Why Legalizing Drugs — All of Them — Is the Only Forward Path For Black America

Posted by Easy Rider onJanuary 4, 2011
Interesting article from John McWhorter in the New Republic:

This should change, as I have argued frequently over the past year (listen to part of a speech I did on this here). Of the countless reasons why this revival of this Prohibition that looks so quaint in Boardwalk Empire should be erased with all deliberate speed, one is that with no War on Drugs there would be, within one generation, no “black problem” in the United States. Poverty in general, yes. An education problem in general — probably. But the idea that black America had a particular crisis would rapidly become history, requiring explanation to young people. The end of the War on Drugs is, in fact, what all people genuinely concerned with black uplift should be focused on, which is why I am devoting my last TNR post of 2010 to the issue. The black malaise in the U.S. is currently like a card house; the Drug War is a single card which, if pulled out, would collapse the whole thing.

That is neither an exaggeration nor an oversimplification. It comes down to this: If there were no way to sell drugs on the street at a markup, then young black men who drift into this route would instead have to get legal work. They would. Those insisting that they would not have about as much faith in human persistence and ingenuity as those who thought women past their five-year welfare cap would wind up freezing on sidewalk grates.

There would be a new black community in which all able-bodied men had legal work even in less well-off communities — i.e. what even poor black America was like before the ’70s; this is no fantasy. Those who say that this could only happen with low-skill factory jobs available a bus ride away from all black neighborhoods would be, again, wrong. That explanation for black poverty is full of holes. Too many people of all colors of modest education manage to get by without taking a time machine to the 1940s, and after the War on Drugs black men would be no exception.

Read More in the New Republic

• http://www.disinfo.com/2011/01/why-legalizing-drugs-%E2%80%94-all-of-them-%E2%80%94-is-the-only-forward-path-for-black-america/.

All Drugs Have Been Legal in Portugal Since 2001: Did Decriminalization Work?

Posted by ralphonSeptember 30, 2010
Interesting article in TIME from last year. Maia Szalavitz writes:

Pop quiz: Which European country has the most liberal drug laws? (Hint: It’s not the Netherlands.)

Although its capital is notorious among stoners and college kids for marijuana haze–filled “coffee shops,” Holland has never actually legalized cannabis — the Dutch simply don’t enforce their laws against the shops. The correct answer is Portugal, which in 2001 became the first European country to officially abolish all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.

At the recommendation of a national commission charged with addressing Portugal’s drug problem, jail time was replaced with the offer of therapy. The argument was that the fear of prison drives addicts underground and that incarceration is more expensive than treatment — so why not give drug addicts health services instead? Under Portugal’s new regime, people found guilty of possessing small amounts of drugs are sent to a panel consisting of a psychologist, social worker and legal adviser for appropriate treatment (which may be refused without criminal punishment), instead of jail.

The question is, does the new policy work? At the time, critics in the poor, socially conservative and largely Catholic nation said decriminalizing drug possession would open the country to “drug tourists” and exacerbate Portugal’s drug problem; the country had some of the highest levels of hard-drug use in Europe. But the recently released results of a report commissioned by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, suggest otherwise.

Read more in TIME

DISINFO.COM

Civil Liberties–CointelPro… The USA PatriotAct… and You?

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The FBI is interested in you. Do you know what democracy looks like? Then you might be a threat. Thought Crime is real crime in AmeRikkka. CrimeThInc Now!

The (new and improved) American Way ^TM

The New York Times picked up on these ‘criminals’ as well.

For Anarchist, Details of Life as F.B.I. Target

Caleb Bryant Miller for The New York Times

For at least three years, counterterrorism agents monitored the comings and goings at Scott Crow’s home in Austin, Tex.

By COLIN MOYNIHAN and SCOTT SHANE

Published: May 28, 2011

AUSTIN, Tex. — A fat sheaf of F.B.I. reports meticulously details the surveillance that counterterrorism agents directed at the one-story house in East Austin. For at least three years, they traced the license plates of cars parked out front, recorded the comings and goings of residents and guests and, in one case, speculated about a suspicious flat object spread out across the driveway.

That’s right “Texas Al-Quesada” … or wtf ever they thought… it continues…

 

 

 

 

The World States the obvious… and America doesn’t care… still. (The Drug War Cease Fire)

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June 2, 2011

Calling drug war failure, global group says end it

U.S. dismisses call for legalization, regulation

Ken Ellingwood
Tribune Washington bureau

 

Proposal may cut crack sentences

WASHINGTON – Thousands of federal prisoners could be released beginning later this year to correct wide disparities in sentences between crack and cocaine offenders under a proposal that won the key support of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

Inmates serving lengthy terms for crack cocaine offenses could have an average of three years shaved off their sentences.

While more than 12,000 federal prisoners – nearly 6 percent of the inmates in the vastly overcrowded U.S. prison system – could be affected, Holder recommended that only 5,500 should be released because the others’ crimes involved weapons or they have long criminal histories.

The proposal is intended to remedy a historic legacy of the war on drugs that meted out vastly greater sentences for crack cocaine users, who are mostly black, than powdered cocaine users, often white and sometimes affluent.

Tribune Washington bureau

MEXICO CITY – Calling the global war on drugs a costly failure, a group of high-profile world leaders is urging the Obama administration and other governments to end “the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but who do no harm to others.”

A report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and past presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, recommends that governments try new ways of legalizing and regulating drugs, especially marijuana, as a way to deny profits to drug cartels.

The recommendation was dismissed by the Obama administration and the government of Mexico, allied in a violent 4 1/2-year-old crackdown on cartels that has led to the deaths of more than 38,000 people in Mexico.

“The U.S. needs to open a debate,” former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, a member of the panel, said by telephone from New York, where the report is scheduled to be released today. “When you have 40 years of a policy that is not bringing results, you have to ask if it’s time to change it.”

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, a conservative, has made the battle against drug cartels a centerpiece of his administration. Though the growing death toll has stirred widespread public dismay in Mexico, Calderon shows no sign of turning back before his six-year term ends next year. A poll on security matters released Wed
nesday found broad public opposition in Mexico to legalizing drug sales.

The U.S. government has backed the Mexican crackdown with law enforcement equipment, training and encouraging words from President Barack Obama.

“Making drugs more available, as this report suggests, will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe,” said Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Although the Obama administration has emphasized a “public health” approach to drug policy, officials have taken a hard line against legalization.

“Legalizing dangerous drugs would be a profound mistake, leading to more use, and more harmful consequences,” drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said this year.

Administration officials dispute the idea that nothing can be done to reduce U.S. drug demand. A spokesman for the White House drug agency said consumption peaked in 1979, when surveys showed that 14 percent of respondents had used illegal drugs in the previous month. Now that figure has dropped to 7 percent.

The new report said the world’s approach to limiting drugs, crafted 50 years ago when the United Nations adopted its “Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs,” has failed to cut the supply or use of drugs. The report, citing figures from the world body, said global marijuana consumption rose more than 8 percent and cocaine use 27 percent between 1998 and 2008.

The group cited a U.N. estimate that 250 million people worldwide use illegal drugs, concluding, “We simply cannot treat them all as criminals.”

More treatment options for addicts are needed, the report said. And it argued that arresting and incarcerating “tens of millions” of drug-producing farmers, couriers and street dealers have not answered economic needs that push many people into the trade.

The group’s members include former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, the writers Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa, and Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group.

Get more news and information at Spokesman.com

Wikipedia – Dailyish Fact (Opiate withdrawl – Morphine)

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Withdrawal

See also: Opioid withdrawal

Cessation of dosing with morphine creates the prototypical opioid withdrawal syndrome, which unlike that of barbiturates, benzodiazepines, alcohol, or sedative-hypnotics, is not fatal by itself in neurologically healthy patients without heart or lung problems; it is in theory self-limiting in length and overall impact in that a rapid increase in metabolism and other bodily processes takes place, including shedding and replacement of the cells of many organs.^{[citation needed]}

Nonetheless, suicide, heart attacks, strokes, seizures proceeding to status epilepticus, and effects of extreme dehydration do lead to fatal outcomes in a small fraction of cases.^{[citation needed]}

Acute morphine and other opioid withdrawal proceeds through a number of stages. Other opioids differ in the intensity and length of each, and weak opioids and mixed agonist-antagonists may have acute withdrawal syndromes that do not reach the highest level. As commonly cited^{[by whom?]}, they are:

• Stage I: Six to fourteen hours after last dose: Drug craving, anxiety

• Stage II: Fourteen to eighteen hours after last dose: Yawning, perspiration, lacrimation, crying, running nose, dysphoria, "yen sleep" (a waking trance-like state)^{[clarification needed]}

• Stage III: Sixteen to twenty-four hours after last dose: Rhinorrhea (runny nose) and increase in other of the above, dilated pupils, piloerection (gooseflesh), muscle twitches, hot flashes, cold flashes, aching bones and muscles, loss of appetite and the beginning of intestinal cramping.

• Stage IV: Twenty-four to thirty-six hours after last dose: Increase in all of the above including severe cramping and involuntary leg movements ("kicking the habit"), loose stool, insomnia, elevation of blood pressure, moderate elevation in body temperature, increase in frequency of breathing and tidal volume, tachycardia (elevated pulse), restlessness, nausea

• Stage V: Thirty-six to seventy-two hours after last dose: Increase in the above, fetal position, vomiting, free and frequent liquid diarrhea, which sometimes can accelerate the time of passage of food from mouth to out of system to an hour or less, involuntary ejaculation, which is often painful, saturation of bedding materials with bodily fluids, weight loss of two to five kilos per 24 hours, increased white cell count and other blood changes.

• Stage VI: After completion of above: Recovery of appetite ("the chucks"), and normal bowel function, beginning of transition to post-acute and chronic symptoms that are mainly psychological but that may also include increased sensitivity to pain, hypertension, colitis or other gastrointestinal afflictions related to motility, and problems with weight control in either direction.

Some authorities^[which?] give the above as grades zero to four, and others^[which?] add chronic withdrawal as a seventh stage. Some separate post-acute and chronic withdrawal, others do not. For and example of the use of the above system, methadone clinics require, in the absence of a direct and documented referral from a doctor, Stage II withdrawal symptoms and/or recent needle marks and/or surrender of injecting equipment and/or unused drug at the intake appointment to begin the methadone maintenance or withdrawal process; two urine tests positive for opioids must then be collected shortly thereafter.^{[citation needed]}

The withdrawal symptoms associated with morphine addiction are usually experienced shortly before the time of the next scheduled dose, sometimes within as early as a few hours (usually between 6–12 hours) after the last administration. Early symptoms include watery eyes, insomnia, diarrhea, runny nose, yawning, dysphoria, sweating and in some cases a strong drug craving. Severe headache, restlessness, irritability, loss of appetite, body aches, severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, tremors, and even stronger and more intense drug craving appear as the syndrome progresses. Severe depression and vomiting are very common. During the acute withdrawal period systolic and diastolic blood pressure increase, usually beyond pre-morphine levels, and heart rate increases,^[13] which have potential to cause a heart attack, blood clot, or stroke.

Chills or cold flashes with goose bumps ("cold turkey") alternating with flushing (hot flashes), kicking movements of the legs ("kicking the habit"^[14]) and excessive sweating are also characteristic symptoms.^[15] Severe pains in the bones and muscles of the back and extremities occur, as do muscle spasms. At any point during this process, a suitable narcotic can be administered that will dramatically reverse the withdrawal symptoms. Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 and 96 hours after the last dose and subside after about 8 to 12 days. Sudden withdrawal by heavily dependent users who are in poor health is very rarely fatal. Morphine withdrawal is considered less dangerous than alcohol, barbiturate, or benzodiazepine withdrawal.^[16][17]

The psychological dependence associated with morphine addiction is complex and protracted. Long after the physical need for morphine has passed, the addict will usually continue to think and talk about the use of morphine (or other drugs) and feel strange or overwhelmed coping with daily activities without being under the influence of morphine. Psychological withdrawal from morphine is a very long and painful process.^[18] Addicts often suffer severe depression, anxiety, insomnia, mood swings, amnesia (forgetfulness), low self-esteem, confusion, paranoia, and other psychological disorders. Without intervention, the syndrome will run its course, and most of the overt physical symptoms will disappear within 7 to 10 days including psychological dependence. There is a high probability that relapse will occur after morphine withdrawal when neither the physical environment nor the behavioral motivators that contributed to the abuse have been altered. Testimony to morphine’s addictive and reinforcing nature is its relapse rate. Abusers of morphine (and heroin) have one of the highest relapse rates among all drug users, ranging up to 98 per cent in the estimation of some clinicians, neuropharmacologists, mental health/AODA professionals and other medical experts.^[19]

