Category Archives: War On Drugs

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued the call for families of victims of the Philippine governments war on drugs (WoD) to submit their concerns and views in connection with the request of the prosecutor for authorization to proceed with an investigation, a recently-retired ICC judge said on Friday.

Raul Pangalangan, who ended last March his six-year term as a judge at the ICC, shared this information during an online forum Crimes Against Humanity and the ICC, organized by the UP Institute of Human Rights and UP Institute of International Legal Studies, together with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

Pangalangan said, If you go to the ICC website, theres already a call for the victims to step forward. The call is for the submission of information to the court regarding the governments WoD that, in the words of just-retired prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, has unlawfully killed between several thousand and tens of thousands of civilians. (See Gov't officials, police conspired to carry out Duterte's war on drugs -- ICC prosecutor - Vera Files)

Bensouda, who retired last June 15, conducted a preliminary examination on the extrajudicial killings associated with the drug war from the start of the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte on July 1, 2016 up to March 16, 2019 when the Philippines withdrew its membership from the ICC.

Pangalangan also said Bensouda made the request to the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) for an authority to investigate as early as May 24 but was made public only on June 14, the day before her retirement.

If the PTC grants the request, the new prosecutor, Karim Khan will handle the investigation.

Elaborating on ICCs call for victims to come forward, Pangalangan said: Please note that a cornerstone of the Rome Statute is focused on the victims. Both in terms of the victim reparations and also in terms of victims participation.

The ICC website said: Victims of the alleged crimes have the right to submit representations as per the ICC legal framework; this means that victims may provide their views, concerns and expectations regarding the Prosecutor's request to the ICC Judges for their consideration.

It further said: The Victims Participation and Reparations Section (VPRS) of the Registry is responsible for assisting victims in the process of submitting representations.

Deadline for the submission of victim representations, which is voluntary and free of charge, is on Aug. 13.

Lawyer Ruben Carranza, reparations expert at the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and one of the speakers in the forum, made the distinction between representations to express their views at this stage [and] representations at the pre-trial stage.

This is underscored in the website for the call for victims to come forward, saying: Please also note that this is not (yet) an application process for participation in court proceedings against an accused person or for obtaining reparations before the ICC. The process initiated by the Prosecutor is limited to the submission of victims' views, concerns and expectations on the Prosecutor's request to open an investigation regarding alleged murder and other crimes which are sufficiently linked to the war on drugs campaign as set out above.

The ICCs victims booklet provides that their family members who suffered harm, such as emotional suffering or material loss, due to the killings can be considered as victims by the courts judges.Filipinos who consider themselves victims of the war on drugs can fill out this form. NGOs that have helped Filipinos who have been victims in the war on drugs can also help fill out this form. Now, imagine how many Filipinos those will be?, Carranza said.

In the case of Ugandas Dominic Ongwen, a former child soldier and commander of one of the brigades of the Ugandan guerilla group Lord's Resistance Army, who was convicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity, Carranza said there were at least 5,000 victims representations.

Its possible that in the Philippine situation, we will have far more than what has been the largest number of victims in the ICC case, he said, noting the description used by Bensouda of the scale and gravity of Dutertes war on drugs.

Socorro Reyes, womens rights advocate and regional governance adviser for the Center for Legal Development, urged the families of drug war victims who are reluctant to submit sworn statements or affidavits to tell their true stories. She said the documentation of their suffering is not only for reparations but also for truth-telling and to give face to the numbers.

Para magkaroon ng kuwento iyong totoong nangyari sa inyo ...at para iyan ay hindi malimutan. Kung hindi man magamit sa reparations, sa investigation ng pre-trial chamber, ng trial chamber. Kailangan masabi ang katotohanan at maging aware sila sa kanilang karapatan, said Reyes, who served for six years as chief of the Asia-Pacific and Arab states of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

Reyes, who conducted research into the impact of extrajudicial killings to Filipino households, noted each victim of extrajudicial killings in the country leaves one woman and at least four children. She said the number of these women and children could have reached 60,000 to 100,000 who were adversely affected by the killings of 12,000 to 20,000 suspected drug personalities in Dutertes drug war.

Forms for victims who wish to submit representations to the ICC can be accessed here (PDF file).

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for true.)

ICC, International Criminal Court, crimes against humanity, murder, war on drugs, Rodrigo Duterte, human rights, EJKs, extra-judicial killings

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ICC begins accepting information on Dutertes drug war - ABS-CBN News

Fatehgarh Sahib: DSP (Investigation) Raghbir Singh has written several books to educate the youth and students against the baneful effects of drugs which have physical, economic and social impact. Encouraged by SSP Amneet Kondal, he has initiated a campaign against drugs in the district by holding seminars, camps and corner meetings. His epoch-making campaign and oratorical skills were recognised by the DGP and the CM as he was invited to make his presentation on the eve of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. His views were appreciated by the public in large on social media.

NGO working for a green cause

Abohar: The Abohar Wellness Society has adopted the Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan Park Road for environmental beautification. The lane that connects Nai Abadi to Sriganganagar Road had faced neglect for more than a decade. The Municipal Corporation recently replaced all old-type streetlights that had been damaged by drug addicts while returning from the park at night. Society president Dr Vishal Taneja on Sunday led a team in planting saplings near Government Basic Elementary School boundary wall on this road. The members said they would water and protect the trees. We want to enrich the environment and protect people from future pandemics, said NGO secretary Ashok Garg.

Entry of politicians is banned here

Fazilka: Farmers of the Ladhuka village have displayed a board imposing ban on entry of political leaders to the village till the farmers agitation is going on against the three agriculture laws. Bhartiya Kisan Union (Daukonda) district president Harish Nadha, who hails from Ladhuka village, alleged that political leaders were trying to take mileage of the agitation to achieve their political motives without contributing towards the agitation.

SC lawyer finds her calling in farming

Moga: A woman lawyer practicing at the Supreme Court in Delhi and Congress leader Perpeet Kaur Brar recently came back to her hometown in Moga after months to help the farming community. She had also participated in the farm agitations at Delhi. After coming to know that the farming community was facing problems in sowing paddy due to shortage of manpower, she held meetings with women MGNREGA workers and apprised them to help farmers in transplantation. She herself drove tractor to plough the fields and transplant paddy in Talwandi Bhangerian village. When I was a child, my mother and other female members of the family used to work side by side with men in the fields, she said.

Vax hesitancy smashed to smithereens

Abohar: An appeal to Radha Soami Satsang Beas by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to cooperate in gearing up Covid prevention drive has given a boost to Covaxin and Covashield vaccination that faced poor response till the middle of this month. Elaborate arrangements were made by the RSSB centers (Satsang Ghar) that included a helpline to pick up and drop back elderly people from their homes. Vaccination camps were organised on Sunday at the centers located on Killianwali Road, Hanumangarh Road in Abohar, Bakayanwala and Chuhariwala Dhanna villages. The camps saw a good number of 18 plus category youth who were earlier feeling hesitant in approaching the centers run in govt schools.

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Punjab Diary: DSP Raghbir Singh wages war on drugs - The Tribune

MANILA, Philippines Leadership of the Philippine National Police disclosed Monday that itordered the accounting of all dismissed drug cases since 2016, when the government launched its "war on drugs", and see where adjustments can be made in police anti-drug operations.

Having data and information on these dismissed drug cases since the war on drugs started in 2016 would truly help the PNP leadership determine the interventions needed so that the junking by the courts of drug cases filed by the police would be avoided in the future, Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP chief, said.

The police chief said thatthe PNP is aiming to improve the conviction rate, particularly in drug-related cases, noting that a higher conviction rate would reflect the success of the campaign against illegal drugs.

He added that the PNP also wants to identify police personnel who caused the dismissal of the cases by committing irregularities in the conduct of anti-illegal drugs operations and weakening the prosecutions evidence.

Eleazar admitted to the possibility of some police officersbeing involved with the accused and causing the dismissal of the drug cases.

"If we have good accounting of dismissed cases, we will be able to trace who among our personnel is involved in corruption," he said.

ANYARE?: War on drugs and ICC's possible probe vs Duterte

This comes after the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 64 dismissed the drug case against FlipTop rapper Marlon Peroramas, also known as Loonie,over the unjustified deviation from the chain of custody rule by the arresting officer.

Following the dismissal of the drug case, Peroramas said he was considering filing counter-charges against the police, stressing that drugs that police said they recovered were planted on him.

Eleazar said he welcomed the move, saying Peroramas has the right to do that.

In a video message posted to his official page, the rapper challenged the PNP toprobe the police officers who filed drug charges against him.

"What we humbly and respectfully ask from your office is give these issues attention and action and I hope an investigation will be launched against those involved in our case," Loonie said.

READ:Court clears FlipTop rapper Loonie, 3 others of drug charge

Eleazar pointed out that since the "war on drugs" started in July2016, more arrests of drug offenders have been recorded. Government data shows that 289,622 drug suspects have been arrested in 200,632 anti-illegal drug operations.

However, the police's own figures also acknowledge over 6,000 deaths in operations. Rights groups estimate that the actual number of drug-related killings could reach as high as30,000.

Of cases handled by the police Internal Affairs Service,only 53 that are marked as solved have been surrendered to the Department of Justice for investigation. The PNP organization says this is proof of its willingness to cooperate.

The conviction of all these arrested drug suspects would prove we are winning the war on drugs and that it has been effectively curbing the further proliferation of illegal drugs in the country,Eleazar went as far as saying.

In 2020, though, crystal methamphetamines or shabu was still found to be behind the most arrest and treatment admissions in the Philippines, theUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found in a report.

Citing figures from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Dangerous Drugs Board, the UNODC said that shabu "remains the main drug of concern in the Philippines" with just a year left underthe Duterte administration.

According to the government's Real Numbers PH info campaign, 13,400 barangays are yet to be classified as "drug-free" out of 42,045.

The president's landslide win in 2016 was founded on, among other things, ambitious promises of ending drugs and criminality within the first six months of his term. He later asked for a six-monthextension that he also later failed to meet.

READ:With a year left in Duterte's term, UNODC says shabu still a major problem in the Philippines

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PNP reviews dismissed drug cases for better operations, accountability - Philstar.com

THE RASHOMON stories recounting the death of Jhondie Maglinte Helis are typical of the Philippines war on drugs under President Rodrigo Duterte. The police claim that officers found Jhondie (pictured), 16 years old, in the company of an adult drug suspect, Antonio Dalit, when they went to arrest Mr Dalit on June 16th in Laguna, a province on the southern edge of Manila. The officers say they shot and killed the pair after both of them drew guns in an attempt to resist arrest.

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Civilian witnesses tell a different, if depressingly familiar, story: that the officers captured and summarily executed Mr Dalit. Jhondie happened to be nearby, and witnessed the killing. The officers are then alleged to have caught and handcuffed him, shoved him face-down into the mud and, as he pleaded for mercy, shot him dead, too.

What happened next, however, was far from typical. The official tally of killings in the drug war stands at 6,117 by the most recent count. Most such stories end when the authorities close the case without even attempting to uncover the truth. But in the case of Jhondie the police restricted the movements of the ten officers involved. They also started an internal investigation, which will run independently of inquiries by the Commission on Human Rights, an all-bark-and-no-bite public institution. The national chief of police, General Guillermo Eleazar, voiced his determination to rid the force of what he called rogues who are unfit to wear the uniform.

Even the presidential spokesman, Harry Roque, promised that police officers who broke the law would be investigated, prosecuted and punished. Mr Duterte has repeatedly urged law enforcers to kill drug suspects, usually adding as an afterthought that such killings are lawful only if the suspects try to use deadly force to resist arrest. His spokesman notes, however, that the president had also repeatedly said that police officers would be on their own if they broke the law.

The official protestations of determination to prosecute killer cops followed the announcement by prosecutors from the International Criminal Court (ICC) that they had asked for permission to investigate Mr Duterte and his subordinates on suspicion of committing crimes against humanity in the war on drugs. Monitors of human rights think the campaign has killed thousands more people than the official tally suggests.

During a televised address, Mr Duterte reacted to the prospect of being hauled before the ICC with the subtlety that has characterised his presidency. Bullshit! he said. Why would I defend or face an accusation before white people? You must be crazy. [They used to be] colonisers, they have not atoned for their sins against the countries that they invaded, including the Philippines.

Mr Dutertes dismissal of the court is based on three arguments. The flimsiest is that the ICC never had any jurisdiction because the treaty by which the Philippines joined it was never published locally in print, as required by law. A stronger argument is that the court has anyway had no jurisdiction since the Philippines withdrawal from the treaty took effect in March 2019. The third is that the ICC can intervene in a sovereign country only if the system of justice in that country fails to function, and that the Philippine justice system is still working well enough.

If the authorities professed determination to establish what happened to Jhondie is meant to prove that the justice system is in fine fettle, it is unconvincing. The justice minister, Menardo Guevarra, attempting to explain why his ministry has prosecuted so few killer cops, bemoaned the lack of witnesses for the prosecution. Unless they come forward and testify, it would be extremely difficult for our investigating agencies to build up cases against erring law enforcers, he said. Mr Guevarra was speaking, apparently without any irony intended, just six days after Jhondie was killed. If the prosecutors of the ICC do end up investigating the blood-letting Mr Duterte has instigated, they are unlikely to be so easily discouraged.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Silenced witness"

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A rare investigation into a police killing in the Philippines - The Economist

Every 23 seconds, a persons life is ruined for simply possessing drugs. Drug possession remains the most arrested offense in the United States despite the well-known fact that drug criminalization does nothing to help communities, it ruins them. It tears families apart, and causes trauma that can be felt for generations. The drug war has caused mass devastation to Black, Latinx, Indigenous and low-income communities and today we say, Enough is enough! Queen Adesuyi, Policy Manager for the Office of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance said to the press. We will not be subjugated any longer by an offensive that was created solely with the purpose of disrupting our communities. This bill gives us a way outa chance to reimagine what the next 50 years can be. It allows us to offer people support instead of punishment. And it gives people who have been harmed by these draconian laws a chance to move forward and embrace some semblance of the life they have long been denied.

The DRPA bill also intends to eliminate many of the life-long consequences associated with drug arrests and convictions: denial of employment, public benefits, immigration status, drivers licenses, and voting rights. Furthermore, the bill incentivizes state and local governments to adopt decriminalization policiesif they do not, their eligibility to receive funds in the Byrne and COPS grant programs will be limited.

The United States has not simply failed in how we carried out the War on Drugsthe War on Drugs stands as a stain on our national conscience since its very inception, said Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman. Begun in 1972 as a cynical political tactic of the Nixon Administration, the War on Drugs has destroyed the lives of countless Americans and their families. As we work to solve this issue, it is essential that we change tactics in how we address drug use away from the failed punitive approach and towards a health-based and evidence-based approach.

Congressman Cori Bush also shared her thoughts on the bill, relating it to her personal experience: Growing up in St. Louis, I saw the crack-cocaine epidemic rob my community of so many lives. I lived through a malicious marijuana war that saw Black people arrested for possession at three times the rate of their white counterparts, even though usage rates are similar. As a nurse, Ive watched Black families criminalized for heroin use while white families are treated for opioid use. And now, as a Congresswoman, I am seeing the pattern repeat itself with fentanyl, as the DEA presses for an expanded classification that would criminalize possession and use. This punitive approach creates more pain, increases substance use, and leaves millions of people to live in shame and isolation with limited support and healing. Im proud to partner with Congresswoman Watson Coleman on legislation to end criminal penalties for drug possession at the federal level and repair harm in Black and brown communities. Its time to put wellness and compassion ahead of trauma and punishment.

According to a national poll conducted by Bully Pulpit Interactive (BPI) and released by the DPA last week, 66% of American voters were in support of removing criminal penalties for drugs and reinvesting resources into treatment and addiction services. About 65% support ending the war on drugs, and 64% support repealing mandatory minimum sentencing for drug-related crimes.2

A different realityone where we treat people who use drugs with dignity and respect, and one where drugs are no longer an excuse for law enforcement to surveil, harass, assault and even kill Black, Latinx and Indigenous peopleis 100% possible, and these results clearly prove that, said Kassandra Frederique, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance.2

The DPA has consistently advocated for drug decriminalization as a critical first step in ending the war on drugs, as is evident in some of its previous reports.3

In an exclusive quote to Psychiatric TimesTM, Thomas R. Kosten, MD, Jay H. Waggoner Endowed Chair and co-founder at the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, said this on the new bill: "This Drug Policy Reform Act of 2021 is a great contribution to more equitable treatment rather than prosecution of drug users, while preserving some of the deterrence needed for reducing drug trafficking and its black market economy and associated crime. Making substance use a health issue and not a criminal issue is brilliant and long overdue. These actions can also start to empty our over-crowded and often inhumane prisons, which are over-populated with low level drug users and minorities. The Commission process to determine a benchmark amount of each drug type for personal use is another brilliant aspect of this bill. Prohibiting the drug testing of individuals in order to receive or deny federal benefits is long been needed. New initiatives to expand access to treatment provides a well-considered six item list. Overall, there is everything to like about this bill and very little to criticize with an intelligent balance of enforcement needed for public health and evidence based drug education and flexibility for adult drug use."

