Daily Archives: April 25, 2021

When you think of the longest wars in U.S. history, youd typically think of armed conflict.

Topping that list is the Afghanistan War and, by extension, the War on Terror. The almost 20-year war defined our entire generation. Most, technically all, of our age group has never known peace. We have never known a nation that is not at war with somebody, and why that is happening is another discussion for another day.

But when you look at passive wars, wars without guns, there is one that sticks out the most. At the time of this writing, the War on Drugs has lasted 49 years, nine months and 23 days. It is easily one of the longest wars in world history.

And despite lasting so incredibly long, its central purpose, goal and mission have not changed: target, engage and arrest minorities in the U.S., focusing on Black men.

Between the 1970s and 2016, U.S. prison rates increased by 500%, leading to the U.S. having the highest tracked imprisonment rates. In 2018, of all federal prisoners in the US, 33% were Black, 30% were white and 23% were Hispanic.

The numbers seem relatively close, right? When you consider only 12% of the US population was Black during the same study period, there are red flags. And its not just imprisonment rates that are incredibly racist.

A 2015 report by the US Department of Justice found that Black drivers in Missouri were over twice as likely to be searched during vehicle stops but were found in possession of contraband around 30% less often than white drivers.

A 1995 United States government study found that from 1991 to 1993, 16% of those who sold drugs were Black, but 49% of those arrested for doing so were Black. Despite all of this information, the government has not changed its stance despite all of these studies. And this is because the United States government is using this to oppress minorities in this continue.

But this isnt even speculation: John Ehrlichman, President Nixons aide on domestic affairs, was the man credited with pitching the plan to the President. In a 1996 interview, Ehrlichman explained what it was like in the room where it happened.

The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and Black people. You understand what Im saying? Ehrlichman began.

We knew we couldnt make it illegal to be either against the war or Black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and Blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news, Ehrlichman explained in the interview.

The Nixon administration lied to the American public night after night about these drugs dangers and who was using them.

Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course, we did, Ehrlichman further explained.

And it is not just Republican Administrations that are engaging in this. Take Bill Clintons Administration. The 1994 Crime Bill, which current president Joe Biden wrote, is known for targeting minorities, especially regarding crime.

Specifically, towards drug legislation, the bill introduced the Three Strikes Law. Which by its name seems harmless until you know whats going on. It required a mandatory life sentence for any felony violent crime conviction after two other prior convictions. Again, this seems straightforward, but it includes serious drug offenses per Section 3559 of Title 18 U.S. Code.

Not to mention there is a direct implication for college students. The law had a clause that removed the approval of Pell Grants for low-income inmates in federal prison.

So that means if you are an 18-year-old who got caught with weed by a federal agent, you now have a more challenging time paying for college. Keeping you stuck in the situations that likely brought you arrested in the first place.

Not to mention Bill Clinton cut many programs that help poor minority communities, such as public housing. Unfortunately, because many of our parents grew up being fed this false information, the lies persist in American society. And even then, it has focused on the same drugs from the 70s.

Marijuana, heroin and meth are still the central focus, yet there are far more dangerous and legal drugs.

Tobacco, alcohol and opioids are all very legal and very deadly. Opioids alone killed 81,230 people during the 2020 fiscal year. For comparison, thats more than how many people died in the Hiroshima atomic bombing, not including those who died of radiation poisoning.

The War on Drugs is functionally the U.S. governments biggest failure, spanning nearly five decades, all to put a group of peaceful Americans into prisons.

More:

In Opinions: Yes, the War on Drugs disproportionately targets minorities - The Signal - The Signal

This article by Alfonso Colasuonno was originally published onGoldleaf, and appears here with permission.

The days of cannabis reform being an issue advanced solely by countercultural types are long gone. Arapidly increasingnumber of people from all walks of lifeincluding from the exciting world of big businessare in favor of legalization or decriminalization.Read on forten quotes from entrepreneurs who support a sea change in our current cannabis policies:(In response to being asked if cannabis should be legalized)

Yes. And release prisoners who are incarcerated for pot.

Mark Cuban, Majority Owner of theDallas MavericksWho most benefits from keeping marijuana illegal? The greatest beneficiaries are the major criminal organizations in Mexico and elsewhere that earn billions of dollars annually from this illicit tradeand who would rapidly lose their competitive advantage if marijuana were a legal commodity.

