SWnewsherald has recently published an online column by Jacob G. Hornberger on the war on drugs rejecting the notion that it is a winnable war.

From the article:

Of course, we’ve heard this type of “positive” drug-war nonsense for the past several decades, at least since Richard Nixon declared war on drugs back in the 1970s. What conservatives never tell us is how final “victory” will ultimately be measured. Like all other drug warriors for the past several decades, Last doesn’t say, “The statistics are so good that the drug war has now been won and therefore we can now end it,” but rather, “Victory is right around the corner. The statistics are getting better. Let’s keep going.”

The only way to “win” the war on drugs is to end it.

A law that would decriminalize (not legalize) the possession of under 1 oz. of marijuana has been accepted by the Massachusetts state legislature.

Possession of less than an ounce of marijuana would no longer be a criminal offense under a bill that won the backing of a legislative committee yesterday. The bill, approved by the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee on a 6-1 vote, would make possession of a small amount of marijuana a civil offense punishable by a $250 fine.

In cases involving those 18 years old or younger, parents would be notified.

Currently, possession of any marijuana under an ounce as a criminal offense punishable by a $500 fine and up to six months in prison.

As a resident of MA, I was vaguely aware of this bill already, having voted YES when it was proposed on the ballot alongside the 2004 presidential candidates. (Guess who I voted for?)

From The Agitator:

It looks as if this guy was indeed pretty substantially into the meth trade. But two passages from the article stand out. First:

Asked how the officers gained entry to the house, and if officers’ clothing identified them as law enforcement, DEA spokesman Jeffrey Eig said, “We’re not going to be able to comment on that issue right now.”

Which is a pretty good indication this was a no-knock raid. Which means the man’s “failure to comply with orders” could have been because he was a rat bastard hellbent on murdering drug cops, or could have been because he thought his home was being invaded.

And then there is this:

There were other people in the home, including children, but no one else was hurt, said Skagit County sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Will Reichardt.

Can we all agree that it’s a bad idea to apprehend a suspected violent drug dealer with overwhelming weaponry while there are children in the home?

Just another example of over-reaction, no-knock raids, parimillitary action, and abuse of power in the war on drugs. Another good reason why drugs should be legalized and regulated.

A campaign to legalize marijuana in the state of Nevada has just begun. Of course, federal law will overule the state law, much like in the Denver case, but we’ll take symbolic victories.

A campaign to legalize marijuana in Nevada begins Tuesday. The Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana wants to make it legal for adults 21 and older to use marijuana in the privacy of their own homes.

They also want to set up a system where marijuana can be sold and taxed in smoke shops. Now the group will try to convince Nevadans it’s a good idea.

Voters will decide on the group’s initiative on the November 2006 ballot. Nevadans defeated a similar ballot measure in 2002

In Leredo, Mexico, drug warriors have found and confiscated two improvised explosive devices as well as dozens of weapons/weapon kits. AK47s, AR-15 Assault Rifles, hunting rifles and other weapons were found during a drug raid.

Two homemade bombs and supplies to make 33 more were found in Laredo in a series of narcotics and firearms raids by a federal task force, officials disclosed Friday.

Portraying the Jan. 27 find as an “alarming” development in the already brutal border drug war, officials said they have not established any terrorist link to the “improvised explosive devices” nor any intended targets among narcotraffickers.

“We are still investigating how these items were to be used, but you can rest assured they were not for peaceful purposes,” said Julie Myers, assistant secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Ok.

1. Here’s a hint: they were probably intended to be used to defend their turf from rival drug lords/protect their investments from those who would steal their narcotics/cash.

2. If drugs were legalized and regulated, these individuals would not have need these weapons. Problem solved.

3. What’s “peaceful” about the War on Drugs?

A study done in the Netherlands claims a relationship between aggressive behavior and heavy marijuana usage. A simple examination of the article (Headline: Cannabis ‘can cause aggression in kids’) shows that no causal relationship has been proven in the study, which was not an experiment but rather a survey.

Let’s make this absolutely clear: Correlation is not causation. Correlation is not causation. Correlation is not causation. There are many sociological, psychological, non-medical reasons that may link these two factors. Claiming that pot causes aggression is about as asinine as saying “aggression causes people to smoke pot.”

A new series on Court TV about Texas SWAT teams seems to be dominated by “drug busts,” most of which hinge on no-knock raids.

Next bust: Female drug dealer.

About 20 officers, no knock, no yelling, flash grenade through the window, use of truck to rip open the front door. No shouts of “police” through the entire operation.

Interview with swat officer:

“Man this is what we live for, you could see the smiles and the excitement on the way over here.”

Head over to The Agitator to read more.

I recommend that you all download and watch this excellent video by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).

We can’t make the drugs go away, so this War on Drugs really isn’t a good title. Makes us feel good. Gonna win the war… But it really doesn’t describe the policy. I’ve got another word that describes the policy perfectly. Prohibition.

Evo Morales, newly elected president of Bolivia (who has just taken a 50% pay cut in order to fund more teachers and doctors) must walk a thin line in the Drug War, appeasing its warriors as well as the Bolivian public, for whom chewing coca leaves has been a part of their culture for millennia.

Morales has been quoted as supporting “0 cocaine, but not 0 coca.” This will be a long and difficult struggle with the prohibitionists in Washington.

Balancing those interests will be a tough line, and experts say Morales most surely will have to first satisfy his domestic constituents to survive politically. The first order of business may be keeping the U.S. eradication program stopped in its tracks.

“I can’t image him staying in power if he allows the U.S. to spray large swaths of that country with a poison that kills plants and to do so with no respect for public health,” Reinarman said. “Imagine if the Bolivian air force were to spray large swaths of Kentucky and Virginia to eradicate tobacco, which has killed far more people than coca. We would respond with bombers.”

From Drug War Rant:

Plan Colombia By The Numbers

Adam Isaacson’s got the data:

Total U.S. aid to Colombia over the seven years between 2000 and 2006: $4.72 billion
Square miles of Colombia sprayed with “Round-Up Ultra” herbicide, 2000-2005: 2,550
Land area of Delaware, square miles: 1,954
Square miles planted in Colombia with coca, the plant used to make cocaine, in 2000, the year Plan Colombia began: 526
Approximate cost of fumigating one square mile, conservative estimate: $162,000
Reduction in Colombian coca-growing from 2003 to 2004, in acres: 0
Percentage of coca plots detected by the United Nations in 2004 that did not exist the year before: 62
Amount per month, according to the United Nations, that a Colombian farmer nets from a hectare (2.5 acres) of coca: $199
Percentage of Colombia’s rural population living below the poverty line: 82
“Arbitrary arrests” documented by Colombian human-rights groups between August 2002 and August 2004: 6,332
Percentage of murders in Colombia that end in a sentencing: 4%
Colombians forcibly displaced from their homes by violence, January 2000-September 2005: 1.8 million

Read

I know I am thrilled and filled with faith.