Category Archives: War On Drugs

CHRONICLE: How the pandemic changed the war on drugs

Updated: 10:00 AM CDT Apr 25, 2021

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OMAHAS NEWS LEADER CHRONICLING THE STORIES AND PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY. THIS IS KETV NEWSWATCH 7S CHRONICLE. GOOD MORNING. IM ROB MCCARTNEY. THE PANDEMIC DIDNT STOP DRUG TRAFFICKERS FROM KEEPING UP WITH THEIR BUSINESSES AND SPECIAL AGENTS ARE WORKING HARD TO GET. DRUGS OFF OUR STREETS. SO THIS MORNING A LOOK AT HOW THE DEA GETS THE JOB DONE PLUS THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO OVERDOSED IN OMAHA WHAT PARAMEDICS SEE WHEN THEY RESPOND AND WHAT DRUGS ACTUALLY DO TO YOUR BODY TO YOUR BRAIN ONCE THEY ENTER YOUR SYSTEM. FIRST HOW THE WAR ON DRUGS CHANGE DURING THE WAR ON COVID JUST BECAUSE THE WORLD OPT DRUG DEALING DIDNT BUT IT CHANGED A LITTLE AND NOW WERE STARTING TO SEE A REAL IMPACT. I TALKED WITH JUSTIN KING THE NEW SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF THE NEBRASKA DIVISION OF THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION ABOUT WHAT THEYRE SEEING. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A TRAFFIC STOPPER. IT COULD HAVE BEEN OUT OF A HOUSE. AT A VERY SMALL SAMPLE OF WHATS BEING TAKEN OFF OUR STREETS JUSTIN KINGS THE NEW SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE FOR THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATIONS. OMAHA DIVISION. HE SAYS THE PANDEMIC HIT THE DRUG TRAFFICKING WORLD WITH THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND SUPPLY WAS NOT AS READILY AVAILABLE. WE SAW A DECREASE IN AVAILABILITY AND WE SAW THE PRICES OF THE DRUGS GO UP AND THEY TRAFFICKERS FINDING DIFFERENT WAYS TO GET THEIR PRODUCT HERE. YOU CAN JUST LOOK AT THE REGULAR SHIPPING BOX THAT GOES AROUND EVERY DAY. WE SEE TRUCKS DELIVERING THINGS ALL THE TIME. WE SEE A LOT OF THAT NOW AND EVERY TIME I THINK IVE SEEN SOMETHING IVE SEEN IT ALL ILL SEE SOMETHING THERE FORCING AGENTS TO ADJUST WHENEVER WE STARTED TO SEE A LOT MORE DRUGS BEING SENT THROUGH PARCELS. WE STARTED MOVING OUR EFFORTS TO HOW CAN WE INVESTIGATE THAT BETTER? BECAUSE ITS A CAT AND MOUSE GAME AND GAME NEVER STOPPED NOT EVEN WHEN THE WORLD DID FOR THE PANDEMIC THE PRODUCTION DIDNT STOP THEY CONTINUED TO STOP. STOCKPILE SO IN ANTICIPATION WHEN IT OPENED UP AND WE DEFINITELY SEE THAT IN OUR SEIZURES TAKE A LOOK AT THESE LATEST NUMBERS THE DEA LOOKED UP FOR US. THIS IS JUSTIN NEBRASKA DURING THE PANDEMIC 221 ARRESTS 241 CASES SEIZING 3.3 MILLION DOLLARS IN ASSETS. WE SEE OUR SEIZURES GOING UP AND YOU KNOW, THERE ARE CONCERNS THAT YOU KNOW, ARE WE SEEING MORE SEIZURES DUE TO TRANSSHIPMENT THROUGH OUR AREA OR ARE WE SEEING MORE SEIZURES BECAUSE OF END USER USE AND ITS A COMBINATION OF BOTH AND BREAKING DOWN SOME OF THE DRUGS. THEY GOT MORE THAN POUNDS OF COCAINE NEARLY 5,200 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA MORE THAN 700 POUNDS OF METHAMPHETAMINE AND 22,544 PILLS METHAMPHETAMINE IS STILL OUR BIGGEST DRUG THREAT. ITS NOT UNCOMMON FOR US ON ANY GIVEN DAY US OR ANY OF THE LOCAL STATE FEDERAL COUNTERPARTS WHO ALL WORK DRUGS TO