The whole world may be getting sick of the U.S. war on drugs policies but it's just getting started in its support of the U.S./WADA/USADA "war on steroid (doping)" policies.
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War On Drugs
- Thread starter Michael Scally MD
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Legalize It All - How to win the war on drugs
http://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/
How did the United States entangle itself in a policy of drug prohibition that has yielded so much misery and so few good results? Americans have been criminalizing psychoactive substances since San Francisco’s anti-opium law of 1875, but it was Ehrlichman’s boss, Richard Nixon, who declared the first “war on drugs” and set the country on the wildly punitive and counterproductive path it still pursues.
“You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people.
You understand what I’m saying?
We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.
Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
http://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/
How did the United States entangle itself in a policy of drug prohibition that has yielded so much misery and so few good results? Americans have been criminalizing psychoactive substances since San Francisco’s anti-opium law of 1875, but it was Ehrlichman’s boss, Richard Nixon, who declared the first “war on drugs” and set the country on the wildly punitive and counterproductive path it still pursues.
“You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people.
You understand what I’m saying?
We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.
Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
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It's hard to dismantle a huge jobs program. There is quite a bit of vested interest in the 'war on drugs'.
Medical Experts Call For Global Drug Decriminalization
Medical experts call for global drug decriminalisation
An international commission of medical experts is calling for global drug decriminalisation, arguing that current policies lead to violence, deaths and the spread of disease, harming health and human rights.
The commission, set up by the Lancet medical journal and Johns Hopkins University in the United States, finds that tough drugs laws have caused misery, failed to curb drug use, fuelled violent crime and spread the epidemics of HIV and hepatitis C through unsafe injecting.
Publishing its report on the eve of a special session of the United Nations devoted to illegal narcotics, they urge a complete reversal of the repressive policies imposed by most governments. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)00619-X/abstract
Among their other recommendations are:
· Minimise prison sentences for women involved in non-violent crimes who are often exploited as drug “mules”.
· Move gradually towards legal, regulated drug markets which are “not politically possible in the short term in some places” although they predict more countries and US states will move that way, “a direction we endorse”.
· Ensure easy access to clean needles, oral drugs such as methadone to reduce injecting and naloxene, the antidote to overdoses.
· Stop aerial spraying of drug crops with toxic pesticides.
Medical experts call for global drug decriminalisation
An international commission of medical experts is calling for global drug decriminalisation, arguing that current policies lead to violence, deaths and the spread of disease, harming health and human rights.
The commission, set up by the Lancet medical journal and Johns Hopkins University in the United States, finds that tough drugs laws have caused misery, failed to curb drug use, fuelled violent crime and spread the epidemics of HIV and hepatitis C through unsafe injecting.
Publishing its report on the eve of a special session of the United Nations devoted to illegal narcotics, they urge a complete reversal of the repressive policies imposed by most governments. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)00619-X/abstract
Among their other recommendations are:
· Minimise prison sentences for women involved in non-violent crimes who are often exploited as drug “mules”.
· Move gradually towards legal, regulated drug markets which are “not politically possible in the short term in some places” although they predict more countries and US states will move that way, “a direction we endorse”.
· Ensure easy access to clean needles, oral drugs such as methadone to reduce injecting and naloxene, the antidote to overdoses.
· Stop aerial spraying of drug crops with toxic pesticides.
The Hawaii legislature has authorized a study investigating the feasibility and advisability of decriminalizing ALL illegal drugs for personal use:
HCR127 HD1 Measure Title: REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO CONDUCT A STUDY ON THE FEASIBILITY AND ADVISABILITY OF DECRIMINALIZING THE ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF DRUGS FOR PERSONAL USE IN HAWAII.
Report Title: Decriminalization of Illegal Possession of Drugs for Personal Use; Study (HCR127 HD1)
The purpose of this measure is to request the Legislative Reference Bureau to conduct a study on the feasibility and advisability of decriminalizing the illegal possession of drugs for personal use in Hawaii. The Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation to the Legislature prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017.
The Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, The Libertarian Party of Hawaii, Hawaii Dispensary Alliance, Hawaii Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Drug Policy Action Group, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Community Alliance on Prisons, and several concerned individuals testified in support of this measure. One concerned individual testified in opposition. The Legislative Reference Bureau provided comments.
HCR127 HD1 Measure Title: REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO CONDUCT A STUDY ON THE FEASIBILITY AND ADVISABILITY OF DECRIMINALIZING THE ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF DRUGS FOR PERSONAL USE IN HAWAII.
