cannabisnews.com: Colombia Rethinks Legalized Drugs Colombia Rethinks Legalized Drugs Posted by CN Staff on April 05, 2004 at 10:49:28 PT By CBS & AP Source: CBS News Outside a Bogota dance club called Pipeline, a bouncer frisks a young businessman, comes up with a small bag of cocaine, and casually returns it to the owner. He pockets it with a grin and swaggers into the maze of flashing lights and techno beats. But this laid-back approach may not last much longer. A decade after Colombia legalized possession of 20 grams of marijuana and one gram of cocaine and heroine for private consumption, President Alvaro Uribe wants to restore total prohibition. The reason: The world's largest cocaine producer has become a consumer nation with an addiction problem, according to experts, the government and drug users themselves. The 1994 Constitutional Court ruling for legalization was aimed at forcing the government to find more effective methods than law-enforcement for combating drug abuse, such as education programs, says Sen. Carlos Gaviria, the former justice who wrote the decision. But he complains that successive governments never invested enough time and money in the battle. Meanwhile, drug use has increased by 40 percent in the last 10 years, says Dr. Camilo Uribe, a toxicologist and the president's adviser on drug matters. No comprehensive study of domestic consumption has been carried out since 1996, but a 2001 survey by the government's National Narcotics Office found that nine of every 100 Colombian city-dwellers aged 12 to 25 regularly use drugs. Dr. Uribe (no relation to the president) blames legalization for part of the increase, saying it made drugs more acceptable in a society that traditionally frowned upon them as a source of corruption and violence. "The court decision sent the completely wrong message — that it's OK to do drugs," he says. The push for criminalization marks a change from a few years ago, when liberal Colombian legislators were making the headlines by pushing to relax the laws even further. They sought to decriminalize drug trading, claiming the U.S.-driven war on growers and producers was getting nowhere. But that initiative withered for lack of public support, and Uribe's election in 2002 buried it. Uribe's presidency has been characterized by sternness against all enemies — Colombian rebels, corruption in politics, and drug use. But his attempt to criminalize drug use by referendum last year was killed by the Constitutional Court before the vote could take place. The court said prohibiting drug use would violate the constitutional right to free choice. So Uribe is seeking a constitutional amendment, but it's unclear whether he can get Congress to approve the change. Among the smartly dressed crowd at the Pipeline club, the cocaine sniffers say recriminalization would probably push up prices from their current rock-bottom level of $3-$4 a gram, compared with $75-$100 in the United States. "Right now it's cheaper than buying a beer," a 33-year-old bank executive, who gives his name only as Guillermo, says after snorting a line of cocaine in the restroom. Guillermo says outlawing drug use probably wouldn't change his habits much, except to make him more discreet. He agrees that legalization increased drug use, but also blames the explosion of bars featuring techno and trance music, which often prove more popular than traditional salsa fiestas. Jennifer Cubides, chief psychologist at a juvenile detention center where many drug peddlers are incarcerated, is desperate to see tougher laws. Her office at the Hogares Claret prison overlooks one of Bogota's most notorious streets, nicknamed "El Bronx," where dealers, pimps and prostitutes lurk in doorways and addicts loll lifelessly atop piles of broken cardboard boxes. To Cubides' despair, the police can't or won't do much about it. The sale of drugs remains illegal, but suspected dealers can only be arrested if caught with more than the legal limit. "They know exactly what their rights are," Cubides says. "The 1994 law was the worst thing that could have happened." Cubides says she is convinced tough penalties will cut addiction. Alejandro, a 16-year-old serving time at the prison for robbing two tobacco stores, says he believes legalization made it easier for him to deal drugs. "The threat of imprisonment would turn people away," he says. "With more restrictions, it would obviously become more difficult for us." According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, some 90 percent of cocaine that gets to the United States starts in Colombia or passes through it, making it a major battleground in the war on drugs. Under "Plan Colombia," the U.S. has given military assistance to Colombia's efforts to eradicate coca crops and defeat the right-wing paramilitaries and left-wing guerrillas who allegedly profit from drug sales. But internal policies are also a U.S. concern. In May 2001, the State Department said its Andean region policy included "supporting international anti-legalization efforts of non-government organizations" in the region.Source: CBS NewsPublished: April 5, 2004Copyright: MMIV CBS Broadcasting Inc.Related Article & Web Site:Colombia Drug War Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/colombia.htmColombia Faces Strong Push To Legalise Drugshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10806.shtmlCannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #44 posted by kaptinemo on April 06, 2004 at 10:55:36 PT: Petard, thanks for the info I hadn't known they'd gone down...but I am not surprised; a good frind of mine in Florida, an arbitration lawyer, had told me about the shenanigans of the RTC as far back as 1993. But RTC is't the only wastrel guilty of destroying lives.I recommend highly a truly astonishing website:Missing Money Articles & Documents http://www.solari.com/learn/missingmoney.htmTRILLIONS are missing from the government's own coffers...*trillions* of OUR MONEY. yet the Gub'mint sez it has no money and wants more of ours - again.Economics stops being boring when it affects whether you're gonna eat tomorrow. [ Post Comment ] Comment #43 posted by Petard on April 06, 2004 at 09:08:54 PT Kapt, another Alphabet gone The RTC (Resolution Trust Corporation) was another Govt. Alphabet Soup group that came and went. Once they generated all the dead trees (paperwork) and increased the cost to the taxpayers from the S&L failures of the 1980's and sold off the financial asset's for mere pennies on the $, the agency was dissolved. All they did was give the govt. control over the situation, they did NOT do anything constructive. Sound familiar? The RTC would enter a S&L, throw out everyone after a thorough interrogation and physical search, auction off the assets, and take years to inform debtors (car/homes/personal/business loans) where to send the loan payments, so that in fact debtors were in default by design and therefore the loans could be immediately called in full/foreclosed. There's still literally millions of people searching for mortgage filings, release of judgements, car titles, etc., as the millions of loan files from all over the country were shipped to various and sundry storage sites long forgotten and poorly documented/organized. [ Post Comment ] Comment #42 posted by kaptinemo on April 06, 2004 at 08:43:19 PT: Thanks, but sorry, Ron, it was much earlier In fact, it was immediately after 9/11...but as you can see, many of those in DEA already know the truth, and make no attempt to disguise it. It's been self-evident for 30 years.The ONLY government agency that I have ever heard of that actually closed it's doors once the need was completed was the long gone Bicentennial Commission whose job it was to coordinate the celebration of the nation's 200th Birthday. Everything else that existed before and after then has just played chameleon, changed its name, varied it's employees, and kept on growing and sucking the taxpayer's lifeblood. Just as DEA does. Just as it's always done. As Ron's posting clearly indicates, they have already intimated that they know it, too.If anything, that DEAWatch post - and the many others like it - demonstrates the inherent intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the entire 9 decade long effort. It's never been anything but makework for the marginally employable. (I'd like to see THEM bust their *sses in that electronic part factory that I had to work in after their kind ruined me; they *wouldn't last a day doing really hard work*.) Pity that DEAWatch posting will never be entered into Congressional records as evidence...OF CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD THE TAXPAYERS OF THIS COUNTRY! [ Post Comment ] Comment #41 posted by ron on April 06, 2004 at 08:32:57 PT Thanks goneposthole Now if I can just remember ....... [ Post Comment ] Comment #40 posted by goneposthole on April 06, 2004 at 08:01:49 PT colors 00 through 08 for this hue for this color for this color for this color for this color for this color for this color for this color for this colorbest way that I can explain it is to illustrate it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #39 posted by goneposthole on April 06, 2004 at 07:48:41 PT afflict the drunken comforted It's a cat and mouse game for them over there.Mixin' up Tom and Jerrys and drinking them all day long on the job.Just who in the world do they think they are? George Bush?If you like to drink booze and be able to drink it on the job all day long, the DEA needs a few good drunks.Don't tell the DEA that cocaine is cheaper than beer in Colombia, they might set up shop there, too.The world needs more drunks and fewer Colombian cocaine users. The DEA apparently sees and drinks to that.A sexed-up comedy of errors.disclaimer:Just the mindless drivel from a wretched member of the hoi polloi. Hey, at least I'm sober. [ Post Comment ] Comment #38 posted by ron on April 06, 2004 at 07:27:54 PT Some tech advice please FoM, how do you activate the colours and other text effects?I remember something about numbers controlling the shades.Are there any other text effects we can use? [ Post Comment ] Comment #37 posted by ron on April 06, 2004 at 07:11:04 PT Is this the DEA comment kaptinemo? (#16) I've read similar cynicisms on their site a few times.January 19, 2004The 15.54 writer makes some excellent points... possibly warranting a medal of some kind for brilliance. But in all reality we know that none of what the writer recommended will ever happen. And it won't happen because we (meaning we in DEA) are not in business to end the drug war. We are in business to perpetuate the drug war. If we end the drug war we will all be out of a job. So why would anyone in DEA want to be out of a job??? Get real! Let's just keep on doing what our predecessors did when DEA was created 30 years ago. Let's just pace ourselves so that we can also put our kids through college and keep food on our table.Let the next generation, 30 years from now, make plans to permanently win the drug war. By that time we'll all be retired. Our kids will be on their own. We won't give a damn about the drug war because we got the job security we wanted out of it.Illegal drug keeps us employed. We shouldn't bite the hand that feeds us. We should continue to go slow. Take our time. And we should continue to allow a few dealers to escape so that we have someone to play with tomorrow. [ Post Comment ] Comment #36 posted by Sam Adams on April 06, 2004 at 06:59:55 PT Kappy's scenario.... is NOT far-fetched. Think of the environmental disasters right around the corner. Most of the 1st World countries are starting to put the brakes on greenhouse gas emissions, or at least starting to slow down. The Bush cabal has jammed the accelerator to the floor. It could take 50 years to really kick in, or much less.There's a North Atlantic ocean current that could be disrupted soon - it won't be a gradual change, it will be like flipping a switch. If it happens, much of Western Europe will have the climate of northern Scandinavia - i.e., England, France, Spain, Germany, etc. It will also be much drier there. In the US, the Northeast will become much drier & much colder in the winter. Many scientists think this could happen any day now!As the greenhouse effect progesses, many now-fertile farming areas will see their rainfall cut in half, possibly including the Midwest US. What if the sea levels rise 20 feet? Right when the Baby Boomers hit retirement in 10 years. We'll have a bankrupt government and a worthless currency, and our major cities will start flooding. Won't take long for the tables to be turned. [ Post Comment ] Comment #35 posted by darwin on April 06, 2004 at 06:41:58 PT Speaking of the DEAWatch... They did a survey on Bush's cocaine use and also on whether DEA agents should be supported even if they commit an alcohol related offense (Bush's DUI). 84.3 said yes. A poster than responded:The recent survey reveals just how many alcohol addicts we have in DEA, and just how self-righteous we are. Shaun Curl died in vain."It didn't take the 3rd and 4th questions in recent survey to tell us what we all already knew... we are an agency of addicts banded together to make war on addicts. It's the alcoholics against the dopers and we're okay because alcohol is legal. The dopers are not okay because the chemicals they ingest are illegal. We have to support our president. After all, he's one of us... I'll drink to that!"Telling, isn't it? Given our times, it makes me think of Platoon, where there are the drinkers and the dopers. Kerry was a Doper, yet I still don't think he is trustworthy. He just seems like a whore to me. Both politically and in his habit of marrying wealth.Regarding impeachment. The analogy is different than Clinton, but very much like Nixon. Nixon was in trouble, won, and was then impeached. Bush is in the same position. Unfortunately, the rupugs own both houses, so unless the demoncrats can win back a majority in one house, then impeachment is not feasible. [ Post Comment ] Comment #34 posted by Virgil on April 06, 2004 at 05:23:52 PT It is no personal dislike for Kerry involved Kerry is just an ant sent in by the plutocracy for a mindless continuation of media control and democracy erosion. Kerry is for lowering corporate taxes and the majority of corporations pay no income taxes now. The situation is bigger than one man. All I am saying is that we have a majority of the blissfully ignorant and those that know better do not need to be blissfully delusional. We have the illusion of an election and an illusion of American wonderfulness. We are the bad asses on the planet and it is time to say so. Last week was the 40th anniversary of the US placing a puppet in Brazis that lead to decades of corruption and death and it was the first time I ever read or heard of it. But what will change America is Europe. People will soon ask of government what they get for all these taxes besides illegal American wars and covert terrorism and operations. Why does the European have it better than us when we pay more?There is nothing great about the Democratic Party either. They chose Kerry and there is your proof pudding. [ Post Comment ] Comment #33 posted by kaptinemo on April 06, 2004 at 04:34:21 PT: Sorry, again, for the misspellings But I'm sure you all get the picture. This planet is in for a rough ride. And the people who've been driving the wagon think they are about to leap to safety before they send it over the cliff...with us on board. Hence the militarizing of police under the excuse of the DrugWar. Some means of keeping the masses in line must be ready to come crushing down once the *hoi polloi* (you and me, folks; you and me) learn of what's happening, as those in power know the truth that "No place is three missed meals away from a revlution."We've felt the iron fist under the velvet glove, courtesy of the DrugWar; we know what the snarling reality is behind the smiley mask. Very soon, (I pray not!) the rest of the country will get a taste, too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #32 posted by kaptinemo on April 06, 2004 at 03:36:21 PT: We're living Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs In reverse.Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.htmlThe idea is simple, a kind of evolution of the individual, and how that evolution is shaped by needs. When the basic needs are met, the individual yearns to develop further, to test boundaries, learn and grow. Multiply that by millions, by Billions, for this is supposed to happen in everyone. But as always, there's a price atg attached; like its' ethics, a society has the level of enlightenment it can *afford*.But take a look around; basic needs are not assured now, but threatened. People aren't looking up to that pinnacle of 'self actualization' as Maslow put it; their eyes are on the ground, furtively hoping that their job won't be the next one shipped off to China or India. Rather than allowing society to evolve, it is instead being pushed back down to those lower steps on the pyramid by those further up.It is not blind, un-nameable forces doing this to society, but those who have their hands on the control levers and buttons, those who have the concentration of wealth and, consequently, the power, to make that happen. Further more, they are aware of what they are doing to the society they are the *de facto* unelected (and unaccountable) rulers of. They have the benefit of an education that few get, an educataion that few of us would ever receive. Namely, access to the truth behind many historical events, if only because they created those events.A main problem of getting old is remembering. Not forgetting, mind you, but remembering. Remembering all the bright, shining hopes and promises that have been lost, either by wasted opportunities or through chicanery. I've written many times before of how our community came within inches of the prize, and then had it snatched away from us. Well, now the whole country may experience what we did long ago, and the prize this time isn't re-legalized cannabis.It's much more important than that. It's the very nature of our society and it's place in the world that's at stake. I strongly suggest that anyone who is interested in what is happening economically (and therefore, socially) read Dr. Ravi Batra's books on economics; he warned almost 20 years ago what would happen when government allowed such massive accumulations of wealth to dominate political spheres. Hint: the last time something this brazen as what we are seeing now happened was 1929. As your parents and grandparents what that was like to live through that, and watch them get real quiet and sad. Make no mistake: in 15 to 20 years, if the things we are seeing today are not reversed, America will be a Third World nation. It's not just their wealth that the plutocrats running the show are moving offshore; they are preparing for the day when they will move not just their assets, but their *sses offshore to safety...while the rest of the country and the planet goes to Hell. The people who are aware of this, like Mr. Kucinich, are not the ones who will be allowed to change things, unless enormous pressure is brought up from below to counter what is being done from above.So, I beg to differ: it IS class warfare, Plutocrats vs. Humanity, and sadly, the Plutocrats are winning at this time. But even they make mistakes, and they've made a big one with Iraq and Afghanistan. By stirring up the (partly justifiably) angry Muslim world, a very evil *djinn* has been released from the bottle, and it plays no favorites. Terrorism is like radiation: it kills indiscriminantly, and even the powerful can be subject to it's vicariousness. As they will, in their time. [ Post Comment ] Comment #31 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 23:37:34 PT I don't see things in terms of class war People want their kids to be perfect. That happens across all social classes, and sometimes, a lot of the time, the instinct to control the world comes from the lower class not from the rich.Look at Gray Davis vs. Arnold Schwarzenegger.We got the angry control freak perfectionist socialist out of power and put the rich man in. Servant of even richer men and women.But now the liberal prison reformers in the state legislature finally have a Governor willing to act like he tells the prison industry what to do and not the other way around.Now the board investigating abuse of prisoners has subpoena powers and can have guards prosecuted legally for breaking the law.Gray Davis was born not with a silver spoon in his nouth but with a big angry chip on his shoulder.But I guess that doesn't help my case about Kerry, because Kerry has some of the Gray Davis problem, because law enforcement support is THE big problem with Democrats and drug reform. [ Post Comment ] Comment #30 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 23:18:11 PT The thing I don't look forward to if Kerry wins I'm a Democrat and I'll have to be fighting my own party. That's going to be less satisfying for me than fighting against Bush has been.It's going to feel tragic, like when Clinton killed Peter McWilliams. Hopefully he'll keep his promise not to raid people. Maybe medical marijuana will be so normalized that we'll finally see rescheduling.But I know the Democrats are still hooked on law enforcement money and support, so there will