Daily Archives: June 20, 2022

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This week, for the second time in our nations history, the country recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Juneteenth (June 19th) is a hugely important date in Americas history and in particular in the history of Black Americans. It commemorates the day that, in 1865, U.S. soldiers announced to enslaved persons in Galveston, Texas that they were free. The announcement came over two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

While this was a big step toward racial equity in the United States, the treatment of Black people and minorities in general is far from equitable today. Many of our social practices and laws continue to discriminate against certain communities, keeping racism and, in some cases, even the practice of slavery alive.

The mass incarceration of minority groups for cannabis-related offenses has had a devastating effect for millions of United States citizens and their families. In commemoration of Juneteenth this year, weve created a reading guide for those looking to learn more about this subject.

Here are four books that will help you understand Americas drug war and its effects on minorities:

This book by writer and activist Michelle Alexander was published in 2010. It takes aim at the public perception that the election of President Obama would usher in a new era of colorblindness in the US.

In her counter to this claim, Alexander highlights the laws put and kept in place by the War on Drugs which have led to the incarceration of millions of Black men. The New Jim Crow exposes the disproportionate and devastating impact drug laws have had on Black communities.

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Originally published back in 1997, this book by Dan Baum is a scathing indictment of the nature of the drug laws in place in the United States from a political perspective.

While there have been certain changes to laws regarding drugs in the United States since its publication, the sentiment of the author remains soberingly relevant. This is the book to read if you want an insight into how drug laws affect Black communities in practice, and who benefits from them.

RELATED: Weed for warriors: How legal cannabis could treat the opioid crisis among US Veterans

This book by historian and scholarElizabeth Hinton looks at the war on drugs (as well as the war on poverty) as a vehicle for mass incarceration in America. While giving a comprehensive overview of the war on drugs, Hinton challenges the belief that Americas prison problem originated from drug laws. Instead, she blames the rise of mass incarceration on the first social welfare programs in the United States.

RELATED: Emerald Triangle cannabis farmer on glamping, law, and the ever-evolving challenges of the legal weed industry

This book takes a closer look at how decades of racism in the United States helped to shape a drug policy that continues to disproportionately impact racial minorities today. Written by Doris Provine, it looks at the history of drug use in America right back to the temperance movement of the early 1900s and highlights the interwovenhistory of the anti-drug policies and racism in America.

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4 Books to Read About Race, Cannabis Law, and the War on Drugs - GreenState

Bandleader Adam Granduciel on how single-coils, the Deads Wall of Sound, and cascades of chorus build his live tones. Plus, bassist David Hartley gets weird, wild, and wonky.

For nearly two decades and across five albums, The War on Drugs founder and frontman Adam Granduciel has narrated our complex modern lives while his band has scored our dreams.

The captivating moods of their music, much like us, morph from dense melancholy to saturated, swirling madness and everywhere in between. Granduciel often layers his Springsteen-meets-Young proletariat prose atop a post-rock soundscape, but the heartbeat of their impressive, expansive live shows is their gear and how it is implemented.

I could play the whole tour with two or maybe three guitarsa White Falcon, Strat, and maybe a Jazzmasterbut I bring all these out just for fun, he says with a laugh as he considers his trove of axes.

So, lets have some fun already! Before a full evening of The War on Drugs jams in support of 2021s I Dont Live Here Anymore, PG was invited to Nashvilles historic Ryman Auditorium. We covered Granduciels growing guitar collection, got the skinny on how Jerry Garcias monstrous setup played into the bandleaders theatre rig, and we took in a cockpit view of his stompbox squadron full of tone ticklers, sizzlers, and wigglers. In addition, bassist David Hartley showed off a trio of Ps, an armada of Ampegs, and demod a fuzz that has ended his quest for razing tones.

Brought to you by DAddario XPND Pedalboard.

If youre a fan of Rig Rundowns or Kurt Vile & the Violators, youve already seen this Strat. The above Fender American Vintage 57 reissue was once owned by Jesse Trbovich, whos flanked Vile for years. Trbovich landed a true-blue 70s Olympic white Strat and needed to unload this to make room. Granduciel quickly raised his hand as a landing spot because he really enjoyed how comfortably the neck played. And since bonding with it, he likes its low-output single-coils because he can juice it with pedals. (Its worth noting that Trbovich put in a Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Strat Surfer Series in the middle position, allowing him to have hum-canceling operation in the second and fourth position.) All of Granduciels electrics take Ernie Ball 2220 Power Slinkys (.011.048).

When this thing is in my hands, I can react with it, and it becomes this whole other animal. It can be unwieldy, but this guitar plugged into a cranked Princeton or small tweed sounds incredible, allows Granduciel. So, as you can imagine, this 1969 Gibson SG is Adams right-hand when it comes to recording, but, as he explains later in the video, it doesnt coexist pleasantly with his live setup. He scooped this gem at Rivington Guitars in New York City.

Granduciel had lusted after this vintage offset for weeks when seeing it listed on Reverb by Chelsea Guitars. The listing was removed and he thought that it was gone forever. A few months later, he was in NYC and decided to stop into the shop and, low and behold, the sunburst Jazzmaster was on their bench in pieces. Apparently, the original buyer from the Reverb listing was after a birth-year model (1964, as listed on the Reverb page), but when he removed the neck its pocket revealed a 1963 date. He traded in the guitar for a proper 64 and, fatefully, Granduciel didnt let a second pass before offering to buy it. Alongside the SG, this is another heavy hitter for recording.

During a 2018 tour of Australia, Granduciel scored this 1966 Fender Jazzmaster that looks swanky with a matching black headstock. He claims the rhythm circuit in this one sounds killer, while the lead circuit is super bright and used on Occasional Rain. In addition to being a remarkable instrument, he loves that it reminds him of a short span of time that included a wonderful tour of Down Under, earning a Grammy for Best Rock Album, and the Philadelphia Eagles winning the Super Bowl.

Cracks arent meant to be beautiful, especially on guitars, but looking at the 66s backside reveals a twisted thumbprint.

This 1965 non-reverse Firebird was upgraded by its previous owner with a set of Lollar P-90s. If you recall the last Rundown with TWOD, Granduciel added a Bigsby, but that has since been removed.

This Fender American Vintage 65 Jazzmaster has been a dependable dynamo for Adam. He prefers it because he knows what hes going to get sonically and he can throw it around without worry. The newer pickups offer a snarlier tone, so it gets used for songs like Pain, and the top-end sear helps him cut through the seven-piece live band.

This new-ish Gibson Hummingbird gets busted out for C# tunes and features a LR Baggs M1 soundhole pickup.

Not quite the famed Wall of Sound procured by the Dead and audio engineer Owsley Bear Stanley, but Granduciels evolving setup is heading in that direction.

Since our last Rundown, Adam has ditched the Hiwatts (although he admits to enjoying that era of TWOD) for the Alembic F-2B Stereo Preamp that was used by Jerry Garcia and David Gilmour. He describes its circuity as mimicking the front end of a Fender Dual Showman. Theres just so much clean headroom and theyre so creamy. And I dont know what it is, but single-coils and P-90s just come to life here in a way that other amps dont, so maybe thats why Jerry and David used them so much. The Mesa/Boogie Stereo Simul-Class 295 powers the Alembic. He does run a direct line signal from the F-2B to FOH for a clean DI option.

In the video, Granduciel challenged me to guess how many speakers are in the oversized cab, and I said four. Seemed logical but, as he quickly pointed out, the Marshall 2041 Lead Organ has only a pair of Celestion (pre-rola) 12" speakers. The Alembic runs through this pillar of power.

The other side of Adams grand equation is a 1960s Fender Bandmaster head that hits a Marshall 1960BV 4x12.

As we alluded earlier, his beloved 1969 SG doesnt jive with his Alembic-Fender setup, so he incorporates its humbuckers into his live rig by plugging into the 5W Swart STR-Tremolo. The SG and Swart typically dance for Thinking of a Place, but Granduciel admits to kicking it on with the Fenders during the heat of battle and treating it like a tremolo pedal for parts of Pressure and other jams. To the right of the Swart youll notice a pair of Rockman Tom Scholz (yeah, the Boston legend) Power Soak attenuators throttling the Alembic and Fender.

The band uses this AKAI Professional MPC Live II for additional drum machines for the show.

They are harnessed by four Boss FV-500L Foot Volume Pedals controlled by Adam that allow him to bring the samples into the room mix. Additionally, the band syncs their modulation to it, so everyone is locked in. (The MPC clocks or syncs the pulsing of the tremolo for the band. Adam uses a Lightfoot Labs Goatkeeper 2, while bassist David Hartley uses a Malekko Goatkeeper.)

Heres a crows-nest view of Adam Granduciels massive pedal playground.

Most of what Adam does with his feet is simplified by this Custom Audio Electronics R-ST 24 + 2x PSS MIDI controller.

Heres one of the sections of Granduciels expanding pedalboard that includes a Wren and Cuff Tri Pie 70, a MXR/Custom Audio Electronics Boost/Line Driver, an Ernie Ball Expression Tremolo, anElectro-Harmonix 1440 Stereo Looper, a Lightfoot Labs Goatkeeper 2, a Strymon TimeLine, a Boss DC-3 Digital Dimension, and a Morley ABC Pro (for switching amps). A Boss TU-3s Chromatic Tuner keeps his guitars in check.

Heres the meat and potatoes of Granduciels spreading stomp setup: (top left) a Boss FT-2 Dynamic Filter, another MXR/Custom Audio Electronics Boost/Line Driver, DigiTech Hardwire RV-7 Stereo Reverb, ADA Flanger, JHS Bun Runner, J. Rockett Audio Designs Archer, MXR Flanger, Moutainking Electronics Loud Box, Crowther Audio Prunes & Custard, a Fulltone OCD, and a trifecta of Eventides that rest on the right sidea Space, TimeFactor, and H9. Everything gets current by either a MXR Custom Audio Electronics MC403 Power System or the Eventide PowerMax.

At first glance, youd probably mistake this for a 60s or 70s Fender P, but as bassist David Hartley attests, this is a 2002 Fender Precision named Clovis that he acquired brand new almost two decades ago. Part of Clovis charm for Hartley is that its the lightest P hes ever held, making their Evening With shows a little easier on the back. Its stock aside from him swapping out the standard anodized gold pickguard for the tortoiseshell. He uses La Bella 760FS Deep Talkin Bass Flats (.045.105).

Another 4-string that does a lot of heavy lifting for Hartley is this 1983 Fender Fullerton 62 Reissue Precision Bass. While this one isnt as light as the previous P, he does love how much it sustains.

And occasionally youll see Hartley put down all the guardrails and dance with this Fender Tony Franklin Fretless Precision Bass. The connection with this one came through when he heard how much vocal tonality it has. Its a highly expressive instrument.

The Ps come to life thanks to this boulder of bass tone: a pair of Ampeg Heritage 50th Anniversary SVT amps that hit an Ampeg Heritage SVT-810AV. The SVT on the left is a backup and Hartley plugs into the normal channels.

Prior to this run, Hartley toyed with the idea of just plugging his Ps into a DI and his Ampeg. Clearly, that plan changed and hes probably having more fun because of it. His stomp station contains a pair of Boss GE-7 Equalizers (one to help Clovis pop a bit more and the other helps brighten up the ambient drone of the Gamechanger), an Eventide H9, a Gamechanger Audio Plus Sustain Pedal, a Mountainking Electronics Megalith, a Malekko Goatkeeper, a Keeley Super Mod Workstation, and a MXR Phase 90. A Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner keeps his Ps sounding right.

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Rig Rundown: The War on Drugs [2022] - Premier Guitar

With the porous Indo-Myanmar border exposing Manipur to the Golden Triangle of drug trade and mafias, the state has launched a War on Drugs 2.0, making it a part of the 100-day agenda of the CM Biren Singh-led new government. The Ministry of Home Affairs, too, has made fighting the drug menace in the state its top priority.

The organised drug mafia, with abundant resources, uses various ways and means to push narcotic substances such as heroin, opium, ganja and synthetic drugs such as crystal methamphetamine, pseudo-ephedrine, W.Y. Tablets etc. into the state and further to other parts of the country.

In its new avatar, the War on Drugs initiative has an Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF).

The exercise comprises a multi-pronged strategy, which covers the legal, social, human resources and technological aspects to deal with the drug menace.

The state government has started choking the transit routes by deploying a dedicated 247 Highway patrol of eight GPS-enabled vehicles in Senapati and Kangpokpi districts on NH-2 as a pilot project. A compressive state highway security plan for three major National Highways NH-2, NH-102 & NH-37 connecting Manipur to Myanmar, Assam and Nagaland is in the pipeline. Once the scheme is enforced, the drug peddlers will have no option, but to stop using Manipur as a transit route for drug trafficking, said experts.

In the past five years, drugs worth Rs 3,213 crore (value in the international market) have been seized and 1,674 cases have been filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act leading to 2,104 arrests.

Further, the police have seized 170 kg heroin, 6,920 kg ganja, 1,265 kg opium, 520 kg brown sugar, 725 kg synthetic drugs, 16 lakh psychotropic tablets and 63,000 bottles of drug syrups. In addition, 13,894 acres of illicit poppy cultivated areas and 20 acres of cannabis (ganja) cultivated areas were destroyed.

After the formation of ANTF on March 20, the state has witnessed an increased crackdown on illicit drug peddlers, which has led to registration of 146 cases under the NDPS Act, 174 arrests and seizure of 18 kg heroin, 135 kg opium, 85 kg WY tablets, 44,000 capsules and 24,000 bottles of drug syrups along with destruction of 381 acres of illegal poppy cultivation.

Within 70 days, the Manipur Police have seized contraband valuing approximately Rs 142 crore in the international market.

The Manipur Remote Sensing Applications Centre (MARSAC) has been tasked to generate high-resolution data to identify areas which have been subjected to illegal poppy cultivation in remote areas. The map obtained from MARSAC has been corroborated with the images obtained from drones. On the basis of this data, relevant provisions of the NDPS Act have been applied on landowners and village chiefs allegedly for poppy cultivation. The process will be a deterrent to any prospective illicit poppy cultivator, said experts.

In a first, the ANTF organised a state-level seminar-cum-workshop on War on Drugs 2.0. It was inaugurated by CM N Biren Singh in the presence of chief secretary, DGP Manipur and other senior police officers.

This exercise was extended across the state by organising six workshops for 300 officers across 16 wings of District Police and Armed Police, so they can handle drug cases effectively.

The state has empowered officers of the Armed Police of Manipur (Manipur Rifles & Indian Reserve Battalions) under relevant sections of the NDPS Act on the lines of Central Armed Police Forces like Central Reserve Police Force and Border Security Force. It is likely to further intensify the crackdown on illicit trading of drugs as Manipur Armed Police personnel are deployed across the State of Manipur, including hilly and remote areas.

A seven-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by the IGP and ANTF, has been constituted to expedite the NDPS Act cases and for timely filing of charge sheets, besides ensuring higher convictions. The list of pending NDPS cases has been prepared and drug peddlers have been booked under Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (PIT NDPS) to ensure they dont get bail. This provision under the PIT NDPS has been drafted on the lines of the National Security Act (NSA), stipulating one year of preventive detention without bail, extendable up to two years.

To garner support, public awareness programmes have been chalked out through more than 70 events in the hill districts. The inaugural event started with the final match of a prominent local football tournament featuring many national/ISL level players which was attended by DGP Manipur and IGP Zone in the presence of around 2,000 locals. In addition, the Manipur government has decided to keep Drug-Free Manipur as the theme for International Yoga Day.

ALSO READ | This Manipur Youth Fought Drug Addiction, Built Indias First Transgender Football Team

Promotional strategies have been devised and a social media campaign has begun, with the launch of a dedicated Twitter handle War on Drugs, Manipur & Facebook page, War on Drugs, Manipur. Daily achievements of the state are highlighted through it.

The government is also focussed on providing alternate livelihood for those involved in drug trade. Steps are being taken to identify alternative means of livelihoods to wean away people from indulging in illicit cultivation of poppy in remote and hilly areas of Manipur due to lack of job opportunities.

The District Level NCORD Committee has been constituted for identification of target population, appropriate schemes and implementation of alternative livelihood and monitoring of the implementation. The proposed alternatives need to be based on local agro-climatic zones, traditional occupation and after weighing all pros and cons related to forest, agriculture, tribal development, horticulture, planning departments, etc. economic activities based on prevailing agro-climatic zone like horticulture, poultry, piggery, bee-keeping, floriculture, herbal plants etc., with emphasis on high value, low volume produce.

The state is striving to increase the market linkage to ensure right price for local products. Co-operative societies are being formulated to make these activities commercially viable.

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Tech to Task Force: Manipur Takes Its 'War on Drugs 2.0' to New High, Rs 142-crore Contraband Seized in 70 - News18

Medication abortion can be obtained in a few different ways, but typically people set up an appointment at their local abortion clinic and are sent home with a bag of pills to be taken over the next 72 hours.

Leigh was recently one of those people, making the 20-minute drive to a clinic in Washington, D.C., to come home with a handful of abortion pills and Netflix their way through the abortion from the comfort of their bed.

I was thankful I didnt have to be in a clinic, that I could be at home in familiar surroundings and just try to relax as best as I could, they said. (Leigh, who is nonbinary, is using a pseudonym for privacy reasons.)

But obtaining abortion pills in a clinic setting is becoming increasingly more difficult depending on where you live.

In the last few years, anti-choice lawmakers have ramped up their efforts to restrict access to in-person clinic care by using targeted regulation of abortion providers, also known as TRAP laws, and other medically unnecessary restrictions, such as state-mandated waiting periods between the consultation and getting the pills prescribed, required counseling thats not based in science or laws that force people to listen to fetal activity before accessing an abortion. In states like Oklahoma and Texas, which have extreme abortion bans, people are forced to take multiple-day journeys out of state just to access a handful of abortion pills.

Since in-clinic access has all but disappeared in many red states, some providers have moved online, allowing people in certain states to access abortion pills by mail. States including California, New York and Colorado allow telehealth for abortion before the 10-week mark, through online pharmacies like Hey Jane and Abortion On Demand. This means that a physician can virtually prescribe and send abortion pills right to your doorstep, allowing you to manage your abortion from the comfort of your home.

And its clear theres a growing interest in accessing abortion pills from these online pharmacies. Before the Supreme Court draft decision leaked in early May, Elisa Wells, co-founder and co-director of Plan C, an advocacy organization that provides people with information on how to obtain abortion pills, told HuffPost her website averaged around 2,500 visitors every day. The night the draft decision leaked, Wells said her website saw 16,000 visitors. The next day, it had 56,000 visitors.

But with more awareness of the benefits of and easy access to abortion pills, comes more attacks from abortion opponents. Heavyweight anti-choice groups like Susan B. Anthony List and Americans United For Life stated at the start of this year that restricting abortion drugs is a top priority in 2022. Already, 19 states have banned prescribing medication abortion via mail or by virtual telehealth visits.

This year alone, Missouri lawmakers introduced bills that would equate mailing abortion pills to drug trafficking. In Kentucky, lawmakers created a public database that lists the name of medication abortion providers so that people can anonymously report any purported violations of the states abortion laws. Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill making it a felony to mail medication abortion, punishable by a $50,000 fine or up to 20 years in prison a similar law passed in Texas last year. And all of the draconian abortion bans in places like Texas, Oklahoma and Idaho apply to both procedural and medication abortions.

In the face of these unjust laws and unjust court decisions, this is what we want people to know: There is something you can do, Wells said. Well tell you where to find these pills, how to use them, how to get support and what you need to know about the landscape around using pills for self-managed abortion, including the potential legal risk.

As access to in-clinic and telehealth abortion dwindles in red states, some women and birthing people will prefer self-managing their own abortions because its easier than navigating the ever growing list of barriers. And many will simply be forced to self-manage their abortions because they dont have any other options.

Thankfully, self-managing your own abortion with medication looks very similar to one done in a clinic or via telemedicine. A self-managed abortion is done outside of a traditional health care setting, often when a person obtains abortion pills not from a physician and undergoes an abortion without medical assistance. Because medication abortion is extremely safe and effective, it will ensure that we dont go back to the pre-Roe days of botched abortions that left so many dead.

There are several ways to to get abortion drugs outside of the traditional health care setting, including in Mexico, where misoprostol is widely available over the counter. People can also go through Aid Access, an Austria-based nonprofit that prescribes medication abortion via mail to all 50 states.

Aid Access can offer telehealth abortion anywhere in the U.S. despite specific state restrictions because their provider is based in Austria. This allows the group to circumvent U.S. regulations that penalize providers, and prescribe medication free of legal risk. Obtaining abortion pills through Aid Access is not technically characterized as a form of self-managed abortion because patients are guided through the process by a physician. But most people who need to go through Aid Access are likely navigating state restrictions or bans on abortion.

Managing an abortion outside of traditional health care settings brings with it certain legal gray areas.

People have been targeted for criminalization for self-managed abortion in this century in numerous states where prosecutors misapply laws that were never intended to be used against somebody for ending a pregnancy, said Sara Ainsworth, the senior legal and policy director at If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice.

One of the reasons we understand that that happens is, in addition to the political opposition to abortion, is that theres so much stigma that surrounds abortion generally, she added. The idea that it must be illegal if someone is managing an abortion on their own is unfortunately very pervasive.

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The Coming War On Abortion Drugs - HuffPost

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte, stressing the importance of shielding the youth from the harmful effects of illegal drugs, wants his daughter and Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio to continue his advocacy.

"Take over," the outgoing leader said at an event in Valenzuela City last Sunday.

"Ikaw na... Kunin mo 'yang trabaho (You do it. Get the job)," he said.

Duterte pointed out that the Department of Education (DepEd), which Duterte-Carpio will soon lead, will play a vital role in ensuring school-aged children will not be influenced to be drug users.

"'Yang Department of Education, maraming bata diyan (there are a lot ot children involved). Do not ever allow contamination diyan sa kanila (among them)," he urged.

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The President likewise encouraged his daughter to not hesitate in ruling with an iron fist and just "do it" if it would mean having a drug-free school system.

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Duterte to Sara on drug war: 'Take over' - The Manila Times

In the crime-infested tri-border region where Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira disappeared, rumours abound over what happened at Puerto Amelia in January this year.

Were Brazilian drug traffickers responsible for burning the Peruvian police outpost on the River Yavar to the ground?

Was it Colombian guerrillas who stormed the camp, shooting at the border guards and making off with their high-powered weapons?

Or were the culprits rogue Peruvian police officers, perhaps working for organized crime?

The answer depends on who you talk to but the consequences were the same.

Five months after the audacious raid, the camp lies in ruins. Charred logs are the only remnant of a turquoise lodging the Peruvian troops had called home.

Filing cabinets and metal bunk beds are scattered in the undergrowth while the ground is littered with empty cans of tuna fish and spam. Tiger orange butterflies dance around an abandoned border marker, bringing colour to an otherwise desolate scene.

They took guns, rifles, bullets, the lot, said one local, who gave the Guardian a tour of the strategically positioned base, located opposite the entrance to the River Itaqua, where Phillips and Pereira are feared to have been murdered.

The local said the security situation had been deteriorating since 2020 as Latin American drug cartels and factions fought for control of this increasingly lucrative smuggling route.

This is what the region is like now, they sighed as they surveyed the deserted police position past which boats packed with drugs can now travel undisturbed. It didnt use to be like this.

But this is not the first such attack on the feeble law enforcement in the Amazon region where Peru meets Colombia and Brazil.

The narcos are bolder, more aggressive; they have attacked three police posts in the last five years, a Peruvian anti-narcotics officer said.

The small [police] bases are too remote, too isolated, too exposed. You need bases with 200 to 300 men, not 10 or 20, he said. He estimated that 120 tonnes of cocaine base paste were being smuggled across the porous frontier between Peru and Brazil every year.

This is an area being controlled by organised crime, not by the Peruvian state, he said. Despite occasional police and military raids, the crime wave has overwhelmed state authorities in all three countries.

The Amazon is a cancer patient and were just giving it a pill for the pain, he added grimly.

The surge of criminal activity is partly driven by the rapid expansion of plantations of coca the raw material of cocaine on the Peruvian side of the triple frontier. Cultivation of the plant in the area known as Bajo Amazonas nearly doubled between 2019 and 2020 from 2,531 to 4,247 hectares, according to the Peruvian Drugs Observatory.

Across Peru, coca cultiviation grew by 41% between 2016 and 2020, according to official Peruvian figures an increase from 439 sq km to 617 sq km. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) says coca field cultivation is higher, reaching 882 sq km (or 88,200 hectares) in 2020, equivalent to 810 tonnes of potential cocaine.

Peru is the worlds second-biggest producer of cocaine after Colombia, according to the UN, producing around 26% of global cocaine output. The last two years have been bumper harvests.

But the country has also been buffeted by other forces: Peru suffered the worlds worst recorded per capita death toll in the Covid pandemic and its devastating impact hit law enforcement and drove rocketing unemployment. The result is a bonanza for organised crime in the Amazon region which stretches across more than half the country.

For Indigenous communities, that has led to a rise in intimidation, violence and murder as drug gangs target their land to plant new coca crops. Covid restrictions made the remote region even more vulnerable by slowing state efforts to protect land and eradicate illegal coca cultivation.

We are facing a well-structured organisation that protects drug trafficking and other illegal activities in the Amazon, said Robert Guimaraes, 49, a longtime Indigenous leader in Ucayali, in Perus central Amazon.

Unfortunately, the state does not have the capacity to intervene sufficiently, and above all to support the Indigenous peoples of Ucayali who are on the border [with Brazil], he said in Flor de Ucayali, the Shipibo-Konibo Indigenous community where he was born.

There are no police here to give security to the people, he said, joining a clamour of Indigenous Amazonian leaders who say police and prosecutors are failing to follow up their warnings, and are allowing killers to operate with impunity.

Ricardo Sobern, executive director of Perus anti-drug agency Devida, told the Guardian that international drug trafficking has been directed totally towards the Amazon as a result of the pandemic.

It is no coincidence that in 2020, Perus environment ministry reported record Amazon deforestation. A staggering 2,032 sq km(785 sq miles), a figure almost four times the 548 sq km it lost in 2019.

Across the triple frontier border, Brazils Amazonas state has become the battleground for a bitter struggle between rival drug militias, the So Paulo-based First Capital Command and Rio de Janeiro-based Red Command. In the past two years the balance has tipped in favour of the Red Command, according to security experts.

Gen Mauro Esposito, former coordinator of special border operations for Brazils federal police, said both Brazilian gangs now have cells operating in the cocaine-producing regions of Peru along the length of the two countries Amazon border, where small planes carrying drugs cargoes make daily flights.

Barbara Arisi, a Brazilian anthropologist of Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and specialist in the Indigenous peoples of the Javari Valley (as the Yavar is known in Brazil), said illegal fishing and hunting were the principal criminal activities in the area where Phillips and Pereira disappeared.

But she worried that drug traffickers using the rivers, or even transporting shipments on foot through the remote region, could put isolated communities at risk, particularly from illnesses to which they have no immunity.

They could cause whole populations to die and we wouldnt know anything about it, she said. First contact with the Matis people in the 1970s decimated two-thirds of their population, she noted.

The Indigenous [in the Javari Valley] people have a tragic past, she told the Guardian.

Now they are fighting because their friends have been killed. They are showing their faces, they are brave enough to protest in the face of organised crime, she added.

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Police losing narco war in deadly Amazon region where duo disappeared - The Guardian

A proposed ballot measure, the Emerald New Deal, promises to repair the negative impacts that the war on drugs has had on Oaklands Black and brown communities. The organizers behind the measure have secured some influential endorsements from local community organizations and several city councilmembers. But the last hurdle before the measure ends up on the ballot for voters to decide is getting approval from the entire City Council.

Since last month, the council has deliberated over the plan a handful of times. Its not clear the measure will be advanced though. While virtually everyone agrees on the premise of addressing the harms done to communities of color through the strict enforcement of drug laws, some are skeptical of the Emerald New Deal is the right way of doing this.

The City Council continued this debate at last Thursdays rules and legislation meeting. The Emerald New Deal would redirect the entirety of Oaklands cannabis business tax revenue, or about $7 million annually, out of Oaklands general fund and place it in a new restricted fund called the END HARM Fund to pay for services targeting communities harmed by the war on drugs. These services would include mental health, reentry services, housing assistance, and economic development. It would also increase financial support for equity cannabis businesses, which are those owned by Oakland residents who can demonstrate theyre from a community that was harmed by the war on drugs.

A new oversight commission would be created to manage these funds and make sure they arent misspent.

Charles Reed and Gamila Abdehalim, two organizers with the Emerald New Deal campaign, have pressed the City Council in recent months to advance the measure for voter approval. The Emerald New Deal was born from the hearts and minds of the people who were affected by the War on Drugs the most, Reed said during last weeks council committee meeting.

In-Advance initative, an Oakland-based non-profit that also manages the Sugar Freedom Project, is responsible for the campaigns inception.

The war on drugs describes the U.Ss decades-long attempt to stop the use and sale of illegal drugs by imposing harsh prison sentences on both drug dealers and users. These policies disproportionately affected Black and Brown communities in cities like Oakland where many thousands of people were arrested and incarcerated over the span of several decades.

The Emerald New Deal has received the endorsement of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, the city board charged with making recommendations to the council on matters of the cannabis industry. District 6 Councilmember Loren Taylor introduced the ballot measure and is one of its key backers. Councilmembers Treva Reid and Noel Gallo, also from East Oakland, are listed as co-sponsors of the measure.

I think weve reached out to every single cannabis business, community organization, labor unions, and asked them to contribute their opinion, Abdehalim said.

Some councilmembers are concerned that the proposed measure might negatively affect the citys general fund, the largest pot of money in Oaklands budget that the council has the flexibility to spend how it sees. Other funds in the city budget are restricted, limiting the ability of the council to make adjustments when recessions happen. The city also already funds some of the services and programs the Emerald New Deal would be dedicated to.

Councilmember Dan Kalb asked at last weeks rules committee meeting whether the city knows how much it currently spends on the same services and programs the Emerald New Deal would pay for.

Councilmember Carroll Fife inquired about which organizations will be tasked with using cannabis tax funding to implement these services, how these groups would be chosen, and what specific ways they will serve the needs of communities affected by the war on drugs. Fife also requested a race and equity analysis report on the impact of this legislation.

Dozens of Oakland residents called in to voice their concerns and support for the initiative.

Gene Hazzard, a city hall observer and frequent commenter at council meetings, urged council members to not put the Emerald New Deal on the November ballot. Its a sham, do not support that, Hazard said during the public comment portion of the meeting. Its a slush fund that will put money into the hands of select organizations.

Dr. Cesar Cruz, co-founder of Homies Empowerment, a group that provides assistance to the community, said that East Oakland could benefit greatly from this initiative. This tax that comes from marijuana sales is so needed in our community like mental health and job training, and I invite you to come to the area to see whats happening on the ground and youll understand why we need that in our community.

The committee voted to continue the discussion of the Green New Deal proposal at the June 23 rules and legislation meeting, citing a need to have more of their questions answered.

The policy has to be right because if it is not we will be letting down the people who are looking to us for answers, Fife said.

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Will the 'Emerald New Deal' make it onto Oakland's November ballot? - The Oaklandside