Monday, May 29, 2006

Deadly Drug... prohibition A Deadly Heroin Mixture Is Claiming Dozens of Lives This story has been picking up steam in recent days as more and more people are dying around the country from this mix of heroin and fentanyl. This is a serious problem and is a fault of prohibition. Remember: Under prohibition, we have given the right to the criminal of who's going to supply the drugs to the United States, what kind of drugs are going to be supplied, how much those drugs are going to cost, how they're going to be produced, how potent they're going to be what age levels they're going to sell to, and where they're going to sell. And if they decide they're going to sell to 10-year-old kids on our playgrounds, by God that's where they'll be sold. - Jack Cole [of LEAP And, of course, that means that we have given full control over the safety and purity of drugs to the criminal as well. The government should know this full well, since this is not the first time we've faced this problem. Think back to the 'good old days' of alcohol prohibition: There were few if any production standards during Prohibition, and the potency and quality of products varied greatly, making it difficult to predict their effect. The production of moonshine during Prohibition was undertaken by an army of amateurs and often resulted in products that could harm or kill the consumer. Those products were also likely to contain dangerous adulterants, a government requirement for industrial alcohol. According to Thomas Coffey, "the death rate from poisoned liquor was appallingly high throughout the country. In 1925 the national toll was 4,154 as compared to 1,064 in 1920. And the increasing number of deaths created a public relations problem for . . . the drys because they weren't exactly accidental."[18] Will Rogers remarked that "governments used to murder by the bullet only. Now it's by the quart." [Thanks, Bill] 9:01:49 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Caption contest 9:00:02 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Odds and Ends Weed Control by Jessica Winter in the Boston Globe. A fascinating article about the effort to free up research marijuana from the NIDA monopoly -- this article also touches upon a laundry list of other issues related to the history of medical marijuana and current research. (Not a whole lot new to us, but a great primer article for the general public.) Uribe wins easily in Colombia Law-and-order President Alvaro Uribe was re-elected in a landslide Sunday in Colombia's most peaceful elections in more than a decade, strengthening the U.S. ally's mandate to crack down on armed groups and drug traffickers. [...] Colombia remains the world's largest producer of cocaine. Uribe, a key ally in U.S. drug-interdiction efforts, is urging the United States to beef up an aerial-fumigation fleet of 20 planes that spray coca crops. Editorial: High School Drug Tests Not A Panacea -- in the Peoria Journal-Star (very close to my area). Testing is not a panacea and is no substitute for attentive, responsible parents. [...] The 500 kids it can test - - those involved in baseball, chess, cheerleading, etc.  - may be least likely to experiment with drugs.  Those points were raised in a 2002 U.S.  Supreme Court case.  Though the justices narrowly upheld the legality of random urine tests, dissenters worried they might discourage participation, which can itself be a drug deterrent. [...] Though it may be legal to test, that doesn't necessarily make it right or effective.  A 2003 University of Michigan survey of 76,000 adolescents found almost identical rates of substance use regardless of whether their schools tested. We appreciate that these policies can give parents peace of mind.  Still, we prefer the voluntary, tough-love approach of Bartonville, which distributes at-home drug and alcohol tests to families.  Engaged moms and dads are the most effective deterrent. More opting for jail over treatment. Via The Drug Update comes this note that many drug offenders in Calaveras County are choosing jail over treatment because they know the jails are so overcrowded that they'll generally get a shorter sentence in jail than in treatment. Check out Rehabology.com. What we are attempting, in our own small way, is to not only tackle the big headline stories about drugs but also try and focus on the faces behind the stereotypes and the people who don't make the front pages. In addition we would like to explore the connections between those who produce and consume drugs, legal or illegal, as well as those who campaign for or against their use. 8:57:12 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []