3,500 Cops Who Want All Drugs to Be Legal | VICE United States By Roc Morin “Just so we’re clear,” began Peter Christ during our first phone conversation, “if you look in Webster’s Dictionary at the word hypocrite, you will see a picture of me. I believed that this drug war was a stupid fucking idea even before I became a cop.” For 20 years Officer Christ patrolled the town of Tonawanda, New York, a community of 80,000 just outside of Buffalo. Retiring from the force in 1989 as a Captain, he founded Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an organization of 3,500 former officers working towards the legalization of all drugs. I flew into Buffalo to join Peter for a drive around his old precinct and a discussion of drug policy. <snip> "There will never be a drug-free America. Drugs are always going to be a part of our culture. So, the question becomes: Who do you want to control the marketplace - gangsters, thugs, and terrorists, or licensed businesspeople with regulation and control? That’s the only discussion we can have, and it’s the one we’re not having.” Full article: www.vice.com/read/3500-cops-who-want-all-drugs-to-be-legal Also: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is an international 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization of criminal justice professionals who bear personal witness to the wasteful futility and harms of our current drug policies. Our experience on the front lines of the “war on drugs” has led us to call for a repeal of prohibition and its replacement with a tight system of legalized regulation, which will effectively cripple the violent cartels and street dealers who control the current illegal market.www.leap.cc
Im always happy when cops/judges come out on the side of common sense. To me its no brainer. We tried prohibition with alcohol - it didn't work. Then we try it with drugs with the same results. What's the definition of insanity again??
Lessons were not learned after prohibition, and this Peter chap eloquently hits the nail on the head. Now...does this really belong in freedom on information...? Strictly speaking probably not, but I do think that FOI and this are coming from the same place philosophically.
The bigger question is why is American culture the most drug-addled in history? A lot of pro-legalization advocates assume that a certain level of drug use is unavoidable, and half-assume that is part of the human condition. But is it? Most cultures have some kind of psycho active substance as part of their culture but they are not all as obsessed with getting high as the USA. It seems that the level of damage that drugs do is proportional to the degree that they romanticized. Why is the US particularly susceptible to the idea that drugs are part of an admirable lifestyle, in spite of overwhelming evidence that they are really, really bad? The biggest problem with drugs in the US isn't that they are illegal, it is that they are socially tolerated. One of the main effects of this social tolerance is the corruption of places where drugs are produced but where the excessive use of such drugs was not a major problem. America exports its vices because it is rich. The negative effect on poor places is devastating. That’s the only discussion we can have, and it’s the one we’re not having.
Charles Bowden has coherently and stridently made this completely clear in Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and The Global Economy's New Killing Fields. Bowden presents compelling evidence that 'the war on drugs' is now a War On The Poor. So sad and so true. Epic journalism!
One of the main economic effects of the criminalization of drugs is that it makes drug dealing a lucrative business. Legalization removes a big chunk of economic profitability of the business.
What I mean by that is that bananas are legal. Oil is legal. Just because a product is legal doesn't prevent the devastation in poor countries and near total disruption of local economies by economic interests in rich countries . I believe even if marijuana and cocaine were legal, the potential for devastating effects in producing countries would be about the same. Is United Dope going to be better than United Fruit or the Escobar cartel?
The New Stoned Age: Bill Maher on the Greening of America | Rolling Stone Economic incentive to legalize weed and the failure of the War on Drugs have produced a sea change in America that's here to stay By Bill Maher, June 10, 2013 www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-new-stoned-age-bill-maher-on-the-greening-of-america-20130610
Got dox on that? Let's just legalize drugs. The 'War on Drugs' is now and has always been a war on people.
Holder seeks to avert mandatory minimum sentences for some low-level drug offenders By Sari Horwitz, The Washington Post Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is set to announce Monday that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with no ties to gangs or large-scale drug organizations will no longer be charged with offenses that impose severe mandatory sentences. The new Justice Department policy is part of a comprehensive prison reform package that Holder will reveal in a speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco, according to senior department officials. He is also expected to introduce a policy to reduce sentences for elderly, nonviolent inmates and find alternatives to prison for nonviolent criminals. Justice Department lawyers have worked for months on the proposals, which Holder wants to make the cornerstone of the rest of his tenure. “A vicious cycle of poverty, criminality and incarceration traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities,” Holder plans to say Monday, according to excerpts of his remarks that were provided to The Washington Post. “However, many aspects of our criminal justice system may actually exacerbate this problem rather than alleviate it.” Continued at www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/holder-seeks-to-avert-mandatory-minimum-sentences-for-some-low-level-drug-offenders/2013/08/11/343850c2-012c-11e3-96a8-d3b921c0924a_story.html
This, if true, is shocking: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/07/one-in-25-americans-was-a_n_3720526.html "But here's a related statistic that's pretty mind blowing in and of itself: According to the FBI, in 2011 there were 3991.1 arrests for every 100,000 people living in America. That means over the course of a single year, one in 25 Americans was arrested." Seems to be mostly for drug offences, and is a strong argument against criminalising drugs.