George Soros, Founder of theOpen Society FoundationsOf course I know how to roll a joint.

Martha Stewart, Majority Shareholder ofMartha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Its not just the over $8 billion that we would be saving in law enforcement; its also the over $8 billion that we would be making by taxing marijuanaWe are filling our jails with nonviolent drug offenderspredominantly young, predominantly African-AmericanIts a great beyond left and right issue. It has support across the political spectrum and also the support of the majority of the American people.

Arianna Huffington, Founder ofThe Huffington PostI have friends who smoke potIts ridiculous to treat them as criminals.

David Koch, Former Vice President ofKoch Industries

Id like to see the government back a programme of research into the medical properties of cannabis and I do not object to its responsible use as a recreational relaxant.

Richard Branson, Founder ofTheVirgin Group

You either make it illegal, in which case you support a huge underground economy or you tax it within the limits people can afford.

Kevin OLeary, Founder ofOLeary Ventures

Selling weed literally went from a major felony to essential business (open during a pandemic) in much of America and yet many are still in prison. Doesn't make sense, isn't right."

Elon Musk, Founder/CEO ofSpaceXand CEO ofTesla, Inc.(In response to being asked if he had ever smoked cannabis)

"You bet I did and I enjoyed it."

Michael Bloomberg, Founder ofBloomberg L.P.

"US jails hold around 2.4 million peopleabout 25 percent of the worlds prisoners. Blacks and Hispanics are significantly more likely than whites to be arrested for possession and sale of marijuana and to receive a conviction and criminal record, even though the majority of marijuana users are non-Hispanic whites. Almost 40 percent of prisoners are black. More than half the people entering prison live below the poverty line. Our entire society pays the price for an unfair, broken system."

Mark Zuckerberg, Founder/CEO ofFacebookRead the original Article onGoldleaf.

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10 Famous Entrepreneurs Who Are Against The War On Drugs - Benzinga

Cody Jorgensen, an assistant professor in the criminal justice department at Boise State University, describes the "War on Drugs" as a policy shift that "essentially encouraged law enforcement to take a harsher approach to drug enforcement." That shift officially began under President Richard Nixon and ramped up during President Ronald Reagan's term, Jorgensen says.

When the Controlled Substances Act was passed in 1970, marijuana was classified as Schedule I, "defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse," alongside heroin and LSD. "From the very beginning of when we started formalizing our drug war in the United States, marijuana was seen as an integral part," says Sheila Vakharia, who holds a doctorate in social welfare and is the deputy director of the department of research and academic engagement at the Drug Policy Alliance. "In the years that have passed, marijuana enforcement has become a disproportionate target for a lot of law enforcement."

In 2019, roughly 15 percent of all arrests were drug-related, according to data from the FBI, ranking as the highest offense listed. More than 85 percent of those drug-related arrests were for possession, with marijuana accounting for the highest percentage. There is minority overrepresentation in those statistics, says Vakharia. According to a recent ACLU report, "on average, a Black person is 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, even though Black and white people use marijuana at similar rates." U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data shows that in 2019, marijuana possession resulted in 1,823 people being deported, which averages to about five people per day.

"The question of equity, it was always there, but it's becoming more evident how difficult it is to have those policies that can actually repair all the harm that was done by the War on Drugs."

Furthermore, when a person is convicted of a drug law violation, it can have lasting, lifelong consequences, as noted by both Jorgensen and Vakharia. These can include losing child custody, exclusion from business licensing and credentialing, ineligibility to receive student loans, and denial of housing applications.

"I think it is personal for a lot of people," says Stas Chirkov of the War on Drugs. Chirkov is the founder of cannabis skin-care brand, Blunt, one of the CBD beauty brands that have joined the Floret Coalition. "The question of equity, it was always there, but it's becoming more evident how difficult it is to have those policies that can actually repair all the harm that was done by the War on Drugs," Chirkov says. There is currently an effort at the federal level to decriminalize marijuana, called the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE Act). If passed in the Senate (it's passed in the House), it would remove marijuana from the schedules of controlled substances and establish a process to expunge convictions related to marijuana offenses.

Go here to see the original:

These Beauty Brands Are Trying to Fix the Damage Caused by the War on Drugs - Allure

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is urging legislators to move forward with drug decriminalization proposals rather than reinstating criminal penalties for drug use.

In an interview Monday, Ferguson said legislators should seize the opportunity presented by the state supreme courts Blake decision. In February, the court found Washingtons felony drug possession law unconstitutional.

Im hoping the next step is for Washington to change course and move away from a war on drugs that has utterly failed and try a new approach, he said. And that new approach is to eliminate the criminal penalties associated with possessing a non-commercial amount of drugs. And Im hopeful that the state Legislature will take that bold but necessary step.

In the final days of this session, legislators must determine whether to recriminalize knowing possession of small amounts of drugs, make it a civil infraction, or focus entirely on recovery and treatment services. Some local jurisdictions have started to pass their own ordinances with criminal penalties, but these will be preempted if state legislation passes.

Ferguson said he was disappointed that the Washington state Senate passed a bill Friday making drug possession a gross misdemeanor.

Thats a half step at best, he said. And frankly, leaves us still in the criminal justice system for an issue that is a public health challenge. And doesnt solve our problems with racial inequities in the prosecution of drug cases in our state and across the country, and doesnt get to the underlying problems that exist.

Ferguson said decriminalization should result in a reduced caseload so that court funding could be redirected toward substance use recovery.

Ferguson may be the first statewide attorney general in the country to advocate for decriminalization, the approach in effect in Portugal and, last November, enacted by voters in Oregon.

Im not aware of any of my colleagues that support the position Im taking at this time, he said. But I suspect in five years, 10, 15 years, other state officials will be supportive of what I think will happen here in Washington.

The House Appropriations Committee heard testimony Monday on the Senates bill making drug possession a gross misdemeanor. Redmond mayor Angela Birney told legislators that a court order was key in persuading her own daughter to seek help.

It was not until the criminal justice system forced her into treatment that she was able to recover from addiction, Birney said.

But Riall Johnson, testifying on behalf of the Snohomish Ebony PAC, said any criminal penalty will be applied disproportionately to Black people.

The Supreme Court made a landmark decision thats finally giving us a chance to end the drug war, and here you are restarting it with even more options for police to criminalize us with, he said.

Another proposal would make drug possession a misdemeanor for the next two years, while phasing in a civil penalty alternative, and expanding recovery services. The legislative session is scheduled to end Sunday April 25.

Go here to read the rest:

Washington AG urges legislators to 'move away from a war on drugs' - KUOW News and Information

I feel at this moment more and more, that the United States knows what it is, and knows what it does, and knows that its racist and doesnt care. Stanley Nelson, Filmmaker

There are very few points in modern American history that have been as devastating to the African-American community as the crack era.

It was the 1980s, and a new and mysterious drug somehow infiltrated low income Black and brown neighborhoods, causing crime and chaos. It was called crack cocaine.

An entire generation would be lost, they said. What about the babies?, they asked. But the reality is, there was more to the crack era than the mainstream white media let on. In fact, the U.S. government and agents of the state were corrupt and had a hand in creating this dark time in Americas history.

Lest we forget the impact that the Iran- Contra Affair had on this war on drugs. In sum, the CIA was funding an illegal war in Nicaragua and drug smugglers were sending cocaine to the United States, on U.S. planes no less. This led to cocaine flooding the United States. Drug dealers got their hands on the cocaine, cooked it up and created what we know as crack.

The United States knew that at the very least that cocaine was being flown in and and just ignored it. Stanley Nelson, MacArthur Genius, and director of Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy, which is available on Netflix. The award-winning documentary filmmaker said that rampant poverty and international scandal was the backdrop in which the crack era took off.

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And the federal governments to offenders was clear: Lock em up and throw away the key. This is still reflected the nations incarceration rates.

According to the Prison Policy initiative, 1 in 5 incarcerated people is locked up for a drug offense. And as recent as 2018 80.0% of crack cocaine trafficking offenders were Black. Nearly half of the federal prison population are held on drug convictions.

The war on drugs changed Black America forever. Full stop. Check out this entire episode of Unpack That with Stanley Nelson to see the ways in which the impact of the crack era lives on.

Read the rest here:

When Crack Kills: Media, Misinformation and the Truth About the War on Drugs - The Root