U.S. arrests 48 in sweep against Mexico drug cartel

Mr. Holder you will protect our citizens better if we end drug prohibition

Wednesday’s sweep in California, Maryland and Minnesota brought to 751 the total number of arrests under “Operation XCellerator,” begun nearly two years ago, the official said. Some 20 tons of illegal drugs, including cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and Ecstasy have been seized.
Author: harold

Prisons Needlessly Overpopulated With Drug Offenders

I think Walter Cronkite have spelled out very good what happens when we try to build a tower to heaven. We have talked ourselves into carrying out an action against our brothers based upon a myth. The myth that we can stop the spread and cure drug addiction with guns, jails, nightsticks and of course the real winner stiff punishment. Oh well tell me about it. Nothing has changed since I posted this in 2004

Read on.
August 11, 2004

Prisons Needlessly Overpopulated With Drug Offenders
By Walter Cronkite

In the midst of the soaring rhetoric of last week’s Democratic Convention, more than one speaker quoted Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address, invoking “the better angels of our nature.”

Well, there is an especially appropriate task awaiting those heavenly creatures: a long-overdue
reform of our disastrous “war on drugs.” We should begin by recognizing its costly and inhumane
dimensions.

Much of the nation, in one way or another, is victimized by this failure, including, most notably,
the innocents, whose exposure to drugs is greater than ever.

This is despite the fact that more than 500,000 people are housed in federal and state prisons and
local jails on drug offenses. Clearly, no punishment could be too severe for that portion of
them who were kingpins of the drug trade and who ruined so many lives. But, by far, the majority of these prisoners are guilty of only minor offenses, such as possessing small amounts of marijuana. That includes people who used it only for medicinal purposes. The cost to maintain this great horde of prisoners is more than $10 billion annually.

And that’s just part of the cost of this war on drugs: The federal, state and local drug-control
budgets last year added up to almost $40 billion.

These figures were amassed by the Drug Policy Alliance, one of the foremost national organizations
seeking to bring reason to the war on drugs and reduce substantially those caught in the terrible
web of addiction.

There are awful tales of tragedy and shocking injustice hidden in those figures — the product of
an almost mindlessly draconian system called “mandatory sentencing” in which even small offenses
can draw years in prison.

Thousands of women, many of them mothers of young children, are included among those minor offenders. Those children left without motherly care are the most innocent victims of the drug war and the reasonsome call it a “war on families” as well as on drugs.

Women are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. prison population, with almost 80 percent of them incarcerated for drug offenses.

The deep perversity of the system lies in the fact that women with the least culpability often get the
harshest sentences.

Unlike the guilty drug dealer, they often have no information to trade for a better deal from
prosecutors and might end up with a harsher sentence than the dealer gets.

Then there are women such as Kimba Smith, in California, who probably knew a few things but was
so terrified of her abusive boyfriend that she refused to testify against him.

( Those who agree to testify, by the way, frequently are killed before they have a chance to do so. )

Smith paid for her terrified silence with a 24-year sentence.

Nonviolent first offenders, male and female, caught with only small amounts of a controlled substance frequently are given prison sentences of five to 10 years or more.

As a result, the number of nonviolent offenders in the nation’s prisons is filling them to overflowing,
literally.

The resulting overcrowding is forcing violent felons onto the streets with early releases.

The Drug Policy Alliance also points out other important areas of injustice in the present
enforcement system.

For instance, people of color — blacks and Hispanics — are far more likely to be jailed for
drug offenses than others.

And college students caught in possession of very small amounts of illegal substances are denied
student loans and even food stamps.

The Alliance and other organizations are working to reform and reframe the war on drugs. And they are finding many judges on their side, who are rebelling against this cruel system.

We can expect no federal action during the congressional hiatus in activity ahead of the
November elections, but it would be of considerable help if, across the country, campaigning politicians put this high on their promises of legislative action, much sooner than later.Note: Walter Cronkite’s column is distributed by King Features Syndicate and originally appeared August 6, 2004. I could not find a URL so I could not blog I copied
Author: harold

Drug violence in Mexico presents threat at US backdoor

More than 5,000 people were killed last year in drug-related violence throughout Mexico, according to MSNBC.

Some say this is caused by “America’s insatiable appetite for drugs”

This is like Nero saying, “We have so many dead Christians because of the lions’ insatiable appetite for them”

Why can’t we just END DRUG PROHIBITION LAWS and end this violence. It is just too simple
Author: harold

Michael Phelps Has No Business Apologizing for Taking Bong Hits

The Olympic gold medalist struck another blow to the myth that pot smokers are lazy couch potatoes. He has no reason to say he’s sorry.

Phelps Is in Good Company

Phelps struck another blow to the myth that marijuana smokers are lazy couch potatoes. Here is the guy who has won more gold medals than anyone in history, and obviously his health and accomplishments are not hindered by smoking some pot. In addition to his swimming skills, he is a successful businessman who has turned his swimming skills into an enormous public relations platform and money generator. Successful and honorable people who have smoked some pot are all around us, from President Barack Obama to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

It is time to start a serious discussion on ending marijuana prohibition. If marijuana is bad for one’s health it will be determined by scientific facts and personal experience, not prohibition.
Author: harold