cannabisnews.com: Squeezing The Balloon, Not Popping It





Squeezing The Balloon, Not Popping It
Posted by CN Staff on August 11, 2004 at 13:45:32 PT
From The Economist Global Agenda
Source: Economist UK
It may be time to start looking at the demand side. Colombia produces about 70% of the world’s cocaine, and since 2000 the United States has given the South American country's government about $3 billion in aid to fight the drug. Many headline figures have seemed to show that the programme, known as Plan Colombia, was working. Some 48 tonnes of cocaine were seized in Colombia last year, as opposed to just eight in 1999. A report in March this year said that the production of coca, the plant from which the drug is made, fell by 58% between 2000 and 2003. Last year Donald Rumsfeld, the American secretary of defence, visited Colombia and declared it “halfway along and making good progress”. But this week America’s drug “tsar”, John Walters, said on returning from the country that despite the successes there, the amount of cocaine reaching America’s streets was undiminished.
There are a number of possible reasons for this. One, given by Mr Walters, is that Colombia’s drug lords have been running down their existing stocks of cocaine. Despite the gloomy news, he predicts that the flow of cocaine into America will decrease noticeably in the next 12 months if Colombia’s American-assisted troops stay on the offensive. This would lead to a rise in the price of the drug in America, which might be perceived as a sign that the anti-drug forces were winning. But there are reasons to be sceptical about Mr Walters’ claims, not least the fact that American officials have made them many times before. One cause for pessimism is the “balloon” effect: squeeze a balloon in one place, and it inflates elsewhere. Bolivia and Peru were the main producers of cocaine until the early 1980s, and when anti-drug efforts were stepped up there, production shifted to Colombia. With the recent fall in production in Colombia, some of that lost supply could shift to other Andean countries, including ones that have not historically been big producers, such as Ecuador and Venezuela. And fighting cocaine in those countries could be politically tougher than in Colombia. The drugs trade in Colombia is intimately bound up in the country’s long-running civil war. Both right-wing paramilitaries and left-wing guerrillas use their profits from the trade to continue their long and bloody struggle. Álvaro Uribe, a tough-talking Liberal politician, was elected Colombia’s president in 2002 on a promise to get tough on the irregulars, especially the Marxist guerrillas led by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Voters’ exhaustion with FARC has made Mr Uribe popular, and has helped him accept American help in the form of some 400 troops, as well as helicopters and money for training Colombia’s forces. Colombia, therefore, has been America’s best hope for striking a blow against cocaine. It would be tough to extend this to Colombia’s Andean neighbours if, as feared, coca-growing spills into them. As yet, eradication there is largely voluntary. In Bolivia, disaffection among poor peasants caused the forced resignation of the president, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, in October 2003. One source of peasant frustration has been drug-eradication programmes. Mr Sánchez de Lozada’s successor, Carlos Mesa, is treading lightly, trying to back away from eradication and instead encouraging substitution of coca with coffee and cocoa. Any tougher push against the wicked weed could strengthen the appeal of Evo Morales, the fiery representative of the coca-growers who came a close second to Mr Sánchez de Lozada in the 2002 presidential election. A pro-coca president would be an enormous headache for America. The president of Peru, which is still a big producer, has plenty of problems too. Alejandro Toledo’s approval ratings dwell at about 10%, and strikes and violent protests have shaken the country recently. More than half of Peruvians think Mr Toledo should leave before his term expires in 2006. He has been perceived as weak and inept; it is hard to imagine a Colombia-style intervention in Peru. What future, then, for Plan Colombia? President George Bush has asked the American Congress to renew the plan in 2006, and to double the number of military personnel in Colombia to 800. But the plan is controversial. Colombia’s troops are accused of complicity with atrocities committed by the Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), the main right-wing paramilitary group. The Bush administration is concerned about the Colombian government’s relationship with the AUC. The government has held out the possibility of domestic “detention” (rather than outright jailing) for AUC fighters who put down their arms. But many are wanted by the Americans for extradition on drugs charges. Mr Uribe’s attempt to get to grips with his civil war may get in the way of America’s war on drugs. The issue could make its way into America’s upcoming presidential election. On July 26th John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, signed a letter along with 22 other senators expressing concern about human rights in Colombia. The letter pointed up the relationship between the official army and the AUC. Mr Uribe, in response, has invited Mr Kerry to Colombia to see the situation on the ground there. Mr Kerry made a name for himself in the 1980s scrutinising America’s often-dirty policies in Latin America. He might point out in this autumn’s election campaign that this is another example of the Bush administration’s over-willingness to use military means to solve problems. Note: America’s drug tsar has admitted that an undiminished amount of cocaine is flowing into the country despite years of huge efforts to disrupt supply from South America.Source: Economist, The (UK) Published: August 6th, 2004 Copyright: 2004 The Economist Newspaper Limited Contact: letters economist.com Website: http://www.economist.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Colombia Drug War Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/colombia.htmDrug Czar: No Impact from Effort in Colombia http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19300.shtmlCivilians Wage Drug War from Colombia's Skies http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14652.shtmlPlan Colombia Fails To Cut Supply of Drugshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11663.shtml
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on August 12, 2004 at 09:46:00 PT
Related Article from National Review
Another One Bites the Dust: http://nationalreview.com/comment/carpenter200408120826.asp
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Comment #9 posted by Richard Paul Zuckerm on August 12, 2004 at 07:55:02 PT:
OUR RIGHT TO DRUGS: THE CASE FOR A FREE MARKET
The United States government should be stopped from their international drug policing, for the reasons stated in the book entitled OUR RIGHT TO DRUGS: THE CASE FOR A FREE MARKET, by Dr. Thomas S. Szasz, M.D., Professor Emeritus, Syracuse University, circa 1984. The people in Columbia should be permitted to grow and sell their own wares, for their own survival and happiness! They should be allowed to grow their own Cocaine AND THEIR OWN CANNABIS/HEMP! I have filed my letter of support to Dr. Matthias Rath, which his office told me will be forwarded to The Hague, regarding his COMPLAINT OF GENOCIDE AGAINST THE PHARMACEUTICAL CARTEL, www.gulfwarillnesses.com/news/RATH.htm! In addition, I vote for Ralph Nader, Libertarian Party, and Green Party candidates, EXCLUSIVELY, NO REPUBLICRATS [REPUBLICAN/DEMOCRATIC PARTY]!
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Comment #8 posted by dididadadidit on August 12, 2004 at 06:14:43 PT
Drug Prices
Out of curiosity, I took a look at illegal drug prices on a government web site that had a twenty year price history from 1980 to 2000. Prices for cocaine and heroin have both declined by nearly half over the twenty years while the indication for marijuana was a doubling.Why might that be?Could it have anything to do with a concentration of concern by the drug warriors on the least harmful (if not outright beneficial) drug? DEA targeting of marijuana certainly makes sense from their standpoint. There are far more targets of opportunity and they mostly don't shoot back. In the meantime, slack enforcement on the hard drugs allows the CIA to escape detection and prosecution as they run around the world trafficking in the hard drugs of the region to fund their black ops (and individual retirements), heroin in Vietnam, cocaine in Latin America, and heroin once again in our Afghan colony.As pointed out by Aragorn, Kerry is aware of the CIA drug connections as he lifted the cloak of secrecy on their involvement back in the 80's, immortalized in my mind by a friends composition heading into the '88 election."Georgie Porgie, Bush and Quaile,Here's the team the Contras hail.Fly down guns and fly back drugs.Government, as run by thugs."Has anything changed? Target the innocuous cannabis the CIA doesn't make any money on, go easy on the dangerous drugs that finance the black ops.Cheers?
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on August 11, 2004 at 20:47:47 PT
aragorn 
Thank you. That was very good.
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Comment #6 posted by aragorn on August 11, 2004 at 20:34:04 PT
The Bureaucracy of Intolerance
   On Aug. 4th, at a rally I handed John Kerry the following statement and asked him to read it. He took it and said, "I will,Sir". I would like this statement to find a wider audience and ask that it be disseminated far and wide.       The Bureaucracy of Intolerance           Under this “best of all possible” Republican administrations, the chickens from nearly a century’s worth of atrocious law have come home to roost. The Marriage Amendment has failed, as did the Flag Burning Amendment before it. But the puritanical, belligerently self-righteous side of the American polity has repeatedly tried to hijack the Constitution into enshrining intolerance. All its attempts-but one-have failed. But once was enough.        The 18th Amendment. Alcohol Prohibition. The “Noble Experiment”. Unleashed rampant crime and corruption. Created a bureaucracy - The Federal Bureau of Prohibition. Became the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Is now the Drug Enforcement Administration. Same bureaucracy created by the 18th Amendment. The bureaucracy of intolerance. Left standing after repeal by the 21st Amendment. Its power- its hopeless cause- the cancer on our democracy.        In 1937, with 90 seconds debate in the House of Representatives, marijuana was criminalized putting the bureaucracy of intolerance back to work making scapegoats of Hispanics, African Americans, jazz musicians, popular culture-from then to now. The “Noble Experiment” became “the Drug War”, the puritanical witchhunt that never ends. And here we are:        The world’s biggest prison system stuffed with non-violent, mostly minority, “drug offenders”. The death of the Bill of Rights on the alter of “fighting drugs”. From Afghanistan to Columbia the “War on Drugs” metastasized into the “War on Terror”. “Illegal drugs”, the third largest cash market, after oil and armaments. The world’s greatest black market/ corruption engine.        From the Iran-Contra and Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI) scandals - both exposed by John Kerry - we know the CIA has utilized this ocean of money to further it’s own covert aims when it’s interests merged with organized crime and/or jihadists. We reap what we’ve sown. The most strategically astute thing we can possibly do, to pull the rug out from under al Qaeda, collapse criminal empires, and defuse fundamentalism, is to legalize and regulate this black market out of existence.  Until we do we don’t have a prayer, in the “War on Terror”.       Thesis, antithesis, synthesis. How arguments resolve. The country divided. No synthesis anywhere. However, the cover story of the July 12th issue of William F. Buckley’s National Review, “An End to Marijuana Prohibition”, points the way. The consensus is growing- on right and left- the war on marijuana must end. By extention, the whole “War On Drugs” must be abandoned.  I predict this next election will be the puritan’s Waterloo.