not be any big change coming in the next four years either way.I would be satisfied if he just promised to get rid of schedule I, revoke the whole student aid restriction, and promise not to impede drug reform overseas.Yes those are my three demands for Kerry.Do you think he'll schedule a meeting with me to make sure I don't go over to Nader? ;-) [ Post Comment ] Comment #29 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 22:56:52 PT Kerry is not King of the Democrats There is a whole party involved in setting his platform. Virgil you personalize this a great deal. [ Post Comment ] Comment #28 posted by Virgil on April 05, 2004 at 22:41:06 PT EJ, it is not his birth, it is his stand And impeachment comes cell by cell and not by the Congress that is controlled by the plutocracy. And it is making things right and not just hating like some fundamentalist that preaches love. [ Post Comment ] Comment #27 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 22:09:44 PT Well I don't know Virgil I can't hate someone because of how they were born.I don't think Americans would elect Bush and then impeach him. Okay they did with Clinton but but not a second time in a row.If we're going to impeach Bush then I think the only chance is the election. [ Post Comment ] Comment #26 posted by FoM on April 05, 2004 at 21:43:45 PT A Little Off Topic I wonder how much longer until they activate the draft at this pace?More Troops May Be Needed in Iraq After Recent Violencehttp://www.timesanddemocrat.com/articles/2004/04/05/pm/pm4.txt [ Post Comment ] Comment #25 posted by Virgil on April 05, 2004 at 21:22:46 PT Okay, I outyped myself Kerry pnly passed 4 ceremonial pieces of legislation. My saying 5 is a typo. Saying Kerry sucks is not. He really does. [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by Virgil on April 05, 2004 at 21:10:59 PT The test of sanity Until there is a direct vote for president requiring a majority America is one fucked up place. Only some whore or some idiot would vote for Bush, but someone that admits to voting for Kerry should display some sense and say, "Yeah, I voted for the bastard."This guy came a few weeks ago asking for money for the rescue squad and asked me who I wanted for president. I said if it were up to me both of them would be hanging. I gave him a spill on the media and asked him if he ever heard of depleted uranium and he said no. I asked him if he knew what I was talking about if I said Black Box Voting and he said no. That it what I concentrated on because of its importance and its exposure of the media. The media is the opposide side of the prohibition coin and we should all see that clearly by now. But this guy did not know about growth hormones in milk and did not know what MTBE was either. Those of course illustrate our glorious media for what they are, the indoctrinators of American leadership and infalability. Recently I found a person that just had no clue of what GMF was, much less Genetically Modified Foods. We are overpowered by ignorance, blissful and otherwise. But anyway, this do-gooder out trying to raise money got a ten minute education without commercials and knew it. I said as long as people get arrested for having a joint there is a problem in America.That is what the prohibitionist have come to realize. There position is now in a minority because the educated are on full cock with some powerful ammunition. Give me and my kind a target and there will be an unloading in defense of liberty and the ideals of America that should include the common good.So if you think I outtyped my true thoughts, I did not. Screw Kerry and the lies he rides upon. The war is between classes and the WOD is some skirmish. In the end their will be some form of socialism, where people will not be persecuted by the concentrations of wealth.Kerry wants to war on freedom, so he has a natural enemy in me. Screw the bastard. He belongs in jail and not in any public office. Out of 7 pieces of legislation he has ever introduced in 20 years in Congress, 5 were just ceremonial and one was Plan Colombia. At least Kerry has enough sense to run as a lesser of two evils than on is abysmal record in the Senate that makes him a war criminal in my book and a mass murderer guilty of many crimes of humanity. [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by Virgil on April 05, 2004 at 20:18:46 PT Kerry speaks Kerry speaksWhat the fuck did the bastard say. The country is going to hell and he wants 40,000 troops for the perpetual military bases in Iraq that the people of Iraq want for their protection and 100,000 policemen to bust pot smokers and arrest shoplifters and eat doughnuts and the childrens future.Kerry's heart is not in the right place and if he campaigned against Hitler he would say the uniforms should not be brown. Kerry is the plutocratic alternative to obnoxious dickhead now in office. Kerry speaks evil and eats with evil and listens to evil and he wants me to listen to nonsense. He represents a world where up is down and square is round and white is black and he wants me to listen to his stupid shit. You must be kidding.Let Bush win so we can impeach him. If Kerry wants to play fantasy, let his failure show the truth that some people know better and we want Bush's head. The Chinese think in terms of centuries where we think of decades and that should be what