There are many different policies we can take to solve problems in our world. Unfortunately, we take the 'Team America' approach and declare a war on everything. The only thing worse than a war is a failed war.
This is your failed War....on drugs. (ah, the smell of puns in the morning...)
link to full statement on huffpost.
UPDATED: arizona is debating a tax on medical marijuana: http://www.azcentral.com/...
Sting:
For years, the Drug War has been used as a pretext to lock people in prison for exorbitant lengths of time -- people whose "crimes" never hurt another human being, people who already lived at the margins of society, whose voices were the faintest and whose power was the least.
Civil liberties have been trampled. Law enforcement has been militarized. Literally hundreds of billions of dollars -- dollars denied to urgent problems ranging from poverty to pollution -- have been spent. People who do need help with drugs have been treated as criminals instead. Meanwhile, resources to fight genuine crime -- violent crime -- have been significantly diminished.
And in exchange for all this, the War on Drugs has not stopped people from using drugs or kept drugs from crossing the borders or being sold on the streets.
A century ago, drug prohibition opened Pandora's Box, and there is no lid large enough to cover it now.
There are reasons the political establishment likes to avoid talking about the war on drugs. Just look at CA-Senator Boxer. She is opposing the ballot initiative to re-legalize cannabis in CA this fall, most likely in order to protect herself politically. When it comes to issues that affect the poor and/or disenfranchised, it's common for politicians to look the other way. And in a criminal justice system that costs 3-5000$ (before trial, several thousand more to take it to trial), you can bet your last five dollars that the vast majority of us who go to prison are poor. [A few on this site know my story, and I'm not the only one here who's been through this. There are other soldiers- hat tip to kossack OPOL]
In previous diaries, I've linked to many different statistics. One stat to keep in mind is that even while polls show more and more Americans supporting cannabis, both law enforcement and drug cartels share a common interest in making $$ off of prohibition. Prison guards get overtime pay in taxpayers dollars supervising non-violent drug offenders, Mexican cartels get nearly 60% of profits just from cannabis, and cops are making more busts than ever for cannabis.
from the MPP:
There have been almost 9.5 million marijuana arrests in the United States since 1995, including 872,720 arrests in 2007 – more than for all violent crimes combined, and an all-time record. One person is arrested for marijuana every 36 seconds. About 89% of all marijuana arrests are for possession – not manufacture or distribution.
Over at drcnet.org, Scott Morgan writes:
Our friends at the Drug Policy Alliance have persuaded A-list rockstar Sting to join the drug policy reform movement. I'm not exactly gonna leap out of my seat every time a celebrity says the drug war sucks, but Sting is a big name and it was fun getting a mass email from him today telling me lots of things I agree with.
Hopefully we'll be seeing some more press on this, or better yet a wave of rockstars joining the cause and rocking out for justice. And can we please do one of those PSA-type ads where like 8 famous people take turns looking concerned and saying why some issue is important, except this time the issue is legalizing marijuana in California and the famous people are all super famous and not just cast members from various shows on whatever network you're watching?
If we can get Bono and Bill Clinton, we'll win with leaflets left over.
For more recent news on the drug war, check out my other diaries. drcnet.org is a good site as well.