Category Archives: War On Drugs

Published 1:43 PM, August 06, 2017

Updated 1:43 PM, August 06, 2017

The Juvenile Justice Law in the Philippines is under question by Duterte. He repeatedly slammed the existing juvenile justice system in various public events and gatherings expressing the need to lower the age of criminality of children from the age of 15 to 9. The present law states that a child who is 15 years old or younger at the time of the commission of the crime shall remain exempted from criminal liability. The offender, however, will be subjected to an intervention program from the government.

The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), expressed its dissent and said that the move of the Philippine Congress to lower the age of criminality is against human rights and would subject children at a young age to become criminals by being brought up in prisons with other criminals.

In May 2017, Pulse Asia released a survey report that 55% of Filipinos believe that the lowest age of criminal liability in the Philippines should remain at 15 years old.

The Philippine Congress, despite its push to lower the age of criminal liability of children, decided to maintain the existing law at 15 various childrens rights activists and organizations remain vigilant on any proposed state policies and regulations that violate human rights and deprivation of liberty.

According to data provided by the Women and Children Protection Centre of the Philippine National Police, a total of 26,415 children allegedly involved in the use, sale or transport of drugs had surrendered to police as of January.

The Childrens Legal Rights and Development Centre (CLRDC) documented and verified 40 cases of children deaths between July 2016 and April 2017. This figures covers 75% of Luzon and 25% Visayas wherein 27 males and 13 females were intentionally killed and assaulted by state authorities and unknown gunmen. 3 among the 27 males identified themselves as part of the LGBT community. In these alarming death tolls of children being shot dead and arrested without appropriate conduct of legal measures, no one was held accountable. In some cases, even, law enforcement authorities arbitrarily arrested children and post threat to families who will testify as witnesses in court.

Proxy and arbitrary arrests and childrens rights violations

The 31st of March 2017 was just a typical play day for Justin, a 16 year-old boy from Navotas City until unfortunate series of things happened. While riding his bicycle outside their home, a group of policemen arrived looking for his older brother Anthony. They informed them that the latter committed robbery. As the group continued to search for him, the parents questioned about their sons alleged offense but the group of police was not able to show any warrant of arrest.

Anthony was not in the scene during the search operations which led to Justins arrest in lieu of his brother. The authorities bargained with the parents that they will only release Justin if and only if they will inform them of Anthonys whereabouts.

Few days after, there was no Anthony that showed up in order for Justin to be released from police custody; but a dead body of Justin was found with hands tied, bathed in his own blood. The family grieved for their sons death but the same group of police officers came back to their home to tell to bury his body right away and was told not to perform a post-mortem examination of their own sons dead body. The family was threatened by the same group who ought to serve and protect the people.

The search for Anthony continues.

The haggle for sex in exchange of release

In a populated slum community in Metro Manila, a 15-year old girl named Elena was mistakenly arrested early morning while babysitting her neighbours baby. She was arbitrarily arrested by the police authorities and accused for being involved in drug trade. She was put behind the bars. The case of Elena, according to childrens rights groups is still a pending case being resolved. Series of horrors in the life of Elena continued to haunt her inside the detention facility. She was promised to be released in exchange for sex.

The party that ended the lives of 5

Mama, labhan mo naman ang jogger pants ko. Gagamitin ko bukas, may pupuntahan kaming birthday party. (Ma, can you please laundry my jogger pants. Ill use it tomorrow at a birthday party), he said.

Patrick, who was a former minor detainee, was just released from a child detention facility previously accused of stealing a cellular phone. He was invited to attend a birthday party, together with a former detainee and three others. The supposed fun night filled with loud party music was intercepted with harrowing sound from multiple gunshots aimed at the owner of the house was allegedly in the watch list of PNP. Everyone was left in state of shock. Patrick, the owner of the house and five others unfortunately ended up soaking in their own blood, lifeless.

The mother of Patrick laments the inhumane feat of the police without proper conduct of search for the person they were looking for that night.

LGBT children in conflict with the law

Some cases of identified LGBT of minor age being caught in the drug war has also been accounted by human rights and childrens rights groups like the cases of Jenny and Gemma.

In a child-caring institution in Metro Manila where juvenile delinquent are taken care of, Jenny, who identifies herself as transgender woman was arrested for a minor crime. Despite of her sexual orientation and gender identity, she was put in a cell for men. Worse, she was even forced to speak in a manly voice. Basic needs werent provided. They sleep on the floor with their t-shirts as protection from the cold at night; heavily-locked in the cage. There were times that she was sexually assaulted by her fellow inmates, and despite her testimony, no action has been done about her case, she narrated.

Gemma was accused of theft. She was detained and later on released after the case for her minor offense was dismissed. Days could have turned brighter for her after she was freed. However, that was not the case. She was brutally shot dead in a police drug operations days after. Perpetrators of minor offenses were instantly tagged as persons who were involved in drug trade. She was one of them.

