cannabisnews.com: Panel: Global Drug War Has Utterly Failed
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Panel: Global Drug War Has Utterly Failed
Posted by CN Staff on June 02, 2011 at 09:28:09 PT
By Justin Elliot
Source: Salon
World News -- It's pretty much impossible to imagine a panel that is more distinguished and establishment-friendly than the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which is today releasing a report describing the multi-decade "war on drugs" by governments around the world as a disastrous failure.The commission includes former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former Reagan administration Secretary of State George Schultz, former Fed chairman Paul Volcker, and the writer Mario Vargas Llosa, among others.
The 19-member group, after studying the issue, came to an unambiguous conclusion."The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world," the executive summary of the panel's report begins. "Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and 40 years after President Nixon launched the US government’s war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed."As for the costs, the panel says that "every year we continue with the current approach, billions of dollars are wasted on ineffective programs, millions of citizens are sent to prison unnecessarily, millions more suffer from the drug dependence of loved ones who cannot access health and social care services, and hundreds of thousands of people die from preventable overdoses and diseases contracted through unsafe drug use."The panel's recommendations will be familiar to drug policy reform advocates in the U.S. They include:• Ending the criminalization of people who use drugs but do not harm others• Exploring models of legal regulation of drugs -- especially marijuana -- "to undermine the power of organized crime and safeguard the health and security of their citizens"• Increasing health and treatment services to those in need • Ending law enforcement emphasis on pursuing the low end of the drug market -- people like poor farmers -- and instead focusing on violent criminal organizationsAnd so on. None of these ideas are groundbreaking. But coming from this group of heavy-hitters, the report is a potentially powerful document.The Obama administration has already dismissed the report. A spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said, "Making drugs more available, as this report suggests, will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe."Spokesman Rafael Lemaitre also told the Wall Street Journal that "U.S. drug policy wasn't a result of a 'drug war' mentality" -- which seems, on its face, to be inaccurate. While the administration doesn't use the term "drug war," it has pursued the same old drug policies we've seen during previous administrations of both parties.Here is the full report:Global Commission Report English: http://www.scribd.com/doc/56907344/Global-Commission-Report-EnglishSource: Salon (US Web)Author: Justin ElliotPublished: June 2, 2011Copyright: 2011 SalonWebsite: http://www.salon.com/Contact: readermail salon.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/lvhmoOWHCannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml
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Comment #13 posted by rchandar on June 18, 2011 at 06:08:51 PT:
History
Didn't JFK have made plans to legalize in his second term? I am sure that Obama has to be careful because he wants to get reelected. No idea: Clinton was tougher on drugs in his second term.The best effort is still state by state. I believe Obama will respect that.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #12 posted by CaptainAjnag on June 08, 2011 at 16:04:06 PT:
If I Wrote A Letter To The President
It'd go something like this.Dear Mr. President, After 70 years of prohibition, cannabis is at its all time high. No pun intended. As the reefer madness hysteria fades away, the population of the United States is slowly becoming aware of cannabis' true potential. But what happens when everyone realizes that cannabis isn't the evil weed it was once thought to be? When we the "sheep" figure out that marijuana is actually one of the most effective drugs, capable of battling a whole array of different ailments. Do we lose faith in our leaders after believing 70 years of lies used to fuel a failing drug war? Or should we just carry on and pretend our government doesn't lack proper judgment? We can all agree that this prohibition has done nothing but hurt young Americans and kept the Mexican drug cartel thriving. Cannabis is nothing like the portrayal given to us by the DEA. It grows from the earth and even in its most concentrated form it still can’t kill you. Its quite hypocritical to even say cannabis is a Schedule I drug, seeing how 16 states and Washington D.C. currently allow medical marijuana under state law. It seems kind of odd that 16 states would allow MEDICINAL USE of a drug that is said to have no medicinal values. Why can't something be done about this? Outright legalization probably isn't the best way to fix this, yet its quite obvious that we need some sort of solution to this problem. Why? Simply because cannabis is, and always will be, a strong part of our society.