SEIZE 20 30 POUNDS AT A TIME OF METHAMPHETAMINE CRIMINAL CROSS THAT HAS COME ACROSS THE BORDER ULTIMATELY DESTINED FOR HERE. MOVING THROUGH HERE TO GO TO ANOTHER LOCATION. IT SAYS TO ME THAT FIRST AND FOREMOST IS THAT THE PRODUCTION DIDNT STOP BECAUSE OF COVID AND IT SHOWS THAT THE MARKET. IS THEY FEEL THE PRODUCT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO GET IT INTO THIS COUNTRY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE NOW? BUT IT ALSO SHOWS JUST HOW IMPORTANT OUR EFFORTS ARE TO KEEP THAT OFF THE STREETS. I MEAN EVERY TIME YOU LOOK AT SOMETHING LIKE THIS AND YOU SEE THIS EVERY TIME WE TAKE SOMETHING OFF THE STREET THATS PEOPLE. REALLY ON THEIR RADAR ALL THOSE PILLS COUNTERFEITS MIXED IMPRESSES LIKE THIS WITH USERS CLUELESS AS TO WHATS IN EACH ONE IF YOU HAVE LIKE A PILL, PRESS LIKE WHAT WERE LOOKING AT RIGHT HERE WHERE THIS PILL PRESS SOMEBODY COULD BE HAVE SOME RECIPE WHERE THEYRE MIXING UP WHAT THEY SAY IS A WHAT TO LOOK LIKE AN OXYCONTIN OR A OPIOID PRESCRIPTION DRUG. WELL THAT PRESCRIPTION DRUG MORE THAN LIKELY NOW IF ITS SOLD ON THE STREET IS GOING TO HAVE FENTANYL IN AND FENTANYL IS SO POTENT THAT ITS NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE. KING SAYS ONE PILL MAY HAVE VERY LITTLE FENTANYL IN IT ANOTHER MAYBE NOTHING BUT AND ITS NOT JUST IN THE ELSE THEYRE FINDING A LOT OF HEROIN LACED WITH FENTANYL. WE ASSUME EVERYTHING WE HAVE SEIZED HEROIN-WISE NOW HAS FENTANYL IN IT. WERE SEEING THAT IN ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR OVERDOSE DEATHS. THATS BECAUSE IT ONLY TAKES THIS MUCH FENTANYL MAYBE EVEN LESS TO KILL YOU KING POINTS OUT HOW MUCH CAN FIT IN A ONE GRAM PACKET LIKE THIS WITHIN THIS GRAM IF THIS IS FENTANYL, WERE TALKING ABOUT A THOUSAND DOSAGE UNITS POSSIBLY 500 LETHAL DOSES OF FENTANYL 500 DEADLY DOSES. THATS WHY THE DEA WANTS TO GET RID OF AS MANY ILLEGAL DRUGS AS POSSIBLE. THEYD BE INCINERATED LIKE THESE FROM A DRUG TAKE-BACK DAY EVENT KING AND HIS TEAM ARE TRYING TO STAY A STEP AHEAD OF THE TRAFFICKERS WHO HE KNOWS ARENT GOING AWAY. THE PANDEMIC HAS JUST SHOWN THAT THESE DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATIONS WILL CONTINUE TO EVOLVE THEY WILL CONTINUE TO EXPAND THEIR INFLUENCED ANYWHERE THEY CAN OR TO MAKE A PROFIT AT THE PRICE OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY. HERE WE GET FRUSTRATED. HE SAID EVERY DAY BUT WE HAVE SOME OF THE MOST PHENOMENAL PEOPLE THAT WORK IN THE INTO THIS FIELD AND THAT IS YOU KNOW, IVE BEEN ALL OVER THE WORLD DOING THIS AND IVE NEVER ONCE BEEN BORED. IF IVE EVER BEEN FRUSTRATED THE FRUSTRATION COMES FROM THE EXIT HAS ON THE ON THE PUBLIC AND WHAT IT DOES TO FAMILIES AND WHAT IT DOES TO OUR COMMUNITIES AT THE END OF THE DAY. WE DONT WANT PEOPLE TO EVER START DOING DRUGS AND AND THE DANGERS AND THE THINGS THAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE LIFE. ITS A LOT EASIER. ITS A LOT EASIER TO NEVER DO IT THAN TO TRY TO GET OFF OF A DRUG. AND STILL ADD THE NUMBER OF OVERDOSES RECORDED THIS YEAR IN OMAHA AND ONE OF THE CITYS TOP PARAMEDICS SHOWS US THE TOOLS THEY HAVE TO TREAT THOSE CASES IF YOURE WATCHING KETV, NEWSWATCH 7S CHRONI

CHRONICLE: How the pandemic changed the war on drugs

Updated: 10:00 AM CDT Apr 25, 2021

The war on drugs didn't stop when the war on COVID-19 began. The Drug Enforcement Administration started seeing changes in drug trafficking, including in Nebraska and Iowa. KETV NewsWatch 7 gets a walk-through of how agents stop the movement of drugs, plus the tools paramedics have on-hand to treat overdoses. We're also getting a look at how drugs impact your brain, and if those changes can ever be changed back. Part 2: Part 3:

The war on drugs didn't stop when the war on COVID-19 began. The Drug Enforcement Administration started seeing changes in drug trafficking, including in Nebraska and Iowa.

KETV NewsWatch 7 gets a walk-through of how agents stop the movement of drugs, plus the tools paramedics have on-hand to treat overdoses.

We're also getting a look at how drugs impact your brain, and if those changes can ever be changed back.

Part 2:

Part 3:

Read this article:

CHRONICLE: How the pandemic changed the war on drugs - KETV Omaha

On 4/20 Day, feminist conversations shift to the war on drugs and its disproportionate impact on Black and brown communities. Over 61 percent of federally incarcerated women were charged with nonviolent drug offensesand Black women, Native American women and Latinas more likely to serve time than their white counterparts. (Branson Breaking the Taboo on drugs/ YouTube)

This year on 4/20 Day, most cannabis enthusiasts will celebrate without their buds, from the comfort of their homes. But as many Americans consume cannabis without worry, misogyny and racism prevent minority communities from enjoying the holidayas they have since the beginning of the war on drugs in the 1970s.

In the 1960s, with the culmination of the Civil Rights Movement, anti-Vietnam War protests and pushes for equality for women, a new counterculture had begun to materialize. For these groups, drugs like cannabis became synonymous with youthful rebellion, free love, social justice and political dissent.

Thus, the beginning of the U.S. war on drugs as we know it started with the presidency of Richard Nixon. He declared the war on drugs in 1971, and with that announcement brought a dramatic increase in the size and presence of federal drug control efforts, and pushed through measures like mandatory sentencing and no-knock warrants. (The police who shot and killed Breonna Taylor in March 2020 were able to enter her apartment with a no-knock warrant.)

Recently, one of Richard Nixons top advisers admitted the war on drugs was, at its core, a racist political tool. In 1994, former Nixon domestic policy chief John Ehrlichmantold Harpers writer Dan Baum:

The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and Black people. You understand what Im saying? We knew we couldnt make it illegal to be either against the war or Black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and Blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.

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

Its clear, then, as Asha Bandele, former director at Drug Policy Alliance puts it, that during the war on drugs, Drugs became a proxy for race.

It is essentially impossible to overstate the harmful effects of Nixons drug policies. To put the damage of the war on drugs in perspective: When the war on drugs began in 1971, the prison population was 200,000. Today, that number is over 2 million.

According to the Drug Policy Alliance:

People of color experience discrimination at every stage of the criminal legal system and are more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, convicted, harshly sentenced and saddled with a lifelong criminal record. This is particularly the case for drug law violations.

Nearly 80 percentof people in federal prison and almost 60 percent of people in state prison for drug offenses are Black or Latino.

Researchshows that prosecutors are twice as likely to pursue a mandatory minimum sentence for Black people as for white people charged with the same offense. Among people who received a mandatory minimum sentence in 2011, 38 percent were Latino and 31 percent were Black.

Black people andNative Americansare more likely to be killed by law enforcement than other racial or ethnic groups. They are often stereotyped as being violent or addicted to alcohol and other drugs. Experts believe that stigma and racism mayplay a major role in police-communityinteractions.

And the effects go beyond jail time. Someone with a crime or incarceration on their record automatically becomes ineligible for most financial aid. Experts approximate that between 50,000 and 60,000 students per year are denied financial aid and federal education assistance, like Pell grants and student loans, due to prior drug convictions.

The video below, narrated by Jay Z and illustrated by acclaimed artist Molly Crabapple, further examines the drug wars destructive impact on Black and brown communities due to years of racist law enforcement:

The war on drugs has become a largely unannounced war on women, particularly women of color.

Over 61 percent of federally incarcerated women are there for nonviolent drug offensesand Black women, Native American women and Latinas more likely to serve time than their white counterparts, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. These statistics persist despite the fact that whites are nearly five times as likely as Blacks to use marijuana and three times as likely as Blacks to have used crack, according to University of Michigans Andrea Ritchie, author of Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color.

For poor women, especially poor women of color, police target women drug users according to the broken windows theory. Ritchie warns we must pay particular attention to how controlling narratives inform broad exercises of police discretion and fuel police stops, harassment, violence, extortion, and arrests of women of color in the context of broken windows policing across the country.

According to a report from theCannabis Consumers Coalition, cannabis consumption between men and women is about 50/50, debunking a common misconception that the majority of pot users are men. (The survey was anonymous and covered all states, not just those with legalized marijuana.)

Yet, the war on drugs broadly continues to disproportionately attack and overpower women, as shown by the Association for Womens Rights in Development (AWID) report, Feminist Movements and Women Resisting the War on Drugs. Coming out as a woman who uses drugs can be extremely dangerous to the safety and wellbeing of the woman and all those depending on her careone heightened risk, for instance, is the loss of parental rights, the report read.

Similarly, drug selling occurs at similar rates across racial and ethnic groups, yet Black and Latina women are far more likely to be criminalized for drug law violations than white women, according to the Drug Policy Alliance.

While consumption between men and women is more or less equal, female representation on the business side of the cannabis industry still hasnt caught up to match its equal representation at purchasing. In October 2015,Marijuana Business Daily reported36 percent of executive-level roles in the marijuana industry were held by women. When the same survey went out in 2017, female execs had dropped to 27 percent, down 9 percent. (Still, thats something to celebrate when compared to U.S. businesses as a whole, where women reflect only 23 percent of top positions and 5 percent of CEO jobs. Forbes writerDebra Borchardtattributes this healthy edge to the relative youth of the industry.)

In states that have legalized recreational cannabis usage, rates of ownership and entrepreneurship in the marijuana industry for people of color are abysmal: Less than a fifth of the people involved at an ownership or stake-holder level were people of color, a 2017 survey found; Black people made up only 4.3 percent.

As more cannabis markets come online, many believe if meaningful action isnt taken, the marijuana industry will continue down the path of most other businesses in the U.S.where being white and male gives aspiring business-owners a significant advantage.

The idea that a new, extremely lucrative industry [is] materializingcomprised largely of white males selling a drug that many people of color [have] been arrested and incarcerated for[is] seen by many as an injustice, writes Eli McVey in a report for Marijuana Business Daily entitled Women and Minorities in the Cannabis Industry.

Righting this wrong has been the impetus for a growing movement within the cannabis conversation: social equity initiativesor the idea that regulators and leaders in the space have an obligation to right the wrongs of cannabis prohibition. Social equity in cannabis looks different depending on location, but it often takes the form of official city or county programs, general resources and educational materials, legal assistance, one-on-one counseling, record expungement and more.

As of 2021, 35statesplus D.C havelegalizedmedicinalmarijuana, and 15 states plus D.C. have implemented recreational usage of the plant. But the nationwide war on marijuana and the larger war on drugs still continues, affecting low-income communities and people of color the most.

Legalization is still the best path forward, but its not enough. The ACLU and other drug policy activists call for further action, like automatic record expungement for people incarcerated for non-violent cannabis convictions; and federal decriminalization and removal of the drugs from its Schedule One classification.

Two-thirds of Americans support marijuana legalization, and the issue has bipartisan support, especially among young people.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority LeaderChuck Schumer(D-N.Y.) told reporters to expect draft legislation to end federal prohibition on marijuana in the near future.

So, on this holiday, cannabis use reminds the nation about the power-hungry, patriarchal, racist nature of the continued war on drugs.

The coronavirus pandemic and the response by federal, state and local authorities is fast-moving.During this time,Ms. is keeping a focus on aspects of the crisisespecially as it impacts women and their familiesoften not reported by mainstream media.If you found this article helpful,please consider supporting our independent reporting and truth-telling for as little as $5 per month.

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Six Things Feminists Should Know About the War on Drugs - Ms. Magazine

It was designed to reduce crime and corruption. It was the answer to social ills. It would make budgets for prisons more manageable. And it would make the country a better place to live.

If that sounds a lot like the reasons behind the so-called war on drugs when it was established in 1971, youre not far off-base since many of those claims were used by the Nixon administration at the time.

But instead, this was the reasoning behind Prohibition in 1920 the only time an amendment to the U.S. Constitution was used to take away something from its people rather than to guarantee something they needed.

And, according to the Cato Institute (and probably any other historian worth their salt), it was a complete failure.

Alcohol consumption didnt go down. It went up. As did the cost, since its creation and distribution were now carrying that black market premium. And it became an industry loved by mobs and cartels. This amendment was such a massive failure that its still, to this day, the only one that was later repealed.

Wed never make that mistake again, right? One thing we should know by now is that we, as a society, dont learn a lot from history. If we did, we wouldnt spend so much time repeating it.

And thats what we did in 1971. The war on drugs has done little to help society, and instead made cartels super-rich, has cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion and were not even counting incarceration costs and is one of those wars we can never win, no matter how much we try.

This year, the federal government expects to spend nearly $36 billion on its war, and another $3 billion annually to incarcerate those arrested simply for possession.

Our leaders sometimes get confused on when to ban something, and when to regulate it. They are now correcting the mistake with marijuana, but maybe its time to address the rest of the war? Where has it gotten us anyway?

Regulation may not necessarily be the answer, but for many, its not even on the table for discussion. And maybe it should be. How much more money can we throw at this problem? How many more people have to die? How much more petty crime can we take many of which is so those who do have a problem with drugs can afford that black market premium.

No one is looking to create a country filled with addicts. But then again, repealing Prohibition didnt create a country full of alcoholics either. It did allow for us to know the alcohol we drink meets some sort of federal standard, and that we can get it without having to rob a bank to afford it.

We must be ready to consider all possibilities. Even the unpopular ones. Its the only way this war will ever find peace.

Read more from the original source:

War on drugs, and peace - The Riverdale Press

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More:

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

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

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

Yes. And release prisoners who are incarcerated for pot.

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

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

Martha Stewart, Majority Shareholder ofMartha Stewart Living Omnimedia

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

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

David Koch, Former Vice President ofKoch Industries

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

Richard Branson, Founder ofTheVirgin Group

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

Kevin OLeary, Founder ofOLeary Ventures

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

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

"You bet I did and I enjoyed it."

Michael Bloomberg, Founder ofBloomberg L.P.

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

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

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2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go here to read the rest:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read the rest here:

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

Six locations will accept a variety of medications, including those that are commonly abused, for disposal in a safe and environmentally friendly way on April 24.

TOLEDO, Ohio The war on drugs isn't just on the streets, it's also in our medicine cabinets.

That's the message for Drug Take Back Day.

The Toledo Police Department and Mental Health & Recovery Services Board of Lucas County are sponsoring the Drug Take Back Day at six locations across Toledo.

A variety of expired or unused medication will be accepted at the locations and disposed of safely in an environmentally friendly way.

All collection sites will accept narcotics, over-the-counter medications, pet medications, prescription drugs and vitamins.

Some sites will accept syringes and liquid medications. You're encouraged to call ahead.