The rising numbers of orphans

While the death toll of alleged drug suspects killed in police drug operations increased, the number of children who have lost parents is significantly rising. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) estimates that about 18,000 children were left as orphans. The constant approach of the government worsens the situation of children whose parents were killed in the drug war that put them in the pits of socio-economic setbacks.

According to CLRDs documented data, they only recorded 42 cases of minor crimes in 2014 for Metro Manila and a significant increment of 7 heinous crimes cases attributed to children and minors involved in drug-related crimes in the first quarter of 2017.

Various human rights groups and childrens rights advocates estimate that in every area of police drug operations, a minimum of 30 head quota is required to facilitate the war on drugs regardless, if it includes children as collateral damage operations either direct or indirect violent assaults.

The constant attempt of the government in solving the drug trade issue will be a perpetual series of deaths on the streets including children if the only options being explored and implemented rely on finding ways to legitimize these violent and aggressive schemes against illegal drugs. It is equally important, that civil society groups and organizations should remain vigilant in monitoring state-sponsored impunity; and classify how proposed state policies forward the discount of human life and any potential apparatuses that celebrate vigilantism confined within state fortification. Rappler.com

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Children in Duterte's bloody war on drugs - Rappler

The killing of the late Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. during an operation by a combined police team in Ozamiz City this week has set in motion the Philippine National Polices campaign against so-called big fish in its vicious anti-narcotics war.

The operation that resulted in the death of Parojinog, whom President Duterte had earlier identified as among the countrys narco-politicians, had dispelled criticisms that the government is only after small fish in its bloody war on drugs.

The PNP revived its twin campaigns against illegal drugs in March this year, after they were briefly put on the back burner as a result of the involvement of some police anti-narcotics operatives in controversial operations, the worse of which was the killing of a Korean.

The Double Barrel Reloaded and Oplan Tokhang Revisited were put back into operations to sustain and continue the campaign against so-called high-value targets, and street users and peddlers of illegal drugs.

While the Double Barrel was supposed to have neutralized personalitiesincluding politicians, drug lords and financierswho are behind the illegal-drugs operation in the country, it actually only got rid of three known personalities before the death of Parojinog. Two local politicians and a drug couple.

Since last year, the Double Barrel Reloaded has only accounted for Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Saudi Ampatuan Mayor Samsodin Dimaukom and couple Meriam and Melvin Odicta.

Sadly, all four, whom the police had considered as high-value targets under its drugs list, were killed, two of them in police operations.

Espinosa was killed inside his cell at the Baybay subprovincial jail in Leyte last November, while Dimaukom was killed in a shootout with policemen last October.

The Odicta couple, who were from Iloilo and whom PNP chief Director General Ronald M. de la Rosa considered as top drug lords in Western Visayas, were shot dead at the Caticlan port by unidentified men in April last year.

More to come

Following the death of Parojinog, de la Rosa said more drug personalities will follow, advising the public to wait for a little while.

A lot more, the PNP chief told reporters in response to a question from a journalist when pressed about their next target following the operations against Parojinog. You just have to wait for a little bit.

De la Rosa said the operations against the late Ozamiz City mayor should serve as a warning to all drugs lords, and even criminals, to mend their ways or stop their illegal activities.

The PNP considers no sacred cows in its enforcement of laws. As far as law enforcement is concerned, we have no fear or [give] favor. If there is for you to be operated on, we will operate against you, he said.

The PNP chief added the death of Parojinog was not intentional. However, the late mayor died because he had chosen to fight it out with the policemen who were serving search warrants.

De la Rosa said that in every police operations, he wanted his policemen to come out alive, and not the subject of their operation.

I want my men alive. I always say it, and clearly, it should be the good man standing and the bad man laying [on] the pavement, he said.

A hundred more

De la Rosa said the operations for the Double Barrel Reloaded will take them around the country, adding that they are already in the process of building up cases against those identified by Duterte on his list of narco-politicians.

We are building up cases against them; the validation is continuing. If we have build up cases against them, then we will operate, he said.

The PNP chief acknowledged that the list of the President on politicians and other high-value targets in the illegal drugs is long, but he would make sure that all of them would be having their day of reckoning, unless they will reform, or have already reformed. And on his list for politicians involved in drugs, Duterte has identified at least a hundred of them.

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Operation against 'big fish' under war on drugs starts - Business Mirror

Land of Talk at Bowery Ballroom in June (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Yesterday, The War on Drugs added a Terminal 5 show with Craig Finn to their tour, and today they added an exciting opener for their Central Park SummerStage (9/19) show too: Land of Talk. Tickets for the Central Park show are still available and tickets for the T5 show are on presale.

Land of Talk returned this year with thegreatLife After Youth, their first album in seven years. They open a handful of other dates on TWODs tour and have some other shows too. All dates are listed below.

UPDATE: Land of Talk also have a new video for This Time from the new album, which you can watch below.

The War On Drugs new album A Deeper Understanding is out 8/25 via Atlantic, and you can listen to the latest single, Strangest Thing, below, alongside all tour dates.

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The War On Drugs 2017 Tour Dates Sep 18 State Theatre Portland, ME* Sep 19 Terminal 5 New York, NY w/ Craig Finn Sep 21 Dell Music Center Philadelphia, PA* Sep 22 Summer Stage Central Park New York, NY* Sep 23 Blue Hills Bank Pavilion Boston, MA* Sep 25 The Fillmore Charlotte Charlotte, NC* Sep 26 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA* Sep 28 The Bomb Factory Dallas, TX* Sep 29 White Oak Music Hall Houston, TX* Sep 30 Stubbs Barbeque Austin, TX* Oct 05 Greek Theatre-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Oct 06 Greek Theatre-U.C. Berkeley Berkeley, CA Oct 09 Moore Theatre Seattle, WA Oct 10 Moore Theatre Seattle, WA Oct 11 Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Portland, OR Oct 13 The Complex Salt Lake City, UT Oct 14 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO Oct 15 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO Oct 18 Palace Theatre St. Paul, MN Oct 19 Riviera Theatre Chicago, IL Oct 20 Express Live! Columbus, OH Oct 21 Massey Hall Toronto, Canada Oct 22 Massey Hall Toronto, Canada Oct 23 The Anthem Washington, DC Nov 01 afas live Amsterdam Zuidoost, Netherlands Nov 02 afas live Amsterdam Zuidoost, Netherlands Nov 03 E-Werk Cologne, Germany Nov 04 Forest National Forest, Belgium Nov 06 Bataclan Paris, France Nov 07 LAeronef Lille, France Nov 09 Barrowlands Glasgow, United Kingdom Nov 10 Barrowlands Glasgow, United Kingdom Nov 12 O2 Apollo Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom Nov 13 O2 Apollo Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom Nov 14 Alexandra Palace London, United Kingdom Nov 17 X-TRA Zurich, Switzerland Nov 18 Fabrique Milan, Italy Nov 20 Muffathalle Munchen, Germany Nov 21 Groe Freiheit 36 Hamburg, Germany Nov 22 Tempodrom Berlin, Germany Nov 24 Spektrum Oslo, Norway Nov 25 Tap 1 Copenhagen, Denmark Nov 26 Tap 1 Copenhagen, Denmark Nov 27 Annexet Stockholm, Sweden Nov 29 Lotto Arena Antwerp, Belgium

* w/ Land of Talk

Land of Talk 2017 Tour Dates 08/12 Marysville, ON @ Wolfe Island Music Festival 09/18 Portland, ME @ State Theatre * 09/21 Philadelphia, PA @ The Dell * 09/22 New York, NY @ SummerStage in Central Park * 09/23 Boston, MA @ Blue Hills Pavilion * 09/25 Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore * 09/26 Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle * 09/28 Dallas, TX @ Bomb Factory * 09/29 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall * 09/30 Austin, TX @ Stubbs * 11/23 Montreal, QC @ Phi Center 11/24 Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Theatre 11/25 Toronto, ON @ Great Hall

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Land of Talk opening part of War On Drugs tour (including Central Park) - Brooklyn Vegan (blog)

I have had countless conversations with colleagues in elected positions about their use of marijuana. I can say with confidence that many of my colleagues in Congress have tried marijuana. In my time in other privileged institutions like Stanford and Yale, marijuana and other drugs were used with little fear of consequences and were openly spoken about and joked about with little understanding of the painful fact: the War on Drugs in America has scarcely affected the lives of the privileged but has devastated poor communities and communities of color.

I have spent most of my adult life living and working in Newark, New Jersey. For the past four decades, Newark has found many of its neighborhoods, including the one in which I live, on the front lines of a war not on drugs, but on people individuals and families who are simultaneously over-criminalized and under-protected.

As a low income tenants lawyer, a city councilman, and as mayor, I saw up close how this war manufactured in Washington and state houses all across the country meant that the hardworking, brave officers of my police department were forced to spend their time enforcing drug laws that did not necessarily make our community safer and often worsened conditions that lead to greater poverty, greater suffering and less safety. During my time as mayor, my officers often decried the churn of people arrested again and again on nonviolent charges like possessing marijuana, deepening deficits of trust within the community and too often debilitating nonviolent offenders and those struggling with the disease of addiction from turning their lives around.

I continue to see in my community how the unequal application of these laws criminalizes large swaths of Americans poor Americans, black and brown Americans, addicted Americans, the mentally ill and disproportionately our veterans. As a result of these broken, inequitably applied laws, I have met countless good people who couldnt find a job, couldnt find a decent place to live, and couldnt support their family because they had a criminal record for doing something less serious than two of the last three presidents of the United States have admitted to doing.

It is clear to me that theres no easy way out of the injustice system we have created. Fixing our broken system will require painstakingly undoing decades of bad policy, addressing the persistent and systemic racial bias within our system, and rethinking how we treat those addicted to harmful drugs.

I believe it also requires legalizing marijuana.

