I've been away from BB for awhile, concentrating instead on the US economic crisis and our current political race for the presidency. My belief is that as an American, the most we can do for Mexico is to get our own economic and political house in order. Then we will be most able to support our neighbors in dealing with the crises they are confronted with, namely the drug war and violence. Also, I believe the root of the problem is the war on drugs itself, and the way it is being waged by the US and Mexico.
To quote presidential candidate Ron Paul, "Americans would be better served by regulating illegal drugs like marijuana, rather than outright prohibition." This of course flies in the face of every conservative in America who mostly believe you have to have to have a war with something to solve it, e.g. the war on terror, the war on drugs, and so on.
“Alcohol’s a deadly drug,” he said. “The really deadly drugs are the prescription drugs. They kill a lot more people than the illegal drugs. The drug war is out of control. I fear the drug war because it undermines our civil liberties, it magnifies our problems on the borders, and we’ve spent over the last 40 years a trillion dollars on this war.”
“And believe me, the kids can still get the drugs,” he continued. “It just hasn’t worked.” --dailycaller.com/2011/11/22
In another quote "While the other republican opponents repetitively recite rehashed speeches full of TV-friendly soundbites, Paul takes his fans on an intellectual rollercoaster ride that is never predictable. He might begin with a call for an end to all foreign wars, segue to demand the legalisation of drugs, throw in a defence of WikiLeaks and end with a detailed economic discourse on why the Federal Reserve must be abolished and replaced by the gold standard." --guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 January 2012
I could go on and on.
The fact of the matter is, we as a nation need to seriously reconsider our understanding of drug use in this country. Also, how the war on drugs and the resulting high disproportion of non-violent offenders who sit in our overcrowded prison system, mar our future generations from having a fighting chance to succeed in life.
It's time we speak out on these issues from a standpoint of knowledge and reason--instead of from some emotional viewpoint not based on fact and evidence. We as a country must seriously consider what direction we'd like to see us pointed in--will it be in the direction of freedom and liberty or will it be in the direction of more political control, economic turmoil and violence. Please take time to educate yourselves and participate in this decision. Your life may seriously be altered as a result.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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I thought this blog was about the drug war and not a political endorsement for US election. Please take your politics somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteIf you had a little more sense you would see it is not a political endorsement. He is using Paul as an example , common dude use your critical thinking skills.
DeleteDude??? Cracker fool?
DeleteIt's impossible to win a war when your ally's army works for the enemy.
ReplyDeleteIts also impossible to win false wars, that are not intended to be won in the first place.
DeletePrescription drug corporations make billions of dollars a year saleing drugs to people that half the time they get you addicted and more impaired then marijuana would itself. I never heard of a case were one person OD or committed suicide because of smoking a white widow cherry wrapped blunt. With marijuana being legal in some states like mine (Phoenix,Az). Thats diggin away profits for the legal drug corp. Due to the fact alot of thier pills are being replaced with medical marijuana. Watch -The union, the business behing getting high documentary by far the best marijuana documentary ive seen . Legalize it and thats a very big blow for the drug cartels and very profitable for the U.S.A. which means get out of debt not instantly of coarse but also more money to build schools and beef up our military and take out north korea before they nuke us...lol FREE MARC EMERY.
ReplyDelete"My belief is that as an American, the most we can do for Mexico is to get our own economic and political house in order."-----I completely disagree! The best that MEXICO can do is get it's OWN economic and political house in order!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteUS Justice Department is against legalizing drugs and here is the detailed explanation:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.justice.gov/dea/demand/speakout/index.html
Title: "Legalization of Drugs will Lead to Increased Use and Increased Levels of Addiction. Legalization has been tried before, and failed miserably."
.....................................
In the mid-1950s, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics estimated the total number of addicts nationwide at somewhere between 50,000 to 60,000. The former chief medical examiner of New York City, Dr. Milton Halpern, said in 1970 that the number of New Yorkers who died from drug addiction in 1950 was 17. By comparison, in 1999, the New York City medical examiner reported 729 deaths involving drug abuse.
The consequences of legalization became evident when the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in 1975 that the state could not interfere with an adult’s possession of marijuana for personal consumption in the home. The court’s ruling became a green light for marijuana use. Although the ruling was limited to persons 19 and over, teens were among those increasingly using marijuana. According to a 1988 University of Alaska study, the state’s 12 to 17-year-olds used marijuana at more than twice the national average for their age group. Alaska’s residents voted in 1990 to recriminalize possession of marijuana, demonstrating their belief that increased use was too high a price to pay.
By 1979, after 11 states decriminalized marijuana and the Carter administration had considered federal decriminalization, marijuana use shot up among teenagers. That year, almost 51 percent of 12th graders reported they used marijuana in the last 12 months.
By 1992, with tougher laws and increased attention to the risks of drug abuse, that figure had been reduced to 22 %, a 57 % decline."
Your facts are a little outdated. This 2012 not the early 90's back then they never would of thought that in 1996 (i believe not sure what year exactly) marijuana was gona be legal for medical purposes.
Delete"It's time we speak out on these issues..."
ReplyDeleteYour kidding right? NOW is the time to speak out? People have already been speaking out for marijuana decriminalization. They have for 40 years. I wasnt even alive in the 60's and I know that this issue has been around since then. Its as pointless as the right-wingers screaming about abortion laws. Time spent writing on economic policies would be better spent. The federal government will not be legalizing marijuana any time in this decade. Not even california could pass prop 19. The rest of the country? Forget about it.
The real issue is that the drug war removes high ranking cartel members creating secular fights for local and regional power. The violence is necessary for them to obtain control. The problem is that this is spread countrywide along the routes and borders. The drug industry will not be stopped. It's simply better to regroup and focus on building a strong national and local govt. Because you can not possibly expect to win this with the police force and military currently in place.
ReplyDeleteWow you really think that if you decriminalized marijuana many of the problems will be gone? I was addicted to drugs for 18 years and let me tell you, most of the people I used to smoke drugs with will rather go out and commit some sort of crime to get money to buy drugs than to go to work, and that includes the marijuana smokers. Many will go shoplifting in groups to a Mall to buy expensive marijuana, some marijuana can get as expensive as cocaine or meth.
ReplyDeleteIdiot
DeleteI'm all for drug legalization and regulation...however there is an evil here that has taken root in mexican society that won't just simply go away. The values of bravado, machismo, and materialism, has taken precendence over empathy, sympathy, and compassion.
ReplyDeleteLaw enforcement and politicians get too much money from bribes from the cartels to ever make it legal. If it's legal all that goes away which is why it never will - got to grease those palms!
ReplyDeleteAnyone who is interested in seeking the truth and not just regurgitating propaganda should read ;
ReplyDeleteDRUGGING AMERICA -A Trojan horse
"FBI, CIA and other insiders reveal greatest threat to Americas Men and women from governments's fraudulent war on drugs"
By Rodney Stitch
Author of unfriendly skies and defrauding America
Marijuana is legal in the capitol of the united states. Are the feds cracking down in washington d.c. as much as they are in states elsewhere? Why is marijuana even legal in washington d.c. if there is a federal nationwide ban on it? Sounds very hippocritical to me. And washington d.c. legalized marijuana, within that state, just barely 1-2 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, No Country should have to slaughter its own people for another countries politics. As we speak the war on drugs is a total failure, the War on Terrorism has been an epic fail as well, the Taliban remember them?
ReplyDeletethe U.S. government is speaking peace with them.
Maybe its time the U.S. Government and the Mexican government invite the Mariguana representative to the U.N. and hear his side of the story.
The facts are thier are more violent crimes in the united states that involves alcohol then thier is marijuana. Alcohol related crimes domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assualt and harrasment, rape, battery, assault with a deadly weapon and all the drunk drivers who crashed and killed innocent people in car accidents. When i come home from a long day at work i want to smoke a blunt,chill relax grab me a bag of chips and watch tv .have some freaky sex with my freaky wife because i get hell of horny when im stoned.. instead of drinking one then another then a 18 pak is gone and next thing u know ur beating your wife in front of your kids because she tells you to stop drinking so much some jump the gun and murder thier wives waking up in a jail cell like WTF did i do...Dont get me wrong i respect the people who drink with responsibility but the facts are thier more violent crimes are committed while under the influence of alcohol
ReplyDeletePeople who say marijuana is a gateway drug are stupid ass fuck. The only reason its even seems like dat its because of prohibition. The average street drug dealer who one buys marijuana from because of prohibition doesnt usually sale just marijuana. They usually sale other illegal drugs. So what do all drug dealers want is your money and more of it so what do they do "Hey i got some better stuff that will have u up for days feeling like superman. Wana try it ill give you a good deal since its your first time," BAMM ur fucked now because your a meth addict or heroin junky because all it takes is just once and your hooked at least wit 85% of people who tried it ine time are hooked.. so you legalize and thier goes the chances of you getting introduced to the hardcore drugs.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans will not nominate Ron Paul. The Democrats and the Republicans are owned by big money. Its sad to hear everyday working people arguing for the left or right. They are not even in the picture. There is no representation for citizens. Obama and crew are a bunch of crooks. It was the same with Bush. Our Republic form of government has been turned into a whorehouse.
ReplyDeleteDeadly, legal drugs are sold at a pace that makes the corner crack dealers look like amateurs. We didn't learn a thing from prohibition. I am so tired of hearing that we did.
I disagree completely.
ReplyDeleteI refuse to join the "blame America first" crowd. No, Mexico needs to fix its own problem, not unlike the US a couple of hundred years ago.
I can't support your opinions.
Fuck you then ... America needs to fix their drug problem ..dont blame supplier the user is the one that needs it .... Fkn junkies .. thats why this country has been run to shyt ...
DeleteIF marijuana was ever legalized what would stop criminal enterprises from growing tax free pot (read less expensive) and selling it to the end user? Chicago gets flooded with black market cigarettes because of their ridculous taxes. Profits are huge and go back to violent criminal networks. Is this a real solution to Ameica's drug problem? How about being a responsible parent and keeping your kid away from drugs?
ReplyDeleteWow, lots of echo chamber losers read this blog.
ReplyDeleteAnd the proprietor of BB is taking a big risk by actually saying that Republicans (and my two cents as a Democrat - all Americans) ought to give some of Ron Paul's opinions a decent and fair chance in the market of ideas.
It's our (the USA's) money, our guns, our drugs and our drug war.
Mexico has a big oligarchy problem. And so does the USA, which has become more like Mexico every year since 1980.
Let's clean up both our houses, end the drug war and start down the path to realism and prosperity that most citizens of both "United States - Estados Unidos" deserve.
January 22, 2012 4:36 PM Do you keep your kid locked up in the basement? BTW what makes you think most of the consumers are high school kids? When I practiced law, lawyers were the worst offenders - hell even the frigging DA's people were snorting coke like maniacs!
ReplyDeletePerscription drugs are Legal,they Are Regulated,Alcohol,is Legal it is Regulated, Lets add Marijuana,coke,meth and heroin, then they can be legal and regulated, Does any of this HELP the HARM all these drugs DO?? The non contributing citizens who must be Paid for by the Citizens who pay taxes. I do not care what people do I just want to be left alone and I do not want to Pay for their kids,clothes,housing,medical,education,food etc. When I work 60 hrs a week its not for these people, the drug users of America must take care of THEMSELVES.
ReplyDeletei believe you should just legalize weed. He is right ;the war on drugs isn't working and 60% of the inmates have non violent weed cases.Weed is a valuable source of income to the cartels let the americans grow it and pay taxes on it.
ReplyDeleteLet me tell u sumthing. I smoke weed everyday but I aint with them smokerz that want 2 legalize it.
ReplyDeleteDrugs are illegal in the USA because our leaders have the attitude of a pig.
ReplyDeleteYou Ms. Layla are what they call a LIberal Propagandist and intellectual midget! Probably a Che Obama worshipping Communista 2!
ReplyDeletePlease BB do not let this woman do anymore reporting if she is going to throw her politic beliefs into the fray..You will aggravate the readers and lose your integrity in the process!
ReplyDeleteGreat article Ms. Layla. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteDon't let the control freaks discourage you. They have mental problems that they have foisted upon the rest of us with their so-called war on drugs.
Layla , you write this article stating what you believe the problem to be. But you offer no solution. Thanks......For nothing.
ReplyDeleteI love the legalize weed and tax it argument. This people must have been smoking weed for to long. They think we are stupid. Everyone knows there will be no taxes made from weed. That stuff can grow anywhere. That is like trying to tax air.
ReplyDeletePot Heads stop using this stupid argument.
I have worked in the (semi-legal) pot industry in California and can tell you for certain there are a good amount of taxes going to the local city level
DeleteI'm all for making marijuana legal but it won't do jack shit to stop these cartels. lol you think these guys are gonna go get a 9-5 and become productive members of society cause drugs are legal? doubtful. also, legalization of more dangerous drugs like meth and heroin brings with it a whole new set of problems.
ReplyDeletewhat is to become of the influx of new and existing addicts that comes with legalization?
the culprit for Mexico's drug war isn't US drug policy. what of Mexico's rampant corruption in goverment and law enforcement, broken justice system, and crippling poverty?
Legalizing marijuana will havn no effect on the drug war, the drug is pennies compared to the coke meth and other drugs the cartels are bring in, no one gives a fuck if you hippies want pot legal it isant going to happen because of the war on drugs, and thoes who want legal marijuana for medical use, 90 percent of the people who have the cards dont need it. So just get over it wont be legal for your dumb ass to walk down the street in america smoking pot in your lifetime and if america dosent go to shit it wont happen in your retard kids lifetime
ReplyDeletefor the misinformed who want drugs legalized.
ReplyDelete"Police say Aide Mendez, 23, killed her two children - 3-year-old Isaiah and 17-month-old Aliyah - and a cousin, 27-year-old Paul Medina. She also shot her husband, 33-year-old Eduardo Lopez, and stabbed him before she killed herself.
In the apartment where the killings took place, investigators say they found an iPad with a recording of Mendez and Medina smoking meth. According to the Fresno Bee , police say they also found 10 grams of methamphetamine, scales, almost $8,000 cash and three handguns in the apartment.
Well, there are definitely no shortages of opinions on here with regards to "legalizing" drugs. The bottom line here, the supporters for legalization make up a very small of percentage. That is the main reason why drugs in the U.S. are still illegal. There have been many/several proposals both at the state and federal levels of gov't that have discussed and proposed legislation to legalize marijuana but time after time it has failed to pass. It's just not going to happen! It's common sense people you can't regulate heroin, cocaine, and meth use! That's fucking ridiculous...those narcotics are extremely dangerous and pose massive health risks with prolonged use.
ReplyDeleteThe War on Drugs is very anti-free trade. It affects many more things than the drugs themselves. It makes criminals out of people that would otherwise serve a legitimate function with an actual job. All these "criminals" are not addicts like you would think, they are trying to make money, plain and simple. Some of them are savages, sure, but they didn't get that way because the police were playing nice. Treat your people badly, and they will have no reason to follow your laws. If you were a coffee farmer, how would you feel if some Mormon army came to your country and burned all your coffee bushes because caffeine is illegal in that other country on the other side of the world?
ReplyDeleteThe Mendez murders were sad, but you could hardly say it happens every day. Alcohol kills many people every day, from poisonings and accidents, to organ failure. The headline is associating the two things for you, so you have no reason to believe passion had anything to do with it. If you read between the lines, you'll see that the wife was fighting with the husband, probably over use of drugs. The article would like you to think that the wife snapped for no reason and went into a drug-fueled rage, but it doesn't say that at all.
ReplyDeleteThe gold standard????really???? How much gold do you believe is in the world? Do you really believe it is enough to regulate monetary policy. Ludicrous!
ReplyDeleteWar on Drugs-->Internal War on Terror--OKC, Ruby Ridge, Wac-->External War on Terror--Iraq, Al Quaeda, and back now to the War on Drugs as our operation overseas winds down (at least in perception). It is a 30 year cycle.
ReplyDeleteThere will be no legalization of drugs in the USA by any President because it undermines the necessity of an enemy, something to fight against.
I've lost two friends to painkiller addiction and suicide. My father died an alcoholic. I've never lost anyone to pot--and no, I don't use it.
We have arbitrary policies in the USA based on corporations making money, largely the defense industry and pharmaceutical industry. The power doesn't lie with the people, and thus the people's will, will never be enacted.
The combination of alcohol and prescription drugs are killing more kids (in very wealthy areas) than marijuana. Should we outlaw those? What about the kid huffing paint, outlaw paint? The drug war is thre to make money, provide jobs, and keep drug not made by Johnson & Johnson, Merc, etc from reaching the market. If you don't think these companies even go so far as witholding cancer drugs and certain disease treatments because of their lack of profitability you are ignorant......let's not forget the contra affair and the CIA selling drugs (that were sold to ameican kids) to by guns to fight the communist.....Don't take everything at face value and believe everything the govt tells you, it very UN-American and not how we came to be. Marijuana was originally made illegal because of its superior paper qualities to the material the giant newspaper corps were producing in the early 20th century.
ReplyDeleteIf we in the USA had spent the same amount of money in the medical sector that we have thrown away in the "war on drugs" we would have beyond any shadow of doubt the best medical system in the universe. Capable of handling those unfortunate enough to abuse drugs with compassion and real care.
ReplyDeleteInstead of training and educating superior minds in a positive approach to the troubles that ail mankind, we have given full employment to relative low-lifes and their mental hang-ups.
Any idiot can become a cop. Just look around you. These bullies are everywhere. They have the mentality of real losers and they take it out on the rest of us with this war on drugs that they have created.
What makes this phony drug war possible in the first place is the fact that the American people are considered to be some of the dumbest people on the face of the earth.
If the government legalized it, who would they railroad into their private for profit prison systems making cheaply manufactured goods?
ReplyDeleteMet a man who made a fortune off a device installed in every AC unit. The state mandated the part and then that part was made in the states' prison system.
Doesn't it seem weird the land of the free has more of its citizens locked up per capita than China? One felony conviction takes away your rights to guns and votes.
And why tax it? The savings from not locking people up, not prosecuting them and not arresting them would pay for itself.
The USoA certainly does need to get its house in order.
12:56
ReplyDeletewhat the fuck are you rambling about? you have no business calling anyone dumb considering you can't even put together a coherent sentence.
"January 22, 2012 4:36 PM Do you keep your kid locked up in the basement? BTW what makes you think most of the consumers are high school kids?"
ReplyDeleteMy "kids" are grown up and no are no longer kids. I was a responsible father and was always involved with them until they started their own lives. Im not an idiot and can tell if someone is high on marijuana, coke, ect. My wife and I were the sole reason our kids never got involved with drugs. I never said that most of the consumers are high school kids, but in general they do start at that age to experiment. I was in high school at one point of my life.
israel, the british crown, talmudic kabalistic jews (bankers&rabbis)and by extension freemasonry and the vatican run the bloody show, they are at the core of this worlds corruption_you can start by having a look at the crimes(abominations) of the bolshevics and the beggining of communist russia. the whole planet needs a makeover, asap!
ReplyDeleteReally? Not even the head of the DEA thinks it's a winnable war! Why fight a war you can't win? That's a lot of money that could be projected at our deficit.
ReplyDeleteIt's a not a winnable war but it helps keep DEA, border patrol, state cops, local cops, judges, parole officers, correctional officers, rehab centers, hospitals, doctors, nurses, ect employed. It will always be far more profitable to keep drugs such as marijuana illegal since it doesn't take rocket science to grow and the government knows for a fact it couldnt keep tabs on the taxes on something that is sold in a bag and by the gram to the end user.
ReplyDeleteMarijuana is a gift from the good lord im a smoker and proud the world would be revolutionized in the matter of years with legalization of this wonderous herb I believe that the ten percent who governs the 90% dosent want this to happen this greedy snakes are hell bent on destroying our earth and raping of its natural resources and their evil corporations same as cartels dont wanna see this happen think about oil industry the tabacco industry the lumber industry all the crap that pollutes would be obsolete
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous at 1:41 pm on january 22nd:
ReplyDelete"US Justice Department is against legalizing drugs and here is the detailed explanation:
http://www.justice.gov/dea/demand/speakout/index.html
Title: "Legalization of Drugs will Lead to Increased Use and Increased Levels of Addiction. Legalization has been tried before, and failed miserably."
.....................................
In the mid-1950s, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics estimated the total number of addicts nationwide at somewhere between 50,000 to 60,000. The former chief medical examiner of New York City, Dr. Milton Halpern, said in 1970 that the number of New Yorkers who died from drug addiction in 1950 was 17. By comparison, in 1999, the New York City medical examiner reported 729 deaths involving drug abuse.
The consequences of legalization became evident when the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in 1975 that the state could not interfere with an adult’s possession of marijuana for personal consumption in the home. The court’s ruling became a green light for marijuana use. Although the ruling was limited to persons 19 and over, teens were among those increasingly using marijuana. According to a 1988 University of Alaska study, the state’s 12 to 17-year-olds used marijuana at more than twice the national average for their age group. Alaska’s residents voted in 1990 to recriminalize possession of marijuana, demonstrating their belief that increased use was too high a price to pay.
By 1979, after 11 states decriminalized marijuana and the Carter administration had considered federal decriminalization, marijuana use shot up among teenagers. That year, almost 51 percent of 12th graders reported they used marijuana in the last 12 months.
By 1992, with tougher laws and increased attention to the risks of drug abuse, that figure had been reduced to 22 %, a 57 % decline."
Your first paragraph of statistics regarding New York and drug related deaths flatly contradicts the Justice departments claim of legalization leading to greater addiction rates.
Secondly,the lower numbers of youth marijuana users reported after stricter punishment could easily have a very obvious cause, namely that once it becomes more strictly illegal for kids to use pot, they stop reporting on their use as honestly as they did under decriminalization, leading to "lower" usage numbers.
Bottom line either way: So what? Whether use or addiction are higher or lower what business is it of regulators and busybodies how people decide to treat their own bodies. Let them pay for their own costs and leave them the fuck alone.