Report Title: Decriminalization of Illegal Possession of Drugs for Personal Use; Study (HCR127 HD1)
The purpose of this measure is to request the Legislative Reference Bureau to conduct a study on the feasibility and advisability of decriminalizing the illegal possession of drugs for personal use in Hawaii. The Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation to the Legislature prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017.
The Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, The Libertarian Party of Hawaii, Hawaii Dispensary Alliance, Hawaii Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Drug Policy Action Group, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Community Alliance on Prisons, and several concerned individuals testified in support of this measure. One concerned individual testified in opposition. The Legislative Reference Bureau provided comments.
Journalistic sensationalism SELLS, and that's the only reason for such repetitive gaffes, IMO!
One should not the modus operandi of the Hawaii study is one of drug decriminalization rather than legalization.
In fact is you look closely Protugal has DECRIMINALIZED rather than legalized drugs of abuse.
thank you sir, for this AWESOME post.
I know my opinion is in the minority here when it comes to psychoactive drugs, but I think we should ALL demand the fact when it come to the "news".
just curious as to what to what the real difference between decriminalization and legalization would be.
if decriminalized, some one still has to supply.
organized "crime", in this case, would still be a big problem.
. what.
Eman
Master
No problem man, happy I could share it. I thought it was a fantastic article, although kind of sad definitely holds true in my opinion.
When I think of legalization, in the sense you're thinking of, I think of one thing. Tax. But here's an interesting article exploring the difference between the two in the world of marijuana.
There’s a big difference between legalization and decriminalization
.
Whether legalized or decriminalized if the laws governing recreational drug distribution are profitable for organized crime then they will take advantage of it.
A classic case in point is AAS, bc in spite of their legality UGL
continue to flourish.
One must also understand drug decriminalization does not imply the general citizenry will suddenly acquire unfettered access to what are now considered controlled substances.
Marijuana is not a legitimate comparison bc it's NOT an addictive substance, and it should have been LEGALIZED (grow you own or buy the govs product) long ago, IMO.
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newscientist.com/article/2074813-youre-not-hallucinating-mps-really-did-pass-crazy-bad-drug-law
"it official - the uk ban on legal highs that will begin in april is going to be one of the stupidest, most dangerous and unscientific pieces of legislation ever conceived.
it would have been funny except the decisions made will harm peoples lives and liberties."
a similar bill in usa is h.r. 3537. both are a joke and will do more harm than good.
"it official - the uk ban on legal highs that will begin in april is going to be one of the stupidest, most dangerous and unscientific pieces of legislation ever conceived.
it would have been funny except the decisions made will harm peoples lives and liberties."
a similar bill in usa is h.r. 3537. both are a joke and will do more harm than good.
so I tried replying to this before, but without any basic computer skills (my next endeavor) its hard to do without retyping the whole article.
just to make sure I wasn't totally off base I did some looking around. interestingly enough I found your article linked from other articles. i also found this one which was linked as well.
http://economist.com/news/leaders/21605908-decriminalising-drugs-leaves-crooks-cash-legalise-drugs-instead-half-smoked-joint
"but decriminalizing drugs is only half the answer. as long as supplying drugs remains illegal the business will remain a criminal monopoly. jamaican gangsters will continue to enjoy total control of the ganja market. they will go on corrupting police, murdering their rivals, and pushing their products to children. people who buy cocaine in portugal (where drugs are "decriminalized") face no criminal consequence, but their euros still end up paying the wages of the thugs who saw off heads in latin america (this actually happens). for the producer countries, going easy on drug-users while insisting that the product remain illegal is the worst of all worlds."
illegal drugs and those who control it are also a big problem just south of the border, aka mexico. there has also been ties to terrorist organizations and "rogue" nations like north korea. but u.s. government has also been tied to illegal drug activity and I don't trust them either.
I think drugs should be legalized, but I don't have all the answers to the "mares nest of logistical and pragmatic questions" (quoted from your article) and I don't think anyone else does either. but i think its going in the wrong direction. new drug laws have been passed, or have been proposed, to further clap down on the "evil" that is drugs not realizing that the emergence of new "designer drugs" is a direct result of said drug laws. if anything, like "prohormones", and for sake of harm reduction, if anyone is actually interested, some drug should be favored over others. any war on performance enhancing drugs makes no sense. that's what drugs are supposed to do, and some drugs are called medicine. but "doping" is now a jailable offense in some countries and groups like wada are working with drug companies to make sure their products arent abused. of course drug abuse is not cool, and drug dependence/addiction is a real problem, I get it. but the problem of abuse and addiction is a lot bigger than just certain chemicals.
and just for the record. I don't really "do" drugs. im not on drugs. although ive tried a lot of different drugs. including but not limited to heroin and other opiates, crack cocaine and powder, methamphetamines, bath salts and synthetic cannabinoids. ive never had a drug habit. I don't have a sobriety date. I have other drugs Id like to try. my main interest in drugs is the 5 s's, steroids, stimulants, psychedelics
, smart drugs, and sexual enhancement drugs. all of which id consider performance enhancing drugs, or as I might like to call them, personal enhancement drugs. of all the drugs ive ever done, the only one I had a real problem with was... alcohol. the most toxic and dangerous drug of all. and I didn't start that until I was in my early 30's. it started innocently enough. a glass of wine with dinner.I don't live a "party" lifestyle and never really have. sure ive partied, but drugs never make or break a party. people and experiences do. I don't advocate drug use and I don't judge it. I try to take drugs for what they are and nothing more. tools, to help you get from here to there. whether it be bigger, faster, stronger or better.
so I tried replying to this before, but without any basic computer skills (my next endeavor) its hard to do without retyping the whole article.
just to make sure I wasn't totally off base I did some looking around. interestingly enough I found your article linked from other articles. i also found this one which was linked as well.
http://economist.com/news/leaders/21605908-decriminalising-drugs-leaves-crooks-cash-legalise-drugs-instead-half-smoked-joint
"but decriminalizing drugs is only half the answer. as long as supplying drugs remains illegal the business will remain a criminal monopoly. jamaican gangsters will continue to enjoy total control of the ganja market. they will go on corrupting police, murdering their rivals, and pushing their products to children. people who buy cocaine in portugal (where drugs are "decriminalized") face no criminal consequence, but their euros still end up paying the wages of the thugs who saw off heads in latin america (this actually happens). for the producer countries, going easy on drug-users while insisting that the product remain illegal is the worst of all worlds."
illegal drugs and those who control it are also a big problem just south of the border, aka mexico. there has also been ties to terrorist organizations and "rogue" nations like north korea. but u.s. government has also been tied to illegal drug activity and I don't trust them either.
I think drugs should be legalized, but I don't have all the answers to the "mares nest of logistical and pragmatic questions" (quoted from your article) and I don't think anyone else does either. but i think its going in the wrong direction. new drug laws have been passed, or have been proposed, to further clap down on the "evil" that is drugs not realizing that the emergence of new "designer drugs" is a direct result of said drug laws. if anything, like "prohormones", and for sake of harm reduction, if anyone is actually interested, some drug should be favored over others. any war on performance enhancing drugs makes no sense. that's what drugs are supposed to do, and some drugs are called medicine. but "doping" is now a jailable offense in some countries and groups like wada are working with drug companies to make sure their products arent abused. of course drug abuse is not cool, and drug dependence/addiction is a real problem, I get it. but the problem of abuse and addiction is a lot bigger than just certain chemicals.
and just for the record. I don't really "do" drugs. im not on drugs. although ive tried a lot of different drugs. including but not limited to heroin and other opiates, crack cocaine and powder, methamphetamines, bath salts and synthetic cannabinoids. ive never had a drug habit. I don't have a sobriety date. I have other drugs Id like to try. my main interest in drugs is the 5 s's, steroids, stimulants, psychedelics
I don't live a "party" lifestyle and never really have. sure ive partied, but drugs never make or break a party. people and experiences do. I don't advocate drug use and I don't judge it. I try to take drugs for what they are and nothing more. tools, to help you get from here to there. whether it be bigger, faster, stronger or better.
I find it ironic "The Economist" publishes an article on the "problems" of repealing drug laws and "what to do" about it. I guess being an economist, he values government intervention over free markets. Otherwise, the pharmaceutical companies would get unfair competition over their government regulated "safe" drugs.
You'd think there would be so much revenue in legalising drugs that governments would be champing at the bit to do so.
So much money in, so much less money spent.
The legal cannabis model is proving lucrative in Colorado, for example.
So much money in, so much less money spent.
The legal cannabis model is proving lucrative in Colorado, for example.
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