We are the young America that voted you into office. We will be the future leaders of this great land. Should we really have to wait until our generation rises up the ranks before we can obtain some sort of change that would better the country as a whole? You’ve been granted a position that holds a tremendous amount of power. I shouldn't be the one to have to remind you to use it wisely.
A concerned American
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Comment #11 posted by disvet13 on June 06, 2011 at 14:27:55 PT:
hemp mills for bio-fuel
so they built 42 hemp mills in less than a year...makes me wonder how many hemp mills it would take to produce the bio-fuels already known to be able to be produced from industrial hemp. makes me wonder what the true production costs would be, so we could have an actual price per gallon. probably put big oil out of business, clean the environment with the proven carbon sequestration effectiveness of industrial hemp, the higher quality paper from the residuals after the oil, or produce the food. poor dumb americans, to stupid to vote out the status quo, just keep on reelecting the nazi's in power.
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Comment #10 posted by ekim on June 03, 2011 at 08:48:40 PT
oil prices going higher as well as gas
who caught this last statement.After the war, with the synthetic-fiber industry booming, Anslinger resumed his witch-hunt virtually unopposed.
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Comment #9 posted by ekim on June 03, 2011 at 07:37:14 PT
very bad jobs report today at 54k jobs created
What Lawmaker will stand up to the Feds and save Her or His States Hemp seeds from being eliminated.
clip of story below.Emerging from the hoopla was the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which made no chemical distinction between hemp and marijuana. It was all "cannabis,"
but the smokeable parts-the leaves and flowers-were taxed at $100 an ounce, effectively outlawing them. Had mari-juana been the real target, Anslinger
would have dispatched his agents to the border of New Mexico, where the drug was coming in. Instead, he unleashed them on the newly expanded hemp
fields of Minnesota and Illinois, swaddling farmers in red tape, busting them if a leaf remained on a stalk, running them out of business. Only five years later hemp farmers got a reprieve when Japan seized the Philippines, cutting off America's supply of "Manila hemp"-not true hemp but
an excellent fiber for rope, boots, uniforms, and parachute cording. Now the Feds executed a crisp about-face, encouraging Americans to be patriotic and
grow "hemp." (No longer did they call it "marijuana, except on the "Producer of Marijuana" permits they issued farmers.) The Department of
Agriculture even produced a promotional film entitled Hemp for Victory, featuring footage of workers harvesting pre-Anslinger hemp in Kentucky to a
maudlin rendition of My Old Kentucky Home. With no change in federal law, some 400,000 acres were planted to hemp, the stalks of which were
processed by 42 hemp mills built by the War Hemp Industries Corporation. After the war, with the synthetic-fiber industry booming, Anslinger resumed
his witch-hunt virtually unopposed. http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/573Legalize It!
Text by Ted Williams
Audubon: Contents -- November-December 1999
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Comment #8 posted by ekim on June 02, 2011 at 21:30:22 PT
CNN did a good job
Sir Branson spoke the truth when he said the US can not afford the drug war.I like this guy as he is fuling one of his aircraft with biofuel, what the feed stock is i dont know.Now we need innovation to create jobs.a X Prize for the best new product made from the Saved Hemp
seeds.if any reading this wonder how that would work please see the Gov/t Movie Hemp For Victory.
see how 42 mills and whole industry sprang up in a short amount of time.
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Comment #7 posted by CaptainAjnag on June 02, 2011 at 20:52:13 PT:
...
It appears the world has finally come to their senses. Too bad we can't say the same about the Obama administration.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #6 posted by FoM on June 02, 2011 at 16:15:05 PT
ekim
We kept watching and finally gave up since they just wouldn't get to the story.
