How's that war on drugs going?

[DdC]

How's that war on drugs going?
Thursday, October 2, 2008

Three in four likely voters (76%) believe the U.S. war on drugs is failing, a sentiment that cuts across the political spectrum -- including the vast majority of Democrats (86%), political independents (81%), and most Republicans (61%). There is also a strong belief that the anti-drug effort is failing among those who intend to vote for Barack Obama (89%) for president, as well as most supporters of John McCain (61%).

When asked what they believe is the single best way to combat international drug trafficking and illicit use,

* 27% of likely voters said legalizing some drugs would be the best approach -- 34% of Obama supporters and 20% of McCain backers agreed.

* One in four likely voters (25%) believe stopping the drugs at the border is the best tactic to battle drugs -- 39% of McCain supporters, but just 12% of Obama backers agree.

* Overall, 19% of likely voters said reducing demand through treatment and education should be the top focus of the war on drugs.

* 13% believe that the best way to fight the war on drugs is to prevent production of narcotics in the country of origin.

Interesting numbers.

First, the 76% number for those who think the drug war is failing is huge. That's even more than think President Bush is doing a bad job.

27% for legalization (at least in part) is pretty good as well. Sure, we'd like more, but considering what we're up against in years of propaganda, that's not bad.

What makes that even more interesting is that, despite the built-in hesitancy to consider legalization, they seem unable to come up with any other ideas that they like better (and they sure don't like the status quo).

Finally, with numbers like these, how can the academics continue to claim that legalization is not a practical option for discussion?

Zogby poll



UK-Commissioned Report Urges Regulated Market to Replace Cannabis Prohibition



A report on cannabis prepared for next year's UN drug policy review will suggest that a "regulated market" would cause less harm than the current international prohibition. The report, which is likely to reopen the debate about cannabis laws, suggests that controls such as taxation, minimum age requirements and labeling could be explored. The Global Cannabis Commission report, which was launched Thursday at a conference in the House of Lords, has reached conclusions which its authors suggest "challenge the received wisdom concerning cannabis". It was carried out for the Beckley foundation, a UN-accredited NGO, for the 2009 UN strategic drug policy review.
full story

Brits Copycat U.S. D.E.A.th... A-Motivated?

Canada's Supremes Cower Under DEAth Threats

US PRAISES THAI DRUG WAR!



Why is Marijuana Illegal? by Pete Guither
DWR: MARIJUANA made illegal, illegally!!!!

Mexico Seeks to Legalize Smalltime Pot, Cocaine, Other Drug Use MEXICO CITY (Reuters)



Mexican President Felipe Calderon, locked in a high-stakes battle with drug cartels, wants to legalize the possession of small amounts of cocaine and marijuana, a plan that will likely irk Washington. Calderon, a conservative in power for nearly two years, sent a proposal to Congress that would also scrap penalties on carrying small amounts of heroin, methamphetamine and opium for personal use.
full story

Yeah, the Free Mexican Air Force is flyin' tonight

Ganjawar Puppets Cave... again


A man smokes pot during a demonstration to celebrate the Day for the Liberation of Marijuana in Mexico City. May 04, 2006

Economist March 28th 1992
"Medicines often produce side effects. Sometimes they are physically unpleasant. Cannabis too has discomforting side effects, but these are not physical they are political"

Cover-Ups, Prevarications, Subversions & Sabotage

USA Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy 1987
"Cannabis can be used on an episodic but continual basis without evidence of social or psychic dysfunction. In many users the term dependence with its obvious connotations, probably is mis-applied... The chief opposition to the drug rests on a moral and political, and not toxicologic, foundation".

Demonizing Drugs

Special Report (New Scientist, 21. Februar 1998)
Health officials in Geneva have suppressed the publication of a politically sensitive analysis that confirms what ageing hippies have known for decades: cannabis is safer than alcohol or tobacco.



Cannabis Shrinks Tumors: Government Knew in 74
The DEA quickly shut down the Virginia study and all further cannabis/tumor research. In 1976, President Gerald Ford put an end to all public cannabis research and granted exclusive research rights to major pharmaceutical companies.

CrazyCalvinaFay

J. H. Jaffe,
The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics.
L.Goodman and A Gillman, 3rd edn. 1965
"There are no long lasting ill-effects from the acute use of marijuana and no fatalities have ever been recorded ... there seems to be growing agreement within the medical community, at least, that marijuana does not directly cause criminal behaviour, juvenile delinquency, sexual excitement, or addiction."

WomansWackyVengeanceUnion



Hemp Drugs Commission, 1894
"The commission has come to the conclusion that the moderate use of hemp drugs is practically attended by no evil results at all. ... ...moderate use of hemp... appears to cause no appreciable physical injury of any kind,... no injurious effects on the mind... [and] no moral injury whatever."

Cannabis extract made by Parke, Davis & Co. circa 1910

Lester Grinspoon, Harvard Medical School, USA
"Marijuana is one of the least toxic substances in the whole pharmacopoeia"

War on Drugs: Throwing Good Money at a Bad Idea

Panama Canal Zone Report, 1925
"There is no evidence... that any deleterious influence on the individual using [cannabis]"

A Prison State, If Not a Police State

The LaGardia sub-committee of New York 1944
"The use of marijuana does not lead to morphine or heroin or cocaine addiction and no effort is made to create a market for these narcotics by stimulating the practice of marijuana smoking"

300000 Iraq & Afghan Vets Suffer PTSD & Depression
The IDF will soon begin using cannabis to treat soldiers suffering from combat stress, the military said Wednesday. An army statement said the military medical corps and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem would begin treating victims of post-traumatic stress - commonly known as shell shock - with THC, the active ingredient in the cannabis plant.

Wall street's Spontaneous Abortionists
The timing and types of pesticide exposures are critical determinants of reproductive outcomes, according to a recently published study by Canadian researchers. The study examined pesticide exposures based on recall by farm families and reported histories of spontaneous abortions among women living on the farms. Hemp could be grown without the pesticides that are necessary for cultivation of other textiles and paper products, except it's unethically scheduled a #1 dangerous narcotic.

Politics of Pot
The FDA should change its name to the Politically Approved Food and Drug Administration - PAFDA. It's a longer acronym, but it rolls off the tongue nicely and people would appreciate its greater honesty.