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Video: "Count the Costs of the War on Drugs," Events in Five European Capitals

Actions organized by the European Drug Policy Initiative in Sofia, Bucharest, Warsaw, Oslo and Porto -- part of the "Count the Costs of the War on Drugs" campaign, which marks the 50th anniversary of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs:

Click here for more information, including a short promo video for the campaign.

Permission to Reprint: This article is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license.
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An idea: legalization for people older than 21

For hard drugs, and even for cannabis, it would be interesting to see how much more support there would be for, for example, a ballot measure, if we said "do you want to legalize cannabis for people over 30?" "How about legalizing cocaine for people over 45?" Older users are usually more careful users, and since most drug users tend to be young, the drug would still be mostly illegal. Most prohibitionists obviously would say it's just a troyan horse to legalize for younger people in the future (but it's not because we'd be open about the fact that we'd be doing it as an experiment looking towards further legalization and that further legalization won't come without the voters' consent), or that they don't want it illegal for anyone. However, it would get the conversation going with much more people because much more people would be open to trying legalization slowly step by step. Another benefit would be that, although most of the market would still be underground, we could experiment with a legal market and learn in order to design better regulations for the future.

typos

"...consent), or that they don't want it illegal for anyone" should have been "that they don't want it LEGAL for anyone". Also, it should be "many more people", not "much more people"; i don't know why i wrote it that way. 

I agree with one exception.

I agree with one exception. Make the age 18. If a person is old enough to vote, drive or enlist, he/she should be old enough to use alcohol or pot.

Pedantry

Sorry to be a terrible pedant, but Porto is not a capital city. Lisbon is, but presumably there wasn't such an event there as well.

 

[crawls back under his facts rock]

VOTE TO ACQUIT

 

Due to the tyrannic and mindless actions of prohibitionists, tens of millions of people world-wide (both users and non-users) have been either killed, maimed, incarcerated or had their lives very seriously disrupted. Prohibitionists are solely responsible for an immense increase in violent organized crime, an AIDS Pandemic, the undermining of international development and security and a grave abuse of human rights on a scale barely witnessed in human social history.

Corporate greed and individual bigotry have accelerated us towards a situation where all the usual peaceful and democratic methods needed to reverse the acute damage done by prohibition no longer function as envisaged by the Founding Fathers of our once great and free nation. Such a political impasse coupled with great economic tribulation is precisely that which throughout history has invariably ignited violent revolution.

In order to avert what will surely be a far more violent situation than we are all presently experiencing, there appears to be just one last avenue left to us - Jury Nullification. 

Jury Nullification is a constitutional doctrine that allows juries to acquit defendants who are technically guilty, but who don’t deserve punishment.  All non-violent drug offenders who are not selling to children, be they users, dealers or importers, fall into this category. If you believe that prohibition is a dangerous and counter-productive policy, then you don’t have to help to apply it. Under the Constitution, when it comes to acquittals, you, the juror, have the last word!

The idea that jurors should judge the law, as well as the facts, is a proud and vital component of American history. 

The most shining example of Jury Nullification occurred during the shameful period in US history when slavery was legal. People who helped slaves escape were committing a federal crime - violation of the Fugitive Slave Act. Jurors would often acquit, even when the defendants admitted their guilt. Legal historians credit these cases with advancing the abolition of slavery.

No amount of money, police powers, weaponry, wishful thinking or pseudo-science will make our streets safer; only an end to prohibition can do that. How much longer are you willing to foolishly risk your own survival by continuing to ignore the obvious, historically confirmed solution? - When called for Jury Service concerning any non-violent prohibition-related offense, it is your moral and civic duty to VOTE TO ACQUIT!

“To function as the founders intended, our republic requires that “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”

~ THOMAS JEFFERSON, letter to William Stephens Smith, November 13, 1787.

To avoid such carnage and turmoil on a scale not seen in this land since the 1860s, we may have just one last chance. 

If you wish to see 'legal regulation' (prohibition is an insane free-for-all) based on science, public health and sound principles of human rights that will ensure a safe future for your children and grandchildren, PLEASE VOTE TO ACQUIT!

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