Drug War Failed; Legalize Marijuana

[Alan]

Drug War Failed; Legalize Marijuana

Too bad the government won't agree with the report.

 

[MajorDoobage]

Its nothing short of amazing how long the war on "marijuana" has lasted, especially in the age of the internet. I bet 200 years from now, future generations of humans will look back on this time and laugh at our prohibition of pot. What gets me is how lucrative a business manufacturing cannabis would be, yet no gov't official has jumped ship to legalize and profitize. It's time to reject these Jim Crow laws of the 21st century and liberate one of nature's greatest gifts to man.

Oh yeah, that goes for all the non habit-forming psychedelics too

 

[momatik]

http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/new...ers-say-legalize-pot-20110602,0,7109894.story

So, what may set this report apart from all the others? Theyre planning on delivering the report to the current UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon - and with the former head of the UN handing it to him, hell be sure to listen. If the UN decides to change its policy, things could really change all over the world. This is because the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is the main thing blocking any kind of progress in any country thats a member of the UN (192 out of the 195 countries on earth are in the UN, and I doubt the Vatican would become the leader in drug legalization anyway). To sum it up, the convention pretty much says that member nations cannot legalize marijuana, or any other drug included in the convention. Thats why even the Netherlands, home of the famous or infamous (depending on who youre talking to) Amsterdam, hasnt legalized pot - you can buy it freely there, but its just because they dont enforce their anti-marijuana law, not because its legal. And growing pot is still illegal too, meaning the coffeeshops have to get it illegally. Strange, huh?

 

[VWFringe]

it's the 40th anniversary of Nixon's declaration of the war on drugs - let's make it end now, please?

I've been signing petitions and posting stuff on Facebook, and here, so short of going door to door I've kept involved, recently (last few months), and I've gotten a much "wholer" knowledge of how things got this way, what keeps them moving, and the inherent dangers and end results we've seen here and abroad.

it's bad, drug wars are bad, mkay?

it was partly started as a political thing, but they'll never cop to that.

we should just elect people like Dr. Gabor Mate, who sees just how wrong-headed our system of dealing with drugs and drug users really is.

Jimmy Carter wrote an op-ed called "End the Global Drug War" for the NY times. Here's just the first two paragraphs:

IN an extraordinary new initiative announced earlier this month, the Global Commission on Drug Policy has made some courageous and profoundly important recommendations in a report on how to bring more effective control over the illicit drug trade. The commission includes the former presidents or prime ministers of five countries, a former secretary general of the United Nations, human rights leaders, and business and government leaders, including Richard Branson, George P. Shultz and Paul A. Volcker.

The report describes the total failure of the present global antidrug effort, and in particular Americas war on drugs, which was declared 40 years ago today. It notes that the global consumption of opiates has increased 34.5 percent, cocaine 27 percent and cannabis 8.5 percent from 1998 to 2008. Its primary recommendations are to substitute treatment for imprisonment for people who use drugs but do no harm to others, and to concentrate more coordinated international effort on combating violent criminal organizations rather than nonviolent, low-level offenders.

 

[momatik]

http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2011...oric-legislation-ending-marijuana-prohibition

Thurs: Members of Congress to Introduce Historic Legislation Ending Marijuana Prohibition

The Legislation, Modeled after the Repeal of Alcohol Prohibition, Comes on the 40th Anniversary of the Failed War on Drugs and on the Heels of a Global Commission Report Recommending Marijuana Legalization

 

[rotax]

could be interesting things afoot indeed.
lets hope for something positive.

 

[MajorDoobage]

So in light of the UN's recent report that the drug war has been an enormous failure, and also contrary to the endless studies proving cannabis's safety and efficacy for medical use, here's an update on the DEA's position:

Marijuana has no therapeutic value and must remain classified as a dangerous drug along the same lines as heroin, MDMA, and PCP, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ruled on Friday.

The decision came nine years after medical marijuana supporters asked the government to reclassify cannabis in light of clinical studies indicating it's medical value for the treatment of glaucoma and other illnesses, according to the L.A. Times.

In Friday's Federal Register the DEA concluded:

Marijuana continues to meet the criteria for schedule I control under the CSA because marijuana has a high potential for abuse, marijuana has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and marijuana lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision.

-http://ht.ly/5AfWK

 

[AGBeer]

Ironically, I think that Nicotine would fall under these exact same guidelines.

IF they chose to schedule it.

 

[Lo]

Ethan Nadelmann Responds To DEA Claim That Marijuana Has No Accepted Medical Use:

http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2011...a-claim-marijuana-has-no-accepted-medical-use

Last week the DEA issued a ludicrously false statement claiming that marijuana "has no accepted medical use in the United States and lacks an acceptable level of safety for use even under medical supervision."

Take Action: http://www.drugpolicy.org/issue/medical-marijuana