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Americas Coalition Suggests MJ Laws Be Relaxed
Posted by CN Staff on May 18, 2013 at 07:52:16 PT
By Randal C. Archibold
Source: New York Times
Mexico City -- A comprehensive report on drug policy in the Americas released Friday by a consortium of nations suggests that the legalization of marijuana, but not other illicit drugs, be considered among a range of ideas to reassess how the drug war is carried out. The report, released by the Organization of American States walked a careful line in not recommending any single approach to the drug problem and encouraging “flexibility.”
Prompted by President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia at the Summit of the Americas last year to answer growing dissatisfaction and calls for new strategies in the drug war, the report’s 400 pages mainly summarize and distill previous research and debate on the subject. But the fact that it gave weight to exploring legalizing or de-penalizing marijuana was seized on by advocates of more liberal drug use laws as a landmark and a potential catalyst for less restrictive laws in a number of countries. “This takes the debate to a whole other level,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates more liberal drug use laws. “It effectively breaks the taboo on considering alternatives to the current prohibitionist approach.” The report said “the drug problem requires a flexible approach,” and “it would be worthwhile to assess existing signals and trends that lean toward the decriminalization or legalization of the production, sale and use of marijuana. “Sooner or later decisions in this area will need to be taken,” it said. “On the other hand, our report finds no significant support, in any country, for the decriminalization or legalization of the trafficking of other illicit drugs.” Some analysts interpreted the inclusion of decriminalization as a thumb in the eye to the United States, the country with the heaviest drug consumption and one that has spent several billion dollars on drug interdiction in the Americas, only to find that marijuana and cocaine continue to flow heavily and that violence has surged in Mexico and Central America as the drugs move north. The report comes two weeks before an O.A.S. meeting in Guatemala, whose president has been open to legalizing marijuana and where the central topic is drug policy in the hemisphere. Uruguay’s president has put forward a plan for the government to legalize and regulate the sale of marijuana. “The region’s leaders expressed their frustration with the limits and exorbitant costs of current policies and their hunger for a fuller, more creative debate,” said John Walsh, a drug policy analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group. But the United States has so far rejected legalization as a solution to drug violence. A State Department spokesman, William Ostick, said the report would be carefully reviewed and discussed with fellow O.A.S. members in Guatemala. “We look forward to sharing our latest research and experiences on drug prevention and treatment, and to strengthening operational law enforcement cooperation with our partners around the globe in support of our common and shared responsibility for the world drug problem,” he said. “We know other leaders will similarly bring their own data, and anticipate a productive and useful dialogue.” Kevin Sabet, director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida, said advocates of drug liberalization were overplaying the significance of the report, which he said contained a lot the Obama administration would agree with. He said a discussion of legalization was only natural, particularly since two American states, Washington and Colorado, have moved in that direction. But the report, he said, also suggested that countries in the hemisphere needed to redouble their efforts to fight the impunity of drug gangs, something often overlooked or played down in the debate on the war on drugs. The report notes that drug organizations have atomized into a range of gangs carrying out kidnapping, extortion and other crimes. “Institutions in the drug-producing nations are going to have to change the way they do business,” Mr. Sabet said. “You cannot only rely on reducing demand and ignore deep-seated institutional problems.” Mr. Santos, in accepting the report in Bogota, said more study was needed. “Let it be clear that no one here is defending any position, neither legalization, nor regulation, nor war at any cost,” he said. “What we have to do is use serious and well-considered studies like the one the O.A.S. has presented us with today to seek better solutions.” A version of this article appeared in print on May 18, 2013, on page A7 of the New York edition with the headline: Americas Coalition Suggests Marijuana Laws Be Relaxed.Source: New York Times (NY)Author:  Randal C. ArchiboldPublished: May 18, 2013Copyright: 2013 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.comWebsite: http://www.nytimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/rfBsI5nACannabisNews  -- Cannabis  Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #7 posted by Sam Adams on May 19, 2013 at 16:51:25 PT
americas
These poor guys are slowly realizing what's going on - ever though US states have begun to legalize cannabis, the US govt. is not going to slow down the offshore WOD one iota.But wait - isn't cannabis legal now, they ask. Yes, it is. Now you get it! The WOD isn't about logic or making sense, it's about raw power. It doesn't matter if cannabis is legal in the US or not. Doesn't matter if we're lying to you or not. It's the exact same attitude the feds show with medical MJ. Oh, you're terminally ill and medical MJ is legal for you in your state? Do you think we care? Sit in jail for 5 years and be sick there. The whole point of WOD is not to care about what's right, or compassionate, the purpose is for the govt. to oppress any threat to its' power structure.