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Comment #5 posted by ekim on June 02, 2011 at 15:28:39 PT
CNN is talking about this report
Wolf is going to do a story on this report shortly
202 dir tv
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #4 posted by FoM on June 02, 2011 at 12:37:25 PT
Holder Promises To Clarify Medical Pot Position
June 2, 2011
Providence, R.I. -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has promised to clarify the Justice Department's position on state medical marijuana laws after federal prosecutors warned they might prosecute everyone from licensed growers to regulators.Holder didn't go into detail about plans for clarification. But he says the department is wary of medical marijuana dispensaries being seen as a form of de facto marijuana legalization.Last month, Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (CHAY'-fee) suspended plans to license three such dispensaries after U.S Attorney Peter Neronha sent him a letter warning that they could lead to prosecutions.The attorney general was in Providence on Thursday to discuss new law enforcement approaches for veterans who have committed low-level criminal offenses. He also visited an institute specializing in nonviolence. Copyright: 2011 Associated Press
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Comment #3 posted by museman on June 02, 2011 at 11:59:44 PT
It's Not The Way
You Think It Is;It's not the way you think it is, not the way you think it isnot the way you think it is, not the way you think it is,
I'm sorry............................., I just got to tell the truth.It's not the way you think it is.
All of our lives we've been lied toby unsuspecting fools who've been lied to themselves,and I wonder what kind of thunderit will take to change your mind.
It's not the way you think it is, not the way you think it isnot the way you think it is,
not the way you think it is,I'm sorry if it takes you by surprise, can't you hear the music?Open up your eyes.
Look out your window, it's a nightmare.Everyone going nowhere just as fast as they can.And no one's tellin' me, that's some kind of way to be free;Counting their lives on a wristwatch, down to a man.It's not the way you think it is, not the way you think it isnot the way you think it is, not the way you think it is,
I'm sorry it's really up to you, some of us are living, you can do it too. Ah can't you see what it's coming to?The way you're believin'
is the way your life comes true,and there's no hope if you believe in fear,just to get yours while you are still here.Is your freedom safe inside a bank?Does your soul deposit know whom it must thank?I'm sorry, do you want to kill me now?
It's not the way you think it is, not the way you think it isnot the way you think it is, not the way you think it is.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
the song
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Comment #2 posted by Richard Zuckerman on June 02, 2011 at 11:08:00 PT:
THEY SHOULD RESET THEIR PRIORITIES:
They support vaccinations with Aluminum and Mercury;
They oppose raw milk (www.gardenstaterawmilk.com);
They support taking off of the shelves all vitamins, minerals, and herbs, for prescription only ("Codex Alimentarius");
They support Genetically Modified Food (which a recent article posted on www.whatreallyhappened.com postulates containes pesticides which qualifies GM food as a weapon in order to sterilize us;
They support "silver" Mercury amalgam dental fillings;
They support Fluoride in our drinking water, www.fluoridealert.org;
But they oppose Cannabis!
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 02, 2011 at 10:27:12 PT
Excerpt From The Article and My Comment
Update at 11:15 a.m. ET: In response to the report, the White House Drug Policy says the adminstration efforts to reduce drug use "are not born out out of a culture war or drug war mentality, but out of the recognition that drug use strains our economy, health, and public safety."The White House also says:• Overall drug use in the United States has dropped substantially over the past thirty years. The number of Americans using illicit drugs today is roughly half what it was in the late 70's. My Comment: Because of prohibition more people use legal drugs to get high.• There has been a 46% drop in current cocaine use among young adults over the past five years, and a 68% drop in the rate of people testing positive for cocaine in the workplace since 2006.My Comment: Maybe people finally figured out that cocaine is a dead end drug from their own experience.• The potential production capacity for pure cocaine in Colombia has declined from an estimated 700 metric tons of potential cocaine production in 2001 to only 280 metric tons in 2009 —a 60% drop.My Comment: It isn't popular anymore.• Legalization remains a non-starter "because research shows that illegal drug use is associated with voluntary treatment admissions, fatal drugged driving accidents, mental illness, and emergency room admissions."My Comment: People when arrested for marijuana will go into treatment rather then jail. Drugged driving accidents are often caused by legal drugs and alcohol. If they find marijuana in the person's system they blame marijuana.URL: http://drugsense.org/url/61NqQqxG
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