Aaron Bernstein / Reuters

Theres a different view held by many and championed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is planning to step up the enforcement of our nations federal marijuana laws. But this path isnt the answer to reducing crime or to making our communities safer. In fact, the enforcement of marijuana laws have too often led to a sacrifice of our values, our safety, and the potential of millions of Americans.

Federal marijuana laws have long undermined our nations promise of liberty and justice for all. The unequal application of these laws on communities of color and poorer Americans has created a justice system where outcomes are often more dependent on race and class than on guilt or innocence. Despite the fact that there is no difference in marijuana use between Blacks and Whites, Black Americans are 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession. Marijuana laws have helped to make the land of the free far less free, with incarceration rates higher than any nation in human history. In fact, the United States is home to only five percent of the worlds population, but nearly twenty five percent of the worlds prison population.

We have created large illegal markets and vastly contributed to their associated violence and ancillary crime. Weve added millions of Americans to the ranks of the formerly incarcerated, a population with high recidivism rates, often due to limits on their options for employment. And weve siphoned resources away from public safety: while Congress has increased spending on federal prisons by 45 percent since 1998, largely to house non-violent offenders, it cut spending on state and local law enforcement by a whopping 76 percent.

And these laws arent even working: more than half of American adults have tried marijuana, and its use is on the rise. Our nations arbitrary efforts to criminalize a substance that is less dangerous than alcohol or cigarettes or fast food, has not only made our country less just, but our communities less safe.

Our broken marijuana laws have perpetuated unequal justice under the law, failed to make us safer, wasted taxpayer dollars and taken precious resources away from investing in our communities.

Thats why I am introducing theMarijuana Justice Act, a bill that would federally legalize marijuana, retroactively apply that policy change to those already serving time behind bars for federal marijuana offenses, and reinvest savings in public safety and community-building. It would also incentivize states to legalize marijuana if people of color and the poor in that state are disproportionately arrested or incarcerated for marijuana-related offenses.

We know from the experiences of states that have already legalized marijuana that we will gain far more than we lose these states have seen increased revenues and decreased rates of serious crime, and a reallocation of resources toward more productive uses. In Colorado, arrest rates have decreased and state revenues have increased. Washington saw 10 percent decrease in violent crime over the three-year period following legalization. Its now time for the federal government to step up to the plate, and to encourage states that have yet to lead, to follow.

TheMarijuana Justice Actis a serious step in acknowledging, that after 40 years, its time to start to end the War on Drugs. Its time to stop our backward thinking, which has only led to backward results. Its time to lead with our hearts, our heads, and with policy that actually works. Its time to legalize marijuana.

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How To Begin The End Of The War On Drugs - HuffPost

The War on Drugs released a new song, "Pain," the second single from their upcoming fourth LP, A Deeper Understanding.

The Philadelphia sextet layer guitars and keyboards into a reverb-soaked swirl, landing at their trademark sweet spot of New Wave and heartland rock. Frontman Adam Granduciel croons abstract imagery about wires, falling dominos and "a demon at a doorway waiting to be born." The track concludes with an atmospheric guitar that stretches out for nearly two minutes.

"Pain" is one of two songs the band tracked almost entirely live as a unit on their first night working with engineer Shawn Everett in Los Angeles. The band, utilizing this organic recording style, aimed to make A Deeper Understanding more of a true "band record."

The War on Drugs previously previewed the LP, out August 25th, with lead single "Holding On" and album tracks "Thinking of a Place" and "Strangest Thing." The band will perform "Pain" August 9th on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The group will launch a North American fall tour in Portland, Maine on September 18th. After concluding that run of shows in the U.S. and Canada, they head to Europe in November.

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Hear the War on Drugs' Reverb-Soaked New Song 'Pain' - RollingStone.com

Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington on July 13.

Aaron Bernstein/Reuters

In a memo circulated in May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed federal prosecutors to seek the maximum penalty possible in every case. He didnt single out any particular crimes for harsh sentencing, indicating that all offensesincluding simple drug possessionshould be punished in the harshest allowable manner. Sessions later defended the decision in a Washington Post opinion piece, arguing that a decline in drug prosecutions under the Obama administration had led to an uptick in violent crime.

Backlash to Sessions announcement was swift. Leaders on both sides of the aisle slammed his decision to revoke discretion in drug sentencing. Thirty current and former prosecutors responded with a scathing open letter expressing deep concern about the new directive. Instead of providing people who commit low-level drug offenses or who are struggling with mental illness with treatment, support and rehabilitation programs, the policy will subject them to decades of incarceration, they wrote. In essence, the Attorney General has reinvigorated the failed war on drugs.

The truth is that the war on drugs never died. Someone is arrested for drug possession every 25 seconds in the U.S. A black person is two-and-a-half times more likely than a white person to be arrested for carrying drugs. This disparity persists in major cities that have committed to marijuana decriminalization or outright legalization, including New York City and Washington, D.C. Sessions argues that such arrests are necessary to curb drug trafficking, but most possession arrests involve people who are using drugs, not selling them.

These arrests wouldnt occur if prosecutors at every level werent prioritizing drug cases. Some district attorneys have promised to pivot away from the tough-on-crime posturing that characterized drug enforcement in the 1990s and swelled prison populations. But those who pledge reform are the exception, not the rule. District attorneys consistently support mandatory minimum sentencing for drug crimes. The National District Attorneys Association, which acts on behalf of roughly 2,500 local and state prosecutors, vowed to follow Sessions order. The National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys also backed the attorney generals decision and has actively lobbied for harsher sentencing.

The attorney generals directive matters less than the actions of thousands of state and local prosecutors.

The ongoing war on drugs is driven by prosecutors like Leon Cannizzaro, the district attorney in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. The region has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country and treats drug possession cases as felonies. (Mandatory minimum sentences in Louisiana will soon be reduced for people carrying up to 2 grams of certain drugs.) Even though Cannizzaro purports to be a criminal justice reformer, he aggressively enforces the states tough habitual-offender law, which puts people with four felony convictions behind bars for 20 years or more regardless of the offenses. Many prisoners meet this fate because of drug possession. Cannizzaro fought tooth and nail to imprison Bernard Noble for 13 years after he was found carrying the equivalent of two joints of pot, going so far as to appeal a five-year sentence that two judges had approved. He also secured a life sentence for a man who stole $15 after previously being convicted of drug possession and distributiona decision deemed unconscionable on appeal.

Some state and district attorneys remain hellbent on treating marijuana users as criminals. In Maricopa County, Arizona, home of a notoriously overcrowded jail, District Attorney Bill Montgomery is battling medical cannabis use. He once threatened to prosecute a family that had been using medically prescribed marijuana to treat a 5-year-old with chronic seizures. Another time, he told a veteran treating back pain with marijuana: I have no respect for someone who would try to claim that you served this country and took an oath to uphold the Constitution and defend against all enemies foreign and domestic, because youre an enemy. When Montgomery isnt prosecuting recreational marijuana users for possession, he's making money off them. In lieu of charging first-time pot offenders with felonies, he funnels them into a drug treatment program from which his office has made a profit of $15 million.

Drug prohibition has been reinvigorated by prosecutors and lawmakers who are criminalizing addicts swept up in the countrys growing opioid crisis. Opioid-related deaths rose 246 percent between 2000 and 2015, and drug overdoses now cause more accidental deaths than car crashes. As the number of people overdosing on opioids like fentanyl, oxycodone, and heroin skyrockets, the health community largely views drug treatment as the best way to tackle the problem.

Nevertheless, jails and prisons are teeming with people punished for using opioids. As a result, people are dying from withdrawal behind bars after being refused the medication-assisted therapies and opioids theyve been prescribed to treat their chronic diseases. Moreover, the possibility that users will overdose increases when they are released. These deaths and overdoses could be prevented if prosecutors, who have wide discretion to select cases, didnt charge addicts en masse. Shifting focus to drug treatment also has the potential to save billions of dollars currently spent on opioid users imprisonment. Instead, some state and local prosecutors have ramped up their war against opioids by charging drug dealers with first-degree murder and manslaughter for overdose deaths. Republican and Democratic U.S. senators are also considering legislation to impose draconian penalties for selling synthetic opioids.

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The War On Drugs has been going on since the early 70s and has been nothing more than a dismal failure. More...

Under the Obama administration, federal prosecutors began to de-prioritize mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, but marijuana is the only drug for which reform has progressed at the state and local levels. Eight states have legalized marijuana in recent years. Some district attorneys, such as Kim Ogg and Mark Gonzalez in Texas, have also established diversion programs for people caught with small amounts of marijuana in states where its use is still illegal. These programs allow offenders to take drug treatment classes in lieu of getting locked up.

Nevertheless, many district and state attorneys still believe that drugs cause crime, a correlation that ignores research on the relationship between drugs and violence. Ultimately, the attorney generals directive matters less than the actions of thousands of state and local prosecutors. These men and women make the charging decisions that keep the war on drugs alive. It will be up to them to end it once and for all.

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The War on Drugs Never Ended - Slate Magazine

The knock on the door came at 3am: a police officer telling Rose Humphries that a young man had been found dead of aheroin overdose at a house in town.

It was her youngest son Roland, dead at the age of 23.

He had been trying to get off the drug. That morning, a few hours after the police officer left, a letter arrived at the family home stating that Roland had been accepted on a methadone programme to wean him off heroin.

Too late.

Instead, that afternoon Rose and her husband Jeremy went to the mortuary to identify Rolands body.Even now, she finds the experience too painful to discuss.

Rolands older brother Jake was so overcome by grief thatit drove him back into his ownheroin abuse into more years of wasted, chaotic existence.

But in 2006, Jake went to rehab. He got himself clean, transformed his life, found love and had a baby boy with his partner.

By April 2014, he was close to completing an MA in art psychotherapy, so he could help others overcome their troubles in the way he had.But he had a brief relapse.