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Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on May 19, 2013 at 10:17:13 PT:
Psychological projection: common trait of prohibs
"But the report, he said, also suggested that countries in the hemisphere needed to redouble their efforts to fight the impunity of drug gangs, something often overlooked or played down in the debate on the war on drugs. The report notes that drug organizations have atomized into a range of gangs carrying out kidnapping, extortion and other crimes.“Institutions in the drug-producing nations are going to have to change the way they do business,” Mr. Sabet said. “You cannot only rely on reducing demand and ignore deep-seated institutional problems.” One thing that NeoConservatives and drug prohibitionists share as a common trait called 'psycological projection'. In short, they seek to project upon others their own failures to deflect attention to - and responsibility for - them.For example: We'd been warning about the dangers of drug gangs expanding their baseline of drug sales into other endeavors - such as money laundering, kidnapping, etc. - for literally decades. Kevin's accusing drug law reformers of having dust specks in our eyes while a 2x4 sticks out of his and those of his friends' is a perfect example of this projection in operation. Sorry, Kev, you're 4 decades late, several hundred thousand lives lost and a trillion dollars short.'Deep-seated institutional problems'...such as those caused by the US meddling in their countries courtesy of prohibition and the US's efforts in 'fighting' the DrugWar on their turf? You'll never hear the likes of Kevin make such a statement. But no matter; as the old saying goes, for every finger you point at someone, you have three pointing back at you.The 'deep-seated institutional problems' can all be distilled down into one problem: the fact that formerly-legal drugs were declared illegal by the US, thus leading to the rise of criminal cartels, which in turn supports the international banking system, which is now as dependent upon that dirty-money 'fix' as is any hard-drug addict. It is from this one source, namely, the massive institutionalization of drug prohibition, both domestically and as part-and-parcel of US foreign policy, which has led to the disaster. The very same drug prohibition that such as Kevin supports...and thus, with his constant support of, is in no small way responsible for. A good thing more and more people are getting wise to this game, and want nothing to do with it. A fact the prohibs are aware of, but continue to foolishly declare isn't happening, and who do we believe, them our own (supposedly) lying eyes?
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on May 19, 2013 at 10:14:36 PT
Arrgh. 
Jimmy Carter Endorses SAM, Opposes Marijuana Legalizationhttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/17/jimmy-carter-endorses-sam-opposes-marijuana-legalization.html
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Comment #4 posted by runruff on May 19, 2013 at 02:05:10 PT
How important is the Superplant?
The bigger the fuss, the more important the issue.Let us review the past forty years on this subject...Wow, this little weed must be a global game changer, why else would the corporate power brokers and politicians treat the green plant as if it where Kryptonite?
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on May 18, 2013 at 15:19:54 PT
Wow.
If you click on the Drugsense URL above and go to the Times article, you will see that they are already back tracking, side stepping, and obfuscating all over the place.And even the great Kevin says it means little. Of course he does.
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on May 18, 2013 at 12:24:04 PT
This is big.
Get ready to ring those bells of freedom and the people rejoicing and a rabid beast put down.Another nail in the coffin of cannabis prohibition.No. Wait. Another pretty amazing consensus... to be ignored by dunces and prohibitionists.
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Comment #1 posted by museman on May 18, 2013 at 10:50:15 PT
"Gangs"
"But the report, he said, also suggested that countries in the hemisphere needed to redouble their efforts to fight the impunity of drug gangs, something often overlooked or played down in the debate on the war on drugs. The report notes that drug organizations have atomized into a range of gangs carrying out kidnapping, extortion and other crimes."Oh you mean like the CIA, DEA, ATF, FBI, FDA, DHS, BLM, and other 'gangs?' They don't do 'kidnappings, extortion, and other crimes,' right? Yes and I know a bridge somewhere in the remote desert I'd like to sell you...
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