Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Odds and Ends Ryan Grim notes that dog-killing Prince George's County police, already completely lacking in credibility may be in more hot water -- this time for killing a human. Stephen Colbert's Top 7 Drug Moments Los Angeles Times on the Science of Medical Marijuana A quote that stuck with me... In a review by Al Giordano at Narco News of Markos Moulitsas Zúniga's book "Taking on the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era, Kos is quoted: There was an assumption by the powers that be that the rest of the citizen body couldn't think for ourselves. That we needed self-appointed and so-called experts to tell us what to think, what to do, and what we should [^] or should not [^] know. For far too long, these gatekeepers controlled the national conversation." Yeah, no kidding. Which reminds me: Beth wrote me tonight to say that she saw fact-mangler Joseph Califano on the TeeVee arguing for keeping the drinking age at 21. Talk about "so-called experts." ABC doesn't get out much. Tijuana: Where the 'Drug War' is Real In Mexico, the "war on drugs" isn't just an expression people use. Yes, it is a real drug war in Tijuana. It's also a real drug war in every town in this country. Did ABC think we were just doing re-enactments here? And speaking of war denial, I just can't resist mentioning this piece by Glenn Greenwald. He notes incredulously that Condoleeza Rice could actually, seriously, say: Russia is a state that is unfortunately using the one tool that it has always used whenever it wishes to deliver a message and that's its military power. That's not the way to deal in the 21st century. Is it truly possible to delude yourself to such an incredible degree? Sure, that isn't specifically about the drug war, but, My God! -- it's the same kind of disconnect from reality that you hear from drug warriors, and you can't help but ask if they are really that hopelessly stupid, or if they really think American citizens are, to get away with such brazen alternate reality claims. 11:11:09 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

We own the internet... and reason It really is heartening to see the incredible degree to which drug policy sanity has spread throughout those who are internet-capable (especially when you think about the fact that that is where the population is heading). Two recent examples, where opposing views in the press have both generated a lot of comments. First, we have the two pieces in the Hill regarding the federal marijuana decrim legislation. Criminalization of Marijuana Must End by NORML's Allen St. Pierre received close to 200 comments, almost universally favorable Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Ignores the Facts by the ONDCP received over 100 comments in opposition, including numerous powerful, intelligent critiques (and slap-downs) of this standard propaganda. On the other side of the pond, we have former drug war functionary Julian Critchley coming out for legalization, with excellent comments all over the web, including some good responses in his piece in The Independent: All the experts admit that we should legalise drugs. So today, drug war idiot former Chief Constable Ian Oliver, looking to sell more copies of his "Drug Affliction" book, steps up to the plate with his response in The Independent: Legalising drugs would only make matters worse. This article is greeted with derision and, again, detailed thoughtful critiques that completely dismantle Oliver's piece. In fact, just about all of the few pro-drug-war comments in both Independent pieces are from one commenter - Prestonian - who added to the discussion with gems like these: I would execute all users without a second thought. ... The Singaporean attitude to drugs should be adopted here - execute the dealers and long imprisonment for users. I suspect that many of the commenters here are users themselves and would like it to be made easier for them to continue. Remember the days (I think I do) when it was assumed that those who were for legalization were almost uniformly incoherent and utterly wasted stoners? Well now, the embarrassments are mostly on the other side. People like Prestonian make others go "Woah -- wait a second. If Prestonian is on the side of Ian Oliver, maybe I'd better look at the legalization side -- they seem a whole lot smarter." It appears that supporting prohibition may be implicated in long-term reduction in intelligence. 8:31:09 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []