Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
In a presidential election year, Americans rightly expect to hear debates on every relevant topic. However, one topic seems to be missing from the debate this year, even when it seems compellingly relevant: the Drug War.
When we talk about Mexican and Central American immigration, we ignore the fact that many of them are unaccompanied children, refugees fleeing Drug War violence, while drug warriors claim to be concerned about "the children." And when the violence follows the refugees, we blame them, not the Drug War.
When we talk about the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, we ignore the fact that the opium poppy crop is a major source of its funding, and western suppression of these crops is a major source of conflict with the poorest people in a very poor country. In fact, even in Afghanistan, the Drug War clearly takes priority over the war on terror.
Italy is considering the legalization of marijuana, because the black market is a major source of funding for the Mafia and terrorists, which has been obvious for years. And not just in Italy.
In France, despite their tragic inability to stop terrorists, the French socialist government continues to waste police resources on suppressing cannabis. Ironically, very prohibitionist France still has one of the highest rates of cannabis use in Europe.
Similarly, when Americans talk about needing more security, we don't talk about the enormous waste of police resources spent on hundreds of thousands of arrests every year for small amounts of marijuana.
Civil rights advocates frequently cite statistics that show blacks are far more likely to be arrested and are more severely punished for drug crimes than whites, even though use rates are similar. But that has been blatantly obvious for decades. Would it be less unjust if we arrested more whites and punished them more severely?
Black Lives Matter protests that police violence against blacks is a systemic problem, but marijuana prohibition is the major source of interaction between the police and young black men. And yet even they don't mention the Drug War.
And "public health" is naturally a major issue in the election, except for the Drug War. Absurdly, drug overdose deaths now exceed both those killed in traffic accidents and gun violence. In 2014, approximately 13,000 Americans were killed by guns, and approximately 32,675 were killed in traffic accidents, but there were 47,055 drug overdose deaths. (Also 2,200 fatal alcohol overdoses, but zero marijuana overdose deaths.)
We know how difficult it is to reduce gun and traffic deaths, but in October of 2014, an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported, "States with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8 percent lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate [than] states without medical cannabis laws. Examination of the association between medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality in each year after implementation of the law showed that such laws were associated with a lower rate of overdose mortality that generally strengthened over time."
If medical marijuana had been available nationwide, that might have saved 100,000 lives. But don't mention the Drug War.
And that is just the beginning of the cost of suppressing research on the medical use of cannabis. For decades the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the DEA have made it almost impossible to do any research on any possible benefits from cannabis. But of course they would always say that we needed "more research" before we could stop arresting sick people.
Even now the Obama Administration is delaying a decision on Rescheduling marijuana. Officially, it still has "no medical value." But don't mention the Drug War!
The urgency of these widely varied problems with the Drug War seems obvious, but we must start with the most urgent question: Why can't we even mention the Drug War?
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Ills Of The War On Drugs Are 2016's Unmentioned Issue
Author: Richard Cowan
Contact: 818-713-3000
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: Los Angeles Daily News
When we talk about Mexican and Central American immigration, we ignore the fact that many of them are unaccompanied children, refugees fleeing Drug War violence, while drug warriors claim to be concerned about "the children." And when the violence follows the refugees, we blame them, not the Drug War.
When we talk about the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, we ignore the fact that the opium poppy crop is a major source of its funding, and western suppression of these crops is a major source of conflict with the poorest people in a very poor country. In fact, even in Afghanistan, the Drug War clearly takes priority over the war on terror.
Italy is considering the legalization of marijuana, because the black market is a major source of funding for the Mafia and terrorists, which has been obvious for years. And not just in Italy.
In France, despite their tragic inability to stop terrorists, the French socialist government continues to waste police resources on suppressing cannabis. Ironically, very prohibitionist France still has one of the highest rates of cannabis use in Europe.
Similarly, when Americans talk about needing more security, we don't talk about the enormous waste of police resources spent on hundreds of thousands of arrests every year for small amounts of marijuana.
Civil rights advocates frequently cite statistics that show blacks are far more likely to be arrested and are more severely punished for drug crimes than whites, even though use rates are similar. But that has been blatantly obvious for decades. Would it be less unjust if we arrested more whites and punished them more severely?
Black Lives Matter protests that police violence against blacks is a systemic problem, but marijuana prohibition is the major source of interaction between the police and young black men. And yet even they don't mention the Drug War.
And "public health" is naturally a major issue in the election, except for the Drug War. Absurdly, drug overdose deaths now exceed both those killed in traffic accidents and gun violence. In 2014, approximately 13,000 Americans were killed by guns, and approximately 32,675 were killed in traffic accidents, but there were 47,055 drug overdose deaths. (Also 2,200 fatal alcohol overdoses, but zero marijuana overdose deaths.)
We know how difficult it is to reduce gun and traffic deaths, but in October of 2014, an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported, "States with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8 percent lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate [than] states without medical cannabis laws. Examination of the association between medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality in each year after implementation of the law showed that such laws were associated with a lower rate of overdose mortality that generally strengthened over time."
If medical marijuana had been available nationwide, that might have saved 100,000 lives. But don't mention the Drug War.
And that is just the beginning of the cost of suppressing research on the medical use of cannabis. For decades the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the DEA have made it almost impossible to do any research on any possible benefits from cannabis. But of course they would always say that we needed "more research" before we could stop arresting sick people.
Even now the Obama Administration is delaying a decision on Rescheduling marijuana. Officially, it still has "no medical value." But don't mention the Drug War!
The urgency of these widely varied problems with the Drug War seems obvious, but we must start with the most urgent question: Why can't we even mention the Drug War?
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Ills Of The War On Drugs Are 2016's Unmentioned Issue
Author: Richard Cowan
Contact: 818-713-3000
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: Los Angeles Daily News
