Fuck Yeah Drug Policy

House Bill Examines Racist Drug War

this is awesome #blackhistorymonth

Drug War Reparations for Black Americans? House Bill Examines Racist War on Drugs | MassRoots

The war on drugs has harmed the lives of millions of Americans in communities across the country, but there's no question that its impact has been felt hardest by people of color.

A new bill introduced in Congress seeks to begin remedying that.

Sponsored by Congressman Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat, the legislation would create a commission to study the effects that mass incarceration and forced prison labor have had on African Americans and shed light on the extent to which governments and private corporations have supported and benefited from such policies.

Among other things, the commission would be tasked with answering whether the federal government should "offer a formal apology on behalf of the people of the United States to the African-American victims of the 'War on Drugs' and their descendants" and whether "any form of compensation to the victims of the 'War on Drugs' and their descendants is warranted."

Numerous studies have found that despite virtually identical use rates across races, people of color are much more likely to be arrested, convicted and incarcerated for marijuana and other drug crimes.

full article

Drugs Win Drug War | The Onion (January 1998)

Top Adviser to Richard Nixon: Drug War Was a Tool to Go After Anti-War Protestors and Black Americans | Drug Policy Alliance (March 2016)

A decades old quote from President Nixon's administration is making front page news and being shared widely around the web. The quote from John Ehrlichman, who served as President Richard Nixon’s domestic policy chief gained new notoriety after appearing in a cover story in Harper’s Magazine by author Dan Baum.

“You want to know what this was really all about,” Ehrlichman, who died in 1999, said, referring to Nixon’s declaration of war on drugs. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying. We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

June 17, 1971 — US President Richard Nixon declares a war on drugs 

“America's public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive.

“I was personally involved in taking down the planet’s most notorious drug trafficker, Pablo Escobar, in 1993. While we managed to make Colombia a bit safer, it came at a tremendous price.” —César Gaviria, former president of Colombia

former president césar gaviria wrote a new york times op-ed decrying the violent anti-drug campaign in the philippines led by president rodrigo duterte

President Duterte Is Repeating My Mistakes | New York Times

Illegal drugs are a matter of national security, but the war against them cannot be won by armed forces and law enforcement agencies alone. Throwing more soldiers and police at the drug users is not just a waste of money but also can actually make the problem worse. Locking up nonviolent offenders and drug users almost always backfires, instead strengthening organized crime.

That is the message I would like to send to the world and, especially, to President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. Trust me, I learned the hard way.

We Colombians know a thing or two about fighting drugs. Our country has long been one of the world’s primary suppliers of cocaine. With support from North American and Western European governments, we have poured billions of dollars into a relentless campaign to eradicate drugs and destroy cartels.

They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals — Inside the Philippines Drug War | New York Times

In January 2017, the death toll of Filipinos killed as part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s abusive “war on drugs” surpassed the 7,000 mark. It’s only been a little over 7 months since Duterte took office.

Last year, upon winning the election, the president urged citizens with guns to shoot and kill drug dealers who resist arrest and fight back. “Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun, you have my support,” Duterte said in a televised speech. “Shoot him and I’ll give you a medal.”

In this photo essay, photojournalist Daniel Berehulak exposes the graphic violence on the front lines of the drug war. He documented 57 homicide victims over 35 days.

Researchers Study Marijuana’s Effect on Veterans with Chronic PTSD | MAPS

How does smoking marijuana affect military veterans with chronic PTSD? That’s the big question behind a clinical trial that just enrolled its first participant this month. 

The trial is being conducted at two locations—Scottsdale Research Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. It will evaluate the safety and efficacy of four different potencies of marijuana to manage symptoms of PTSD in 76 U.S. veterans.

Both study locations in Phoenix and Baltimore are currently recruiting adult military veterans who experienced trauma during military service. Study volunteers will complete 17 outpatient study visits to the respective clinics over 12 weeks and a six-month follow-up visit. Study visits occur at Scottsdale Research Institute and Johns Hopkins University. 

For more information on the clinical trial, email [email protected] (SRI-Phoenix) or call 410-550-0050 (JHU-Baltimore).

full article