Despite Drug War, Marijuana Use Goes Up.

[greenbuddha]

And the tax dollars were spent on 'what'?

Daily Headlines

 

 

THE ETERNAL DRUG WAR

by William A. Collins, (Source:Chico News & Review)

writeNewsItems();Regional NewsUS CA: OPED: The Eternal Drug War

 

US CA: New Effort to Legalize Pot Is Debated

 

US CA: Pot Growers Team Up To Go Legit In California County

 

US CA: Medical Cannabis Symposium

 

US CA: Column: Safe And Legal

 

US CA: Bill Would Limit Firings of Medical Pot Users

 

US CA: Editorial: Still Defying Voters

 

US CA: Dana Point Shuts Down Pot Shops

 

US CA: Benicia Planners Reject Staff Recommendation To Extend Pot Club Ban

 

US CA: County Imposes High Fee On Pot Dispensaries

 

More News Select a State See Map Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia FEDERAL Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Check State Laws

 

 

 

27 Jan 2011

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California

-------

Despite the Horrific Casualties From the War on Drugs, Most Elected Leaders Are Fearful of Seeking Peace

 

The Afghanistan War sometimes seems interminable. It just became the longest hot war in U.S. history.

 

Meanwhile, our War on Drugs is quietly building its own longevity record. This war dates back to the Nixon administration and shows little sign of abating. The latest skirmish just concluded with California's failed pot referendum. Yet on that same Election Day, Arizona became the 15th state to approve medical marijuana-a testament to the public's indifference to the war's moralizers.

 

Elsewhere, this war isn't going well. Who knows how many luckless folks were murdered in Mexico, caught in the destructive drug-fueled gang violence?

 

Our marijuana use keeps climbing, despite the Drug War. The Golden State grows so much cannabis that even if California's voters had passed Proposition 19, local smugglers might have been largely unaffected. Nationally though, Big Liquor was truly worried. Not only would legal pot have cut into its business, but a recent study concluded that alcohol is even more socially destructive than heroin. Marijuana seems tame by comparison.

 

The prison industry was also anxious about the outcome of California's vote. Current drug laws keep those jails brimming with small-time users who pose no threat to anyone. This front of the war keeps plenty of cops, guards, prosecutors, defenders, wardens, and builders and suppliers of prisons out of the unemployment lines.

 

Not to be seen as impotent, Congress leaped into action doing what it does best. It created a blue-ribbon commission.

 

The commission would do well to consider the example of other countries. Portugal has decriminalized just about everything and has reaped the benefits of less crime, less law enforcement, and even less drug usage. Switzerland leads in treating heroin medically instead of criminally, with a similar happy outcome. Canada is following suit, over stern U.S. protests.

 

Meanwhile our aggressive cocaine eradication assault in Colombia has driven much of the production to Peru. A similar assault on key poppy provinces in Afghanistan has successfully driven heroin production elsewhere. Whoopie! Attacking sources of drug supplies works about as well now as similar approaches did during Prohibition.

 

Despite the Drug War's horrific casualties, most elected leaders are fearful of seeking peace. Some of their campaign donors would lose profits, and their opponents could stir up fear and hate. Sounds a lot like the War on Terror.

 

 

MAP posted-by: Richard Lake

 

 

 

 

Share This Article Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2011

Source: Chico News & Review, The (CA)

Copyright: 2011 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.

Contact: chicoletters@newsreview.com

Website: http://www.newsreview.com/chico/

Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/559

Author: William A. Collins

Note: The author is a former state representative and a former mayor

of Norwalk, Conn. This article was distributed by Other Words

(http://otherwords.org), a project of the Institute for Policy Studies.

 

 

 

 

[tiredoldman]

And the tax dollars were spent on 'what'?

Daily Headlines

 

 

THE ETERNAL DRUG WAR

by William A. Collins, (Source:Chico News & Review)

writeNewsItems();Regional NewsUS CA: OPED: The Eternal Drug War

 

US CA: New Effort to Legalize Pot Is Debated

 

US CA: Pot Growers Team Up To Go Legit In California County

 

US CA: Medical Cannabis Symposium

 

US CA: Column: Safe And Legal

 

US CA: Bill Would Limit Firings of Medical Pot Users

 

US CA: Editorial: Still Defying Voters

 

US CA: Dana Point Shuts Down Pot Shops

 

US CA: Benicia Planners Reject Staff Recommendation To Extend Pot Club Ban

 

US CA: County Imposes High Fee On Pot Dispensaries

 

More News Select a State See Map Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia FEDERAL Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Check State Laws

 

 

 

27 Jan 2011

Share This Article

California

-------

Despite the Horrific Casualties From the War on Drugs, Most Elected Leaders Are Fearful of Seeking Peace

 

The Afghanistan War sometimes seems interminable. It just became the longest hot war in U.S. history.

 

Meanwhile, our War on Drugs is quietly building its own longevity record. This war dates back to the Nixon administration and shows little sign of abating. The latest skirmish just concluded with California's failed pot referendum. Yet on that same Election Day, Arizona became the 15th state to approve medical marijuana-a testament to the public's indifference to the war's moralizers.

 

Elsewhere, this war isn't going well. Who knows how many luckless folks were murdered in Mexico, caught in the destructive drug-fueled gang violence?

 

Our marijuana use keeps climbing, despite the Drug War. The Golden State grows so much cannabis that even if California's voters had passed Proposition 19, local smugglers might have been largely unaffected. Nationally though, Big Liquor was truly worried. Not only would legal pot have cut into its business, but a recent study concluded that alcohol is even more socially destructive than heroin. Marijuana seems tame by comparison.

 

The prison industry was also anxious about the outcome of California's vote. Current drug laws keep those jails brimming with small-time users who pose no threat to anyone. This front of the war keeps plenty of cops, guards, prosecutors, defenders, wardens, and builders and suppliers of prisons out of the unemployment lines.

 

Not to be seen as impotent, Congress leaped into action doing what it does best. It created a blue-ribbon commission.

 

The commission would do well to consider the example of other countries. Portugal has decriminalized just about everything and has reaped the benefits of less crime, less law enforcement, and even less drug usage. Switzerland leads in treating heroin medically instead of criminally, with a similar happy outcome. Canada is following suit, over stern U.S. protests.

 

Meanwhile our aggressive cocaine eradication assault in Colombia has driven much of the production to Peru. A similar assault on key poppy provinces in Afghanistan has successfully driven heroin production elsewhere. Whoopie! Attacking sources of drug supplies works about as well now as similar approaches did during Prohibition.

 

Despite the Drug War's horrific casualties, most elected leaders are fearful of seeking peace. Some of their campaign donors would lose profits, and their opponents could stir up fear and hate. Sounds a lot like the War on Terror.

 

 

MAP posted-by: Richard Lake

 

 

 

 

Share This Article Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2011

Source: Chico News & Review, The (CA)

Copyright: 2011 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.

Contact: chicoletters@newsreview.com

Website: http://www.newsreview.com/chico/

Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/559

Author: William A. Collins

Note: The author is a former state representative and a former mayor

of Norwalk, Conn. This article was distributed by Other Words

(http://otherwords.org), a project of the Institute for Policy Studies.

[+wolfgang]

number one question for the the president was the legalization for marijuana,really despit our economic woes right now and the wars,this was the NUMBER ONE ? wow nd yet he side stepped it again,"its worthy of a debate he say's" in other words NO

http://hightimes.com/news/mike_hughes/6937