Collection sites will not accept inhalers, ointments/lotions or anything from commercial or medical vendors.

Drug Take Back Day will take place Saturday, April 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The following Toledo locations are serving as collection sites:

Link:

Drug Take Back Day providing a safe way to dispose of unused or expired medications in Toledo - WTOL

No longer can police and courts assume that a person was in possession of drugs just because they had them on their person, or were near them in some capacity. Now, the state must prove that someone knowingly possessed drugs. The consequences of this ruling for people with current and former drug convictions cannot be understated.

There are a wealth of social problems connected to the American criminal legal system. Instead of a harm reduction or a medical approach, our nation mostly addresses mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction, and poverty and homelessness through arrests, citations, convictions and incarceration. In fact, the three largest psychiatric care providers in this country include Rikers Island jail, Cook County Jail and the Los Angeles County jail. In the United States, over 550,000 people with mental health disorders live in cages. Of those, approximately 75% have co-occurring disorders, such as chemical addiction.

Over the past 45 years, the United States has experienced a 500% increase in the number of people who live behind bars. More than 2.2 million people roughly the size of New Mexicos population are incarcerated in the United States. Our status as one of the most punitive countries in the world results from policy choices closely linked to drug convictions.

The practical consequences of the Blake decision will become clear over the months and years to come. Chief among them is the question of legal debt.

Alongside the explosion in rates of incarceration, the criminal legal system has increased its reliance on monetary sanctions, or legal financial obligations fines, fees, restitutions and related costs associated with citations, court processing, convictions and punishments. As a result of the ruling, monetary sanctions associated with past drug convictions may need to be refunded. Juliana Roe, policy director of the Washington State Association of Counties, told Crosscuts David Kroman that the state and many of its counties have received between $24 million and $47 million in legal financial obligations from people with drug charges. How to make those people whole financially invokes much larger questions of justice and reparation. It is those questions we must attend to in the wake of Blake.

Financial penalties are imposed on people for reasons ranging from traffic citations to juvenile, misdemeanor and felony convictions. In the past 15 years, Washington state has imposed roughly $343 million in mandatorily imposed costs alone. These are associated with all misdemeanor and felony convictions in Washington at a rate of $250 and $500, respectively.

However, the money that people are forced to pay does not stop there. Also levied are fines, discretionary court costs, interest and payment costs. Consider this: In Washington state, simple possession of a small amount of cocaine can result in a $10,000 fine.

Our state has aggressively attempted to collect outstanding legal financial obligations. Some jurisdictions have contracted with private collection companies, which, by statute, can add up to 50% additional collection costs to the person who owes monetary sanctions. And, since 2013, county clerks have had the authority to examine employment earnings, garnish wages and ask judges to issue bench warrants for arrests related to nonpayment. In research for my book, A Pound of Flesh, I found that some counties in Washington state would regularly incarcerate people for up to 60 days when they failed to makes payments on their legal debts, including those who were unemployed or homeless.

A wide range of consequences attends those unable to pay their criminal legal court costs. In Washington state, for example, when people are unable to pay a traffic citation and appear in court, their license can be suspended. This results in an absurd situation in which people too poor to pay their penal debt lose the right to drive, in some cases preventing them from getting to work to make money. If a person is driving with a suspended license and pulled over by the police, they can be cited, fined up to $1,000 and forced to spend 90 days in jail. (A recent report in Seattle found that Black drivers receive a disproportionate amount of these citations.)

We are at a reckoning with our state and national criminal legal system. Our state Supreme Court has found simple drug possession cases to be illegitimate. All of these convictions came with an array of punishments, including large amounts of monetary sanctions that have devastated individuals and communities throughout Washington state.

Now, the question is this: How will the state attempt to make people with these convictions whole? Will the state pay back the legal financial obligations that so many were required to pay, with interest? How can a system that has dismantled lives and communities make amends and reparations to the victims of unjust prosecution, convictions and punishments? We must ensure that we as a public stay vigilant to how the state will redress its wrongs just as vigilant as the state has been in punishing, and demanding money from, the thousands of individuals whose drug convictions are now void.

Continued here:

Opinion | After Blake, will Washington state repay victims of the war on drugs? - Crosscut