Manufacturing Consent (1992)–Noam Chomsky on Power and Consent of the people

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Movie|2 hr. 46 min.|

View Description

Funny, provocative and surprisingly accessible, Manufacturing Consent explores the political life and ideas of world-renowned linguist, intellectual and political activist Noam Chomsky

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Top 50 Dumbest Conservative Quotes

Posted by Sasha Brown-Worsham on September 14, 2010 at 12:52 PM

(Editor’s note: Whatever your political beliefs, we can all agree that people say the dumbest things. Below, you’ll find some some stupid conservative quotes put together by Sasha Brown-Worsham. For equally stupid — and funny — gaffs made by their liberal counterparts, read 50 Dumb Liberal Quotes.)

When politicians and pundits mess up, flub their words, or make Freudian slips, they often do so in the most spectacularly hilarious ways.

Former Vice President Dan Quayle reminded us not to lose our minds. (That would be a truly terrible loss, after all.) And Sarah Palin volunteered that that she was keeping an eye on Putin — and on all of Russia — from her perch up there in Alaska (you betcha!).

Below, you’ll find 50 more of the dumbest conservative quotes we’ve come across.

No matter what your politics, we hope you’ll have a good laugh.

1. "When the President does it, that means that it’s not illegal." ~ Richard M. Nixon
2. "We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease." ~ President George W. Bush
3. "The only way to reduce the number of nuclear weapons is to use them." ~ Rush Limbaugh
4. ”My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better.” ~ South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, arguing against government food assistance for poor residents.
5. "The ACLU is to Christians what the American Nazi party is to Jews." ~ Jerry Falwell
6. ”Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you.” ~ Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina)
7. ”We need to uptick our image with everyone, including one-armed midgets." ~ Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.
8. "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test." ~ George W. Bush
9. ”Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.” ~ Rush Limbaugh
10. "I couldn’t imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Chanukah." ~ President George W. Bush
11. "Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isn’t even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas.” ~ Rep. Michelle Bachmann
12. ”The greatest threat to America is not necessarily a recession or even another terrorist attack. The greatest threat to America is a liberal media bias.” ~ Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)
13. "He is purple – the gay-pride color, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle – the gay pride symbol." ~ Jerry Falwell‘s warning to parents that "Tinky Winky," a character on Teletubbies, may be gay
14. "Welcome to President Bush, Mrs. Bush, and my fellow astronauts." ~ Dan Quayle
15. ”The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.” ~ Pat Robertson
16. "Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls repudiate." ~ Sarah Palin
17. "’Refudiate,’ ‘misunderestimate,’ ‘wee-wee’d up.’ English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!’" ~ Sarah Palin
18. "Go back to what our founders and our founding documents meant — they’re quite clear — that we would create law based on the God of the bible and the Ten Commandments." ~ Sarah Palin
19. "What I don’t know is what the unexpected might be." ~ John McCain
20. "We have a lot of work to do. It’s a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border." ~ John McCain (the countries share no common border)
21. "I love California; I practically grew up in Phoenix." ~ Dan Quayle
22. "If we took away women’s right to vote, we’d never have to worry about another Democrat president.” ~ Ann Coulter
23. ”I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out under another, then under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. I’m not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it’s an interesting coincidence.” ~ Rep. Michele Bachmann
24. "We just want Jews to be perfected, as they say." ~ Ann Coulter
25. "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." ~ George W. Bush
26. "Do you have blacks, too?" ~ George W. Bush
27. ”We need to execute people like (John Walker Lindh) in order to physically intimidate liberals.” ~ Ann Coulter
28. "When I see a 9/11 victim family on television, or whatever, I’m just like, ‘Oh shut up’ I’m so sick of them because they’re always complaining." ~ Glenn Beck
29. "I’ll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." ~ George W. Bush
30. "Well, I learned a lot….I went down to (Latin America) to find out from them and (learn) their views. You’d be surprised. They’re all individual countries" ~ Ronald Reagan
31. ”I even accept for the sake of argument that sexual orgies eliminate social tensions and ought to be encouraged.” ~ Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
32. "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" ~ George W. Bush
33. "Exercise freaks … are the ones putting stress on the health care system." ~ Rush Limbaugh
34. "As yesterday’s positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured." ~ George W. Bush
35. "Good Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions." ~ Jerry Falwell
36. "If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator." ~ George W. Bush
37. "I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself." ~ Ronald Reagan
38. "Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them." ~ Jerry Falwell
39. ”It may be a blessing in disguise. … Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. Haitians were originally under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you will get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it’s a deal. Ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other.” ~ Pat Robertson
40. "AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." ~Jerry Falwell
41. "Facts are stupid things." ~ Ronald Reagan
42. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." ~ George W. Bush
43. "There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on –shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again." ~ George W. Bush
44. "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country." ~ George W. Bush
45. "Trees cause more pollution than automobiles." ~ Ronald Reagan
46. "This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." ~ George W. Bush
    