References

1. Drug Policy Alliance. Summary of the Drug Policy Reform Act (DPRA) of 2021. June 15, 2021. https://drugpolicy.org/sites/default/files/dpra_summary_2021.06.11_v2.pdf

2. Sutton M. On 50th anniversary of war on drugs, new poll shows majority of voters support ending criminal penalties for drug possession, think drug war is a failure. June 9, 2021. https://drugpolicy.org/press-release/2021/06/50th-anniversary-war-drugs-new-poll-shows-majority-voters-support-ending

3. Drug Policy Alliance. Its time for the US to decriminalize drug use and possession. July 2017. https://drugpolicy.org/resource/its-time-us-decriminalize-drug-use-and-possession

Excerpt from:

A Bill to End the War on Drugs - Psychiatric Times

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Rafael Medina, [emailprotected], 202.869.0390

WASHINGTON On the 50th anniversary of the War on Drugs, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Funds Vision for Justice campaign launched a series of actions calling for an end to the War on Drugs. The campaign released video vignettes on its Instagram account with powerful personal stories from people who have been affected by the War on Drugs. The campaign also includes LED truck ads demanding an end to the War on Drugs. The truck will drive around Washington, D.C., and park in front of the U.S. Capitol from June 17 to June 18. On June 21, the campaign will also display four different posters in over 30 locations around the city.

The Leadership Conference and its sister organization, The Education Fund, will also hold a four episode arch on their Pod for the Cause, with the first one focused on the War on Drugs.

The criminalization of drug use and users has led to tragic consequences and fueled mass incarceration, with a disproportionate impact on communities of color. We must transform the entire criminal-legal system to eradicate the negative impacts that have emerged from the so-called War on Drugs, said Wade Henderson, interim president and CEO of The Leadership Conference and The Education Fund.

The failed policies of the War on Drugs have shaped a criminal-legal system in which Black Americans are six times more likely to be incarcerated for drug-related offenses than their White counterparts despite equal rates of drug use. The ads underscore why our nation cannot afford another 50 years of biased policies that have led to Black and Brown communities accounting for 70 percent of all people convicted of drug charges. The ads use QR codes to drive viewers to take action, join the campaign, and put an end to the War on Drugs.

The Vision for Justice campaign aims to reimagine a new paradigm for safety and justice in America.

The ads will read as follows:

WE CANT AFFORDANOTHER 50 YEARSOF RACIST POLICIESDEMAND AN ENDTO THE WAR ON DRUGSEND THE WAR ON DRUGS

The ads can be found here.

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The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit http://www.civilrights.org.

The Leadership Conference Education Fund builds public will for federal and state policies that promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. The Education Funds campaigns empower and mobilize advocates around the country to push for progressive change in the United States. It was founded in 1969 as the education and research arm of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. For more information on The Education Fund, visit civilrights.org/edfund/.

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Vision for Justice Campaign Demands an End to the War on Drugs - Civilrights.org

For 50 years, the so-called war on drugs, which President Richard Nixon declared on June 17, 1971, has ravaged entire communities, exacerbated racial inequality, and helped propel the United States to the highest incarceration rate in the world. It is a war that, by any measure, has been lost. Abusive and discriminatory policing tactics, long prison terms, and the myriad collateral consequences of criminal convictions have destroyed lives, while doing nothing to curb addiction or the epidemic of overdose fatalities.

These destructive policies of criminalization are also unpopular.

A new national poll from Data for Progress and The Lab, a policy vertical of The Appeal, found that more than seven in ten voters (71 percent) believe that federal drug policies are not working and that there is a need for reform. Voters no longer want to treat public health issues like drug use and addiction as matters of crime and law enforcementthey support decriminalizing both drug possession (59 percent support) and the distribution of drugs in small quantities (55 percent support), while also shifting regulatory power over drugs from the Drug Enforcement Agency to the Department of Health & Human Services (60 percent support).

Many of these reforms are part of the Drug Policy Reform Act (DPRA), announced yesterday by Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and Cori Bush (D-MO). The DPRA would eliminate incarceration as a penalty for possession of any drug, expunge possession convictions retroactively, invest in alternative harm reduction programming, and place drug classification power within DHS.

The DPRA also creates incentives for state and local jurisdictions to decriminalize drug possession and invest in alternatives to incarceration, reflecting momentum toward decriminalization already in full swing at the state and local level. In November 2020, Oregon passed a measure decriminalizing low-level drug possession across the board and four other statesArizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakotavoted to decriminalize marijuana, joining 11 other states and Washington, DC. At the local level, prosecutors in counties like Philadelphia and Austin have policies to dismiss a significant number of possession-related charges.

The DPRA builds upon the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act that would decriminalize marijuana and that the House passed in December 2020, though the Senate has yet to vote on it.

Full Polling Results

We also found that a variety of arguments in support of reforming federal drug policy resonate with voters, including that the war on drugs has led to ineffective, discriminatory policies and counterproductive outcomes:

Polling Methodology

From May 21 to 23, 2021, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,250 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.

Poll: Abandon The War On Drugs And Decriminalize

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Poll: Abandon The War On Drugs And Decriminalize - The Appeal

The 300-page recreational cannabis bill is poised to become law with one stroke of Governor Ned Lamonts pen.

HARTFORD, Conn. It was Groundhog Day at the state capitol, but the third time was the charm. On Thursday, the state senate voted to legalize recreational cannabis, yet again. The bill now heads to the Governors desk.

The delays were perhaps, fitting. Thursday marks 50 years to the day since President Nixon declared a war on drugs. Now, Connecticut is closer than ever to making this landmark legislation the law of the land.

The vote was 16-11. "We're Going to have a product that is legal for adults, taxed and regulated," said State Sen. Marty Looney.

The 300-page recreational cannabis bill is poised to become law with one stroke of Governor Ned Lamonts pen. He has indicated he will sign the legislation. "As soon as I can so nobody can change their mind."

Debate on the senate floor lasted only about two hours this time. Republicans went down in defeat. The Democrat backed legislation, they say, puts money before public health and safety and is a reason to pause at the ballot box. "Its just apparent that the Democrats are going to impose this policy because its what they want. The question for Connecticut really is, is it what families think its good for their kids?" remarked State Sen. Kevin Kelly.

But Democrats hail the bill as victory for social equity. Half of all the licenses will be awarded to applicants in local communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs. "We made sure in this bill to try to make sure local entrepreneurs have a role in this new enterprise," said Looney.

The bill funnels 25% of the tax revenue to substance abuse prevention and caps THC levels at 30% across all products. "People drank alcohol before prohibition, during prohibition and after prohibition. When people want to use a product, they will find a way to use it whether it is legal or not," added Sen. Looney.

But Sen. Kelly responded, "The Connecticut Medical Society and Hospitals are saying dont do this. We followed the science all through the pandemic, but all of a sudden, were not going to follow the science. We are going to expose our kids to the availability and accessibility of marijuana, which is a drug."

Once the Governor signs the bill, you can possess up to 1.5 ounces of pot legally starting July 1st, but retail sales will take a lot longer. They are expected to begin in May of 2022 at the earliest.

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On anniversary of the war on drugs, CT sends recreational cannabis bill to Gov's desk - FOX 61

Fifty years ago this month, on June 17, 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a full scale attack on drug use. It was the beginning of the War on Drugs.

Nixon and many presidents since promised the War on Drugs would save lives. Trillions of dollars later, incarceration and preventable overdose deaths have skyrocketed and continue to rise.

After generations of broken lives, broken families, and broken dreams, we must end it now.

Nixons War on Drugs turned out to be a war on people. Once he saw there was no political benefit in drug treatment, he declared an all-out war on the drug menace with a federal Drug Enforcement Agency and stiffer penalties. This helped Nixon target his political enemies.

As White House advisor John Erlichman explained, By getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.

Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Erlichman asked. Of course we did.

Nixons tough on crime stance did not save his presidency, but his War on Drugs and its disproportionate impacts on Americas poorest communities continued. Leaders from Ronald Reagan to BIll Clinton and Joe Biden, when he was still a tough-on-crime senator from Delaware, have spent billions on this failed policy, knowing all it buys them is short-term political gain.

The DEAs budget is $3.1 billion today, with many billions more spent on incarceration and military drug enforcement. Yet 2020 was the worst year in history for overdose deaths.

President Biden now tells us he wants to break from the failed policies of the past to improve the lives of regular people. He calls for green jobs and infrastructure, and expanded access to health care. Will he also, finally, call for an end to the War on Drugs, and invest in public health measures to save lives?

There is hope. In February, Bidens Office on National Drug Control Policy announced top priorities including enhancing evidence-based harm reduction efforts and confronting racial equity issues related to drug policy.