While his partnerand 20-month-old son were away from his house in south London, Jake, now 37, took heroin. The lodger found him dead of an accidental overdose the next morning.

This time, Ms Humphries received the news in a phone call from her sons sobbing partner. Again, the details of the conversation remain too painful to discuss.

Ms Humphries, 72, is left to ponder the what ifs.What if the trade in drugs had been legal, controlled and regulated by government instead of exploited by criminal gangs?

What if her son had been able to get prescribed heroin, rather than having to trust the quality and safety of drugs sold by criminals?What if he had been able to go to supervised injection facility instead of taking heroin alone?

Of one thing, though, she is absolutely certain.

Thewar on drugs killed my sons, says Ms Humphries.Definitely. No question about it.

Thats why she is talking now, to call for the legalisation and proper regulation of the drugs trade, on the day that official figures show as Ms Humphries fully expected that substance abuse deaths in England and Wales havehit record levels.

She is determined to tell her story out of hope, and anger.

Roland Humphries, whodied of a heroin overdose aged 23 in 2003

The hope, she says, is that the more often these stories are repeated, and repeated, and repeated, the more it might sink in to people responsible for policy what the reality of the war on drugs is.

There is anger, too, when you write to your MP and you just get the stock answer back from Government, simply saying they are quite sure their drugs policies are working, full stop.

How they think these drug policies are working, I havent the faintest idea. They must be seeing something very different from what we are seeing.

What Ms Humphries sees is two lost sons, grieving friends and family, and a young boy growing up without a father.

It is all very different from what she knows is the clich.

A lot of people, she says matter-of-factly, hear about drug addicts dying and just think of some useless person in a shop doorway, homeless perhaps, a scumbag a lot of people call addicts scumbags.They dont look beyond that.

Perhaps, then, the organisation on whose behalf she advocates, Anyones Child, a network of families affected by substance abuse, has chosen its name well. They are now calling fora legalised, Government-regulated drugs trade.

Because, to those who knew them, Roland and Jake were anything but scumbags.

Jake, the older brother, died during a brief relapse into heroin abuse when he was 37

They were both very intelligent, Ms Humphries recalls.Jake was very mischievous, very loveable.He always had a pencil or a crayon in his hand.His pictures were fantastic, far in advance of his age group.

Roland was the daydreamer, always writing little stories about giants and monsters, very loving.

Nor was home the deprived inner city of clich.

Rose worked as a secretary, her husband as a printer. They lived in a council house in Finstall, just outside Bromsgrove, Worcestershire:Lovely neighbours, a green in front of the house, a great big garden. We were extremely lucky.

But as teenagers do, despite all their parents warnings, the boys rebelled.

Ms Humphries is left to tell her story of missed opportunities of chances to help her boys or divert them from drugs that were all lost, she says, because the war on drugs makes substance abuse a criminal, not a health matter.

It began, she says, with her sons first youthful experimentation with cannabis.

People talk about whether cannabis is a gateway drug, says Ms Humphries.I dont think cannabis itself is a gateway drug at all.I dont think the fact that somebody smokes cannabis will of itself make them want to try heroin.

But at the moment cannabis is a gateway drug because the trade is controlled by criminals, not regulated by the Government.

So taking cannabis delivers people into the hands of criminals who want them to try something harder so they can make more money out of them.

And so it was with her boys.

I dont feel they would ever have got so bad if it hadnt have been for the criminal aspects of the whole thing:if there had been proper, legal regulation, rather than control by criminal cartels.

At first she put Jake and Rolands poor performance at the local comprehensive down to teenage rebellion.

Bu when Jake was in his late teens, a friend knocked on the door of the family home demanding money, suggesting windows would be broken if he wasnt paid. Aged 18, Roland confessed to his mum that he was smoking heroin, while insisting that as long as he didnt inject he could handle it.

She felt physically sick. She pleaded with her sons to stop their drug use.But she didnt call anyone in authority to ask for help.She kept it quiet, and paid off Jakes friend.

I wanted to call the police, but they would have come round asking questions. They might have found about Jake and Rolands involvement in drugs, and then they would have got into trouble.

Would I have gone to get help for both boys if drugs had been legalised? Yes, of course I would.

When Jake was 18, she adds, he was convicted of cannabis possession. He was fined. What is less clear is whether he was helped.

Much later, says Ms Humphries, Jake told me he thought the newspaper report of his case labelled him as a hopeless druggie. He felt it set him more firmly on the downward path.

Both boys drug abuse worsened. They never lost the good sides to their characters, their mother insists, but heroin created darker traits.

They would steal from us. I had to keep my handbag on me at all times, or lock it in the bedroom.Yes, we got a lock for our bedroom door.

Its dreadful, adds Ms Humphries.You feel that nobody else in the whole world has to do this. You wonder whats wrong with you.

Again, instead of getting help to stop their sons illegal drug use, she and her husband felt compelled to suffer in silence.

There is such shame and stigma around it, she says.We lived with this awful problem for years and years.I couldnt bring myself to tell anybody about it.

Sometimes I would go to work wanting to burst into tears, unable to tell anybody what was the matter.If I did say anything about what my sons had been doing, I would say Im afraid they have been drinking. It seemed more socially acceptable.

Eventually Roland did seek help. But six weeks into his wait to be accepted on a methadone programme, in October 2003, Roland was invited round to a friends house for the evening.

He told me he would be back at 10 or 11pm, says Ms Humphries. He never came back.

The heroin in Rolands system combined with the alcohol he had drunk to suppress his breathing.

And, says Ms Humphries, even as the heroin was taking lethal effect, the war on drugs was stopping medical help from getting to Roland in time to save his life.

We now know, she explains, That after one of them noticed that Roland was slumped in the bathroom and his lips were blue, there was a delay before the ambulance was called.

I gather a lot of them were running around like headless chickens for quite a while before someone phoned 999.

The ambulance got there too late.That delay was caused because the people in the house were afraid of the consequences of being involved with somebody who had died from drugs.

I am quite sure there wouldnt have been that hesitation if as it should be it had been regarded as a health issue, not a criminal issue.

Jake, she says, took his brothers death extremely badly, his renewed heroin abuse causing him to drop out of Aberystwyth University.

You would have thought it would be sufficient warning to Jake to never touch drugs again.But he was in pain, and if you have taken heroin, you know how it can take away that pain.

The transformation, though, after he went to rehab and got clean in 2006 was astonishing.

My favourite memory of Jake is of seeing him play with his son. He was fantastic with children, a great father.

Jakes son is now five.

We try to keep Jakes memory alive for him, says Ms Humphries.He doesnt yet really understand why Jake died.

She tries to lead as ordinary a life as possible, she adds. Its only when something catches you unawares music coming from a shop doorway, triggering a memory that your eyes fill with tears.

She sees some encouraging signs.

I was speaking at a conference in Durham the other week, in a room full of police, people from the criminal justice system, and healthcare professionals, and they were unanimous that legal regulation of drugsmust come.

If that happened, and her campaigning played a part in it, she says, her sons deaths would not have been completely in vain:They would be proud of me.

One day, she insists, the politicians will see what she sees.

I think the politicians will listen eventually, she says. I just dont know how long it take or how many deaths.

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The war on drugs 'killed my sons' - The Independent

Based on what weve heard so far, The War On Drugs upcoming album A Deeper Understanding is packed with nostalgic, epic, and classic-leaning rock, so the bands upcoming world tour ought to be something to look forward to. Now theres yet another reason to check out whats sure to be a great show: Canadian indie rock group Land Of Talk just announced that theyll be on the road in support of The War On Drugs for a handful of dates in September. As if that wasnt good enough, Land Of Talk also shared a new video for their song This Time, which comes from their new album Life After Youth.

Director Adam Makarenko says the clip is about a scientists attempt to find answers. He continues:

The first part of the video is live action, but eventually the scientist gets transported out of her bedroom into space. Once she is in space its mostly an environment of miniature sets, handmade planets, and real star backdrops, using a combination of miniature photos and stop motion animation.

As for the song itself, Land Of Talks Elizabeth Powell previously said it came about while helping her father deal with a major stroke (and while dealing with the traumatic event herself, as well as the loss of a lot of recordings thanks to a crashed laptop):

I found that one of the most powerful tools, along with all of his other therapy, was music. And I realized it was also helping me deal with an event as traumatic as that. [] After I got home from the hospital after his stroke, I just wrote this chord progression which ended up becoming This Time. And I played it for him and he just got a glint in his eye, he got a really cool faraway look in his eye, and he smiled. And then hes like, This is beautiful; make this, make other people feel this way. You know, he was using his own words, but he was just saying, Please, keep making music again. And I thought that was sweet.

Watch the video for Land Of Talk above. Check out Land Of Talks tour dates below, with starred shows indicating headlining concerts not in support of The War On Drugs.

08/12 Marysville, ON @ Wolfe Island Music Festival* 09/18 Portland, ME @ State Theatre 09/21 Philadelphia, PA @ The Dell 09/22 New York, NY @ SummerStage in Central Park 09/23 Boston, MA @ Blue Hills Pavilion 09/25 Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore 09/26 Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle 09/28 Dallas, TX @ Bomb Factory 09/29 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall 09/30 Austin, TX @ Stubbs 11/23 Montreal, QC @ Phi Center* 11/24 Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Theatre* 11/25 Toronto, ON @ Great Hall*

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Land Of Talk Share Their Astronomical 'This Time' Video And Announce The War On Drugs Support Dates - UPROXX

Newsweek

Far-Reaching Bill Would Legalize Weed, Offer Reparations for War on Drugs Common Dreams "From disparate marijuana-related arrests and incarceration rates to deportations and justifications for police brutalitythe War on Drugs has had disparate harm on low-income communities and communities of color. It's time to rectify that," Adesuyi ... Sen. Cory Booker puts marijuana legalization at the center of his new racial justice billWashington Post When Will Marijuana Be Legal Federally? Senator Cory Booker Introduces Bill That Would Deschedule PotNewsweek Cory Booker introduces bill to legalize marijuana at federal levelWashington Examiner Inverse -Big Think -Facebook -Politico all 200 news articles »

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Far-Reaching Bill Would Legalize Weed, Offer Reparations for War on Drugs - Common Dreams

When he was elected president of the Philippines in July 2016, President Rodridgo Duterte promised to negotiate peace agreements with the major insurgent groups that have destabilised much of the country for decades.

His government announced it would commence peace talks with the representatives of the National Democratic Front, the umbrella organisation that represents both the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New Peoples Army. Duterte also committed himself to a peace agreement with the Philippines largest insurgent group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

At the time, these seemed like breakthroughs in the making. But the early optimism has dissolved, and the peace talks have stalled. While the government does seem genuinely willing to negotiate, the president seems to be been prioritising another one of his election campaign promises: eradicating crime and drugs.

This notorious war on drugs has been extraordinarily bloody, and criticised by human rights organisations and foreign governments alike. Nonetheless, it is supported by a majority of the population.

The popular narrative of the effects of drugs in particular, shabu, or methamphetamine seems to be exaggerated. Shabu use, urban legend says, results in not just theft and robbery, but paedophilia and arson; horror stories abound of addicts slaughtering entire families. The president himself has been quoted likening shabu addicts to the living walking dead of no use to society anymore.

This rhetoric normalises a culture of impunity for the police and vigilantes, many of whom resort to extreme violence. Many innocent people have been targeted, both intentionally and unintentionally; journalists, police, politicians and other critics have been threatened, intimidated, fired or arrested for alleged links with drugs. Yet during my own research, many Filipinos told me they feel safer and that crime seems to have gone down.

The war on drugs may seem distinct from longer-running security issues, but it isnt. The crackdown is contributing to a culture of unchecked violence, which is increasingly accepted as a necessary measure. If this normalisation continues, lasting peace will never be achieved.

For all its conciliatory talk, the government is still using tough tactics to deal with violent insurgents. So far, they have not paid off.

In May 2017, the military launched an operation to apprehend Isnilon Hapilon, the leader of the Abu Sayyaf Group, a faction of bandits designated as a terrorist organisation. But when the army swooped in, Hapilon was protected by scores of armed men who quickly took strategic positions throughout Marawi City. Instead of capturing Hapilon, the military raid seemed to kick-start the groups unanticipated plan to seize the city.

Duterte was on a state visit to Russia at the time. The operation unravelled, and martial law was declared not just in Marawi, but on the entire island of Mindanao. The government has claimed it had intelligence about the groups plans, but has issued contradictory statements on the rationale behind the siege, citing both jihadism and the drug trade.

Reports state that a few hundred jihadists managed to hold onto several neighbourhoods in defiance of government troops; they held off the military with improvised explosive devices, a sophisticated network of underground tunnels, and snipers placed in strategic locations across the city. This is a remarkable change in tactics for the Philippines insurgents, and clearly echoes recent urban battles in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

The ongoing Marawi City crisis has scotched the governments ceasefire with the New Peoples Army. The deal was ultimately breached by both sides; in response, the Communist Partys central command ordered increased operations in other parts of the country.

This decision is partly grounded in history. Communists still harbour bitter memories of the last period of martial law, imposed by dictator Ferdinand Marcos. True, the post-Marcos 1987 Constitution has more checks and balances in place than its predecessor, but martial law in Mindanao has already been extended to December 31, and may yet be extended to the entire country.

But outside the insurgent movements, many Filipinos see martial law as a necessary means with which to solve various problems in Mindanao. Aside from the insurgency, the region is home to many powerful families and clans with private armies and large weapon caches something exemplified in the Marawi Crisis, where small groups of terrorists enjoy access to remarkably advanced weapons.

The problem is that martial law has hardly been a storming success. The governments airstrikes have caused both civilian casualties and immense material destruction. The armed forces have attempted to secure the area around Marawi City, but it seems likely that Hapilon and the Maute leadership have escaped. Nor has the army managed to prevent new fighters from entering Marawi City; on the contrary, the Maute Group and Abu Sayyaf seem to have no problem recruiting ever more members.

Other groups are having problems, too. The Moro Islamic Liberation Fronts leadership has expressed concerns over its lack of control over the younger generation; the disconnect between what the Communist Party leadership says and what the New Peoples Army is actually doing could mean that the Communists have lost control of their armed affiliate.

The success of any peace process is measured not only by what agreement ultimately gets signed. What will matter is whether it can be implemented, and the extent to which it addresses both the roots and consequences of the conflict. Only then will any further violence be avoided, and permanently. The prospect of any such peace in the Philippines remains slim. To quote Duterte himself, There will be no peace for a generation.

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Philippines' ongoing war on drugs shatters hopes of peace for a generation - The Conversation UK