47. "I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started." ~ Donald Rumsfeld
48. "She wears little eye-patch underwear. So, the other day she came here with her underwear, Thursday. And so, we had made love Wednesday–a lot! And so she’ll, she’s all, ‘I am going up and down the stairs, and you’re dripping out of me!’ So messy!" ~ State Rep. Mike Duvall (R-Calif.) on a live mic referring to an affair with a lobbyist
49. "I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport." ~ George W. Bush
50. "I think I was unprepared for war." ~ George W. Bush

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WikiSecrets – PBS Frontline Special

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It’s the biggest intelligence breach in U.S. history — the leaking of more than a half million classified documents on the WikiLeaks website throughout 2010. At the center of the controversy stands Bradley E. Manning, the Army intelligence analyst who’s charged with handing them over.

Who is Bradley Manning, and what does his story tell us about how and why the secret cache of documents may have been leaked? In WikiSecrets, FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith gains exclusive access to those closest to Manning — including his father, close friends and his Army bunkmate — and uncovers video of Manning taken around the time of the alleged handover of classified information. Read more on PBS’ Website »

Read more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/wikileaks/#ixzz1NKBKudjT

http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

Ticketmaster is a lot like the situation in Libya…

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Doug Stanhope via Facebook

Hey, new clip recorded on UK tour up. Concerns ticketmaster, brownpapertickets and the Libyan rebels. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWIBkhpTD7g

Internet tied to rise in drug abuse

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May 15 2011 at 11:15am

---

Boston - Access to rogue online pharmacies may be driving a rapid increase in the abuse in the United States of prescription drugs like powerful painkillers Percocet and Oxycontin, a new study shows. The pharmacies, typically located outside the United States, send out millions of e-mail solicitations a year, and many not adhere to US regulations requiring a physician’s prescription for the drugs. Investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Southern California found that, over a seven-year period, states with the greatest expansion in high-speed Internet access also had the largest increase in admissions for treatment of prescription drug abuse.

The findings were released on Thursday by the journal Health Affairs, and will appear in its June edition.

“Our findings suggest that Internet growth may partly explain the increase in prescription drug abuse, since it is well known that these drugs are easily available online,” said Dana Goldman, director of the Schaeffer Centre for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California.

Prescription drugs are fast replacing illegal substances in venues like college campuses, Goldman said. Goldman and Anupam Jena, of the MGH Department of Medicine, note that the recent marked rise in the abuse of prescription narcotic painkillers corresponds with an increase in the presence of online pharmacies. Drugs that are frequently abused – painkillers, sedatives, and stimulants- often can be purchased from rogue sites located outside the United States. The researchers paired data available on Internet access from the Federal Communications Commission with figures on admissions to substance abuse treatment facilities.

Changes in both measures from 2000 to 2007 were analyzed on a per-state basis, and treatment admissions were categorized by the types of abused substances involved. Each 10-percent increase in the availability of high-speed Internet service in a state was correlated with a roughly one-percent increase in admissions for prescription drug abuse, the researchers found. During the same period admissions to treat abuse of heroin or cocaine, drugs not available over the Internet, and alcohol either rose minimally or actually fell.

“The lack of an increase in abuse of drugs not available on the Internet suggests that an overall growth in drug-seeking behavior cannot explain the rise in prescription drug abuse,” Jena said.