Archive for the ‘drug legalization’ tag
Bye-bye Due Process: from global drone assassinations to indefinite legal limbo
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Allison and Jamie discuss the DOJ’s legal explanation for tossing away due process, and how that effort affects protesters domestically, as well, badass Malala Yousufzai, and how some lawmakers are quietly working behind the scenes to legalize marijuana. Finally, many sheriffs have stated they’ll refuse to enforce any federal gun regulations. What’s the right balance between state and federal powers?
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BEST OF: Dr. Gabor Maté on the failed War on Drugs, drug decriminalization, and addiction
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Originally aired 2/20/10 and 2/24/10: part 1 and part 2 of Citizen Radio’s interview with Dr. Gabor Maté (http://www.drgabormate.com/).
Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1944, Gabor Maté emigrated to Canada with his family in 1957. Currently, he is the staff physician at the Portland Hotel, a residence and resource centre for the people of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Many of his patients suffer from mental illness, drug addiction and HIV, or all three.
Dr. Maté treats addicts at Insite, the only safe-injection site in North America, a center that Canada’s Stephen Harper has attacked even after the British Columbia supreme court ruled in the facility’s favor.
He is the author of four books: When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress and Scattered Minds: A New Look at the Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder. The third book, Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers, he co-authored with developmental psychologist Gordon Neufeld.
Most recently published is In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction.
Dr. Mate joins Citizen Radio in part 1 of this interview to discuss the War on Drugs, drug decriminalization, and addiction. In part 2, he discusses over-medicated Americans, Rush Limbaugh, Stephen Harper, alcohol VS. drugs, Ronald Reagan, Republican denial, “healthy anger,” and his advice for addicts.
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War on Drugs, Chair of DNC claims to have no knowledge of ‘kill list’
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Allison and Jamie discuss Eugene Jarecki’s “The House I Live In” in depth, along with the War on Drugs, and discuss how the Chair of the DNC, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, claims to have no knowledge of the “kill list”. Also, Allison and Jamie offer advice to aspiring journalists.
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Disturbing video of SWAT raid on Missouri family
Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife
I watched Morning Joe again this morning. I know, I need to stop doing that, but at this point I’m addicted to the constant flow of stupidity. In this exciting installment, Scarborough was shouting about the dangers of big gubment, while Mika nodded solemnly.
Of course, what Joe and much of the country count as “big government” is deficit hysteria. They operate under the incorrect notion that government must be run like a family. This is simply wrong, and you don’t need to take my word on this. Nobel Prize-winning economists Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz have been shouting to the rafters about this forever.
If the government “tightens its belt” like a family might during tough economic times, the recession worsens because no cash is being released for jobs programs. Less spending equals more saving on the part of citizens, and when citizens don’t have money to spend, the economy tanks. If the government cuts spending even more, the recession deepens, and this downward spiral continues into Depression.
Honestly discussing Mexico's drug violence and the failed War on Drugs
Image via Wikipedia
I witnessed one of the more pointless conversations on Morning Joe this morning when the crew chatted about Mexican drug cartel violence.
The panel charged with discussing this serious issue was particularly abysmal. There was Kathleen Parker, glowing from the recent announcement that she will be receiving a Pulitzer Prize to commemorate her brave decision to turn against the self-destructing Republican Party seven years after the start of the Iraq occupation, and a couple years after stating that President Obama is not a full-blooded American.
Beside Kathleen sat Thomas “Suck. On. This” Friedman, who is also a Pulitzer winner (they spent about a minute congratulating Parker for entering the exclusive “Really??Club,”) and also — why not? — Pat Buchanan. Because I know when I want to have a nuanced discussion about foreign policy and relations with Mexico, I call the guy who told Iraq citizens to suck on his dick and the lunatic who wants to station armed soldiers on the US-Mexican border, respectively.
Government adviser fired for saying alcohol is more dangerous than drugs
Professor David Nutt (Photo from Daily Mail)
The Guardian reports that Professor David Nutt, the British government’s chief drug adviser, has been fired after claiming that ecstasy and LSD are less dangerous than alcohol.
So continues the journey to failure first instigated by the British and United States government four decades ago when the two governments implemented their long and pointless “Wars on Drugs.”
If you’re one of the 34 percent of admirably plucky and stubborn Americans who don’t think the War on Drugs is failing, perhaps examining the idiotic way in which the British government handles drugs will inspire you to see the flaws in supporting laws that arbitrarily dictate what substances human beings can and cannot ingest.
Anderson Cooper's Special Investigator Says Legalization is For Losers
If you just drove by this house, you would never know what’s inside that walled off garage. But under a stifling Florida sun, the garage is a cool 70 degrees, a constant flow of cool, nutrient-rich water flowing throughout the floor, and illuminated by golden glowing lamps whose radiance bounces off reflective aluminum walls. It is all designed to provide maximum growing potential for the 42 mature marijuana plants evenly spaced in this factory of pot.
After seeing this, my initial reaction is that the fight to eradicate marijuana in this country is hopeless. But does that mean we should give up and legalize pot?
For two weeks, knowing I was assigned to this story, I have been asking that question to the many prosecutors, DEA agents and police I’ve encountered. The overwhelming answer is no. There is no doubt, in the minds of these people who come in contact with users, growers, smugglers and junkies, that marijuana use is terrible for the individuals who engage in it. It is not just a pathway to stronger drugs; it is, in and of itself, a recipe for losers. People who call themselves ‘casual users,’ in the minds of law enforcement, are deluding themselves into believing they are not affected by this drug. They compare it to the drunk who believes he can actually drive better with a few drinks inside.
The bigger question is how to stop marijuana use. The DEA agents who raided this home, could raid similar homes everyday, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and still the marijuana would grow. Which is why there may need to be a huge strategic change in our so-called drug war. Anti-smoking campaigns work for tobacco. Why won’t they work for marijuana?
That should really be the focus of our efforts. We shouldn’t be laughing at the lame jokes from comedians talking about harmless weed; we shouldn’t allow rappers to glorify the wonders of living high. If nothing else, we should be telling our children that no matter what it is, putting smoke into your lungs is unhealthy, uncool and in the case of pot, a first step towards a life of a loser.
OK all you pot heads, let me hear it!
Ah, the luxuries of being a “serious journalist” like 360 blog contributor, Drew Griffin. I can’t wait until I can use anonymous sources in a baseless smear piece about a very important issue like the War on Drugs. You, reader, don’t need to know the names of any of these very anti-legalization prosecutors, DEA agents, and police, okay? Just know there are “many” of them, and they’re all sniggering about your desire to legalize marijuana, you Cheetos-eating, pothead loser.
And don’t give Drew all this nonsense babble about overcrowded prison systems and the failed War on Drugs. He doesn’t have time for it, people! Nor does Drew have time to recognize the many former law enforcement officers who have recently stepped forward to speak against the failed War on Drugs. These enforcement dissidents include Jack Cole, a member of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition,) a 26-year veteran of the New Jersey State Police who served 14 years undercover in the Narcotics Bureau, and who I interviewed last month about the issue of drug legalization.
Other “shamelessly, self-promoting potheads” include Senator Jim Webb, who bravely put his political career in jeopardy by publicly stating that the issue of legalization is a “very legitimate question.” And that legendary stoner, Barney Frank, recently introduced a bill that would allow states to make their own medical marijuana laws free of federal interference.
Who knew the country had such prominent potheads?