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Comment #5 posted by mayan on August 11, 2004 at 17:17:11 PT
Plan Columbia...
In a nutshell...1. Defoliate the land so the FARC doesn't have anywhere to hide.2. Poison the food crops and water so the FARC doesn't have anything to eat or drink.3. Take complete control of Columbia's cocaine and oil trade, just like we are doing with Afghanistan's opium and oil.I will say it again. The U.S. government is the biggest drug smuggler on the planet.
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Comment #4 posted by billos on August 11, 2004 at 16:53:57 PT
Where are they going next???
After Columbia is finally nude of any vegetation as a result of the United States spraying the foliage away, there will be millions of poor people wandering around looking for ways to survive.
Many will have serious health problems which will include a high cancer rate and increased birth defects.So, where will they go to after that?I guess it will be Afghanistan.And the wheel goes 'round.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 11, 2004 at 15:58:51 PT
For Those Who Might Have Missed This
The Heinz-Kerry Pot Connection By Cliff Kincaid July 29, 2004 When Kerry was caught at a campaign event pretending to smoke a marijuana cigarette, reporters such as Ceci Connolly of the Washington Post downplayed the incident, saying Kerry was just having fun. The House of Representatives has voted 268-148 to continue letting the federal government prosecute the use of marijuana as a supposed treatment or cure for various diseases. Marijuana, a substance linked in scientific studies to mental illness, has been touted by the pro-drug legalization lobby as having benefits for cancer, MS and AIDS patients. This vote demonstrated that most members of the House don't believe in those stories about "medical marijuana."The case for so-called medical marijuana can be an emotional and persuasive one. Montel Williams appeared on the O'Reilly Factor to claim that marijuana helped his multiple sclerosis. When Bill O'Reilly asked whether he had ever used the synthetic version of the THC in marijuana, Marinol, Williams said he hadn't. O'Reilly didn't press the point and in a program a day later said he thought marijuana should be available for people like Williams, despite an official of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy telling O'Reilly that it was "snake oil." She said no credible expert believes that medicine can be smoked in the form of a cigarette. Williams is said to have been a marijuana user long before he was diagnosed with MS.The exchange demonstrates that the war on drugs continues to be an issue. Press acceptance of the misleading arguments in favor of "medical marijuana" may help explain why journalists have failed to press or expose John Kerry for his own pro-drug views. Kerry favors medical marijuana and says that, as a prosecutor, he didn't go after marijuana offenders, in a policy amounting to decriminalization. He believes that people can be "responsible" marijuana users.When Kerry was caught at a campaign event pretending to smoke a marijuana cigarette, reporters such as Ceci Connolly of the Washington Post downplayed the incident, saying Kerry was just having fun. The incident occurred when Kerry was campaigning with Peter Yarrow of the singing group Peter, Paul & Mary. Yarrow started singing, "Puff the Magic Dragon" and Kerry brought his fingers to his lips as if he were "toking" a marijuana "joint."Joyce Nalepka, president of the anti-drug group, Drug-Free Kids: America's Challenge, says she is worried about Kerry's position but is even more alarmed by the activities of his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, some of whose fortune has gone into the coffers of pro-drug groups. These include the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. Nalepka says the Heinz money is funneled through the Tides Center. NORML received $68,000.Responding to claims that the Heinz money is provided to Tides and that Tides then decides what to do with it, Nalepka said, "I wouldn't buy that for a second." She says millions of dollars in Heinz money have been provided to Tides, which turns around and funds the pro-drug lobby, and that Heinz officials know exactly where the money is going. " Nalepka says, "Teresa Heinz Kerry cannot disconnect herself from it." She fears that a Kerry administration would radically change America's national anti-drug policy. Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report and can be reached at: editor aim.orghttp://www.aim.org/media_monitor/1822_0_2_0_C/http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/jksmall.jpg
John Kerry Cartoon
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 11, 2004 at 15:32:18 PT
Related Article from The Nation
Latin America's Longest War: http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040816&s=canby
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 11, 2004 at 15:17:06 PT
Just a Comment
I thought this part of the article is a little encouraging. ***On July 26th John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, signed a letter along with 22 other senators expressing concern about human rights in Colombia. 
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