This is a historic break from the punish first drug policies that have caused so much heartbreak. It came after Peoples Action, a national grassroots network, led more than 200 drug and health-focused groups to call for an end to the War on Drugs in favor of evidence-based solutions rooted in racial and economic justice and compassion.

But words are not enough. President Biden needs to follow through on his campaign promises to decriminalize drug use and offer treatment to drug users. He should throw his full weight behind the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, so health care providers can prescribe treatments for addiction.

But President Bidens approach to drug policy thus far has been one step forward, two steps back. He says he supports the best solutions, but retreats when he fears a political cost like when he extended the blanket scheduling of fentanyl, which increases overdose deaths and imposes harsh penalties on users.

Does Biden have the courage it will take to truly end the War on Drugs?

Local communities arent waiting for an answer.

Vermont just became the first state to decriminalize small amounts of buprenorphine, a prescription drug that eases addiction. New York State just said it will no longer punish those who carry clean syringes. And in Portsmouth, Ohio, community members defeated their police departments bid to buy a $256,000 armored tank, so that money can go towards saving lives.

But we need leadership from the top. President Biden, its time, once and for all, to end the War on Drugs and invest in the best public health strategies that will save lives. Its up to you.

Ellen Glover is the campaign director for Drug Policy, Harm Reduction, and Criminal Justice for Peoples Action, a national network of grassroots groups with more than a million members.

Excerpt from:

50 years later, end the war on drugs | Columns | stardem.com - The Star Democrat

After fifteen years of soaring murder rates, corruption inpublic institutions, and human rights violations, the War on Drugs represents an ignominious defeat for the Mexican State. Most importantly, while drug trafficking organizations continue to threaten the country's national security, decisionmakers and researchers still have more questions than certainties on how to tackle this conundrum.

One of the central dilemmas that arose in the early stages of the conflict, was which instruments to use in countering the increasingly powerful drug trafficking organizations. Most police institutions were under the control of 32different governors and more than 1,800 municipalities. Furthermore, the national security force, the Federal Police, had only 6,500 officers for a country of over 100 million people. On the other hand, the government had the military, a centralized and traditional institution with over 200,000 soldiers.

At the crossroads of the early 2000s, the incentives favored a military approach to the drug cartel challenge. Nevertheless, as the levels of violence increased and human rights violations became widespread, domestic and international voices started to oppose the military's involvement in the conflict fiercely. Subsequent governments answered the criticism with attempts atpolice reformwhich had mediocre results. Faced with intense violence and overwhelmed police forces, governments opted to continue using the military as their primary tool to counter the cartels.

The creation of the National Guard (Guardia Nacional) in 2019, under President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador (AMLO), was an attempt to fill the security gap between the police and the military. The idea was to create a hybrid security force capable of countering new threats, but also protecting human rights and conducting criminal intelligence.Paradoxically, two years after its creation, the Armed Forces continue to perform the central role in Mexico's internal security and severalanalysts argue that the creation of the new force has deepened the militaristic approach.

So, has the National Guard effectively decreased the militarization like Lpez Obrador first envisioned? Or, on the contrary, it has worsened an already dysfunctional strategy? With mixed results and many accusations, the National Guard is an ambivalent force in Mexican security.

By the time President Enrique Pea Nieto, took office in 2012, the War on Drugs strategy had submerged the country in the highest levels of violence it had seen since the Mexican Revolution of 1910. The rapid escalation led to several cases that appalled the Mexican public. For instance, in 2011, Los Zetas Cartel sprayed one of Monterrey's largest casinos with gasoline and set it on fire, killing fifty-two innocent people. Moreover, many of the abuses against civilians came from government forces, like the 2011 killing of two studentsby the police in Ayotzinapa. In this context of social exhaustion, Pea Nieto promised a renewed approach to the security crisis based on crime prevention, human rights protection, and the creation of a gendarmerie. However, the new force never really found its place in internal security, taking peripheral roles like tourist safety. Simultaneously, the Army and the Navy continued to cement their power as the central actors in Mexican security. By 2016, the Armed Forces had a presence in twenty-fourstates, more than seventy-fiveof the federation, and the Government had created new security institutions under military command, like the military and naval police.

During the 2018 presidential campaign, the leftist candidate Lpez Obrador promised a drastic shift in Mexico's security approach under the slogan "Abrazos, no balazos" (Hugs, not bullets). After he won the election, he proposed his National Peace and Security Plan. The initiative included many soft power solutions but some hard power ones, primarily, creating a National Guard. This meant a militarized security force of at least 50,000 members enlisted from the Armed Forces, Federal Police, and new recruits. Most importantly, the aim was to displace the military of their role in internal security and move away from the war paradigm and shift towards a peacekeeping one.

The National Guard became operational in June 2019, with the mission of protecting the life, integrity, security, property, and rights of citizens, as well as preserving their freedoms. With its creation, the new force absorbed the existing national civilian security forces and the military security forces. By the end of 2020, its agents numbered almost 100,000 in 32 states and with100 barracks.Seventy percentof their members comefrom the Armed Forces.

Institutionally, the National Guard is commanded by an Army General but under the civilian authority of the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection (SSP). Still, the military plays an essential role in supporting the Guards operations and strategy. After decades of militarization, it is no surprise that military commanders have an important voice in the security strategy. However, this ambivalence creates tensions that the Government should address.

Despite the relatively successful creation of the National Guard, the vicissitudes and dynamics of international politics made its implementation much more complicated. In particular, President Trump's pressures for stronger border control in Mexico have significantly impacted the plans for this new intermediate force. As soon as Lpez Obrador took office, Trump threatened via Twitter to imposea five percenttariff onall Mexican goods if border action was not taken. This unexpected move hindered the Government's initial plan of using the Guard as the central instrument to deal with the cartels.

As soon as the National Guard became operational, Lpez Obrador had to deploy 21,000 agents to the northern and southern national borders. The objective was to crack down on the immigration flows going from Central America into the U.S. Even though 2018 marked the highest number of murders since the start of the War on Drugs, Lpez Obrador had to balance Mexico'ssecurity needs with other domestic pressures. Considering that the U.S. buys forty-seven percentof Mexico's total exports, the imposition of tariffs would have had a devastating effect on its productive sector. This new mission limited the capacity of the National Guard to take a leading role in dealing with drug-related violence. Lpez Obrador responded by signing an executive order that allowedthe Armed Forces to continue to perform internal security missions for five more years and to the disappointment of many, the country's demilitarization became less likely in the short term.

But, how do we evaluate what we have seen from the National Guard with a realistic approach? Considering the complexity of the Mexican security crisis, a definitive conclusion about its impact, only two years after its creation, would be incautious. However, an analysis of the available data and trends can help us understand the current situation.

When looking at the major 2020 security statistics, the results are mildly encouraging. Last December, Lpez Obrador announced that the homicide rate for that year had stabilized at 27 per 100,000 with a 0.4% interannual decrease after three years of setting new highs. Additionally, kidnapping and urban insecurity perception also fell. Nonetheless, this is still not enough to jump to conclusions, especially considering that the pandemic affected criminal enterprises across the region. As the Guard continues to operate over the coming years, more data will be generated, facilitating the conditions for analysis.

From an institutional perspective, the results are ambiguous. It is easy to accuse this policy as militaristic when comparing it with the unrealistic campaign promise of "hugs, not bullets." However, it is different if we contextualize it in Mexico's security crisis and the recent experiences with police reform. The creation of a strong and capable National Guard, accompanied by a comprehensive set of social and judicial policies, appears to be the only realistic alternative to using the Armed Forces. Even countries with much lower levels of violence, like Chile with the Carabineros and Argentina with the Gendarmera Nacional, had to resort to similar hybrid forces to address Latin Americas growing security gap.

The National Guard implementation is encountering challenges that should be pointed out by critics and solved by the Government. For instance, 90% of its members have not completed the evaluations necessary to act as security agents in compliance with the National Public Safety Law. Also, the securitization of migration is a big obstacle for the Guard if it wants to take acentral role against Mexico's real threats. Most importantly, Lpez Obrador'srecent statements that they could become a fourth branch of the Armed Forces is contradictory with initial plans for the National Guard andcould definitely end all hopes for a demilitarization process.

Undoubtedly, one organization will not solve a decades-long of security debacle, but based on the domestic and regional experience, its creation was a significant step in the right direction. Mexican decisionmakers should make all the efforts to initiate the force's transition to a completely civilian institution. Simultaneously, the militaryshould progressively retreatfrom policing missions and replace them with security forces. If this happens, the National Guard will likely become a central instrument in the country's pacification. If not, it will end up as a dependentof the Armed Forces with a negligible impact.

Santiago Prevideis a political scientist from Buenos Aires studying at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Hehas previously worked in Argentinas public sector.

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Why Mexico Needs to Demilitarize the "War on Drugs" - The National Interest