the Awakened say. Screw all of you and let history record your crimes and lies.Democrats should leave Kerry and make the Republicans support him to avoid the embarrassment of more Bush. Send the right wing judges and get real with the class warfare. Even in the wildest fantasy, Kerry is not worth a damn. He better sing with the choir instead of some goofy preaching of some unbelievable mythology.Kerry can kiss my white Southern ass. [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 18:45:02 PT Kerry speaks "I'm going to talk directly to people who in the past have been inclined to support Ralph Nader," the Massachusetts senator told reporters. "I'm not going to attack him in any way. I'm just going to try to talk to his people and point out that we've got to beat George Bush." "What about talking to "our people", former dude?We who used to be your people.Who smoked more pot in the sixties and seventies than the VVAW?Going back to the PTSD thread....Do right by your people.How can you ask a college student to be the last man raped for a mistake? [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by mayan on April 05, 2004 at 18:24:30 PT U.S. Puppets The last paragraph speaks volumes...But internal policies are also a U.S. concern. In May 2001, the State Department said its Andean region policy included "supporting international anti-legalization efforts of non-government organizations" in the region.Here's some more drug-war related material...Peru trial links CIA to drug terrorists: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=182602004The Spoils of War - Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO404A.htmlAfghanistan's opium poppy crop skyrockets: http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/04/02/build/world/45-opiumpoppies.incThe way out is the way in...White House has final say on 9/11 report: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-04-04-terror-report_x.htm?csp=24 [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 16:59:36 PT How we're making enemies in Afghan villages There was some clueless reporter writing clueless tyhings about Afghanistan, how our troops are trying to make friends with the people while routing out the Taliban.Then the reporter mentioned how one Army team searched a village's homes and failed to find weapons but uncovered a huge stash of hashish and burned it all.Oh yes that's really going to make friends in Afghanistan.Imitate the Taliban and attack their native hash culture.Oh yes they're going to be so sure we're on their side, yes of course.Now that their homes have been searched and their year's supply of trauma medicine is gone and their year's supply of sleeping medicine is gone and their year's supply of money is gone, they of course love America to bits!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 16:53:34 PT So what does the DEA do for PTSD? Drink too much until they get fat and old and have to retire and then waste away in bitterness writing angry letters to politicians about the slime on the streets?They should just give in and have a toke of Nature's own medicine for PTSD. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 16:46:38 PT Thene there's the trauma of modern life I saw Lost in Translation finally last night and I was thinking about cannabis evolving in Afghanistan in the harsh environment of the Hindu Kush and the Japanese cannabis users evolving in the harsh environment of modern Tokyo.I liked it that they had Bill Murray asking, What kind of weed is this by the way?That movie won best original screenplay. [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by global_warming on April 05, 2004 at 16:43:14 PT FeFiFoFum I smell a John Boy in the waters.. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by kaptinemo on April 05, 2004 at 16:36:28 PT: E_J's observation about illicit drugs and PTSD is shared, by of all people, contributors to DEAWatch. I don't have the link anymore, as it was wiped long ago from their page, but the gist of the DEA wonk who wrote it was that because of hard economic times and stress caused by fear of terrorism, the use of illicits would go up...guaranteeing said DEA wonk and his brethren continued employment. You could just see the little twerp rubbing his hands gleefully in anticipation.I am not making this up. The author of that remark used less refined language than that to make his point, but the intent was unmistakeable. If I can find the exact wording in the archives here, I'll repost it.But E_J was bang on target with her observation; the same kind of effect was observed all through the Lebanese Civil War. Hashish was a commodity that a great many Lebanese civilians used in order to cope with the daily psychic threat of possible extinction at any moment. And it is still used for that purpose as well as the obvious and better known one of simple black market economics.The 'authorities' know this...they *count* upon this...they literally BANK upon this, with their budgets and their legislation. Like casual vampires, they prey upon the suffering's means of relieving that suffering, yet claim to be doing so for society's benefit. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by pokesmotter on April 05, 2004 at 15:33:31 PT: seem fake? it just doesnt sounds like something a 16 yr old will say...Alejandro, a 16-year-old serving time at the prison for robbing two tobacco stores, says he believes legalization made it easier for him to deal drugs. "The threat of imprisonment would turn people away," he says. "With more restrictions, it would obviously become more difficult for us" -According to the Drug Enforcement Agencyis how it should readand also, how does legalization make him rob a tobacco store when dealing drugs is "easier?" [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by afterburner on April 05, 2004 at 14:29:03 PT: Right again, E_J Maybe? George W. Cowboy and his sidekick PM Tony Blair want the USA to continue to be steeped in violence, as it was in the beginning with the Revolutionary War. The US economy has always thrived on war footing in the past.However, shipping our jobs to the third world and our cash to Iraq will hardly make a more prosperous country at home. Arguably the USA with its guns, prisons, and spin is one of the most violent countries in the world. If the resulting post-traumatic stress is a major contributing factor, no wonder the USA also has one of the highest percentages of "drug" users in the world. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by FoM on April 05, 2004 at 14:23:53 PT afterburner John Lennon was right. I've always challenged myself and I think that's good but we must always understand that what we want so much to be perfect in our efforts even if we do achieve what we want still isn't perfect. Sometimes we need to step back and realize that about life and it will lift a big burden off our shoulders. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by afterburner on April 05, 2004 at 14:11:05 PT: That's Right, FoM and E_J That's why John Lennon sang, "Life is what happens to you While you're busy making other plans." --Beautiful Boy [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 14:03:30 PT Another thing wrong with this Colombians are suffering a lot of post traumatic stress from the violence in the country.You'd think people would make a connection between that and the drug use.But this is another thing about the WOD oppression engine -- it is organized to deny that drug users have any human problems other than drugs.They're trying to help people?No, they are only trying to control them.If they wanted to help them, they would offer them trauma counseling and try to make the country nonviolent.Instead they are reaching for more violence, they want to wage more war and create more trauma.That's how it works. The strong go after the weak and beat on them to teach them a lesson about being weak. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by observer on April 05, 2004 at 13:59:38 PT Al Giordano re: Colombia's ''Legalized'' drugs decade after Colombia legalized possession of 20 grams of marijuana...Note the way the AP writer** carefully punches "LEGALIZE" etc. Big media has defined that term as the eqivalent of giving crack to kiddies in bubble-gum machines.Al Giordano wrote an excellent piece about this governmental disinformation release today. Today's "Forero de Oro *TM" award for the smarmiest piece of disinformation by a Comercial Media ignoramus goes to Kim Housego of the Associated Press, who blames problems of addiction in Colombia caused by drug prohibition on the 1994 Supreme Court decision that decriminalized possession of small user quantities of marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs. Headlined Colombia sinks in sea of legal cocaine, heroin, Housego's story reveals all the usual stains of a lazy reporter taking dictation from the U.S. Embassy in exchange for future access to the drug of easy disinformation. http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/article/narcosphere.narconews4844.htm Al Giordano, Apr 5, 2004 ___** "AP writer" -- also see: http://www.google.com/search?q=Operation+Mockingbird http://www.google.com/search?q=Mighty+Wurlitzer breaking news on pot at the speed of bot ! [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on April 05, 2004 at 13:45:57 PT Thanks EJ George Carlin always makes sense to me. Perfection can't be achieved in life no matter how hard we try. When we always seek perfection we lose so much along the way. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 13:40:14 PT The George Carlin interview in Salon FoM George Carlin was interviewed in Salon talking about how the Baby Boom generation wanted their kids lives to be perfect and wanted their kids to be perfect and that quest for perfection is why we are losing all our freedom.But we see from this terrible event that trying to make their kids perfect is getting them raped.Maybe they can learn to accept some flaws in their kids, as an alternative. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Virgil on April 05, 2004 at 13:28:26 PT A fascistnating fact A decade after Colombia legalized possession of 20 grams of marijuana They must not know that 20 grams is enough to make 700 joints and that this is not the innocent pot of yesteryear and one puff causes instant insanity and brain damage with almost uncurable addiction that will lead to cancer, sterility, and birth defects. Those dumb Colombians. More jails and higher prices will end their civil war. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by sukoi on April 05, 2004 at 12:44:02 PT EJ, I know that this prison rape incident really bothers you and it should, it bothers me too. The sad thing is that this type of thing happens often, I’m sure, but rarely gets reported and/or the info never escapes the gulag walls. Anyway, I thought that you might be interested in this thread: From: http://forum.johnkerry.com/index.php?showtopic=18617 Very bothered about Higher Education positionPosted by: thinkinghard“I am a rape survivor and i saw a story that bothered me a great deal about a man who was raped in jail in Florida:http://www.spr.org/en/news/2003/0614.htmlAccording to Kerry, the rapist deserves a college loan, but the rape victim, being charged with "felony marijuana delivery", would not be eligible.What kind of moral universe do we live in when a rapist is more highly regarded than someone who gives another person pot?Have all our moral standrds completely slipped into the War on Drugs so that the only real evil left in the world is drugs and nothing else compares?That's the only conclusion I can draw from this dreadful horrific situation when a rapist can apply for student aid and and the man he raped is morally ineligible according to Democrats.I don't know if I can remain in this party if the moral standards for diffrentiating between different human actions are so bent and twisted out of shape.A rapist is the moral better of a pothead?I'm sorry but every fiber in my being screams out at the error of that and it is driving me from my party.” [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 12:21:14 PT Let me admit how stupid I feel All those years as a feminist I wanted rapists locked up, thinking that made them stop raping. Oh that was dumb.I still want them locked up, but now I worry about all the men who get locked up with them.Sometimes people just don't have that crucial clue. I just wasn't thinking far ahead enough to get it.If I'd put it together back then that rapists carry their way of interacting with the world into prison with them, then I would have understood a lot sooner what we've been creating with the WOD. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 12:11:11 PT Now let me say something about men vs. women Men don't complain enough. Sometimes being strong and sucking it in is not the best way to go.Men in this community could benefit from being a little bit more like women when it comes to talking openly about rape and not letting anyone forget about people who have been raped.And not letting anyone forget about the social, economic and political power differentials necessary for rape to occur without being punished or talked about.This is all stuff that feminists have done and done well and men in this community could learn from it.It worked for us. Build upon that success. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on April 05, 2004 at 11:49:37 PT comparison How about the countries with the sternest drug laws? How are they doing on combatting addiction? If only 9% of Columbian city dwellers between 12 and 25 are using drugs, then they're doing a hell of lot better than we are, and we've got 2 million people in prison.EJ I think you're totally right that we should talk about prison rape. With 2 million behind bars, there's no question that hundreds of thousands of rapes occur per year.But we don't want to think about that -we'd rather focus on torture that occurred in medieval times, or in South America, or in North Korea. Anywhere but here. The U.S. is, of course, a paragon of virtue, fairness, and shining freedom, unparalleled in the history of man. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Virgil on April 05, 2004 at 11:17:21 PT If you pull the strings, the puppet will move Don't you believe that China and any other country studies the US imposed civil war in Colombia and the way the imperialist install a puppet for the ruination of a nation? Of course the puppet is going to call for a US style of prohibition. Keep the civil war going and keep those prices and penalties up. Only CIA cocaine is allowed and competetion will be destroyed. Three decades ago people called for donations for saving what was a much larger rain forest. Now the government collects a donatation from all taxpayers to poison the rain forest. They have stood all that is right on its head in the quest for world domination. I do not think that using public funds and the institutions of government for a few to attain world domination is such a good idea and the rest of the world is pretty pissed off about it too.Parts of America are like a third world country already and now they want to destroy the largest temperate rain forest in the world where not long ago the US had 48% of the temperate rain forest left in the world. It proves the wealth concentrations will rape America and Americans as fast as a foreign nation. I wish their were some genius behind it all instead of stupidity that lacks the characteristic of a natural limit. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on April 05, 2004 at 10:57:19 PT She wants to change her practice "Jennifer Cubides, chief psychologist at a juvenile detention center where many drug peddlers are incarcerated, is desperate to see tougher laws. "That's because she wants to all the addicts to get raped.Then she can become a prison rape trauma specialist and feel like she's doing something good for society. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment