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The Drug Czar's Fair-weather Fascination With Drug War Violence
A week ago, the Drug Czar's blog announced what it calls "Another Sign of Progress in Colombia." The exciting news was that no journalists were killed in that country this year:Now, via the Committee to Protect Journalists, comes another sign of progress. The Committee has released their annual report stating that despite a global increase in the number of reporters killed this year, there were no journalists reported killed in Colombia for the first time in more than 15 years.My initial reaction was that the Drug Czar is setting the bar very low in his desperate quest to bring good news from the front lines of the drug war. Merely celebrating the recent lack of journalist killings in Colombia demonstrates how prevalent that phenomenon generally is, and does not really make me want to walk around Bogota with a press badge.Then, yesterday, The Washington Post reported that pop musicians in Mexico are being killed right and left by drug cartels. It's a horrible story of murder and corruption that you won't read about at the Drug Czar's blog. As this nightmare in Mexico continues to unfold, the Drug Czar could scarcely look sillier than by boasting about the survival of Colombian journalists. It just shows once again how selective and therefore useless his statements always are. Hopefully, once the Drug Czar is finished listing people who havenât been killed by drug war violence, he'll get around to acknowledging how many people are dying everyday.
Massive ecstacy bust and other drug war uniformity
Shortly before 10 pm a plain clothed Abbotsford police officer pulled over a 2007 Chrysler Sebring just blocks from the US border.Stirring stuff.Unfortunately ,this isn't part of a dime novel it's the
email to Stephen Harper
Hello Stephen Harper This is regarding your plan to make drug laws stiffer. Please reconsider: What I think what we need is not to send more people to jail, but to give them an opportunity to change their lives around.
Stockwell Day Crows About the Border
a Dec.12 seizure of 116 lbs.of cocaine at the Pacific Highway Truck Crossing has public safety minister Day telling any one that will listen what a wonderful job his border agents are doing."this seizure clearly demonstrates the excellent work our officers continue to do."He rambled on about safe communities and the like.The following statistics were released:454 kgms.
Best of the season and happy New Year
Apart from the usual political corruption and disappointing results from the Salvation Army Kettle drive,It's been a slow news day.I must admit that for the first time in a lot of years,I have a good
The Peoples Choice
Recent studies have trumpeted the health benefits of moderate drinking.In a report by Dr.Tim Stockwell,director of the centre for addictions research of B.C. reported:A few drinks and ordinary Canadia
The Age of Truth
I opened my paper today and discovered an article that I'd found on the net yesterday but wasn't sure of it's authenticity.It listed a long litany of false hoods that were being spread by people and (hold on for this)doctors.Shaving doesn't increase hair density or growth,we don't use only 10% of our brains and there's no need or gain from drinking 8 glasses of water daily.You get the idea.Then I read the police have seized two "rolling Tanks",from gangsters.They were armoured cars and the people in them,(the bosses),were wearing body armor.There was no mention of weaponry in connection with the vehicles themselves and the justification for their seizure was that the brakes would be insufficient to stop the car in an emergency.Sounds like typical police bull to me.I'm sure when the PM visits his limo is armoured to the hilt and it's never been seized.Those nasty criminals.If we can't give them the death penalty.WE can at least make them an easier target for their rivals.Insp.Dean Robinson said the seizures were part of the new gang interdiction task forces' work.He also said he hated to let the gangsters have the "feeling of invincibility" that comes with body armor and a bullet proof car.Stats for the new unit were released as follows:Checks-2,623 people Reports written-368 tickets-74 outstanding warrants-16 criminal charges-23 firearms seized-7 body armor seized-several sets armoured vehicles seized-2 The police claim the public feels safer just knowing they're there.They've made no arrests so far in the spate of gang killings that have plagued the area.
Cannabis is harmless - the laws are not
Cannabis is not addicting (unlike coffee, sugar, nicotine, etc...). Cannabis is non-toxic, unlike ANY other substance referred to as a drug, including all over-the-counter medications. Cannabis is not intoxicating (unlike alcohol), it just makes one feel good without causing significant impairment (like coffee or nicotine).
Botched Raid Terrorizes Minn. Family
Here is another example of the growing police state , and every time this happens, it moves us towards a "new normal" in acceptable police conduct. We, as a nation, are so complacent, and preoccupied, that we don't even react to these stories anymore.
Grow-ops Growing Bigger
RCMP crime analyst,Parvin Girn did a master's thesis on marijuana grow ops.She says the average grow-op is now located in a house on a large lot,hidden behind bushes and growing more dope than ever.This is due to the recent crack down by authorities,she reports.She does give a mention to the collusion of the power company but only as a side bar.The average grow,sits on a 18,113 foot lot.She claims police have a harder time getting warrants due to having to remain off site to do observations.Any-one that buys that ,I have a bridge in Brooklyn you can buy,cheap.The average grow op has expanded to 488 plants from 277 with 178% more lights.Shipments have gone from 50 lbs to 500.Grows use more than 93 kws.
I Hate to Say I told You So
Bert Tathum returned from Dubai today.As I predicted,He started Whining the moment the plane touched down."Why didn't they give me a break",cries Bert.Now remember,Berts a drug cop that got caught wit
Drug Dealers Open Fire on Santa Claus Helicopter
Not even Santa Claus is safe from the violence caused by drug prohibition:Drug traffickers in a Rio slum opened fire on a helicopter carrying a Santa to a children's party, apparently mistaking it for a police helicopter, police said on Tuesday."They thought it was a police operation and started shooting. Luckily, nobody was hurt," a police official said. [Yahoo]Yeah, those drug traffickers are just lucky Santa Claus didn't go all Chuck Norris on them. You never know what kind of firepower he keeps on hand to protect his monopoly.All I want for Christmas is a world free of drug war violence and disorder; a world in which men in big red suits can fly helicopters over Rio without being used for target practice by machinegun-toting thugs with free reign over the slums; a world where a man can frolic with carpenter elves and flying reindeer without getting his mistletoe confiscated by the government; a world in which a pungent piney aroma emanating from the den no longer gives police probable cause to search our cozy Christmas cabin.So happy holidays to you all, whether hippie or hypocrite, activist or antagonist. May the New Year bring hope to the hopeless and clues to the clueless.
Candy Flavored Meth is Safer Than Regular Meth
After a few months of worrying about other more important things, people are freaking out about candy-flavored meth again. They think it's a ploy to get more kids to try the drug, and some of them want to increase the penalties for adulterated meth, even though it's unclear whether such a thing actually exists. But this much is for certain: if you're worried about candy-flavored meth, there's a strong chance that you're an idiot. Here's why: 1. There's a good chance that candy-flavored meth doesn't even exist. Various experts have pointed out that rumors of candy-flavored meth are anecdotal and unsubstantiated:David Duncan, the chairman of the illicit-drugs council of the National Association of Public Health Policy in Reston, Va., said that the candy-flavored-meth stories are myths, fueled by misunderstandings and a gullible media. Steve Robertson, a Drug Enforcement Agency special agent and spokesman, said that the DEA has not analyzed any flavored methamphetamine⦠[Winston-Salem Journal]The rumor site Snopes.com says the story of candy-flavored meth being marketed to children is false. Snopes explains that meth comes in all colors due to varied ingredients and methods of production. Some manufacturers use food coloring for product identification, but police don't put it in their mouths, so they have no idea what it even tastes like.2. Kids don't want candy-flavored meth anyway. It's not a f%&king pixie stick. It's meth. It costs like $80 a gram. Kids can't afford it. Fortunately, kids don't have to do meth to enjoy the sweet taste of candy. They can just buy regular candy for $1.00 and avoid all the nasty side-effects.I've got great news for anyone who worries about drug dealers targeting children: you can't sell drugs to kids because they don't have any money. What, are they gonna save up their allowance for 9 months so they can go on a two day meth binge? Are they gonna cry and tug on daddy's pants demanding more meth money? Young people may be reckless, but you cannot get a return on your investment by passing out samples of speed in the schoolyard.3. Candy-flavored meth is safer than regular meth. If you cut your meth with a bunch of candy, it wonât be very strong. Regular meth with no candy in there is much stronger and more dangerous, so it would actually make more sense to increase the penalties for people who donât water down their meth with harmless candy. After all, meth is gross. If your meth tastes good, it's probably fake.So if there is any bright side to the hysteria surrounding candy-flavored meth, it is that we can all observe and hopefully learn from the collective stupidity of the media and elected politicians who will hurl themselves, mouths foaming, into full-blown panic mode over any opportunity to mention children and drugs in the same sentence.Let us all point our fingers and laugh at them, for they are the true epidemic. They are the actual purveyors of disease and destruction, through the terrible war spawned in their laboratory of idiocy. Candy-flavored meth may be the rumor of the day, but the drug war is a lie that spans generations and it will never taste good no matter how much sugar you cut it with.
United States Marijuana Party
Come join the fight in reforming marijuana/hemp laws in your state. We need more members! Please visit us at http://usmjparty.com/ for more information.
Congress Just Says No to Anti-Drug Propaganda
It looks like Congress will be giving Drug Czar John Walters a big lump of coal for Christmas this year. A major congressional spending bill slashes funding for anti-drug advertising down to $60 million for next year, a 40% reduction from this year's $99 million. Try as he might to spin the failure of his advertising campaign, the Drug Czar is just going to have to face facts: everyone knows the ads don't work and Congress is on pace to kill the program entirely within a few years.For those who've been paying attention, it comes as no surprise that Congress is defunding the Drug Czar's propaganda campaign. A report by the Government Accountability Office not only found that the ads are ineffective, but actually concluded that kids who saw them were slightly more likely to try drugs! Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to make the Drug Czar understand that his ads are crap. Literally, the simple act of criticizing the ads actually makes him think they're working. Look what he said about this just last week:I find it somewhat amusing that pro-pot activists lobby every year to cut funding for this program - they must be worried that it's working too well!Really? So according to the Drug Czar, anyone who opposes the ads is a pro-pot activist who is afraid that they work too well. But in real life, the ad budget is getting torn to shreds by the U.S. Congress because they know the program sucks.
Some people's Kids
I thought I'd met the ugliest people in this world already.Then I heard about a creep named Bert Tathum.It seems Bert is a narcotics officer that our government sent to Afghanistan to harass and destr
The most ignorant thing I've ever heard
The federal Conservative government of Steven Harper,Released a report comdeming the current mandatory release program.In the most inane statement I've ever heard,panel chairman Rob Sampson said:"It j
All the Lonley People
Big announcement on the news tonite.It seems Vancouver has become a major distribution point for the international drug trade.We're a major manufacturer of meth and ecstacy as well.The things you here on the news.An article in the Georgia Straight has some news that comes as a surprise to no-one that's spent five mins.
If You Oppose Harm Reduction, You Support AIDS and Death
The Drug Czar's blog has been very concerned about harm reduction lately. They've taken the counterintuitive position of opposing efforts to save the lives of drug users, which seems like a strange choice. Now I understand why: they think harm reduction is the opposite of what it actually is.These so-called "harm reduction" strategies are poor public policy because their underlying philosophy involves giving up on those who can successfully recover from drug addiction. [PushingBack.com]This is wrong for a very simple reason: you cannot recover from addiction if you're dead. Harm reduction programs are not an alternative to treatment, rather they go hand in hand. Harm reduction keeps people healthy and alive, thereby creating opportunities for them to subsequently recover from addiction.We could do nothing. That would be "giving up." We could ask drug addicts to either quit or die. That would be "giving up." Instead, harm reduction activists have taken to the streets and attacked this problem directly. They've studied the leading causes of death among drug users and created programs to reduce those casualties. That's the opposite of giving up.Just pretend for a moment that you're cruel and you want drug users to die in large numbers. How would you go about it? Well, you would begin by eliminating regulated distribution so that users are forced to obtain unsafe products from criminals on the street. You would reduce access to clean needles in order to spread AIDS. You would enforce criminal sanctions against users so that they're afraid to seek help. And you would lobby aggressively against anyone who's studied the problem and proposed programs to reduce AIDS and overdoses.Now I'm not saying the Drug Czar wants to kill people. I'm just saying he presides over a policy that is perfectly tailored to achieve that outcome. And he dares to suggest that the people out there working with addicts and saving lives are the ones who've given up.
Dutch Police Insist on Smoking Marijuana Off-Duty
Apparently, American tourists arenât the only ones enjoying Amsterdam's coffeeshops:Police in Amsterdam are complaining over new rules banning them from smoking cannabis while off duty.Officers in the Dutch capital, famous for its liberal drugs laws, have been told they must set the public "a good moral example". [Daily Mail]Oh, whatever. There's nothing immoral about using marijuana and no reason to look to off-duty police for moral leadership. â¦Dutch police union chairman Hans van Duijn said: "Many of our members are opposed to this."They are not paid for 24-hours a day. What they do in their free time is up to them."It may seem strange to encounter law-enforcement officers agitating for the right to use marijuana, but their argument is perfectly legitimate. Marijuana is only intoxicating for a short period of time, after which one becomes sober again. There's simply no reason on earth why police shouldnât be allowed to enjoy marijuana off-duty. But if you live in a country where this is the biggest drug policy controversy of the day, you probably have more to be grateful for than to complain about.