The Real Walter White Published by VICE on November 27, 2013 When AMC's Breaking Bad premiered in 2008, one of Alabama's most successful meth cooks was already knee deep in building a massive meth empire. His name? Walter White. In this documentary, Walter tells us the secret behind his product, how he stacked up thousands of dollars per day, and why his partner is now serving two life sentences.
would mind it being disclassified though just incase of capture, 80 for possesion in uk and u'll have to go buy more wasn't it legal in us a couple of hundred years ago?? why was it outlawed??
Here's a related post that I found interesting: https://whyweprotest.net/community/...stic-surveillance.111435/page-62#post-2408535
Well the Discovery Channel now has a new hit series called "Pot Cops" http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/pot-cops so HA!!! of course they also have Shark Week
All drugs were allowed under the "pursuit of happiness" clause in the US Declaration of Independence until about 1875. We had opium dens and hemp (marijuana) farmers. Doctors used heroin. Coke-a-cola had actual cocaine in it. Around 1875 they started outlawing the dens. It was fine while it was only the Chinese immigrants smoking, but once the American women started spending time in the dens laws were formed to slowly outlaw it. A few of the US founding fathers were hemp (marijuana) farmers. Marijuana farmers were fine until the early 1930's. The government wanted to make laws outlawing this as well but the people fought it. So the government formed the law banning growing hemp but said if the farmers came to Washington DC with a sample they could receive a special license to continue growing. But instead of giving them the license they arrested any farmers that showed up. Legalizing the drugs would take the criminal aspect out of it. Reducing crime by big numbers. But the federal agencies don't want to give up that budget money. Legalizing them would also create a new jobs market, manufacturing, testing, monitoring, ect, but the big drug companies won't allow that because it would interfere with their profits. Last I checked overdoses on legal drugs was the 4th largest cause of American accidental deaths. It's probably higher now. Washington state and Colorado have made recreational marijuana legal, and other states allow the sale of medical marijuana. But it's still illegal on the federal level so the feds go in once every year or so and arrest everyone they can.
The battle for a nation’s soul: How the cult of Santa Muerte has infested Mexico’s drug cartels with gruesome consequences She's a Grim Reaper goddess with an unquenchable thirst for blood. She specialises in protecting you from your enemies and will help smite those you wish to harm. She is a jealous and vengeful deity who demands you conduct rituals and sacrifices with proper care to avoid her divine wrath. And while she will deliver you safely to the afterlife, most important of all, she will never, ever judge you. She is the skeleton saint, the saint for sinners and the saint of last resort. She is Santa Muerte — the personification of death gathering a growing following among the infamous drug cartels of Mexico and sparking a modern-day battle between good and evil for the very soul of a nation. <snipped> * A powerful criminal figure in Tepito is said to have killed virgins and babies once a year and offered them as sacrifices to gain magical protection; * Gang members have taken rival cartel members to Santa Muerte shrines and executed them as offerings; * Police discovered a skeleton dressed as a bride at a Santa Muerte altar in a house used to hold kidnap victims; and * Authorities found 50 victims of a mass murder in the northern state of Sinaloa, all with tattoos and jewellery depicting Santa Muerte. Continued here: http://www.news.com.au/world/the-ba...ome-consequences/story-fndir2ev-1226867554045 The Prayer of the Santa Muerte Santa Muerte is a goddess of death, venerated throughout Mexico and more recently, the American Southwest. She is prayed to for life-saving miracles and death to enemies alike. What follows is an English translation of The Prayer of the Santa Muerte accompanied by photos of the shrine for Breaking Bad's Season 3 premiere. Continued here: http://blogs.amctv.com/photo-galleries/the-prayer-of-the-santa-muerte/#/0
Two tunnels found under California-Mexico border | Associated Press Two drug-smuggling tunnels with rail systems stretching hundreds of yards across the U.S.-Mexico border were discovered by law enforcement officials, and a 73-year-old woman was charged with helping run one operation, federal authorities said Friday. No contraband was found in connection with the tunnels, which linked warehouses in Tijuana, Mexico, and the Otay Mesa area of San Diego, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. The first tunnel, stretching about 600 yards, was discovered Tuesday. It was described as being equipped with lighting, a crude rail system and wooden trusses. The entrance on the U.S. side is inside a warehouse where a cement cap covered a 70-foot shaft. A pulley system was installed to hoist goods into the building, which was filled with children's toys and boxes of televisions. The other tunnel, located Thursday, stretches more than 700 yards and was built with more sophisticated features including a multi-tiered electric rail system and ventilation equipment. On Wednesday, investigators with the San Diego Tunnel Task Force arrested Glennys Rodriguez from the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista. The U.S. attorney's office has charged her with conspiracy to maintain a drug-involved premises. It wasn't immediately clear whether she had obtained an attorney. The tunnels were the sixth and seventh found in the area in less than four years, ICE said. Continued at http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2-tunnels-found-under-california-mexico-border
Man who says he killed 40 won't divulge associates | Associated Press A man in an Alabama jail who has confessed to killing dozens across the country did not name the drug cartels he said employed him, a detective said. Tim McWhorter, a captain and chief investigator with the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office in Alabama, said Thursday that Jose Manuel Martinez, 51, told authorities that he had worked for multiple cartels but that he would never divulge the names or cartel affiliations of his criminal associates. Martinez told investigators he was not necessarily a hit man but was hired to collect debts. "He was very clear with us in the beginning" about what he would not discuss, McWhorter said, adding: "That was kind of the ground rules." http://bigstory.ap.org/article/man-charged-9-deaths-says-he-killed-40
VICE @VICE 6m Marijuana decriminalization is coming to Washington DC, and bummer Congressmen are freaking out: Weed Is About to Be Decriminalized in Our Nation's Capital | VICE United States http://www.vice.com/read/weed-is-about-to-be-decriminalized-in-our-nations-capital
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Prison (HBO) America's prisons are broken. Just ask John Oliver and several puppets.
In the south, the old people used to call getting a Coca'Cola, "Want a dope?" They knew what they were talking about
The Leader of the Unfree World Mass incarceration, perhaps the greatest social crisis in modern American history, is without parallel on a global scale. On Friday, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously to allow nearly 50,000 nonviolent federal drug offenders to seek lower sentences. The commission's decision retroactively applied an earlier change in sentencing guidelines to now cover roughly half of those serving federal drug sentences. Endorsed by both the Department of Justice and prison-reform advocates, the move is a significant step forward — though in a global context, still modest — in reversing decades of mass incarceration. How large is America's prison problem? More than 2.4 million people are behind bars in the United States today, either awaiting trial or serving a sentence. That's more than the combined population of 15 states, all but three U.S. cities, and the U.S. armed forces. They're scattered throughout a constellation of 102 federal prisons, 1,719 state prisons, 2,259 juvenile facilities, 3,283 local jails, and many more military, immigration, territorial, and Indian Country facilities. Compared to the rest of the world, these numbers are staggering. Here's how the United States' incarceration rate stacks up against those of other modern liberal democracies like Britain and Canada: Continued at http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/the-leader-of-the-unfree-world/374348/
Mexican Oil and Drug Cartels: Cocaine and Crude Published by VICE News on August 1, 2014 VICE News sent Suroosh Alvi to Mexico to see the effects of cartel oil theft firsthand. Mexico’s notoriously violent drug cartels are diversifying. Besides trafficking narcotics, extorting businesses, and brutally murdering their rivals, cartels are now at work exploiting their country’s precious number one export: oil. Every day as many as 10,000 barrels of crude oil are stolen from Mexico’s state-run oil company, Pemex, through precarious illegal taps, which are prone to deadly accidents. Pemex estimates that it loses $5 billion annually in stolen oil, some of which ends up being sold over the border in US gas stations. As police fight the thieves, and the cartels fight each other, the number of victims caught in the battle for the pipelines continues to climb. Follow Suroosh Alvi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SurooshAlvi
Key Figures In CIA-Crack Cocaine Scandal Begin To Come Forward With the public in the U.S. and Latin America becoming increasingly skeptical of the war on drugs, key figures in a scandal that once rocked the Central Intelligence Agency are coming forward to tell their stories in a new documentary and in a series of interviews with The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/10/gary-webb-dark-alliance_n_5961748.html
‘The New York Times’ Wants Gary Webb to Stay Dead http://www.thenation.com/blog/181940/new-york-times-wants-gary-webb-stay-dead http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Webb
Remember HB Gary??? Greenwald/Assange/Anonymous plans of attack? I only have had a small taste of this crap, I can;t imagine what the rest have been through. These are pages from the same playbooks that started with Hoover... the song remains the same
It also should be noted that on the official CIA website under "NEWS and INFORMATION" Hollywood Myths vs. the Real CIA I know I feel better after having that cleared up. You? https://www.cia.gov/news-informatio...featured-story-archive/myths-vs-real-cia.html
