UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!! Want to make sure that your members of Congress get the message that the U.S. drug war fuels Mexican violence? Then check out my commentary today in The Hill — Congress’ insider newspaper and website. Read my commentary here, and please leave feedback on their board. Your members of Congress will see it, I promise.
It was less than one year ago when acting U.S. DEA administrator Michelle Leonhart publicly declared that the escalating violence on the U.S./Mexico border should be viewed as a sign of the “success” of America’s drug war strategies.
“Our view is that the violence we have been seeing is a signpost of the success our very courageous Mexican counterparts are having,” said Michele Leonhart, who was recently nominated by President Obama to be the agency’s full time director. “The cartels are acting out like caged animals, because they are caged animals.”
Well, if the DEA’s chief talking head thought that some 6,300 drug cartel-related murders in 2008 was an indication of progress, one can only imagine that she believes that this weekend’s south-of-the-border killing spree — which included the murder of a pregnant U.S. official and members of her family — must be downright victorious.
To rest of us, however, these acts are nothing short of a senseless tragedy — a tragedy made all that much more heart-wrenching because it is U.S. policy that is helping to fuel this violence.
As I wrote last year in the commentary, “How to End Mexico’s Deadly Drug War”:
Wire-service reports estimate that Mexico’s drug lords employ over 100,000 soldiers — approximately as many as the Mexican army — and that the cartels’ wealth, intimidation, and influence extend to the highest echelons of law enforcement and government. Where do the cartels get their unprecedented wealth and power? By trafficking in illicit drugs — primarily marijuana — over the border into the United States.
The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy … says that more than 60 percent of the profits reaped by Mexican drug lords are derived from the exportation and sale of cannabis to the American market. … (By comparison, only about 28 percent of their profits are derived from the distribution of cocaine, and less than 1 percent comes from trafficking methamphetamine.) … Government officials estimate that approximately half the marijuana consumed in the United States originates from outside its borders, and they have identified Mexico as far and away America’s largest pot provider.
If the Obama administration wishes to once and for all reduce this unprecedented wave of Mexican drug-gang violence, then it needs to remove the drug lord’s primary source of income — and that’s marijuana trafficking.
Despite 70+ years of criminal prohibition in the United States (and countless billions of dollars spent attempting to interdict marijuana at our southern border), America remains the primary destination for Mexican pot. Why? Because like it or not, Americans consume cannabis; in fact, Americans lead the world in their consumption of pot.
According to a 2007 economic assessment, U.S. citizens spend $113 billion dollars annually to consume an estimated 31.1 million pounds of pot. According to the federal government, over 100 million Americans have used marijuana; over one in ten Americans do so regularly. In short, criminal marijuana prohibition does not, and will not, reduce demand. So then it’s time to regulate the supply.
It is time to remove the production and distribution of marijuana out of the hands of violent criminal enterprises and into the hands of licensed businesses, and the only way to do that is through legalization.
Or, I suppose, we could just keep on doing what we’ve been doing.
On Monday I joined Judge Andrew Napolitano on FoxNews.com to discuss how marijuana legalization — not increasing levels of government prohibition — would quell the violence surrounding the trafficking of Mexican marijuana. You can watch the video here.
The Judge ‘gets it;’ let’s hope that the administration will one day ‘get it’ too.
I once seen a Bio On the Zetas on the History channel, not only are they highly trained ex military for mexico but it said they have so much money they will never run out ,an its funny cuz they (Zetas)are not giving up either. An it shows
This is where the Drug War has brought us: to the point where thousands upon thousands of violent deaths per year are seen as a “signpost of success”. Paul, you used the only applicable word early in your interview with Judge: “tragedy”.
(By the way, Fox should really give Judge Napolitano his own TV show. He does fantastic work.)
Michele Leonhart is another moron who was only appointed because she’s young and attractive. Beauty always beats brains when it comes to political office.
It’s amazing to me that even on Fox news, an organization known for having conservative views, has been running stories which promote the legalization of cannabis. It seems like legalization has gone from being a “liberal” stance to being a bi-partisan issue for many.
This is a good thing.
It’s unfortunate that our current President laughs at the idea of legalization, when he himself is an admitted former smoker. I hope that soon our representatives and senators will will get the bigger picture of the problems with prohibition.
Isn’t there a way to get all of us together and just say “Hey… here it is… you have this many Americans unpleased with you. You do something about it, or you’ll find a mutiny on your hands…” Heh… not sure if it’ll work, but it’s an idea… and it WOULD get our message across.
“Our view is that the violence we have been seeing is a signpost of the success our very courageous Mexican counterparts are having,” said Michele Leonhart, who was recently nominated by President Obama to be the agency’s full time director. “The cartels are acting out like caged animals, because they are caged animals.”
Well, if the DEA’s chief talking head thought that some 6,300 drug cartel-related murders in 2008 was an indication of progress, one can only imagine that she believes that this weekend’s south-of-the-border killing spree — which included the murder of a pregnant U.S. official and members of her family — must be downright victorious.
To rest of us, however, these acts are nothing short of a senseless tragedy — a tragedy made all that much more heart-wrenching because it is U.S. policy & stores like Wal – Mart that is helping to fuel this violence.
Thank you NORML for putting timestamps on these messages. Otherwise I would of never known.
Happy 4:20 to NORML and ALL of it’s supporters.
Napolitano was still against legalization to give the government better control over supplying the demand in it’s own country. News of the NY ad needs to go viral in the Internet and mainstream broadcast media. The escalation of violence just across the border in Mexico is the true measure of success of cannabis prohibition, not annual surveys and not drug tests at the time of arrest. People lie on surveys left and right because someone might be able to mark the papers or get fingerprints. They can use an iodine process to get the fingerprints off the paper to find out who filled out the survey. Handwriting can be identified, and cards are marked for the cheater to identify.
I’m telling you prohibitionists now to wake up and smell the coffee. Do you know where continued cannabis prohibition can lead? There is such a thing as peak oil, and by the same token there is such a thing as peak prohibition as measured by monetary cost and deaths.
U.S. citizens have become death statistics on the Mexican side. When the spillover onto the U.S. side gets worse, it will be just one more splash over. The latest splashes indicate how much more powerful the Mexican cartels have become recently. There will be enormous outrage when we pass the peak cannabis prohibition line, and the Feds have to negotiate with Mexican cartel bosses for the release of kidnap victims and to negotiate ceasefire. The border is that line of sand that just can’t get crossed.
The American people won’t put up with it.
Americans will be screaming bloody murder. Ness would never have negotiated with Capone! Feds don’t do that. Nobody wants a clone of the FARQ on our southern border.
Now I’m telling nicely to wake up and smell the coffee.
When it gets worse, I’ll be saying
Wake the fuck up! Full legalization
Wow..I’m just speechless. How can someone think that more violence equals success? What is she smoking?
what, prohibition makes little criminals into blood thirsty gang land killers,Damn straight,they kill for the money not the drug. Just like Capone..please let logic prevail and legalize
what is the possibility that Obama is pushing this to a 2nd term issue?
Its too risky for him to even whisper legalize it now.
Any update on that Ron Paul and Barny Frank 100g bill?
Here’s my response to a senseless email i received from Wal-Mart today and the letter i received from them today . Whose the real & only DRUG PUSHER here ?
Your prescription medications that YOU SELL , PUSH & AVOCATE often cause death , serious side effects and sometimes irreversible harm to the human body . You profit from these drugs . Marijuana causes neither death , side effects or irreversible harm to the human body . It’s time that Wal – Mart reverse its practices because it makes no sense . Wal – Mart is also encouraging deaths and destruction over the border with these senseless policies .
My name was attached here .
Realestate developer , State Licensed building Contractor , Mortgage Broker and Actor .
Here’s what they sent me ;
From: “Walmart Customer Service”
To:
Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 2:53 PM
Subject: Response from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Ref #000000024891846)
Thank you for your message.
Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for your recent inquiry. In states, such as Michigan, where prescriptions for marijuana can be obtained, an employer can still enforce a policy that requires termination of employment following a positive drug screen.
We believe our policy complies with the law and we support decisions based on the policy.
Sincerely,
Walmart Customer Care
The only policy that will truly put the “caged animal” back in its cage is full out legalization.
No matter what the government says or does I will never stop smoking. If it was a hanging offense I would still light up. What does that say? Were here and were here to stay. Nothing will change that simple fact ind it’s amazing that the government seems to not understand.
Mexico now is worse than Chicago in the 20’s. Corrupt government, gangsters and gang wars. Alcohol prohibition didn’t work then, and drug prohibition is not working now.
If Leonhart’s idea of success is more violence, it’s my guess that her idea of victory in the drug war is armageddon or everyone dead.
I still do a double take when I see the Judge on Fox endorse reform. I think the Judge sneaks Paul on when his bosses aren’t looking.
The burden of guilt for this violence needs to go where it belongs, on our goverment and it”s failed policy of the last 70 years. Just think of the life”s and money that could have been saved. Think of how many times drug law reforms have been called for.What a waste.
Paul I’m so surprised that you were given that much air time on a major network. Fox and the judge are doing a great service by letting you have the time to explain the correct way to deal with cannabis. The Judge makes a very valid point when he talks about a persons sovereignty over our own body. What gives the government the right to tell us what we can consume? Can they also tell us what we can consume when it comes to nutrition? Can they ban us from other self pleasures? Where does their boundary end and ours begin? Thanks for getting the word out. Great interview.
Its a shame when the U.S. cant even change its opinion on cannabis. even through deaths, riots, songs. How many more people need to die before the US changes its laws? too many have already suffered. but who’s next, me? my mom? my family? or even yours.
Our Government is worse than the kool aid cults of mass suicide…
Eating fast food McDonalds daily is worse than smoking pot daily…
the preservatives in our food are more damaging than the worst effects of cannabis… especially long term.
How about aspartame!? selectively put in all diet products that our women tend to drink more often than men… are they trying to disfigure babies and dumb the population!?
I hope in in the name of all humanity that we can all band together to fix problems rooted by the constitutional infringement of prohibitions and corporate politics.
They are and have been preparing for our uprise and unless we make some significant changes and connections, they will win and freedom will continue to be an illusion as it has been since the late 1920’s.
I want my constitutional rights back…
– The recent violence in Mexico is a sign of
drug-war ‘success’ in the same way that the
Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago was
an indication of how well keeping America ‘alcohol-free’ was working…
So bloody “victorious”..!!! 🙄
– Those who refuse to learn from past ‘victories’ are destined to repeat them… :p
Actually a pretty good piece for Fox News, but that’s probably because Napolitano is more Libertarian than conservative. Since I don’t believe much of anything from Fox News (or the mainstream media) I can’t help but think a lot of their publicity they are giving to the legalization movement is due to the fact that they see it as a winning issue this coming election. If Republicans start getting on board (because of defense of states rights) I’d even be willing to vote Republican for the first time in my life. Meanwhile the Democrats are really letting us down, mainly John Lynch of New Hampshire. Progressives need to vote these clowns out.
#9 “Napolitano was still against legalization to give the government better control over supplying the demand in it’s own country.”
Then #9 goes to write on that he wants “full legalization.” The reason why the Judge is against legalization TO GIVE the GOVERNMENT better CONTROL is because he is a strict Constitutionalist and does not think federal government has any right to either prohibit marijuana OR CONTROL IT. In other words, the Judge believes in FULL LEGALIZATION as you called for at the end of your post. It should be up to the individual states to tax and regulate it per the 10th amendment of our Constitution.
The Judge is another leading figure of the liberty movement (not to be confused with the neo-con hijacked tea-party faux movement) that is also lead by Ron Paul. It IS IN FACT a viable movement and many people involved are running for both state government and our Congress; many of which are polling for the win right now.
And yes, John Lynch from New Hampshire is the quintessential example of why we need to think outside of the 2-party box. Most democrats are the exact same as most republicans, war mongering status quo establishment politicians who are in bed with each other despite the D or R after their name.
“Our view is that the violence we have been seeing is a signpost of the success our very courageous Mexican counterparts are having,”
one can only imagine that she believes that this weekend’s south-of-the-border killing spree — which included the murder of a pregnant U.S. official and members of her family — must be downright victorious.
So what will she and the rest of the DEA recognize as full succes? Thousands and thousanbds of American deaths on this side of the border. These morons must think all of us have drank enough flouride to believe this shit. Our government officials are the ENABLERS of this violence by continuing to support the very law that makes these cartels rich and very powerful. The DEA makes themselves look worse and worse with every passing day, every passing breath, Americans are finnally seeing the truth of the situation.
What happened back in the days of Al Capone, when the violence was at its peak? Prohibition ENDED! Hello DEA …Keep talking , you helping our cause thank you.
Can anyone tell me Obama responded to the change.org question of legalization?
If they legalized it, how would the government support it’s policies of controlling minority groups, protect it’s prison industry, protect it’s Big Pharma lobbyists, protect it’s cancer industry, etc. Most importantly, how would our government be able to continue the final destruction of our civil liberties? Yep, the government is winning the drug war, it’s just not the battle you think it is. And no, Obama is not going to legalize it for his second term. On all of the important issues he is the same as Bush. The office of the president doesn’t matter in a corporate theocracy.
(Sign Of Success) Is she not payin attention? Someone help her pull her head outta her ass.The blind B**ch
anyone that thinks people in the government gives a rat’s ass about the sanctity of human life is smoking better stuff than me They know the truth but it’s against their plans Any thing made from oi coal gas can be made from hemp Cannibis proven to be safe and beneficial relieves suffering Hemp laws are the foundation of their control of the economy Treason against the republic That is what they are afraid you will reallise Let the war crimes trials begin :bongin:
I was playing poker in Atlantic City the other night and started a thought provoking converstaion about our pot laws and BIG PHARMA’s control of the drug industry and crooked cops. It was an eye opener for many at the table, and nothing new new to those of us already in the know. I recommend you all do the same. As my mother used to say: “You have a mouth. USE IT!!!”
“The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy … says that more than 60 percent of the profits reaped by Mexican drug lords are derived from the exportation and sale of cannabis to the American market. … (By comparison, only about 28 percent of their profits are derived from the distribution of cocaine, and less than 1 percent comes from trafficking methamphetamine.”
Some important observations are to be made here.
First, notice that the emphasis of the report is on “profits” and the profits on marijuana are very high. But this is only because marijuana requires very little processing to be moved into the the black market. Basically, you grow it, pick it dry it and move it.
But cocaine is a little trickier. You grow it and you pick it, but you still have to chemically process it into cocaine before you move it. This requires skilled labor, facilities and equipment and secure locations. The process is pretty much the same with heroine.
And of course meth is even more involved. You can’t grow it, so you have to have industrial sources for the raw ingredients. This is expensive and requires a lot of social resources that are also expensive. And once you get all that you are back to basic problem that you have with cocaine, requiring skilled labor, facilities and equipment and secure locations.
This all suggests a missing strategy in the Drug War which currently starts with prosecuting users. Instead of doing that, leave users completely alone and target instead the most vulnerable part of drug trafficking which is those parts requiring skilled labor, facilities and equipment and secure locations. Growing and picking any of the drug yielding plants like opium, coca and cannabis should also be completely ignored.
Of course we can conceivably allow the legal distribution of cannabis because this opens up the traditional distribution of the non-drug parts of the plant. But also, we could stand allowing the distribution of coca leaf and continue severely criminalizing the processing of coca into cocaine or any other extracts of the leaf that renders consumption more dangerous. Opium is a historical hazard, even when restricted to the simple resin collected from the seed pods. But still, personal collection from plants personally grown should be legal. Again, processing this resin into any crystaline extract should continue to be severely criminalized.
Basically, processing into crystaline form any drug and distributing it should be severely criminalized, with crippling fines, at least, and eventually jail time. This would have the best strategy is sucking the life out of organized crime where it prospers from drug trafficking. The plants that yield the drugs should be allowed to be grown freely as long as distribution is either regulated or criminalized as in the case of opium.
the violence issue is the quickest way to legalization anyone with half a brain can see the implications of prohibition and how it causes more violence and real crime (b/c drug use is not crime, its a personal choice)
I agree with Fragacide. The current situation will not change until politicians start losing their jobs because of their continued support of prohibition.
We need to start making an issue of candidates’ positions on prohibition, and encouraging voters to boot out those who will not listen.
Mr. Armentano,
Fantastic job on that Fox segment! You laid out our argument very effectively and in a way everyday people will be able to understand. Thank you for your hard work.
Obama in his 2nd-term is our best chance for any decrim or legalization from the federal side. No 1st-term Republican/independent is going to push for it, that is for sure. With the media branding Obama as a socialist he is doing what he can to stay centrist for the independent votes. Which means not touching the marijuana issue in his first term, and I have to agree health-care and finicial reforms are more important to the majority of American voters at the moment. That being said in his 2nd term after his re-election he will have no political capital to loose. Keep going at the State level in the meantime. At least, one state, Cali, Washington, Massachusetts, or Oregon will legalize it this year in my opinion. Obama is smart, he wants to get re-elected.
It looks like we might be on the same side as conservatives right now– but any sort of legitimacy they give our cause is all in the name of political posturing.
They will talk about the constitution, freedom, how prohibition is bad and doesn’t work etc– and the MINUTE they get power back they will turn the whole thing back into “well– we need to fight it for the kids… and Jesus… and anything with guns is good (police, soldiers etc)”
My point is: they’re saying the right things, but are completely insincere about doing anything about it.
I’ll even help….lmfao
to #10 daniel
itsnot what they’re smokin…..its what prescription they’re takin..heh .i bid you all peace from the ganga pipe….hit it for me.
saw Glenn Beck say legalize,shocked, but then agine fox has John Stossle
Legalization is right around the corner! A billboard in times square is a huge accomplishment!
I can’t but think that one day soon, the US prohibition response to all this violence in Mexico is to crack down on US cannabis consumers. Could they make it any scarier than the 1980 and 1990s? With technology and Patriot they sure can, especially at a time the government needs money!!!
I really feel that this ‘Drug War’ is now at a crucial juncture. It is at a point that it could go either way. That is why it is important, now more than ever, for cannabis consumers and patients become active in reform. I think we are seeing this with Internet popularity of legal marijuana. But we need more consumers to register as patients if they qualify or get involved with groups like NORML. It is important to stand up for the right to consume consume cannabis, otherwise the worst may not be over….
C’mon guys just think about this. If we legalize marijuana violence in mexico and near the border will go down. This would mean that we’re failing!
Folks I really am not trying to turn this into a political thread however since the whole problem of the prohibition of pot is a political wrangling it may be quite appropriate to steer it in that direction. First to Paul. I was very impressed with the clarity of your understanding of the problems and the proper manner with which to deal with it. The only issue I have with your analysis is the fact that for the most part you pretty much ignored the political issues at the root of the problem. But I can understand leaving those issues untouched as it would have created an extensive post. All I can say about that issue is follow the money. To ALEX: While you did address the political issue to a minor degree you show absolutely no understanding of the true issues. However that is not what bothers me most about your post. OBAMA IN HIS SECOND TERM statement bothers me a lot. Here we are talking about a man that is not qualified in any manner to be the president of our country. I believe that the possibility of him completing his first term as a near impossibility. The people are waking up to what his agenda truly is and legalization of pot is the last thing on his mind. He is here strictly to finish destroying our country and is so far doing a very fine job of it. At the rate he is defiling our constitution if it is allowed to go on unchecked for the full four years we won’t have to worry about him being elected for a second term because there will no longer be any elections. Wake the hell up stop worrying so much about the right to roll a joint and start worrying a little more about your right to live freely in any manner.
I cannot believe she thinks the war on drugs is actually working. This is a huge cash crop for mexico and they are killing each other to become the number one supplier. I can imagine Michele Leonhart is an educated woman but has the common sense of a turnip. The killing will never stop until it is legalized in the US. If you are american and go to mexico and end up in the wrong area you can guarantee that you will be killed because they would assume you are a DEA agent. I look like a cop but I am not so I am going no were near any place in Mexico. The american government REALLY needs to wake up and look at this issue the war on drugs has NEVER been successful and people who want to use cannabis are using it and this just fuels the violence in mexico. I don’t condemn the people who use it just our government for making them buy it from a market that is fueled by violence.
Congratulations!
Your article is now the #1 read, emailed, and commented upon on ‘The Hill”
Action required today!!!!
Is America ready to legalize marijuana?
In California, marijuana stores legally exist to sell different varieties of pot to customers that need the drug for medical purposes. One shop, for example, pays the state some $300,000 in taxes and the federal government $500,000 in taxes. One problem: DEA could shut them down and arrest the people working and selling in the store. State and Federal laws are contradictory.
Is America ready to legalize pot, regulate it, tax it, control it the same way that alcohol is controlled by the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms or by the FDA? Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron and David Evans of the Drug Free America Foundation debated the benefits of America of legalizing marijuana for recreational as well as medical use on msnbc Monday.
Msnbc’s David Shuster looks at whether or not America is ready… in a series of reports this week at 3 p.m. ET on msnbc.
http://msnbc.newsvine.com/_question/2010/03/15/4021020-is-america-ready-to-legalize-marijuana-
Cannabis legalization is going to happen on a state by state basis, just as Obama has said basically needs to happen. It is going to be up to us, the people, to make this occur. When the majority of States have legal marijuana in place (even just medical) then the Federal Govt. will basically have no choice but to follow or be left behind. God Bless America. Smoke pot!
To Vietvet– and what exactly is your definition of “live freely in any manner”?
How do you define freedom? Because the easiest way to know what freedom is is to know when you *aren’t* free. And that is something us pot smokers know all too well.
And as bad as anything Obama might do, Bush was a THOUSAND times worse.
Yes, Obama certainly is defiling the Constitution which is why everyone is calling for his impeachment…or not. What proof of this do you? I think you have none except that you are buying into the fear that the evil Commi-muslim is out to destroy God, grandma, and apple pie. Ask any European if they think Obama is remotely Socialist and they will laugh in your face because he is way more towards the center than people give him credit. We live in a two-party system and if you think either Republicans or Democrats care what you think or actually do what their voters are asking of them I feel you are mistaken. Rich CEO´s and elitist control both parties. The American people have lived in a puppet democracy for quite some time. Obama ain´t the problem. The fact that you think Obama is going to get rid of elections is evidence enough you have no idea what you are talking about and have replaced fear with rational thought. You must think the Patriot Act was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Vietvet said:”The people are waking up to what his [President Obama] agenda truly is and legalization of pot is the last thing on his mind. He is here strictly to finish destroying our country and is so far doing a very fine job of it. At the rate he is defiling our constitution if it is allowed to go on unchecked for the full four years we won’t have to worry about him being elected for a second term…”
I’m sorry friend but you got it all wrong. Obama has done more for cannabis reform than anybody since Carter. He is trying to save an economy that has been deteriorating/abused for decades. Only someone new to the issues would see President Obama as the problem. This economic mess back goes back to at least before Nixon. Now we got an excess of prisons and law enforcement. And you think that America’s first black president is going to get away with legalizing pot? Really people? If Obama just outright legalized it tomorrow, he would be crucified even more so than he is today by all the conservatives and the naive. And this would be disastrous for the country and surely destroy it!
To legalize weed all over America overnight would create a huge economic blip with a redistribution of funds away from law enforcement into a legal cannabis market place. There would be thousands of layoffs overnight as cops, for example, enter an already high unemployed job market. This transition would hurt the economy before it helps it. And this is the last thing Obama needs right now with the greatest recession going on. So Obama’s, at least, recognition of medical marijuana tolerance is a step in the right direction. Since the solution to legal marijuana is — One State at a Time.
And then kiss goodbye health care reform anytime soon. Those ‘out of touch’ politicians who
The drug warriors have just announced,through a foreign
news source,that “drugged” driving is a major problem on America’s highways. Now they need a really bad accident to blame marijuana for to help convince congress to buy the new technology that only checks for recent marijuana use,so they can spread them all over the US. I would not put it past them too stage an accident. It will have to involve a school bus full of kids or else it won’t be horrific enough for them to get the money to buy the new technology from a company where an ex-DEA administrator just happens to work. Buckle your seatbelts people,the ride is fixing to get bumpy.
The current drug war in Mexico will go down as one of the gravest failures in history. Tens of thousands have already died due to murders and massacres by drug gangs. Why do we continue to empower them?
What we have is a schizophrenic drug policy that is out of touch with reality. It makes no sense that our drug laws should be harsher or bring harsher results than the drugs themselves. America needs to butt out of Mexico’s business.
I’m with the Judge on this one, I don’t want the government taxing and regulating weed. I just want it legalized period. It’s none of the governments business what we do in the privacy of our own homes involving our only our body. I’d accept taxing and regulating since that appears to be the only chance of legalizing, but my ‘morality’ should not be something the majority gets to decide, as long as it’s not affecting anyone else.
My Friend’s, we’re all so at odd’s, Aren’t we? the retrospect of so many people live’s lost in a war not ever to be won. As 5000 on going year’s perplex the mind, so also does the billion’s of mind’s understanding, the surface of our ground, that we all walk, laugh and play, upon. And could not a real positive list grow real strong, when all the little human’s pull their resoarce’s togethor, so as in responce to the game, a lott’s of little humman’s can unite this common purpose and create a giant.I so understand the difference’s amoung us, though when you really see, that in reality, the ground is where we all find ourselve’s, when you just look out into the sky, and really become something interlinked with all the face’seen in the world here with “yes”, YOU.
I really think that I like to submit portion’s of my mind with people working “Evolution” into, our rather everyday “MUNDANE” program, of mis-management, we’re all currently living under. Sometime’s it really make’s me wonder, all the beautiful thing’s, event’s,and such… that we’ve all been missing out on, “DUE TO THIS WAR ON DRUGS”. It seem’s to me that, what our current leader’s believe to be progress on, really is Quite the opposite ,when you consider the impact it is having on the American FAMILY UNIT”S, and You might call thier model of thiking: “THE CREATOR”S OF TOUGH LOVE IDOLOGIES” Well the problem is that our Our government, and their so called seperated attitude’s, in regards with the belief’s in divided politic’s, that really have no Idea of what’s up on the street’s. For people in Washington, it’s all about lookin good,because you don’t want to lose your invite to all them really Killer parties(if ya know what I mean). Beside’s they got the good bud’s, while the rest of us is under their NEGATIVE SPELL OF POWER. SYSTEMIZE OURSELVE”S IS THE SOLUTION WHEN WE come togethor, even the one’s who smoke in the closet, WE can do ANYTHING, even have some killer PARTIES–420 = the time has come to connect = benefit as we all rize, LIKE A MORNING STAR, covering the steet’s of AMERICA………..
So who are we to make a law against or for a plant that god has made so abundant? Just because some believe that they killed god when they killed Jesus does not mean that they can kill what god has made.
The violence from the cartels is solely the responsibility of the DEA, just as the violence anyone commits is solely their own responsibility. The Mexican government prevented violence trying to legalize small amounts and was stopped by US thuggery, same as they threatened Canada. Same as they maintain this dysfunction everywhere. For profits. Saying the Mexicans are more violent shooting innocents that the DEA wrestling Polio patients to the floor to pillage their medicine is far more barbaric. Mexicans aren’t attacking, they’re defending. Mexicans don’t come here and befriend us just to take us down and cage us. That’s the DEA. Like when Carter and Rayguns sprayed Paraquat, as they now do to Colombians with Agent Green. A milder version of Agent Orange. It’s sick to deny the US record of violence around the planet and lay blame on Mexican growers. Or is that brainwashing so good you think everyone should just obey the US Industrialists legislation behind the scenes pulling strings? Remove the lies the violence stops.
The Mexican growers are defending their existence from a group that lies to remain in power and make huge profits keeping individual citizens from using a safer alternative. This DEA war is based on Nixon’s lies, with no physical evidence to make it a schedule#1 drug, let alone keep it there with the research and anecdotal evidence obtainable. Now 40 years later the Cartels are interwoven into the infrastructure. The Violence is caused by the war, not the soldiers. They only follow orders. If the US didn’t interfere with the Mexicans they would have a farm crop to sell, not contraband to smuggle. It’s not the Mexican Cartels selling Ganja, it’s the people buying it because that is what they choose. Public servants as opposed to pigs eating taxes to keep competition off the market.
You know what they say about appeasers! Cartels are buzzwords for people the government deems unworthy. They have provided 100 times more for the poor than the government. Hospitals to housing. If the US let Mexicans grow hemp they wouldn’t have to migrate for scab wages. Americans should stop excusing the Fascism by blaming those defending themselves. The violence can’t be stopped with more violence or with denial. Removing Nixon’s lie is the only viable solution. Stop the Gossip!
“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile
– hoping it will eat him last”
~ Churchill
Are US Pot Laws the Root Cause of Mexican Drug Violence? thread
“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana
is its effect on the degenerate races.”
– Harry J. Anslinger – America’s 1st Drug Czar (FDR – JFK)
Nixon lied to Outlaw Ganja
“Not only are we here to protect the public from vicious criminals in the street but also to protect the public from harmful ideas.”
~ Robert Ingersoll, then Director of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, in a column by Jack Anderson in the Washington Post, June 24, 1972, p. 31 (Ingersoll became the first director of the DEA in 1974)
Charles Bowden: Lessons of the Dead in Mexico
Charles Bowden on “The War Next Door
excerpts, link has full transcript Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Charles Bowden, reporter who has extensively covered the drug violence in Mexico. He is author of the forthcoming book, Murder City: Ciudad Juárez and the Global Economy’s New Killing Fields. His latest article for High Country News is called The War Next Door.
What happened is what happens every weekend: death. What is different, or was the reason you’re calling me, is because US citizens were killed, who worked for the consulate.
What we’re doing is what the—you know, we have three policies that affect Mexico. One, we have the free trade agreement, which has bankrupted small farmers in the country and destroyed small industry in the country. Two, we have an immigration policy which means a Mexican would have to live 150 years to get a visa to move to the United States, which has unleashed the largest human migration on earth. And three, we have our war on drugs, which over the course of forty years has made drugs in our country of higher quality more available and enriched a bunch of criminals in Mexico and the United States. That’s our policy.
We’re spending $30 to $40 billion a year on narcotics officers in this country. Every state in the union, if you get out of the house and drive, is now studded with little prisons, some private. They’re all dependent on the—on laws outlawing drugs. The income from drugs in Mexico exceeds all other sources of foreign currency, except possibly oil, and that’s debatable. In other words, if President Calderon succeeded in his claimed goal of eradicating the drug industry in Mexico, Mexico would collapse in a minute. continued
If it ever becomes legal, it will be because the powers know the people are very angry.
Sedation is the cure for sedition.
Not sure what will end this travesty directed towards American’s who only want a safer alternative to alcohol.
Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. also believes that the violence in Mexico is a positive sign that the war on drugs is being won.
How these idiots that support prohibition can sleep at night is beyond me anymore and the only comfort I get anymore is that I truly believe they will pay a price for their misguided and stupid stance.
Jeedi: I’d love to see thousands of cops who have abused human rights lose their jobs overnight.
It would also be lovely to see Obama get his head out of his arm pit, he must love the stink that’s coming from it.
One state at a time, right, as the DEA, judges, and police continue to arrest, prosecute, KILL and put good people in prison. Brilliant!
How can one say that more violence equals success? The only success will be when Cannabis is RE-legalized and we end this war on American citizens. Stop the racist drug war!
Here is what I posted on the message board
Get real Congress and do your jobs. You are supposed to listen to us. Not force your moral values upon society. Do what we tell you or we will fire every last one of you. We are tired of living with this wasteful, dangerous policy that does nothing but waste billions every year, kill innocent people, and jail hundreds of thousands more. Do something about this NOW or we will take the matter into our own hands since special interest groups seem to be able to buy your corruption very easily.
Sincerely, just one of your 300 million bosses demanding action
Great interview!
Here is what I would have LIKED to post on the message board… seems they have the power to NOT LISTEN to what makes sense down to a science – effectively ignoring an important injustice.
I like to pick my battles – and thanks to the internet – this is easy; due to the massive amounts of credible information available. The more that I read the more I feel that a big mistake was made a looong time ago. And it’s sad how even though these folks are dead – that initiated what we were brain washed into believing about a plant that would provide for a wide array of GREEN products. Products like bio-degradable plastics that are 10x as strong as steel.
Somebody is going to end this… and when it does, any representatives involved in making it happen are going to be heros to the planet. But, at the same time – it’s takes a fair bit of character to step up and admit that for 70 years… we’ve been wrong.
I don’t know if I will see it in my life time but I’m willing to place a large sum of money on the fact that history will show that as a society we kinda missed an opportunity and instead destroyed a portion of our society, by labeling them as lepers and incarcerating them while letting murders and rapists run free. Yeah… I guess that is quite a bit to “Man-up” to.
Every chemical that MAN makes as medicine carries with it the promise of damage to the body and could be FATAL are sold OTC. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about how kids are huffing paint and aerosols to get high… and we are worried about WEED? Do you realize (are you enlightened? – you are about to be), that I personally, at 205 lbs would have to eat over 68 lbs of canabis… yes… I said EAT! …this is the lethal amount – seriously.
As an Marine – I have seen my fair share of violence, and honestly… I am disgusted by it. And so I can’t for the life of me figure out why anybody would make such a fuss over a stupid plant. And in the process – endanger innocent peoples lives via the resulting violence. It’s disgusting is what it is… and it will end.
I guess I’ll close by saying… I wonder who the hero will be?
Semper Fi!!
The equation of a border is a frontline, Frontline’s equate into battlefields, battlefields equate into explosion’s and the ripping of flesh, our mortal existesce here on earth. Ripped apart into a billion direction’s of misunderstandings, and then you understand Hellraiser, a thousand wires connected to his body, pulling him in a thousand different direction’s. Boarders, well Amigo’s, they exist within all of our minds, inside of our hearts, though we escape this tradgedy in the “WE” concept of Us all.
Stand up, Get up. YOU”VE got to FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT. Bobby Marley…Sometime’es, times get lost within our live’s, times when perspective gets lost, even so tangled up that we cannot even feel comfort with even our own family tree. I think that we are living in these times, where some feel like every thing is fine, and then you have those who feel things are not fine. Personally, I’ll stand in the middle, with my fiddle, with my Knife so that I can widdle down to earth, the billion fable’s corraled in the stable’s. We as people do what we as people believe that we should do. Some do it better than other’s, but right now people are dying, Mother’s are holding their offspring while their babies blood flow’s to a place that most of our leader’s today, know nothing about, The street.
When evaluating this line between Mexico, and the United states, Ask yourself, is this effecting my life, even though I am not there? Now envision yourself their and on the wrong side of the line. That would be difficult in my personal opinion, and my reasoning is that, a serious miscommunication in the understanding of one another is very real, and I’m hearing alot of people saying, that they are living in reality, without first understanding who we really are, what we really stand for, and how we go about our daily live’s in order to define the many different realities that exist within each one of our head’s. Life demands of us, to be more than just pothead’s, life demands that, one by one, we find the common ground and network it, to establish peace of mind or just continue watching your mother, your Father , a Friend, a Poet, an Artist, a child , die.
Perhaps a war on the boarder does not personally disrupt your life, or your lifestyle, But when you consider that you are but a reflection of me, Like I am a reflection of you; the bigger picture plays like a movie inside of your mind. War moves just like a rushing fludd, and in this war on drug’s- bullet’s and bomb’s don’t discriminate, but just kill what make’s Humanity. Each other,and the one’s you love.
Is this your war? I say that it is, It’s all of Ours, and the live’s lost is all of our responcibility, and that is a decrepid thought…..Don’t you think?
Question: Since the drug war is known that it will NEVER be won, then what is Gil K, the drug czar’s job?
Can you die from marijuana? Not unless you live in Mexico.
/am i doin it right?
No, Obama will not legalize marijuana, it wouldn’t look good on him to be the first african american president to legalize it. He was soft on the issue of medical marijuana while campaigning for president to get the votes, the same with gay marriage prop 8. Once elected for president he turned his back on the gay community and the marijuana community. Marijuana smokers and the gay community put together is a large sum of votes. Wake up america. We dont have Obama full support./// Another thing just wait for the NEW REEFER MADNESS APPROACH wich is gonna make the California November 2nd legalization election a failure. Wake Up America,( California dont put your hopes up)
Viet, you say Obama isn’t qualified to be president. What exactly do you mean by that? He’s the first intelligent prexy we’ve had since. . . Clinton! Bush was a frat-boy–and a not very intelligent one at that–whose daddy greased the skids for him.
You’ve also used the classic rhetoric: Obama’s “agenda.” What would you say his “agenda” is? Is he going to turn us all into raving socialists?!? First of all, if you think he’s a socialist, you have no clue what a socialist is. Second, Bush’s daddy was a former CIA Director, for God’s sake! Were you worried about Bush’s “agenda”?
I’ve also got news for you. To this day there’s only ONE country in the WORLD that allows open MJ smoking–Holland. And Holland is about as SOCIALIST as a country can get. I’ve visited Amsterdam twice–that socialist den of inquity, ha! That was the first time I truly learned what freedom–FREEDOM, Viet–feels like–and I experienced it in a SOCIALIST country!
pot is not responsible. Our government’s lack of support of our laws is responsible for the problems our citizens and state governments are having.
I was gonna vote for someone who was running on a legalization platform, but then I got stoned forgot about the election.
It looks like we have to wait for a while I guess. Hope it won’t be more than a few days though.