Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A look at the future Coming to your town soon... Officers armed with military rifles have been stopping and questioning passers-by in a neighborhood plagued by violence that's been under a 24-hour curfew for a week. On Tuesday, the Helena-West Helena City Council voted 9-0 to allow police to expand that program into any area of the city, despite a warning from a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas that the police stops were unconstitutional. [...] "Now if somebody wants to sue us, they have an option to sue, but I'm fairly certain that a judge will see it the way the way the citizens see it here," Mayor James Valley said. "The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution." [...] "As far as I'm concerned, at 3 o'clock in the morning, nobody has any business being on the street, except the law," Councilman Eugene "Red" Johnson said. "Anyone out at 3 o'clock shouldn't be out on the street, unless you're going to the hospital." So let's see how this happens in seven easy steps... Prohibition Black-market profits Black-market violence Law enforcement crackdown Violence escalates to protect profits Residents seek protection Police state Video here The sad thing is that there are actually people out there who think this is a solution to drug war violence. 9:56:20 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

What happened? For the last three days, I've been completely out of touch -- no news, no email, no phone, no computer. It was tough. But it was also refreshing. But now I'm back, and I thought that maybe you guys would have solved it all and the drug war would be over... Hmmm.... Not quite yet. But this is interesting -- Julian Critchley, former director of the U.K. Cabinet Office anti-drugs unit, left a remarkable comment on a blog post, noting that on the job he had come to the conclusion that "enforcement and supply-side interventions were largely pointless." I think what was truly depressing about my time in UKADCU was that the overwhelming majority of professionals I met, including those from the police, the health service, government and voluntary sectors held the same view : the illegality of drugs causes far more problems for society and the individual than it solves. Yet publicly, all those intelligent, knowledgeable people were forced to repeat the nonsensical mantra that the Government would be 'tough on drugs', even though they all knew that the Government's policy was actually causing harm. I recall a conversation I had with a No 10 policy advisor about a series of Whitehall-wide announcements in which we were to emphasise the shift of resources to treatment and highlighting successes in prevention and education. She asked me whether we couldn't arrange for 'a drugs bust in Brighton' at the same time, or 'a boat speeding down the Thames to catch smugglers'. For that advisor, what worked mattered considerably less than what would play well in the Daily Mail. The tragedy of our drugs policy is that it is dictated by tabloid irrationality, and not by reference to evidence. Critchley is now a teacher: I find that when presented with the facts, the students I teach are quite capable of considering issues such as this, and reaching rational conclusions even if they started with a blind Daily Mail-esque approach. I find it a shame that no mainstream political party accords the electorate the same respect. Unfortunately, we so seldom hear the truth when they're in office. Confirmation of the post Coverage at Transform Danny Kushlick 7:40:51 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []