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tay_ste_5000
Stranger



Registered: 06/04/09
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Organized crime won the war on drugs
#14576708 - 06/07/11 09:01 PM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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I'm was very surprised to see this on CNN. This is some serious shit, not too watered down either.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/07/wood.failed.war.on.drugs/index.html?hpt=us_mid
Editor's note: Evan Wood is the founder of the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy, the director of the Urban Health Program at the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, and associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.
Vancouver, British Columbia (CNN) -- U.S. taxpayers have spent an estimated $2.5 trillion on the "war on drugs" since former President Richard Nixon first declared it in 1971. With the U.S. federal government so far in debt, it is well overdue that this type of expenditure come under greater scrutiny.
In this context, the recent release of a Global Commission on Drug Policy report should ring alarm bells throughout the United States.
The commission has called for a "paradigm shift" in illegal drug policy. The focus of the report is the unwitting role that drug prohibition, like alcohol prohibition before it, plays in fueling the growth of organized crime and violence. The 19-member commission includes former Secretary General of the U.N. Kofi Annan, former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana, former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, former U.S. Federal Reserve System Chairman Paul Volcker, former presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil and Cesar Gaviria of Colombia, and writers Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa.
One need look no farther than Mexico, where Mexican drug trafficking organizations derive 60% of their revenue from cannabis exports to the United States, according to a U.S. government estimate in 2006. Mexico is also where a bloody drug war has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people since 2006, when Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared a war on drugs in that country.
In this context, and with a focus on the marijuana trade, the commission is specifically encouraging "experimentation by governments with models of legal regulation of drugs that are designed to undermine the power of organized crime."
After detailing the extreme costs, ineffectiveness and harms of the global drug law enforcement effort, the report asks that "political leaders and public figures have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that ... the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won."
But the White House, instead of acknowledging the unintended harms of America's longstanding approach to drug policy, was quick to disagree with the commission. Ignoring how cannabis prohibition contributes to organized crime and related violence, Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said: "Making drugs more available -- as this report suggests -- will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe."
This statement underscores the lack of government accountability when it comes to the drug war. For instance, rather than making drugs unavailable, drug surveillance systems funded by none other than the U.S. government have concluded that over the last 30 years of cannabis prohibition, the drug has remained "almost universally available to American 12th graders," with between 80% and 90% consistently saying the drug is "very easy" or "fairly easy" to obtain. Under this reality, it is hard to understand the White House's insistence that the commission's recommendations will make cannabis "more available."
In fact, research demonstrates the limited role of drug policy on rates of drug use. In the Netherlands, for instance, where marijuana has been sold in licensed "coffee shops" since the 1970s, the lifetime rate of cannabis use is less than half the rate in the United States. As further evidence of the drug war's failure to limit drug supply, U.S. government data clearly demonstrate that even as federal funding for anti-drug efforts has increased by more than an inflation-adjusted 600% from 1981 to 2002, marijuana's potency increased by 145% and its price has declined 58% from 1990 to 2007.
Under this reality, and given the link between cannabis prohibition and organized crime, it is hard to understand how the White House thinks the drug war is keeping "communities healthy and safe."
From a scientific perspective, what is particularly frustrating is where U.S. government officials commonly turn to demonstrate the success of the status quo, and a favorite is the government's anti-drug education efforts. For instance, although the U.S. National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, which aims to reduce youth drug use through television advertisements, has cost the U.S. taxpayer well over $1 billion since 1999, there have been longstanding doubts about its effectiveness. In fact, a $42.7 million U.S. government funded study found that the campaign had no effect on young people who had already started using marijuana.
Although the U.S. Government Accountability Office subsequently recommended that "Congress should consider limiting appropriations for the campaign, beginning in the 2007 fiscal year budget until (Office of National Drug Control Policy) provides credible evidence of a media campaign approach that effectively prevents and curtails youth drug use," more than $300 million has been spent to continue the program since this time.
Acknowledging the current fiscal climate internationally, the Global Commission report notes that, "In a time of fiscal austerity, we can no longer afford to maintain multibillion-dollar investments that have largely symbolic value." Too bad the White House disagrees.
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the human abstract
malaka the werewolf



