Category Archives: War On Drugs

The war on drugs has been going on for decades now and it costs the average person a fortune. While you may not be directly contributing to this crusade, your taxes and other bills do. Just how much is this costing you?

In total, our drugs control programme costs $100 billion per year to upkeep and enforce. Thats a massive chunk of the overall federal budget on something that experts say may not even be effective. The sheer size of the budget being spent on this programme is shocking and some believe it could be better spent elsewhere.

The result of the war on drugs isnt a higher price for drugs or scarcer supply, its legacy is the mass incarceration of a number of offenders. While what these offenders have done is illegal, we simply dont have the right amount of leniency and rehabilitation in place. Weve all heard of the straight A students in crime summaries, arrested and charged for a relatively small amount of a lower class drug, which can ruin their lives. Should these people be placed in a prison?

The costs dont stop with the incarceration either, the loss of productivity and workers also affects our national earnings. If someone is imprisoned for a period of a few years then they simply cost the country money, instead of generating it.

Thats why alternate solutions are cropping up for those that dont want to fund this war on drugs. Addiction rehab centers such as http://www.luxurybeachrehab.com, are opening their doors to those that suffer with drug problems. They want to rehabilitate instead of just imprisoning, which has been shown to be much more effective.

The high rate of drugs within our prison system is also alarming, as prisoners may not be protected from these influences while incarcerated. Instead, they may be used as leverage between prisoners and could lead to higher mortality, as they are being taken in an unsupervised environment. Experts that help with the detoxification process have spoken against just how dangerous this can be.

Our drug users are being forced underground by that $100 billion budget but theyre not actually being deterred from taking drugs. Their health is put at risk because of the staunch zero tolerance policies. In other developed nations, health providers give out fresh needles and a place to dispose of used ones, which dramatically reduces the transmission of HIV.

We should be working with these experts to pioneer our own campaign in the war on drugs that is actually effective. There are more than enough examples all over the world of the way that healthcare providers can better work with those in the throes of addiction. They mustnt be punished and incarcerated unless they are actively supplying other users or posing a risk to the public.

These latest figures show a really damming picture of the war on drugs, as they make it clear it is a cash eating machine without a lot of results. Simply throwing money at the problem doesnt seem to be enough and law makers need to start thinking outside the box, only then will they be able to mount a decent attack on illegal drugs. With other nations leading the way in this regard this outdated system is sadly falling behind at a huge cost to our taxpayers and vulnerable people.

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How Much is the War on Drugs Costing Us? - Los Cerritos News

Exclusive: The argument for President Trumps Great Wall across the U.S. southern border would be severely undercut if America expanded legalization of personal drug use, reports Jonathan Marshall.

By Jonathan Marshall

Attention deficit disorder isnt usually a welcome presidential attribute, but Mexicans can be thankful that Donald Trump has temporarily shifted his focus away from their country to start fights instead with Iran, the European Union, China, California and the U.S. news media.

The last time Trump addressed Mexico, right after the election, the peso fell 17 percent. Within days of his inauguration, Trump demanded that Mexico pay for a border wall, prompting cancellation of his planned summit meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

As former Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan lamented, it took only one week of bilateral engagement between the new U.S. administration and Mexico to throw the relationship into a tailspin. That relationship would be better if Trump had stuck to the view he expressed in November 2015: I dont care about Mexico, honestly. I really dont care about Mexico.

Someday soon, however, Trump will rediscover his interest in Mexico, and relations will likely suffer again. But Mexico need not take his abuse lying down. As the buyer of more than a quarter trillion dollars in U.S. exports the second-largest market in the world for U.S. goods Mexico has some leverage if Trump tries to play rough with tariffs and trade.

And if Trump persists in sending a bill to Mexico City for his wall, Pena should seriously consider sending a bill in return to Washington to pay for the U.S. drug war.

High Cost to Mexico

For years now, Mexico has paid an extraordinarily high price in lives and social disruption for Washingtons insistence that North Americas drug problem be tackled south of the border, where the drugs are grown and transported, rather than primarily in clinics and halfway houses at home to treat the medical and psychological issues of users.

Successive administrations, starting with President Nixon, have demanded ever-tougher border controls, aerial-spraying programs, and DEA-backed anti-cartel operations in Mexico. All those efforts and sacrifices have been for naught. U.S. residents currently export up to $29 billion in cash to Mexican traffickers each year to buy marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines and heroin.

Forcing that trade underground has taken a terrible toll on Mexico in terms of violence, corruption and social upheaval. Since 2006, when President Felipe Caldern ordered his military to join the war on drug traffickers, Mexico has lost about 200,000 lives and 30,000 more have disappeared, dwarfing the civilian death toll in Afghanistan and Iraq over that period.

The majority of those killed and disappeared were victims of criminal organizations, but human rights organizations also report soaring rates of human rights violations, including torture and killing, committed by security forces.

The 2016 Global Peace Index, prepared by the Institute for Economics and Peace, estimates the total cost of violence in Mexico at $273 billion, or 14 percent of GDP, with no end in sight. Direct fiscal costs of fighting the war on crime were about $32 billion in 2015 alone. Yet the United States has contributed only about $2.5 billion since fiscal 2008 to Mexicos drug war, under the so-called Merida Initiative.

Mexicos pain shows no signs of easing. The New York Times reported in December that Mexico suffered more than 17,000 homicides in the first 10 months of last year, the highest total since 2012.

The relapse in security has unnerved Mexico and led many to wonder whether the country is on the brink of a bloody, all-out war between criminal groups, it said.

Time for an Alternative

In his last phone call with Mexican President Pena, Trump reportedly complained, You have some pretty tough hombres in Mexico that you may need help with. We are willing to help with that big-league, but they have to be knocked out and you have not done a good job knocking them out.

According to one disputed account, Trump threatened to send U.S. troops south of the border if Mexico doesnt do more to stop the drug problem.

Pena can continue to do Washingtons bidding, ensuring his political demise, or he can challenge Trump by asking why Mexico should fight North Americas drug war on its own soil and at its own expense. If he goes the latter route, hell have plenty of good company.

Former heads of state from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, along with other distinguished members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, have called for normalization of drugs eliminating black markets and incentives for violence by legalizing individual possession and cultivation of drugs while instituting public health regulations. They note that such programs have succeeded admirably in Portugal and the Netherlands at reducing both the criminal and public health costs of drug abuse.

The harms created through implementing punitive drug laws cannot be overstated when it comes to both their severity and scope, the former heads of state assert in their 2016 report, Advancing Drug Policy Reform.

Thus, we need new approaches that uphold the principles of human dignity, the right to privacy and the rule of law, and recognize that people will always use drugs. In order to uphold these principles all penalties both criminal and civil must be abolished for the possession of drugs for personal use.

Change in Attitudes

Support for decriminalization is growing in Mexico, where the Supreme Court in 2015 approved growing and smoking marijuana for personal use. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox now advocates legalizing all drugs over a transition period of up to a decade.

Jorge Castaneda, a former Mexican foreign minister, recently opined,Mexico should take advantage of Californias decision to legalize recreational marijuana. Regardless of Mr. Trumps victory, the approval of the proposition in the United States most populous state makes Mexicos war on drugs ridiculous. What is the purpose of sending Mexican soldiers to burn fields, search trucks and look for narco-tunnels if, once our marijuana makes it into California, it can be sold at the local 7-Eleven?

Critics rightly point out that what works in the Netherlands wont necessarily solve Mexicos problems. Its powerful drug gangs have diversified into a host of other violent criminal enterprises. They control territory, intimidate or corrupt law enforcement, and kill with impunity.

Legalizing drug sales wont end their criminal ways, but it could erode their profits and let police focus on universally despised crimes with direct victims murder, kidnapping, extortion and the like.

As Mexican journalist Jos Luis Pardo Veiras remarked last year, Decriminalizing drug use will not fix a deeply rooted problem in this country, but it will allow Mexicans to differentiate between drugs and the war on drugs, between drug users and drug traffickers. This is the first step in acknowledging that a different approach is possible.

As for Trump, let him build his wall and see if that keeps out all the drugs. If not, maybe by then Mexico will be able to offer some useful advice on how to fight the drug problem not with guns, but with more enlightened policies.

Jonathan Marshall is author of many recent articles on arms issues, including How World War III Could Start,NATOs ProvocativeAnti-Russian Moves,Escalations in a New Cold War,Ticking Closer to Midnight, andTurkeys Nukes: A Sum of All Fears.

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Trump's 'Great Wall' and the 'Drug War' - Consortium News

John Magufuli

DAR ES SALAAM. President John Magufuli yesterday added weight on the crackdown on narcotics, directing the national security and defence forces to apprehend all suspects irrespective of their status.Nobody should be spared in this war against illicit drugs; no matter how famous or what status that person has in the society, Dr Magufuli ordered. He stressed further, Be it a politician, minister, a police officer, a son or daughter of a big wig, the law should follow its course.

Even if it is my wife dealing in drugs she should face the music.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces commended Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ernest Mangu for his bold move to suspend police officers who were recently accused by Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner (RC) Paul Makonda of cooperating with drugs dealers.

I know there was a lot of pressure on you from some people who made phone calls, but you stood firm, otherwise you wouldnt be here today as the IGP. The drugs have effects on the young workforce but are still being sold like groundnuts.

I usually get very upset when law enforcement agencies are accused for wrongdoing but I am happy that you took actions. The war on drugs is tough but we must fight it, Dr Magufuli told the IGP.

He directed security and defence forces to act tough on the whole chain involved in the illicit drugs, starting with the underdogs and eventually drug barons.

Those using and peddling the narcotics will have to mention the whole supply chain, he stated.

Dr Magufuli also tasked the Acting Chief Justice, Prof Ibrahim Juma, to expedite the trials of drug-related cases currently pending at courts.

There is a suspected drug kingpin currently being detained in Lindi but I wonder why he is not produced in courts for prosecution, wondered the president. Although Dr Magufuli did not mention the suspect he was apparently referring to Ali Khatib Haji, alias Shkuba (46), a suspected drug baron who was arrested in 2014 and is currently remanded in the Lindi prison.

President Magufuli disclosed as well that he had agreed to hand over the MV Dar es Salaam ship, initially meant to carry passengers between Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo, to the TPDF to enable the army to intercept drugs and smuggled goods in the Indian Ocean.

As per request by the former Chief of Defence Force General Davis Mwamunyange, I decided to hand over the ship to the army to intensify patrols against drug traffickers and smugglers in the Indian Ocean, President Magufuli noted.

The President was speaking at the swearing-in of the newly appointed Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) General Venance Mabeyo and Chief of Staff Lieutenant General James Mwakibolwa at State House in Dar es Salaam.

Dr Magufuli also swore in the Commissioner General of the Prisons Department, Dr Ally Malewa, Secretary of the Public Service Commission, Mr Nyakimura Muhoji and two ambassadors, Paul Mella and Samuel Shelukindo.

Last Friday, IGP Mangu suspended 12 police officers, pending investigations, over their alleged links to drugs dealers in Dar es Salaam. The suspension came only few days after the Dar es Salaam RC had issued a list of suspects of drug dealers and facilitators, including the law enforcers and local celebrities in the music and movie industries. - Tanzania Daily News.

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Magufuli adds weight to war on drugs - The Herald

Peter Cruz, 24, lies dead on the pavement after being gunned down while he was biking by unknown assailants on Guyabano street in Manggahan, Pasig City on Tuesday. Unexplained killings continue even as President Duterte ordered the halt in police operations against drug suspects on Monday. Fernando G. Sepe Jr., ABS-CBN News

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has denied that the Duterte's administration war on drugs is a war against poor people in the Philippines, as claimed by Amnesty International.

In a speech before the Filipino community in New York City on Monday (Philippine time), Cayetano said the Duterte administration's policy against drugs and criminality actually aims to alleviate poverty since "no family with a drug addict as a brother, son, or father can get out of poverty."

"The poor have become common victims of the drug pushers. When they become hooked on drugs, they engage in other crimes to sustain their vices. If the government will not intensify its drug operations, the poor will continue to be exploited by the drug pushers. The poor cannot defend themselves, they need us most," he said.

Cayetano also called on international organizations to help the Duterte administration in its war against drugs instead of "wasting their energy criticizing its strong policies."

""Instead of criticizing us and trying to stop international funding, why don't you give us bullet-proof vests for our police? And why don't you give us cameras like they use in the SEAL teams, so you could see the drug bust and you could see why they fire at these people?"

In its report "If you are poor you are killed: Extrajudicial Executions in the Philippines", Amnesty International detailed how the Philippine police have systematically targeted mostly poor and defenseless people across the country while "planting evidence, recruiting paid killers, stealing from the people they kill and fabricating official incident reports."

In a number of cases witnesses to killings or victims' relatives told Amnesty that the person shot dead was unarmed and had not resisted arrest. Police also planted drugs and weapons that they later "seized" as evidence, Amnesty said.

Amnesty also warned that the lists of drug suspects that police were using to target people were deeply flawed.

This was partly because many people were placed on the lists simply after being reported by fellow community members, without any further investigation, according to Amnesty.

After a series of scandals emerged over the past month in which police were caught committing murder, kidnapping, extortion and robbery, President Duterte week ordered them to stop all activities related to the drug war.

He described the police force as "corrupt to the core" and vowed to cleanse it.

But he also vowed the drug war would continue until the last day of his term, in 2022.

He said police would return to the drug war after he reorganized the force and, in the meantime, the military would become more involved. With Agence France Presse

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War on drugs not war vs poor: Cayetano | ABS-CBN News - ABS-CBN News

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened Korean gangs involved in the countrys illegal drugs trade with death. Duterte, who promised to continue his war on drugs until the last day of his presidency in 2022, told local media that Korean criminals wouldnt be treated differently just because they are not Filipino.

Dutertes aggressive crackdown on drugs he initiated in the summer of 2016 has so far resulted in more than 7,000 deaths across the country according to Philippine National Police records.

In January, Duterte apologized to South Korea for the death of Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo, 53, in October, which rights groups believe was linked to the anti-drugs policy. It was reported by the ABS-CBN news channel that the the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group ( AIDG) had no evidence Ick-joo was involved in the illegal drugs trade.

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Ick-joo was abducted from his home in Manila in October 2016, and taken to police headquarters where he was strangled. The police officers responsiblewho are now in custodythen tried to extort money from Mr Jee Ick-joos family by pretending he was still alive, according to the New York Times.

After the murder, Duterte called for a crackdown on rogue police elements, promising to bring those responsible to justice and disbanding the AIDG. Police chief Roland Dela Rosa expressed remorse over the death, but emphasized the case of Mr Ick-joo was isolated. However, in a press conference last Friday, Dela Rosa said the Korean mafia were to blame.

As a result of Dela Rosas claim, President Duterte has threatened to apply the crackdown seen in his drugs war to Korean gangs, who supposedly operate out of the southern city of Cebu. The president claims the mafia are known for operating human and drug trafficking rings, prostitution and kidnapping. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) confirmed they are aware of elements of mafia existence in Cebu on Monday morning, but authorities are still searching for evidence that such a crime syndicate which could have carried out the kidnapping of Ick-joo exists. Senator Ping Lacson told the Inquirer, a Filipino newspaper, that the Korean mafia angle might be farfetched.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II of the Philippines told local reporters that he was working with South Korea to determine the nature of the alleged mafia: Our office is coordinating and contacting the Korean embassy if they have a police attach or anyone to that effect that could help us [find out] about this Korean mafia, if ever it exists.

In the meantime, Duterte wants the Koreans to remain friends. South Koreans are the largest group of tourists to the Philippines annually. The Korea Times reported that the president said: "They're always welcome here. Korea is our friend. It has helped us in so many ways. To law-abiding Koreans, you will be protected, treated equally as Filipinos."

Continue reading here:

President Duterte Threatens to Extend Drug War and Kill Korean ... - Newsweek

Eliot L. Engel and Matt Salmon, AZ We See It 5:32 p.m. MT Feb. 6, 2017

A narcotics-detection canine led border patrol agents to discover heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine in a front wheel well.(Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

In 2015, opioid deaths in the United States exceeded 30,000 for the first time in recent history. As both parents and members of Congress, we find this unacceptable.

Our first duty as lawmakers confronting this epidemic is to ensure that Americans have access to the drug treatment services that they need. At the same time, we have a responsibility to take a fresh look at our international efforts to fight the drug trade in Latin America and the Caribbean.

AZCENTRAL

It'll take some pain to solve America's opiate epidemic

By doing so, we can ensure that we have the best strategy moving forward. That is why we authored the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act, which passed the House and Senate last month.

As former chairmen of the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee from opposite ends of the political spectrum, we have supported U.S. efforts over the years to enhance citizen security and fight drug trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean. Billions of dollars later, some of those efforts have been successful while others have not brought about the results we hoped.

As American lives continue to be lost to the scourge of drug abuse, it is only fair to make an honest assessment of how we spend our counter-narcotics dollars abroad. Our families deserve no less.

The Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission will be an independent U.S. government commission that will evaluate our drug policies in Latin America and the Caribbean and make recommendations to the president and Congress on which of our policies need to be scaled up and which need to be scaled back.

So why focus on the Western Hemisphere? Nearly all cocaine consumed in our country originates in South America, while most heroin consumed here is from Colombia and Mexico. And Central America and the Caribbean are key transit regions for drugs entering the United States.

As just one example, poppy cultivation in Mexico is on the rise. Poppiesarebeing used to produce the heroin that is flooding our streets.

AZCENTRAL

Data: Arizona heroin, prescription drug overdoses escalate

AZCENTRAL

Police: Heroin use among youth on the rise in Gilbert

As we look to support our friends in Mexico in moving away from poppy production and into more viable economic sectors, it would serve the United States well to learn from our multi-year investment in Colombia. Specifically, we must ask what worked and what did not work when it came to coca eradication and alternative development programs over the past 20 years.

Drug consumption in the United States has wreaked havoc on our communities and impacted countless lives. Butit has also fueled violence throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

We can and must do better, and the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission will help us to take the next steps towards a better future for all of us in the Americas.

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) is theranking member onthe House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Former Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) was the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. Bothpreviously served as chairmen of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. Follow them on Twitter,@repeliotengeland@repmattsalmon.

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Congressmen: Let's take a new look at the war on drugs - AZCentral.com

By Alvar Mwakyusa

President John Magufuli yesterday added weight on the crackdown on narcotics, directing the national security and defence forces to apprehend all suspects irrespective of their status.

"Nobody should be spared in this war against illicit drugs; no matter how famous or what status that person has in the society," Dr Magufuli ordered. He stressed further, "Be it a politician, minister, a police officer, a son or daughter of a big wig, the law should follow its course.

Even if it is my wife dealing in drugs she should face the music." The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces commended Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ernest Mangu for his bold move to suspend police officers who were recently accused by Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner (RC) Paul Makonda of cooperating with drugs dealers.

"I know there was a lot of pressure on you from some people who made phone calls but you stood firm, otherwise you wouldn't be here today as the IGP. The drugs have effects on the young workforce but are still being sold like groundnuts.

"I usually get very upset when law enforcement agencies are accused for wrongdoing but I am happy that you took actions. The war on drugs is tough but we must fight it," Dr Magufuli told the IGP. He directed security and defence forces to act tough on the whole chain involved in the illicit drugs, starting with the 'underdogs' and eventually drug barons.

"Those using and peddling the narcotics will have to mention the whole supply chain," he stated. Dr Magufuli also tasked the Acting Chief Justice, Prof Ibrahim Juma, to expedite the trials of drug-related cases currently pending at courts.

"There is a suspected drug kingpin currently being detained in Lindi but I wonder why he is not produced in courts for prosecution," wondered the president. Although Dr Magufuli did not mention the suspect he was apparently referring to Ali Khatib Haji, alias Shkuba, (46), a suspected drug baron who was arrested in 2014 and is currently remanded in the Lindi prison.

President Magufuli disclosed as well that he had agreed to hand over the MV Dar es Salaam ship, initially meant to carry passengers between Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo, to the TPDF to enable the army to intercept drugs and smuggled goods in the Indian Ocean.

"As per request by the former Chief of Defence Force General Davis Mwamunyange, I decided to hand over the ship to the army to intensify patrols against drug traffickers and smugglers in the Indian Ocean," President Magufuli noted.

The President was speaking at the swearing-in of the newly appointed Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) General Venance Mabeyo and Chief of Staff Lieutenant General James Mwakibolwa at State House in Dar es Salaam.

Dr Magufuli also swore in the Commissioner General of the Prisons Department, Dr Ally Malewa, Secretary of the Public Service Commission, Mr Nyakimura Muhoji and two ambassadors, Paul Mella and Samuel Shelukindo.

Last Friday, IGP Mangu suspended 12 police officers, pending investigations, over their alleged links to drugs dealers in Dar es Salaam. The suspension came only few days after the Dar es Salaam RC had issued a list of suspects of drug dealers and facilitators, including the law enforcers and local celebrities in the music and movie industries.

The officers who were suspended are former Kinondoni Regional Police Commander (RPC) Christopher Fuime; Inspector Jackob Swai; D 3499 D/SGT Steven Ndasha; E8431 D/SGT Mohamed Haima and E5204 D/SGT Steven Shanga.

Others are E5860 D/ CPL Dotto Mwandambo; E1090 D/CPL Tausen Mwambalangani; E9652 D/CPL Benatus Luhaza; D8278 D/CPL James Salala; E9503 D/CPL Noel Mwalukuta; WP 5103 D /C Gloria Massawe and F5885 D/C Fadhili Mazengo.

The list of celebrities who have been summoned for grilling include Vanesa Mdee, Tunda Sabasita alias Video Queen, Wema Sepetu, Khaleed Mohamed (TID), Winfrida Josephat (Recho), Khery Sameer (Mr Blue), Hamidu Chambuso (Dogo Hamidu) and Rashid Makwiro (Chid Benz).

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Tanzania: Magufuli Adds Weight to War On Drugs - AllAfrica.com

U2 nailed it back in 1988 when they talked about the scourge drug of that era being the promise in the year of election.

Bono was singing about heroin back then and compared to todays manic methamphetamine menace and the misery it brings, heroin was a cakewalk.

Junkies flaked out after a rush of smack were far more manageable than people pulsating in and out of a meth-induced psychosis while posing a serious threat to anyone around them including those they love.

Unfortunately we cant turn back the clock.

So, in the past few days weve seen what the major political parties plan to do about the ongoing ice epidemic in the year of election.

The simple answer would be to say that Liberal and Labor try to outdo one another to win the tough on drugs, tough on crime trophy.

It could also be argued that what ever they do to fight meth in the community its too little too late and more should have been done a decade ago.

But to establish such a cynical position, you need to travel back with me to 2007, when the then Labor government announced an ice summit because the drug posed a significant problem.

In WA, the use of these drugs, particularly crystalline methamphetamine, or ice as it is more commonly known, is higher than the national average, premier Alan Carpenter said at the time. This puts enormous pressure on the services required to manage the issue, including our police force, hospital emergency departments, child protection agencies and mental health system.

Very true. However, the summit prompted a health, law and order and punishment response that didnt even go close to barricading us against the threat. What followed was the equivalent of parking a Mini Minor in the path of a Mack truck.

Here we are a decade on and WA has been blighted by so much ice-related murder, domestic violence, child neglect and all-round crime and dysfunction.

Given the stranglehold this drug seems to have on those it lures in and the multi-billion dollar organised crime syndicates pulling the levers on supply and demand some might argue its unreasonable to assess whether our governments could have done more in the fight against ice. But if our politicians claim to have waged a war on ice since the 2007 summit, then the suite of new measures announced on Sunday by the Barnett Government suggests victory will be hard to come by.

Anyone deemed to be in possession with intent to sell or supply any amount of ice is going to jail for at least a year as part of the mandatory sentencing package.

Having 200g of the drug will put you behind bars for a minimum of 15 years. No ifs, buts or maybes. WA would have the toughest anti-drug jail sentences in the country. And both Labor and Liberal agree that a new sentence of life in prison should be available to judges dealing with meth traffickers, regardless of who wins the election on March 11.

A reasonable question to ponder is why now rather than 2007, or soon after the ice summit warned of the impending doom?

How come the politicians didnt go as tough then as they are now just weeks away from wanting your vote?

Almost 10 years on from when Labor premier Alan Carpenter spoke before the ice summit about the pressures the drug was putting on hospitals, police and the justice system, the Liberal leader who beat him at the 2008 election said virtually the same thing on the weekend.

Meth, or ice, as its more commonly known, is destroying young lives, tearing families apart, Premier Barnett said.

Its putting enormous pressure on our police resources, our public health system, particularly emergency departments, mental health and care for those addicted.

The mirror image rhetoric is why people have a right to be cynical.

The tough, no-nonsense strategy should have been introduced a decade ago.

People are always cynical about election campaigns, Attorney-General Michael Mischin conceded at the policy launch on Sunday.

This is not simply opportunistic.

This is an evolutionary strategy based on the work weve been doing over the last eight years.

The government has a responsibility to take action in respect of major social issues that are threatening our community.

For many years weve known WA has had an extraordinarily dangerous liaison with this drug, but for too long weve seen lip service and then another election comes along.

Its taken all this time for a government to pull out the really heavy armoury against the drug dealers at any level of the distribution chain.

Youve been dealing out misery to thousands of West Australian families and if re-elected, this Liberal Government will deal out misery to you, Police Minister Liza Harvey said on the weekend.

Those words might win the tough on crime political battle, but they wont win the war against a drug thats been able to advance too far for too long.

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Words won't win war on drugs - The West Australian

The Senate of the Philippines suspended a hearing into a bill for reinstating death penalty Tuesday after officials expressed concerns over an international treaty that bars the country from reimposing the capital punishment.

"We are suspending because there is a supervening event the treaty of international convention on civil and political rights [of the United Nations Human Rights Office] which states that all executions should not be continued, was ratified," said Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

However, Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon said that the Philippines should first withdraw from the treaty before the discussing about reimposing the punishment, which was abolished on June 24, 2006, by the then-President Gloria Arroyo.

"We have ratified the treaty and we have concurred in ratification with the treaty. If you're saying we can withdraw from this, shouldn't we withdraw from the treaty first before we discuss any matter related to the reimposition of death penalty? So that we will not be in violation of international law?" Drilon said.

In December, Human Rights Watch urged the Philippines to not reinstate death penalty.

The Philippine government should acknowledge the death penaltys barbarity and reject any moves to reinstate it, Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director, said in a statement at the time. The failure of the death penalty as a crime deterrent is globally recognized and the government should maintain the prohibition on its use.

Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte who assumed office last June has launched the so-called war on drug dealers in the country. The possibility of the reimposition of death penalty has raised concerns that his government will be able to execute more people in the drug war.

Within six months of taking office, Dutertes drug war killed nearly 6,000 people, according to a December report by Al Jazeera. Of those, 2,041 drug suspects were killed during police operations from July 1 to Dec. 6, while another 3,841 were reportedly killed by unidentified gunmen from July 1 to Nov. 30.

List of countries where death penalty is legal:

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Where Is Death Penalty Legal? Duterte's War On Drugs In Philippines Would Mean More Executions If Capital ... - International Business Times

The failed war on drugs is another major factor in dividing the country, even though opinion on the issue is not particularly divided along party lines.

The illegal drug trade makes gangsters rich and powerful. The resulting damage to peoples lives, crime, gang violence and other related misconduct fuels conservatives anger and their general dissatisfaction with the state of the world.

Many conservatives, as well as liberals, do realize the war on drugs has been a catastrophic failure. Steps to legalize marijuana are baby steps in the right direction. But, support for the solution ending the prohibition and legalizing all those currently illegal drugs is not sufficiently widespread in either party.

One reason I vehemently oppose the promotion and spread of legal gambling (e.g. as a source of tax revenue) is that one of the main goals, and potential benefits, of legalization is supposed to be getting rid of the pushers and pimps.

Street gangs, biker gangs, mobsters, drug cartels and terrorists are all often financed by the illegal drug trade, increasing their power and influence. And, they all tend to be racist organizations, each gang usually being of a single race which feeds the racial prejudice of others.

Mark Holmboe, Rockford

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Letter: The failed 'war on drugs' divides country - Rockford Register Star