Drug War Chronicle #500 Will Come Next Week, Not This One, Here's a Preview
The Drug War Chronicle's next issue will be #500. Given that Labor Day weekend is coming up and given that the Chronicle arrives in people's e-mailboxes on Friday morning, we've decided to postpone our milestone issue until next week, when we hope people will actually be around to read it.
Meanwhile, I'm working on some story ideas for the issue:
Afghanistan. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime made it official on Monday: The Afghan opium crop this year is another record-breaker, despite $600 million in US anti-drug assistance. What to do,what to do? I'll be asking some experts about where we go from here. Oregon Medical Marijuana. It looks like there will be two ballot initiatives dealing with medical marijuana in Oregon next year. One, put together by a veteran conservative crime-fighter, is really a sort of omnibus "tough on crime" initiative. It would undo the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA), recriminalize medical marijuana, and make the state of Oregon instead provide synthetic Marinol to patients free of charge. The other, put together by the same folks that sponsored the OMMA initiative, would bring dispensaries to Oregon. Ironically, Oregon activists seem to be devoting more energy to sniping at the dispensary initiative than opposing the crime-fighting initiative. Go figure. Marijuana in Denver. Mason Tvert and his friends at SAFER have been tying the Denver political establishment in knots with their push to effectively legalize the weed there. Now, I think, the council has approved sending a "lowest law enforcement priority" initiative to the voters. But I'm confused by all the political maneuvering and feel a need to talk to folks there to get a handle on all this.I'm sure there will be more stories as the next few days go by.
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Marijuana legalization illegal?
Could one of you more informed gentleman please help me settle a dispute?
I know someone who is for legalization but keeps insisting that the US cant legalize because of UN treaties,and insists that to do so would be unconstitutional.
I know the Single Convention was used as an excuse in the 60's but I need an intelligent answer to shut him up for good.
Thanks!
u.s.a./treaties
Go ask the Indians about treaties. The U.S.A federal government views the U.S.A constitution as an historical document. When the U.N. "smoke and mirrors" conglomerate arm of the U.S.A federal government goes against the Imperial agenda, the U.S.A. threatens to cut off funding thereby eliminating the U.N. altogether. Does the U.S.A. constitution give the federal government the right to wage a "drug" war against U.S.A. citizens? Welcome to the land of the free.
Marijuana legalization illegal?
The word is decriminalize. I believe that the US is in some treaties in the UN regarding drugs. Also, if it is legal, there would be government regulations, as with alcohol. De-criminalize means that having marijuana is not a crime. I personally think that we should treat drug abuse the way that we treat alcohol abuse.
alcohol vs. marijuana
I don't know about no legal technicalities, but I know that marijuana prohibition violates the spirit of the Constitution in at lead two ways. It violates the spirit of no arbitrary laws and no discriminatory laws to treat people who use marijuana more harshly than people who use alcohol. There's no comparison of the danger to life and limb posed by alcohol vs. marijuana as any serious person knows. Alcohol supremacism over marijuana = the most flagrantly hypocritical bigotry.
sheesh, another typo
Damn lazy pothead. Well, it's better than having blood on my hands like so many alcohol lovers have directly, and defenders of alcohol supremacism have indirectly. The war on drugs kills more people than drugs and it's getting worse.
Alcohol Industry Fuels Drug War
William Aiken
One factor in the drug war that the DRCNet gives little or no ink to is that how the alcohol industry through its funding of groups such Partnership for a drug free America keeps the drug reformers message off the air. This makes sense when you consider the fact that marijuana is a big competitor of alcohol. The advertisers control the airwaves. How do you think Anheiser-Busch and Miller Beer feel about seeing PSAs about the drug war from which they profit mightily?
Getting the message out on TV and radio about how harmful the drug war is crucial to changing public opinion. This is a tough nut to crack and the DRCNet ought to devote some space to it instead covering the same stories over and over again.
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