Registered: 11/30/09
Posts: 8,817
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: tay_ste_5000]
#14576771 - 06/07/11 09:14 PM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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that last paragraph
not only has it cost taxpayers 2.5 TRILLION but its ruined so many peoples lives. We are fucking broke now!! i guess thats what it takes
also want to add the DEA is a self maintained organization. they get busts and use that money to pay for new weapons and training.

there was a bust for 2 tons of pot coming off trains in chicago recently, can you even imagine how much is actually getting through.
this war has failed when one bust can supply every american in the country with 2 joints
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★ ★★ ★
Edited by the human abstract (06/07/11 10:52 PM)
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realfuzzhead



Registered: 03/03/10
Posts: 10,783
Loc: above the smog layer
Last seen: 1 year, 2 months
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wow.
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LongStrangeTrip
Deadhead


Registered: 09/19/09
Posts: 5,382
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: realfuzzhead]
#14577081 - 06/07/11 10:08 PM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
realfuzzhead said: wow.
-------------------- Nothing I say or do is factual; every single thing I write is a work of fiction. Got no idea what I'm talking about here~ "Once in awhile, you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right"~ (Grateful Dead) "o puer, qui omnia nomini debes"; "You, boy, who owe's everything to a name"~ Mark Anthony "Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum."; "Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system."~ Cicero
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limestoneman
The Return

Registered: 04/09/11
Posts: 1,997
Loc: Middle TN
Last seen: 4 years, 1 month
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What did I tell EVERYBODY? "Watch the USA cockslap the shit outta errbody" and they did. AGAIN.  America disagrees. No fucking shit? Really!?
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Konyap

Registered: 06/30/07
Posts: 33,945
Loc: Planet Piss
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: limestoneman]
#14577284 - 06/07/11 10:40 PM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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under ye new management
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mikehauncho


Registered: 06/17/09
Posts: 567
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs *DELETED* [Re: Konyap]
#14577531 - 06/07/11 11:38 PM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Post deleted by mikehaunchoReason for deletion: law enforcement
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nice1
Not the droid your looking for



Registered: 09/26/09
Posts: 10,449
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: mikehauncho]
#14578199 - 06/08/11 03:43 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Yar no shit. Whats new lol?
The systems corrupt so it ain't gonna change.
Money and control.
Monkey business as usual in the real world heirarchy.
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pwnasaurus
Stranger



Registered: 07/16/08
Posts: 12,317
Loc: Canada
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: nice1]
#14578763 - 06/08/11 09:01 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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What the fuck is wrong with politicians. They're actually retarded monkeys, cannot comprehend.
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nice1
Not the droid your looking for



Registered: 09/26/09
Posts: 10,449
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: pwnasaurus]
#14578787 - 06/08/11 09:09 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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No they are corrupt liars. They are part of the established monopoly. Its a mafia, monetary corruption from established institution. No politician can change that. A few tried and got discredited, the others got shot. theres too much money and power involved with keeping things the same. i.e totalitarian agenda that has been progressing perfectly since forever. Its in our nature. A heirarchy of greed and control. Always a new monkey ready to replace the old one.
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4DEAD2HEAD0
Stranger


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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: nice1]
#14578827 - 06/08/11 09:23 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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the united states government is a organized crime syndicate why do you think they get a way with over charging on even the most basic of resources.
-------------------- HEAVEN AND HELL ARE BUT A BREATH AWAY! - ANDY WARHOL http://coolgifs.tripod.com/cry.gif
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nice1
Not the droid your looking for



Registered: 09/26/09
Posts: 10,449
Loc: earth
Last seen: 11 years, 28 days
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: 4DEAD2HEAD0]
#14578912 - 06/08/11 09:46 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Indeed. We have a greed to which we have agreed.
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Heffy
BrauMeister



Registered: 08/30/04
Posts: 3,262
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: tay_ste_5000]
#14578985 - 06/08/11 10:08 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
"Making drugs more available -- as this report suggests -- will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe."
He said it, so it must be true!
-------------------- I am the king of Rome, and above grammar! - Emperor Sigismund
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German Kahuna
Facepalmer of Stoopid



Registered: 10/31/08
Posts: 15,798
Loc: On a Chemical Vacation
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: pwnasaurus]
#14579075 - 06/08/11 10:35 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
pwnasaurus said: What the fuck is wrong with politicians. They're actually retarded monkeys, cannot comprehend.
No, actually they are smart. They are looking after themselves, that's what's going on. Do you actually think that the black and the grey market do exist all by themselves? No way. It's all part of one big global market. What's happening here is that the tax payer (read, the casual pothead who is criminalized for smoking a joing every now and then) is not only financing the drug manufacturing and trafficking cartels, we are also financing the so-called war against them. Where do you think this money goes? They don't bury sacks of cash behind their hazienda in Culo Abierto, Mexico, they spend that money. They buy property and they contract companies to built them palaces and highrise buildings to house the apparently legal store fronts of their illegal operations that launder their profits. American Companies. Companies that have powerful lobbies in Washington. It might once not have been, but at one point some very corrupt people realized that this whole "War on Drugs" is an ideal way to funnel the money of the general public into their own pockets with a perfect excuse. One has to understand the bigger scheme behind it and how it's all interweaved. How huge construction contractors like Haliburton profit from the deeds of the Pablo Escobars of this World and their ilk. Then you will begin to understand why the powers that be have absolutely no interest in ending the War on Drugs whatsoever. It's just too much oh-so-sweet money for them to be made. And it keeps an army of government employees like the DEA and the Prison Guard Union, etc, etc happy, too.
-------------------- "Vegetarian" [ /ˌvedʒəˈteəriən/] - Ancient slang meaning "village idiot who can't hunt, fish or ride".
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nice1
Not the droid your looking for



Registered: 09/26/09
Posts: 10,449
Loc: earth
Last seen: 11 years, 28 days
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: German Kahuna]
#14579298 - 06/08/11 11:28 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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You sir are a clever man.
Exactly. Its basic stuff really... amazes me how many people are unaware... distracted... its monkey tactics 
Now let us suck our own dicks:
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dondoodle
Stranger
Registered: 06/29/09
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: nice1]
#14579338 - 06/08/11 11:38 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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You know who supposedly won the drug war? District attorneys, judges, lawyers, cops, prison guards, probation officers, parole officers, alcohol, nicotine and tobacco sellers and manufacturers and drug testing companies. That is an incomplete list. Those people are making money off oppression and killing other people and destroying their families lives too.
-------------------- End American imperialism and colonization around the world and among the people conquered within the domestic empire.
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LongStrangeTrip
Deadhead


Registered: 09/19/09
Posts: 5,382
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: nice1]
#14579370 - 06/08/11 11:45 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
German Kahuna said:
Quote:
pwnasaurus said: What the fuck is wrong with politicians. They're actually retarded monkeys, cannot comprehend.
No, actually they are smart. They are looking after themselves, that's what's going on. Do you actually think that the black and the grey market do exist all by themselves? No way. It's all part of one big global market. What's happening here is that the tax payer (read, the casual pothead who is criminalized for smoking a joing every now and then) is not only financing the drug manufacturing and trafficking cartels, we are also financing the so-called war against them. Where do you think this money goes? They don't bury sacks of cash behind their hazienda in Culo Abierto, Mexico, they spend that money. They buy property and they contract companies to built them palaces and highrise buildings to house the apparently legal store fronts of their illegal operations that launder their profits. American Companies. Companies that have powerful lobbies in Washington. It might once not have been, but at one point some very corrupt people realized that this whole "War on Drugs" is an ideal way to funnel the money of the general public into their own pockets with a perfect excuse. One has to understand the bigger scheme behind it and how it's all interweaved. How huge construction contractors like Haliburton profit from the deeds of the Pablo Escobars of this World and their ilk. Then you will begin to understand why the powers that be have absolutely no interest in ending the War on Drugs whatsoever. It's just too much oh-so-sweet money for them to be made. And it keeps an army of government employees like the DEA and the Prison Guard Union, etc, etc happy, too.
Your absolutely right. Most people forget that there is a lot of money to be made, for/by many different and diverse parties, through prohibition.
Quote:
nice1 said:

Yar no shit. Whats new lol?
The systems corrupt so it ain't gonna change.
Money and control.
Monkey business as usual in the real world heirarchy.
I think your wrong, it deffinitly can change, but the only way that is possible is if enough of the American "average Joe's" see the light and support change.
That is what lead me to simply react saying "wow". This will reach a lot of people, being from CNN, and its clearly written, concise, and powerful. Good stuff, exactly what we need
-------------------- Nothing I say or do is factual; every single thing I write is a work of fiction. Got no idea what I'm talking about here~ "Once in awhile, you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right"~ (Grateful Dead) "o puer, qui omnia nomini debes"; "You, boy, who owe's everything to a name"~ Mark Anthony "Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum."; "Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system."~ Cicero
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nice1
Not the droid your looking for



Registered: 09/26/09
Posts: 10,449
Loc: earth
Last seen: 11 years, 28 days
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: dondoodle]
#14579388 - 06/08/11 11:48 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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haha yes, well "won"
lmao who can win in a war?
Absolute absurdity. What do they take us for? Absolute idiots of course. You would though when receiving the benefits. Its easy to hide then.
Long strange trip...
I like to be wrong. Thats what learning is. My soul existance! I hope I am. Change is much over due friend.
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LongStrangeTrip
Deadhead


Registered: 09/19/09
Posts: 5,382
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: nice1]
#14579400 - 06/08/11 11:50 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Long strange trip...
I like to be wrong. Thats what learning is. My soul existance! I hope I am. Change is much over due friend.
hahaha  Love it
-------------------- Nothing I say or do is factual; every single thing I write is a work of fiction. Got no idea what I'm talking about here~ "Once in awhile, you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right"~ (Grateful Dead) "o puer, qui omnia nomini debes"; "You, boy, who owe's everything to a name"~ Mark Anthony "Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum."; "Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system."~ Cicero
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German Kahuna
Facepalmer of Stoopid



Registered: 10/31/08
Posts: 15,798
Loc: On a Chemical Vacation
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Not to forget the pharma lobby. Their biggest money comes from psychopharmacological meds and pain killers. Growing your own psychotropical plants and fungi? Growing marijuana and opium poppy? Oh, nooooooes! Pfizer, Bayer, Roche et al. don't like that idea at all. And did you know which powerful lobbyist played a major part in making marijuana (hemp) illegal? DuPont. Chemical company that were pushing their synthetic fibres into the market at that time and they needed to get rid of the natural competitor that was basically growing like weed and that was suitable for all sorts of purposes, making ropes, clothes, oil (from seed), pain medicine, ect, ect. You aren't supposed to grow it in your garden, you are supposed to buy it from THEM.
-------------------- "Vegetarian" [ /ˌvedʒəˈteəriən/] - Ancient slang meaning "village idiot who can't hunt, fish or ride".
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nice1
Not the droid your looking for



Registered: 09/26/09
Posts: 10,449
Loc: earth
Last seen: 11 years, 28 days
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: German Kahuna]
#14580613 - 06/08/11 04:15 PM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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We are not even allowed to practice herbal medicine anymore 
Now we have to take pharmecuticals with subjective results of suppression of symptoms for subjective conditions/illnesses that don't even exist. Its utter madness for humanity but the best monopolisation of a criminal fraudulant problem/solution based business I've ever seen.
Such a shame people everywhere are that thick they allowed the banning of herbs and believe in these made up mental conditions and these pharm placebos cures. Absolute insanity for the sake of human greed. 
Parasites.
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I R Crankey
bang bang choo choo


Registered: 01/03/10
Posts: 2,005
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: German Kahuna]
#14580792 - 06/08/11 04:53 PM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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good point.
it's as if the media tries to pound in the fact that the government/police are losing this 'war' when really this 'war' is only being won by everyone but the taxpaayer
but what can you do?
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tay_ste_5000
Stranger



Registered: 06/04/09
Posts: 90
Last seen: 11 years, 10 months
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: I R Crankey]
#14581106 - 06/08/11 06:00 PM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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this information should not be anything new to any of you, i just posted it because it was on a major news website, which should be major news for the anti-prohibition peeps up in dis joint since most of said major news whatevers usually could care less about the millions who get arrested for all sorts of dumb bullshit, mean while they're throwing a fucking cow over some goddamned royal wedding
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OrgoneConclusion
Blue Fish Group



Registered: 04/01/07
Posts: 45,414
Loc: Under the C
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Re: Organized crime won the war on drugs [Re: tay_ste_5000]
#14583549 - 06/09/11 05:54 AM (12 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
In a time of fiscal austerity, we can no longer afford to maintain multibillion-dollar investments that have largely symbolic value."
If we only had times if fiscal prosperity, we could keep this war going ad infinitum.
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