And then think about it happening here.
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Comment #12 posted by Nicodemus on October 20, 2008 at 13:57:02 PT

re: comment # 7 And The New Age World Order
It is a not always about Money.There is The Golden Flock who diligently read and re-read the Eternal Scriptures and pitifully submit They await for The Saviour to come back and clean up this mess.Thank you Kapt, it is good that you are still in the flesh, may I confess to you?I have always enjoyed your words and thoughts, it has been a journey into the belly of the beast and Proud Memories.Not sure how to say Thank You
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on October 20, 2008 at 12:01:29 PT

kaptinemo
I read this article last night.A Financial New World Order?http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1020/p01s01-usec.html
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on October 20, 2008 at 11:54:48 PT:

I agree with FoM on that
But while the Federal Reserve has the (unConstitutional) power to print up all the FR Notes it wants to, our foreign creditors won't like it. They don't like what's already been done, and hard-nosed speculators in Beijing and Tokyo aren't about to pony up any more currency to float Uncle a loan. Not unless Uncle lets go of a few things. The cuts will have to be made, and remaining resources re-allocated, or this country faces the very real threat of social (and therefore, political) chaos. And as to the 1970's, I recall those times too, and they were no fun. But this could be worse...much worse. A fundamental re-thinking of national policies will have to take place to avoid that calamity, and ultimately that re-thinking will be dictated by economic necessity, not ideology. 
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on October 20, 2008 at 11:43:08 PT

Hope
Where we live our county doesn't have much money to do anything. It never has. I bet when people can't contribute because of being laid off they'll print more money. That's what they always do. I'm never really shocked by inflation. I think we will recover but it will be an eye opener for many people who haven't been thru it before like in the 70s.
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on October 20, 2008 at 11:17:26 PT

"More"... like this...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27267640/Amid meltdown, cities cut sports, cops, health
Slumping economy is behind plummeting tax revenue, investment returns
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Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on October 20, 2008 at 09:40:26 PT:

You're going to hear a lot more of this
in the future...if only because we have the past to guide us: Prohibition politics http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/print_518872.htmlExcerpted from the article:"Prior to the creation in 1913 of the national income tax, about a third of Uncle Sam's annual revenue came from liquor taxes. (The bulk of Uncle Sam's revenues came from customs duties.) Not so after 1913. Especially after the income tax surprised politicians during World War I with its incredible ability to rake in tax revenue, the importance of liquor taxation fell precipitously.By 1920, the income tax supplied two-thirds of Uncle Sam's revenues and nine times more revenue than was then supplied by liquor taxes and customs duties combined. In research that I did with University of Michigan law professor Adam Pritchard, we found that bulging income-tax revenues made it possible for Congress finally to give in to the decades-old movement for alcohol prohibition.Before the income tax, Congress effectively ignored such calls because to prohibit alcohol sales then would have hit Congress hard in the place it guards most zealously: its purse. But once a new and much more intoxicating source of revenue was discovered, the cost to politicians of pandering to the puritans and other anti-liquor lobbies dramatically fell.The DrugWar was always a 'rich man's hobby', something that required enormous amounts of 'expendable income' to be indulged. We simply do not have any to spare, anymore; printing up more Federal Reserve Notes will not magically make the problem go away. Deep cuts in Gub'mint spending will have to be made. And one cut that will hurt only politicians, bureaucrats and the drug dealers themselves would be to de-fund the DrugWar. 
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Comment #6 posted by afterburner on October 20, 2008 at 05:51:46 PT

E_Johnson #4 
"This is a Salon we haven't seen in a long time!"Their ears must have been burning after your expose.
 

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Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 19, 2008 at 21:34:36 PT

Salon
EJ, My husband and I wondered how you would feel when you saw this article.
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on October 19, 2008 at 21:27:19 PT

Well shut my mouth
This is a Salon we haven't seen in a long time!
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 19, 2008 at 21:26:27 PT

John Tyler
I found this article interesting. I like this excerpt.Excerpt: Siddiqi has not kept in touch. His has been a difficult road; years after his time with Obama, Siddiqi says, he became addicted to cocaine and lost his business.But when he needed help during his recovery, Obama - the roommate he drove away with his partying, the man he always suspected of looking down at him - gave him a job reference.http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004417706_apyoungobama2ndldwritethru.html
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Comment #2 posted by John Tyler on October 19, 2008 at 21:00:24 PT

drug war purpose
That is one of the purposes of the Drug War, to ensnare as many youthful minority offenders as possible, mark them with a criminal record and then be able to “lawfully” deny them educational and employment opportunities for the rest of their lives. It is legal, racist oppression. It is one of the last holdovers from an earlier period in American history. If Barack had gotten busted as a teenager, he wouldn’t have gotten to go to Harvard and then to law school, or run for president. He would be back in Chicago struggling to make a living. Barack was lucky and didn’t get caught. I hope he will remember the people he knew back then that weren’t so lucky and try to make some changes for the future. 
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on October 19, 2008 at 19:14:58 PT

punishment 
The Master said LOVE ONE ANOTHER.NotPunish one another.And it's not just the cannabis / drug issue.
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