Category Archives: War On Drugs

Detroit police are blaming the high number of dogs killed by its officers on the city's war on drugs, according to a recent segment by WDIV.

The city has some of the highest rates of dog shootings by police, and lawsuits are costing the city thousands of dollars. ButAssistant Chief James White defended the killing of dogs, saying they are an unfortunate causality of routine drug raids.

"This isn't Fluffy the family pet in many instances," White told WDIV. "Door comes off the hinges. There's pandemonium. People are running. Perpetrator, in many instances, has a weapon himself, can start shooting. Sometimes the dog is used as a tactic to get the advantage over the officers, and I just don't think it would be acceptable to an officer to put their life at risk to try to stop a dog from attacking them during a drug raid."

Another suit accuses officers of shooting a dog through a bathroom door during a raid on a house where squatters were selling marijuana. The city recently filed a motion to appeal, arguing that unlicensed dogs are contraband and not protected by the Fourth Amendment.

Watch the WDIV segment below:

Why are Detroit cops killing so many dogs?

An investigation reveals widespread, unchecked violence against pets including one officer who shot 67

By C.J. Ciaramella

Local News

The rest is here:

Detroit police blame the war on drugs for high dog-killing rates - Detroit Metro Times

29 Mar 2017, 11:32 a.m.

Is the war on drugs working? Toilet statistics say Australia is flushed.

Flushed: A new study testing wastewater has revealed that ice and other drugs continue to be a growing epidemic all over Australia despite the government pouring money into policing it.

Prohibition of drugs has failed and it is high time to admit it.

There is really no argument tobe had on that front. The Australian government is pouring more taxpayer dollars into stopping illicit drug use than ever before, yet figures released this week show that the problem is growing exponentially.

In fact Australia is ranked second in the world for amphetamine use per capita, only trailing Slovakia.

The first ever National Wastewater Drug Testing report, showed that Methylamphetamine, or ice, continues to remain resilient to all current efforts to thwart it, while cocaine use in NSW and specifically Sydney is also out of control.

Now for the big question. With the evidence out of the bag that every region inevery state and territoryis battling drug problemswhat are they going to do about it and didnt they already know this?

When national law enforcement is left to wade around in human faeces to track drug use, does that mean they are all out of answers? Do they know that the battle is lost, even former Victorian police chief Ken Lay admitted during his time in that"We can't arrest our way out of our problems."

So is it time to take a different approach, maybe even a radical approach to what is undoubtedly a radical problem, or should we just continue to bury our heads in the sand and stay the course that has so far failed to show any decline in drug use ever.

While healthcare stakeholders will get full access to this weekstoilet data, surely it is time to treat the epidemic as a healthcare problem and not a legal problem, especially for personal users, those that are not profiting from their involvement in drugs.

Portugalmade the decision to decriminalise all drugs in2001 and thedata from the 16 years since should be invaluable to places like Australia, who seem stuck for ideas.

While drugs in Portugal are still illegal, being caught in possession of a small amount resultsin a small fine and referral to a treatment program, without an arrest or criminal record.

Since then HIV infection has dropped across the board, overdose deaths have dropped across the board, and the dramatic rise in use feared by many has failed to materialise.

While more research is needed on that front, the one fact that does remain is that whatever Australia is doing is not working and it is time we poured our energy and resources into something that might.

Excerpt from:

The war on drugs has gone down the toilet | Moree Champion - Moree Champion

S

enator Joe Manchin stepped onto the Senate floor last week to read a letter sent to him by Leigh Ann Wilson, a home caregiver whose 21-year-old daughter, Taylor, died from an opioid overdose last fall.

Please work quickly to prevent thousands of other Taylorsfrom the same fate, Manchin read.

That was just the latest of many such letters that Manchin, a Democrat, has read on the Senate floor over the past year. He represents West Virginia, which has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the nation. And he seeks to amplify the voices of those most affected.

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Leigh Ann Wilsons story, chronicled in STAT earlier this month, was all too familiar: She and her former husband tried for weeks to get Taylor into treatment for her opioid addiction, but were unable to get her either medication to reduce her cravings or an inpatient bed in a treatment facility.

Manchin spoke with STAT about his efforts to tackle thethe opioid epidemic, including an unusual proposal hes taken to President Trump. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Weve moved the needle more than ever before in the last couple of years. We [reclassified] opiates from Schedule III to Schedule II drugs [which means they have a high potential for abuse]. We got the CDC to finally put out prescribing guidelines, which doctors have never [previously] used.

There are many things we can do. Most things are educational. [When] talking about smoking cessation or using seat belts, we start in the schools educating at very young ages. Were going to have to do the same [with opioids].

Taylor Wilsons parents fought for 41 days to get their daughter treatment. They couldnt stop another overdose

I told [President Trump], Mr. President, youve come out with a statement saying weve been over-regulated in this country, and for a new regulation any agency wants to come up, were make them do away with two.

I said, Mr. President, would you take the same approach to the FDA in approving drugs and opiates. Id like to go one for one: For every new opiate they want to bring on the market, there has to be something obsolete they should take off, and quit producing it. We talked about that.

Also, with the war on drugs, you have to understand that addiction is an illness that needs treatment. Twenty years ago, we all thought addiction, or messing with any types of drugs, was a crime and we put you in jail. Well, we know that didnt work.

Behind the photo: How heroin took over an Ohio town

Thats where Ive come out with bills. First of all, the LifeBOAT Act. No one gets treatment because we dont have treatment centers. The LifeBOAT Act asks for a one-penny fee on every milligram of opiates that are produced and sold in America. One penny. That would give us a perfect funding stream. They tell me thats$1.5 to $2 billion a year that goes into treatment centers only. That gives us a chance to start treating and getting people clean again.

The other part is: What do you do if get them clean? Weve got the Clean Start Act. If you go through a one-year program, and passed that program and become clean, then you have another year of mentoring other people. After that, youre able to get the people that sponsored you before your sentencing judge and arresting officer. You plead your case of what youve been able to accomplish in a two-year period.

Hopefully, theyll give you an expungement for a one-time chance at a clean start. So were doing everything we can do.

I did four town hall meetings last week. I go to the treatment centers. I talk to the addicts. I always ask, How did you get started?Most told me they started out with recreational marijuana. Legalizing recreational marijuana is something I have not been able to accept or support.

What about medical marijuana? What about commercial cannabis? These are things I dont know much about. But Im interested in learning and finding out more. Thats what Im doing now.

26 overdoses in just hours: Inside a community on the front lines of the opioid epidemic

Weve got to get more treatment. If I talk to a person, and they dont understand that addiction is an illness, Ive got serious problems, and thats going to take a long time. It took me a long time to understand the chemistry in talking to the professionals. You have to come to that conclusion first. If you dont, you wont have one ounce of sympathy for anybody.

I dont know any human being that doesnt know someone in his or her immediate or extended family, or a close friend, who has been affected. My familys included like everybody elses. When you see a person from a good family doing something illegal, you say, How did that happen? They might steal or do this or that to support their habits.

There are other people drug pushers and pill mills that we wont tolerate. But in a merciful way, I need these other people back into the workforce. They want some assistance. They want to live a good life.

Max Blau can be reached at max.blau@statnews.com Follow Max on Twitter @maxblau

Continued here:

Senator Joe Manchin: Time for a new 'war on drugs' to tackle opioids - STAT

New York Times (blog)

Duterte's War on Drugs Through a Local Photographer's Eyes New York Times (blog) When a President Says 'I'll Kill You' is a Times documentary on the deadly crusade led by President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines that he has called a war on drugs. The film features Raffy Lerma, a photojournalist for The Philippine Daily ... Duterte's war on drugs not war vs poor, Palace insistsABS-CBN News Drug war on NY Times: 'We no longer have fear in killing people'Inquirer.net Palace slams HRW anew over claims drug war 'targets the poor' | SunStarSun.Star Rappler -Philippine Star -BusinessWorld Online Edition all 45 news articles »

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Duterte's War on Drugs Through a Local Photographer's Eyes - New York Times (blog)

Editor's Note: In January 2013, Trey Radel came to Washington as a Republican congressman representing Florida's 19th district, an area that includes Fort Meyers and Naples. Radel had been a TV anchor prior to his win and he ran on a libertarian-leaning Tea Party platform of shrinking the size and spending of the government. Just a year later, Radel resigned from Congress after getting busted buying drugs and pleading guilty to misdemeanor cocaine possession. Ironically, Radel was and is a critic of the drug war. In his riveting new memoir about his short time in office, Radel documents not just his self-destruction but a political system that always seems to put philosophical ideals and good policy last. Democrazy: A True Story of Weird Politics, Money, Madness, and Finger Food, is a no-holds-barred account of what it's like to come to Washington and really screw up. More than that, though, it reveals a system that needs radical reform. In this excerpt, Radel recounts the immediate aftermath of his drug bust, which was inevitably (and legitimately) tied to a vote to drug-test food-stamp recipients he had cast as part of a farm bill.

U.S. Congress, Public DomainDuring this awful time, it felt like every political pundit on the planet; every TV newscast, newspaper, and online publication; and every comedian in the world was coming after me. Although, after all those years of dreaming I'd be on SNL, I made it. Seth Meyers ripped me often on "Weekend Update." Every pundit and comedian seemed to take particular glee in my vote on the provision in the farm bill regarding food stamps and drug testing. Remember when I said that this vote would come back to bite me in the ass?

It all started when the Huffington Post ran an article with the headline: "Trey Radel, Busted on Cocaine Charge, Voted for Drug Testing Food Stamp Recipients." The irony is the HuffPo reporter, in at least one of the articles, actually expounded on my view on the failed War on Drugs and my past votes focused on criminal justice reform. But, c'mon, who reads articles? At the lowest moment of my life, I was being savaged on national television for getting busted for drugs after voting to drug test food stamp recipients.

After the press broke the massive farm bill down to a headline, the public boiled my vote down to one memea picture of me with white powder Photoshopped all over my face saying: "Republican votes to drug test food stamp recipients, gets busted for cocaine."

The truth was that it had not been a single vote to "drug test these dirty dogs getting handouts!" It was part of the thousand-plus-page farm bill loaded with other provisions, and it gave states more power over how they wanted to administer their food stamps. I believe in "to each state its own," especially when it comes to addressing local issues and concerns. I thought that Washington's constant "one size fits all" mandates were doomed to fail.

So while I am a Republican who is so libertarian that I could have been labeled a liberal because of my determination to end the War on Drugs and work with Democrats, it didn't matter. I was just another tea party asswipe who got busted for drugs and voted to drug test food stamp recipients.

This was especially tough for me to take because I was and am such a staunch opponent of the War on Drugs.

Our drug policies in the United States should be focusing on rehabilitation, not incarceration. There's a fiscally conservative argument for this because we throw away billions of dollars a year locking people up and turning our backs on them. Many times nonviolent drug offenders return to society lacking skills to get a job, or they're turned away from jobs because of their record. Worse, they come out as hardened criminals, which places an even greater economic burden on society.

Ironically, shortly before my bust, I worked with Democrats to cosponsor the Justice Safety Valve Act. In fact, I was one of only a few Republicans to do so. The goal: Get rid of mandatory minimums and allow judges to impose penalties below the statutory sentences. We often see cases of nonviolent drug offenders who get locked up for years only to come out with little to offer society and a society with little to offer them. It's a catch-22 with terrible results for both the individual and society. Furthermore, young Hispanics and African American men are disproportionately locked up, making life that much harder for those who have had the deck stacked against them from birth.

And there's another group of men and women who are really, really screwed over by the War on Drugs because they are caught in the middle of violence and hatred due to our inept laws. Liberals won't talk about this group because it's not politically expedient, and conservatives won't because it reveals their hypocrisy and exposes the very problems they've created through their ignorant "just say no" bumper-sticker policies.

The group? The men and women of law enforcement. I'm talking about cops.

The War on Drugs is one of the main sources of anger and resentment between communities and law enforcement in the United States today. Sure, there are heavy-handed rogue cops who use drug laws to unnecessarily surveil or outright harass individuals. But there are loads of good men and women in law enforcement who privately rail against the system that puts them and others into dangerous situations. "Hey, coppers, did you think breaking up that domestic disturbance sucked when the drunk guy pulled a gun on you just after knocking out his wife? Yeah, well, now we're sending you, a couple of white cops, into a minority neighborhood where you are utterly despised. If you 'smell something funny,' the law will compel you to drag some young adults out of their car in front of their families and friends, frisk them, embarrass them, and undoubtedly make them angry." Good luck.

Ask yourself: Would you rather have the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and local law enforcement arresting people who are using recreational drugs in their home or tracking down fanatics about to walk out of their home strapped with AK-47s and suicide vests?

Do you think that example is too extreme? Go ask law enforcement how much time they waste dealing with low-level drug offenders. And after officers throw away taxpayer dollars and time to keep you safe from someone who made what is essentially a private transaction for their own private use, Juan or Devon goes to jail, crowding our prisons with these not-so-grave threats to society. And, mind you, you're paying the billbillions a yearto keep them locked up.

Oddly, when it comes to alcohol, society somehow looks at people who get busted for DUIs with a chuckle and shrug. "Haha! Did Uncle Billy get popped for driving after his twelfth Busch heavy?!" Yes, he did! And the difference between Uncle Billy, and millions of others like him who drink and drive, is the person behind the wheel after a few drinks might kill your entire family with their car while you're sharing the road with them.

As for drug testing food stamp recipients, the policy has been proven to be a failure economically and in terms of enforcement; the cost of the testing hasn't been outweighed by arrests because the states rarely catch anyone. There are very few of those evil people doing drugs and taking food stamps. States that enforce this kind of policy end up targeting the elderly, the disabled, or mothers and fathers working eight days a week to put food on their families' table. All an evil constituency! A test drags parents away from their jobs, or their multiple jobs, and their kids, who they see only late at night or early in the morning if they're lucky.

The only context I can offer for voting for the provision is this: Every few months or years, thousand-plus-page bills are passed that are loaded with tons of garbage that keep the current status quo within our tax code and continue subsidies. Big Oil gets their tax break; green energy gets their money. But accusing a liberal of supporting oil or a conservative of supporting government handouts is a gross overgeneralization. It's just not true. But, damn, it sure sounds good politically.

But whether we like it or not, this is how the legislative process is built. The men and women in Congress face "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situations every day. As an eternal optimist, I call it compromise. And, dammit, compromise is not a dirty word.

The farm bill presented such a vote. If I voted for it, I'd be the jerk who approved the drug testing provision. If I voted against it, I'd be the jerk who stole food stamps from hungry children and destroyed the lives of family farmers. Democrats who voted yes with me did so because the good in the bill outweighed the bad: food stamps would continue, the ag industry would be assured stability, and your milk wouldn't shoot up to ten freaking bucks a gallon. Looks like we are all terrible people.

This is excerpted from Democrazy: A True Story of Weird Politics, Money, Madness, and Finger Food, on sale now.

More here:

This Former Congressman Is Against the War on Drugs - Reason.com - Reason (blog)

27 Mar 2017, 4:19 p.m.

A report that ice is the most-used illicit drug may not be a surprise but the impact is truly shocking.

A new report that revealsmethylamphetamineis the most used illicit drug in regional NSW and across the nation maybe not be a surprise but it is truly shocking news for communities.

A total of 13 illicit and licit drugs were detailed in the first National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program but it was ice that topped list for illegal substances.

It has gone from being virtually unknown about five years ago, to one of the most destructive and difficult to solve problems the nation is facing.

Australia is ranked second out of 18 similar countries for ice usage.

Despite its potency, the drug is relatively cheap, which has driven its rise in popularity, especially in regional areas.

Many overlook the proven dangers, including serious long-term mental health problems, for a quick high.

But it takes a heavy toll on the user and their family and ultimately, entire towns.

Unfortunately, news stories about people committing crimes while affected by ice are becoming more common. That can lower the impact they have but it is important that we dont get complacent.

If nothing is done, the problem is going to get even worse and that will lead to higher crime, more deaths and more families torn apart.

Just as concerning was the revelation in the report that prescription medication includingfentanyl and oxycodone levels were also high.

Regional NSW had above average levels of fentanyl, and the report described the drugs levels as being at concerning levels.

Parkes MP Mark Coulton said he wasnt surprised by the findings, but found it confirmed the beliefs of authorities.

He said all levels of government were working hard to try and reduce the usage but acknowledged how difficult it is when catching one supplier just leaves a gap in the market that is soon filled again.

Further education will help. Drugs are often looked at as a criminal problem but they are also medical.

Every effort has to be made to help those who have fallen victim to any drug, whether illicit or not, and the stigma of addiction remains a roadblock.

Stopping the use of drugs like ice is a near-impossible task but it is also one we cant afford to give up on.

The lives of our residents are too important for us to stop.

Link:

Now is no time to lose focus in war on drugs | Opinion - Daily Liberal

A police officer lists down the names of suspected drug users and pushers at a processing center in Tondo, Manila on July 13, 2016. Photo by Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- contrary to what critics say, the government's war on drugs is "well-received" by the public, Malacaang insists on Sunday.

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella made the statement after the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) boasted of the results of a Pulse Asia survey showing that 82 percent of residents in Metro Manila feel safer because of the government's anti-narcotics campaign.

"The administrations drug war is well-received by the people on the ground in sharp contrast to the gloom and hopelessness depicted by the Presidents critics," he said.

He added that the public's response motivates the administration to continue its crackdown on illegal drugs.

"This favorable public sentiment gives us strong impetus to surge ahead in our anti-drug campaign and hope that we continually get the cooperation of the community, and even support of the clergy, especially in the implementation of a rehabilitation program for tokhang surrenderers," he said.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police Chief, Director General Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, said the figures show that the police force is "doing the right thing" in addressing the drug problem in the country.

"The survey results presented by Pulse Asia is an eye-opener and an indication that we are doing the right thing; that the eradication of drugs and the preservation of peace and order are what the people are clamoring for," he said.

Human rights groups have raised concerns of extrajudicial killings and human rights violations over the 7,000 deaths related to the drug war.

Original post:

Gloom and hopelessness? Malacaang says war on drugs 'well ... - ABS-CBN News

There are no words for the unjust killings and unlawful actions the current administration has committed under the helm of its so-called war on drugs. Since President Dutertes inauguration, the body count has gone up to 7,000 and still counting. How bad is bad? A 14-minute documentary under the International Times Documentaries outlines the harrowing truth.

The documentary followsPhilippine Daily Inquirer photographerRaffy Lerma as he spends nights on the police beat, taking photos of dead bodies left on the street, the grief of family members as police take away another victim in a body bag. Raffy is the lensman behind the viral photograph that depicted Jennylyn Olaires cradling the dead body of spouse Michael Siaron, who was accused of drug pushing. The photo was the banner image of the the July 24, 2016 issue of thePhilippine Daily Inquirer and was criticized by Duterte himself.

The clips are graphic and will leave you utterly disturbed. All of this grief, brutality, and injustice go on without the president even blinking. In fact, clips of the various times Duterte publicly condoned these actions are played over the cries of the victims families. The ending will give you no hope as the end to this injustice seems to be nowhere in sight. Do watch it, however, because we shouldnt leave these truths nor these victims in the dark.

Photo by Raffy Lerma for Philippine Daily Inquirer

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Watch: A Chilling Look at Duterte's War on Drugs - Inquirer.net

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The New Hampshire Senate has approved an additional $4.5 million to beef up the front lines of the war on drugs.

More than a million dollars would go to hiring five new state troopers to intercept drugs coming into the Granite State from Massachusetts.

"I agree with it, they should, because it's getting bad," said Cheryl Vanmeter of Salem, New Hampshire.

Those additions troopers would be assigned to the communities on the Massachusetts border, targeting drug dealing traveling north.

"Their whole deal would be to dismantle the drug routes that are commonly used by drug dealers coming into the State of New Hampshire," explained Manchester Police Chief Nick Willard.

In many cases, those dealers are driving directly into Willards city. His department started targeting low level dealers in the summer of 2015. Operation Granite Hammer is now a statewide program that, under this bill, would get an additional $2.5 million.

"What drug dealers need to know, is we're going to come after you, we're going to disrupt your transportation routes, we're going to seize your money, seize your vehicles," Willard promised. "Then, if any of your drugs, the poison you put on our streets, lead to death of a citizen, be prepared to do a sentence that's akin to a murder."

The bill is expected to pass the House and Gov. Chris Sununu has promised to sign it.

Published at 9:46 PM EDT on Mar 24, 2017 | Updated at 10:49 PM EDT on Mar 24, 2017

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NH Expected to Increase Funding for War on Drugs | NECN - NECN

The generation that has been squatting atop American society for the past half-century will soon enough be gone, thank God. The Love Generation is dying off every day, but for the good of the world and especially America it cant happen fast enough.

The Baby Boomers think of themselves as creators of a wonderful world, a far better place than the one they inherited from their mean old uptight parents and all the rest of The Establishment they hated.

Baby Boomers (born between 1941 and 55 or so) believe their generation is the one that stopped the war in Vietnam, ended racism and sexism in America, and gave the world the best, grooviest, most amazing and thought-provoking music ever. None of this is even close to being true.

There are many reasons to despise the Love Generation. I loathe all those arrogant hippies for their towering greed and their willingness to bankrupt future generations so they are able to live in luxury via grand pensions and budget-busting Social Security payouts. Thats only the first on my list of grievances, and my list is a long one.

Boomers inherited a country with excellent public schools, fine public transportation, a healthy and robust middle class, rapidly improving racial relations, a healthy, poised military and, not least, a promising and optimistic outlook for the future.

All gone today. Behold to a country plundered by a single generation of greedy, lazy, stupid citizens.

Lets focus on a cornerstone that has propped up shifting cultural attitudes and assumptions since about 1965. I was 17 years old in 65 and even then, and even in the midwest, the push was on to glorify and consume illicit drugs. The push succeeded.

Look anywhere, and I suppose Ukiah is as good a place to look as any, and see the devastation wrought by our greedy, lazy, stupid fellow citizens. Ask Ukiah old-timers about changes theyve noticed over the past half-century and often youll get trembling, stuttering semi-coherent responses that go something like this: It just wasnt like this! This was a safe town, a nice town, not much crime, people got along with each other. Those whove lived here the longest are the ones most disgusted and disappointed at what Ukiah has become.

And it all began with marijuana. The hippie argument, not unreasonable, was that pot was a mild intoxicant and no worse than a Martini; the ongoing debate comparing and contrasting weed-whacked loadies to gin-soaked cocktailers remains unsettled.

Acceptance of marijuana was the first domino to fall. The official slogan among hippies became Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll! and what seemed at the time merely a defiant and rebellious t-shirt emblem in retrospect illuminated the shallow, short-sighted, self-absorbed core at the center of boomer values. Pot was the only thing my generation was willing to fight for. Who was supposed to fight back?

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Cultural attitudes sagged and then collapsed under relentless pressure from the Love Generation, proving that from now on the nations children were in charge. The music, the movies, TV and all the media glommed onto a groovy new audience eager to tune in, turn on, and get incapacitated by drugs.

Cocaine became fashionable. Everyone from Jack Nicholson to Eric Clapton to McKenzie Phillips were open advocates of coke, and soon living rooms all across the country were infiltrated by mirrors, straws, coke spoons, deviated septums and ambulance crews. Heroin then made its appearance, and our social infrastructure began to wobble.

Crime got on a roll in big cities and small towns, even as legalization advocates continued to insist drug use was a victimless crime. Law enforcement cracked down, and the judicial system doubled down.

Now we stare out at the American landscape and watch an opioid wave roll across the land leaving nothing behind but casualties. The opioid crisis succeeded the heroin crisis, the crack cocaine crisis, the methamphetamine, ice, bath salts, fentanyl crisis and half a dozen other drug crises jumpstarted by the generation that launched the whole sorry mess 50 years ago.

How many homicides, suicides, robberies, overdoses, and destroyed lives can be fairly blamed on drugs? Thousands of men have spent vast portions of their lives in prison. Mothers have abandoned their children to foster care so they could do more meth, and now those kids are mucking up their own lives with our old friend marijuana.

How many of our inner cities and small towns have been destroyed? How many kids have dropped out of high school to join gangs? Those kids are fighting and killing each other in turf wars in order to sell drugs to your grandchildren so they can die too. Theres been no end to the criminality, the thieving, rehab, heartbreak, despair, depression, jail and broken dreams caused by drugs, and thats just the family next door.

But at least there havent been any victims.

Tom Hine, a former hippie and an early whiner for drug legalization, acknowledges his enthusiasm may have been misplaced, as it was for other causes. TWK, his imaginary friend, believes we should take a more holistic view and appreciate the cool druggie stuff like Peter Max posters, love beads, ugly tattoos and the songs of Donovan.

Excerpt from:

Assignment: Ukiah - Drugs won the war on drugs - Ukiah Daily Journal