Tuesday, October 2, 2007

This day in history October 2, 1937: Samuel R. Caldwell becomes the first person in the United States to be arrested on a [federal] marijuana charge. Link On this date 70 years ago, unemployed Colorado laborer Samuel R. Caldwell, was arrested for selling two marijuana cigarettes to Moses Baca. For his crime, he was sentenced to four years of hard labor at Leavenworth Penitentiary, plus a $1,000 fine Thanks, Richard Lake 9:51:15 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

The Drug War is Working ? The government is really trying to push this Drug War Success story SAN DIEGO -- Mexico's crackdown on drug traffickers has helped cut supplies of cocaine in 37 U.S. cities and led to higher prices, the White House drug czar said Monday. The disclosure came as the Bush administration prepares to present Congress with an aid package costing hundreds of millions of dollars to assist Mexico in fighting drugs, John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, told The Associated Press. Of course, the two paragraphs above demonstrate that they're not even trying to hide the tactic -- tout drug war success to bolster passing a massive drug war funding bill for Mexico. Interestingly, much of the media is no longer simply willing to accept what John Walters says as the truth. Check out this UPI article: White House claims success in drug war. The entire short article involves quotes from critics as to why the White House's claims are likely meaningless. This Washington Post story gives more space to the details of the White House claims, yet still is quite skeptical. Unfortunately, what nobody is doing is asking the question: "What happens if they're right?" What if there really is a massive long-term reduction in cocaine availability in the states? Will all the problem users just simply no longer use drugs? Or will violence increase as the price increases and gangs fight over turf? Will cocaine drug users simply switch to something else? And what would that be? Of course, the government isn't really interested in the answer to that question. And it's likely that they don't even believe their own stories about success in the drug war. 9:45:23 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []