Category Archives: War On Drugs

Philando Castile (Facebook)

Before Malcolm Shabazz, 28, the grandson of El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Malcolm X) was assassinated in 2013 in Mexico City, he, like his entire familyand like too many black people in the United States of Americahad been hunted and harassed by law-enforcement officials.

It had gotten so bad that Shabazz spoke about the recipe for public assassinations two months before his death:

The formula for a public assassination is: the character assassination before the physical assassination; so one has to be made killable before the eyes of the public in order for their eventual murder to then be deemed justifiable. And when the time arrives for these hits to be carried out youre not going to see a C.I.A. agent with a suit and tie, and a badge that says C.I.A. walk up to someone, and pull the trigger. What they will do is to out-source to local police departments in the region of their target, and to employ those that look like the target of interest to infiltrate the workings in order to set up the environment for the eventual assassination (character, physical/incarceration, exile) to take place.

I immediately thought of young Malcolms words when, on July 6, 2016, Philando Castile was killed in broad daylight by St. Anthony, Minn., Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez. I thought of his words not because I believe that Castile was specifically the target of a CIA plot, but because the public assassination of black humanityand the character of black peoplehas been an ongoing project in this white-settler colonial project that flag wavers call the greatest country on earth.

The way we look, the way we talk, the way we attempt to live free in a country founded on our violent oppression, have all been reasons successfully used to render us killable in the eyes of society and to justify our state-sanctioned lynchings.

Black people are born into this world with targets on our backs and often leave this world the same way. Castile had already been pulled over an estimated 46 times before Yanez claimed that the 32-year-old mans wide-set nose made him look like a criminal suspect. Further, he was a legal gun owner in a nation that weaponizes blackness and steals black lives but loves steel weapons.

In Toni Morrisons 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Beloved, the character Baby Suggs has

When Castile calmly and respectfully explained that he had a gun in the car, the trigger-happy Yanez feared for his life because a black man with a gun has always been viewed as a clear and present danger. This nation assigns us to that category so that state-sanctioned executions will be deemed necessary. And for those scarce times when blackness alone does not give officers a license to kill, marijuana smoke conjures up the rest.

The Washington Post reports:

I thought, I was gonna die, Officer Jeronimo Yanez told investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension fifteen hours after the shooting. And I thought if hes, if he has the, the guts and the audacity to smoke marijuana in front of the five year old girl and risk her lungs and risk her life by giving her secondhand smoke and the front seat passenger doing the same thing then what, what care does he give about me. And, I let off the rounds and then after the rounds were off, the little girl was screaming.

A wide-nosed black man in a car that allegedly smelled of marijuana had the audacity to carry a legal gun; that made him an enemy of the state.

Killable.

The war on drugs has been used to escalate a general sense that black people are beasts and that our communities are urban jungles, asha bandele, senior director of Drug Policy Alliance, told The Root.

Throughout so many of these horrific police shootings, drugs have been used to justify the slaughter of innocents, bandele continued. We saw it with Michael Brown, we saw it with Trayvon Martin, we saw it with shootings throughout the country, including that of Philando Castile. All you have to do is raise the specter of drugs, and supposedly no other question is supposed to be asked.

Sometimes when drugs are not the issue itself, the criminalization, the use of drugs, drug selling and drug usea criminalized feature in our nationis used to justify killing, bandele continued.

Killable.

Bandele points out that the war on drugs is a living, breathing manifestation of the hatred this country holds for black people, and a cover for police hypermilitization and the occupation of black and brown communities.

Once you declare something a war, you got to declare someone an enemy, bandele told The Root. The drug war has been used as a justification for police killings of 92-year-old grandmothers in their homes, where all they had to say was, Oops, wrong house. Its been used to justify the killings of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones.

This declaration of war and the continuous war crimes that shape this war directly led to the lynching of Philando Castile, bandele said.

Bandele, like Malcolm Shabazz, was also clear that sometimes skinfolk are used to weed out members of the black community that some people find disposable.

We need to understand how we contribute to deaths like Philando Castiles when we contribute to stigmatizing people, or determining whos a decent black person and whos not a decent black person, bandele said. We may have, in progressive communities, a broader idea of who matters and who doesnt, but until we accept that every life has value and we see that in our communities, then were almost participating in who they say they can kill, and who they cant.

Killable.

This is why, bandele says, ending the war on drugs, dismantling white supremacy brick by brick and eradicating stigma is the necessary foundational work we need to engage in if we are ever to be free.

If we want to begin to roll back police militarization significantly, we have to work to end the drug war, bandele said. If we want to disrupt a major tool that they can wield against us, in not only killing us, but them not being held accountable for killing us, we have to end the drug war. If we want to begin to disrupt extraordinary levels of black poverty, then we have to begin to end the drug war.

In doing that, bandele continued, we will say, Were not going to spend money on over-incarceration or over-surveillance, or any of the other facets that make up mass criminalization. Were not going to have one more Philando Castile. Not on our watch.

Bandele gets to the root of the matter.

Black people have been shamed for financial poverty in a nation that is morally bankrupt; still, reparations for theft of our land, our labor and our lives is considered too much to ask for.

We are told that our lives come with white supremacist conditions. Young black men, women and gender-nonconforming people are corralled into deep pockets of destitution, then shot to death for trying to hustle their way out to some semblance of security and safety.

The so-called gentler war on drugsa necessary shift from draconian drug policies to something focused on health and humanityis not for us.

We are still under fire from heavy enemy artillary. We are still living in occupied territory. We are still considered warm bodies to fill cold prisons and balance bloated budgets. We are still lynched in broad daylight in front of our children, and the allegation of marijuana smoke is more than enough for killers with badges to walk free.

Because in the United States of America, to lynch a black person, state-sanctioned killers dont need a reason; all they need is an excuse.

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Philando Castile, the War on Drugs and the Lynching of Black Humanity - The Root

Whats happening at the federal level is the disconnect we have in Michigan: A tough-on-crime attorney general against a legislature trying to pay the bills, and finding out that increased incarceration doesnt pay off, Heise told Bridge.

Look at the cost of corrections, (and ask) what are we really getting out of increased incarceration? The feds will come to the same conclusion we came to in Michigan, Heise said. Within the party, we will see the same debate and discussion in the Trump Administration.

A Michigan House Fiscal Agency analysis of the bill stated it would save the state money, eventually, by slowing prison population growth over a number of years, roughly 1,300 prison beds, a savings of roughly $30 million annually.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Under the Obama administration, a 2009 guidance memo allowed states where voters or legislators chose to legalize it to do so without federal interference. That was one factor enabling marijuana laws to spread to 29 states, either as medicine or a strictly recreational drug.

Sessions memo said nothing about marijuana, but hes said plenty about it in other settings, most notably that good people dont smoke marijuana, and that allowing people to use it in a medical context in lieu of opiates, for example, amounts to trading one life-wrecking dependency for another.

And a letter released in mid-June reveals Sessions is gunning for weed, too, asking Congress to overturn the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, a 2014 law that officially keeps the federal government out of state affairs on this issue.

Sessions argues that the Justice Department needs the authority to combat an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime.

In Michigan, a drive to fully legalize recreational marijuana is in its early stages, aiming for a ballot initiative in November 2018. (An earlier effort failed to reach the ballot due to a dispute over the age of some signatures on petitions.)

Josh Hovey, spokesman for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, formed to help pass the Michigan ballot measure, said he isnt worried.

The bottom line is, were paying close attention (to the issue), and think theres strong momentum across the country for more responsible marijuana laws, Hovey said. Were hopeful the momentum will carry through to the Administration, and they will think twice before they overturn (state laws).

Polling suggest strong support for fully taxed, legal marijuana in the state, with 58 percent of likely voters saying theyd approve it in one recent poll.

Todd Perkins is a criminal defense attorney in Detroit who has seen many clients go through the federal courts both under the old system and after the Holder memo. He sees the change by Sessions as hostile to people of color.

The war on drugs has not been successful, Perkins said. It was predicated on race, and has punished, unfairly, various sectors of society, predominantly African Americans and other minorities.

Besides studies showing sharp racial disparities in drug prosecution, and differences in sentences (since mitigated) for those possessing or selling crack or powder cocaine, Perkins contention is backed up by at least one key admission.

John Ehrlichman was President Nixons domestic policy adviser and a key player in launching the presidents war on drugs, declared in 1971 when Nixon called drug abuse Americas public enemy number one. In an interview given in the early 90s, but not published until 2016, 17 years after his death, Ehrlichman is quoted as saying the war on drugs was intended to demonize the antiwar left and black people.

After the Holder-led policy change in 2013, Perkins said, his clients in the federal courts who were lower-level, nonviolent offenders still got prison time, but less of it, he said.

Some punishment has to occur, Perkins said. But at the end of the day, we dont need to lock people up for long stretches if they dont deserve it.

Link:

Reviving war on drugs could carry big costs in Michigan - Bridge Michigan

President Dutertes bloody drug war may not be a suitable template for Thailand, as the countrys strategy is not to fight drugs with anger but compassion, according to the Thai secretary general of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (Aipa).

After the failure of Thailands own violent crackdown on illegal drugs in the early 2000s, Aipa Secretary General Isra Sunthornvut said his country would now rather focus on rehabilitating drug addicts.

What works in the Philippines might not work in Thailand and what works in Thailand might not work in the Philippines, he told a media briefing early Thursday evening at the close of the meeting of Asean lawmakers in Manila.

Sunthornvut added, however, that Thailand and the Philippines could still learn from each others experiences.

Its a watch-and-learn and well see how it goes, as long as were serious in this fight, as long as there are examples for us to adapt to, he said.

Aipas fact-finding committee, composed of parliamentarians from Aseans 10 member economies, had a meeting in Manila hosted by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and other Philippine lawmakers to discuss regional cooperation to combat the drug menace.

Each country gave a report on its campaign against illegal drugs, as concerns were raised over drug trafficking activities in Southeast Asia. The Philippines boasted a substantial drop in the narcotics trade and the crime rate since the start of the drug war.

Mr. Duterte has waged an aggressive campaign against illegal drugs since his assumption to office last year, leaving thousands of suspected users or pushers dead in police operations and vigilante-style killings and triggering accusations of widespread human rights abuses.

But Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Barbers, chair of the House dangerous drugs committee, said there was no discussion of human rights violations during the Aipa meet.

I dont see any reasons why we should connect the issue of human rights to the campaign of the Duterte administration in the war against drugs, Barbers said at the same briefing.

Sunthornvut acknowledged that his country had gone through a similar phase as the Philippines, launching an all-out offensive against drug dealers and users.

There was a time when [the campaign] was to stand and yell at the drug users. And then they changed that to lets have compassion, lets understand them, he said.

But its always been alongside the policies and ideas like King Rama the Ninth when he said, You cant fight drugs with anger, you have to be compassionate because its your fellow countrymen, so try to find ways to help understand, Sunthornvut said.

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Thailand won't copy PH style on drug war - Inquirer.net

Marijuana advocates might not expect to find much in common with the political network funded by Charles and David Koch an influential force on the right that bankrolls Republican candidates to turn right-wing ideology into public policy. But every once in a while "the enemy of your enemy is your friend" logic plays out.

Late last month, the Koch network held a three-day retreat at The Broadmoor for big donors to discuss policy and politics. At one point, reports The Denver Post, general counsel for Koch Industries, Mark Holden, declared, "You are never going to win the war on drugs. Drugs won."

The statement was made in reference to the Trump administration's backward stance on federal drug policy. Recall from past reporting in CannaBiz that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is itching for a crackdown on medical marijuana (now legal in more states than not) and to reinstitute mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug offenders ("Sessions pinned on medical marijuana before slipping through Senate hearing," June 14).

The Post reports Holden criticized Sessions for taking a "failed big government top-down approach ... based on fear and emotion. "The Kochs' political machine, Americans for Prosperity, isn't supporting legalizing drugs, he said, "but I don't think we should criminalize those types of things and we should let the states decide."

Originally posted here:

Koch Industries: "You are never going to win the war on drugs" - Colorado Springs Independent

illegal drugs

Sharon Hofisi Legal Letters In asking whether or not drug trafficking can be curbed the world over, we must also come to grips with the questions as to what kind of drugs are being trafficked? Where are they trafficked to? Why is there a proliferation of drugs in both the less developed and more developed countries?

Unless we decide on the above questions, we cannot execute a good analysis. If it is a war without strategy, that is one thing. If it is a global war, steeped in behaviour change and transformative models that is quite a milestone.

The normative framework at a global level was established by Resolution 42/112 of December 7 1987, when the General Assembly decided to observe June 26 as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse.

Further, it has to be stated at the very outset that the study on the need to combat drug trafficking or abuse holds great fascination for users and activists. For Zimbabwe, most people are aware of the existence of a basic domestic structure of laws on dangerous drugs, but use drugs for reasons that are medically, traditionally, religiously and personally explained.

It is little wonder, then, that the normative framework laid out by the United Nations, must attract an intense interest and concern of a great variety of people in Zimbabwe. Although the legal framework, as informed by the Dangerous Drugs Act, has not been aligned with the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013, Zimbabwe can take a big leaf from the UNs normative framework.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime describes drug trafficking as (i) a global illicit trade involving the (ii) cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to (iii) drug prohibition laws.

It also indicates that the organisation is continuously monitoring and researching global illicit drug markets in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their dynamics. What is clear from the above is this: Dealing with drug problems involves two general approaches.

First of all, there is the definitional approach. This approach makes the problem trade related. The countries of the world are guilty of being involved in illicit drug trade. There are those who cultivate or have drug traffickers who cultivate prohibited drugs.

Embedded in this is the need to deal with the myth and realities attached to certain drugs. In an abstract on his work, Hemp and Marijuana David West observed the following myth and realities relating to cannabis. He describes cannabis as the only plant genus that contains the unique class of molecular compounds called cannabinoids. Many cannabinoids have been identified, but two preponderate:

While THC is the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, CBD is an anti-psychoactive ingredient. One type of cannabis is high in the psychoactive cannabinoid, THC, and low in the anti-psychoactive cannabinoid, CBD. This type is popularly known as marijuana. Another type is high in CBD and low in THC. Variants of this type are called industrial hemp.

Two myths and realities that he brought to the fore are also interesting. The first myth relates to whether the United States law has always treated hemp and marijuana the same. The reality, historically answered, is that federal drug laws clearly show that at one time the US government understood and accepted the distinction between hemp and marijuana.

The other myth is that smoking industrial hemp gets a person high. The reality is that the THC levels in industrial hemp are so low that no one could get high from smoking it. Moreover, hemp contains a relatively high percentage of another cannabinoid, CBD, that actually blocks the marijuana high. Hemp, it turns out, is not only marijuana; it could be called anti-marijuana.

When we talk about the prohibition of mbanje in Zimbabwe, we may locate it under human rights theories that seek to deliberate on rights or to locate religion as part of the givens from the deities. In some circles, mbanje is also known as Nigerian grass or dhobho in street lingo.

Belief abounds as to its use: religious beliefs such as working as a medium of communication with the Deity and traditional practices such as scaring away spooks, and healing mental ailments. Added to this are constitutional freedoms such as religious freedom.

Those who are adherents of religions that have hemp or marijuana as part of their religious arsenal, and believe the prohibition of such drugs is unconstitutional, may have to institute test cases in light of the national laws which prohibit drugs.

Apart from the Constitution, Zimbabwe has a Dangerous Drugs Act, as is also the case with countries such as Jamaica and Mauritius. The Act prohibits the use or misuse of certain drugs, places restrictions on imports and exports of drugs such as prepared opium and Indian hemp.

The Zimbabwean framework deals with the importation, exportation, production, possession, sale, distribution and use of dangerous drug and fits well into the UN framework alluded to above.

The Global Drug Policy Observatory provides us with some vital information to supplement the UN normative framework. It describes Zimbabwe as still witnessing an increase in problematic drug use among its domestic population along with the related public health issues that accompany certain types drug use.

The substances that are most commonly used in Zimbabwe include alcohol, cannabis, heroin, glue and cough mixtures such as Histalix and Bron Clear (Bronco). The later unotomwa, with the mouth agape, because believably, all the teeth will disappear immediately. Imagine the health effects!

Cannabis (mbanje) remains the most popular illicit drug mainly because it is grown locally or smuggled in from neighbouring countries like Malawi and Mozambique. In some societies along the Zambezi Valley, mbanje is grown and consumed in large quantities as a way of life.

Zimbabwe is also a conduit for the trafficking of drugs on their way to other countries in the region such as South Africa. Local Zimbabweans are often used to transport these drugs and rather than being paid in cash, they are usually paid in drugs which then enter the local market. When you become a transit country, you are immediately also a consumption country.

The debilitating effects of glue cannot be ignored, unokurungwa fungwa. In a research by Rudatsikiri et al (2009), cited in the Observatory, the use of cannabis and glue amongst school pupils (largely aged between 13 and 15) in Harare, it was found that overall 9,1 percent of pupils had used the drugs (13,4 percent of males and 4,9 percent of females). Add this to other effects such as unsafe sexual behavior, increased risks of STIs including HIV/AIDS.

To end this problem, Zimbabwe has to have an effective engagement strategy with countries that manufacture the drugs that are consumed in Zimbabwe or sold to South Africa. Zimbabwe is also supposed to craft drug polices that deal with drugs like musombodhiya or nipa (also known as kachasu).

Musombodhiya is descriptive of street language that is used to refer to an illicit alcohol brew composed of diluted ethanol or methanol. The drug (because it contains high alcohol content) is alleged to contain 95 percent alcohol, is consumed in very small quantities and gives the consumer hours of drunkenness.

This still leaves the unanswered question as to whether or not the consumers are aware of the impacts of alcohol. Apart from having no blood in their alcohol, the consumers often a time stick, describing a situation where they will not be able to move their body parts.

This brings us to the second aspect in dealing with the drug problem, effective institutional responses. Musombodhiya comes from ethanol which is reportedly smuggled from ethanol plants and is then diluted with water, sold for about US$1 for the 100ml or US$7 for the 750ml bottle.

Add musobhodhiya to Bronco, kachasu, chikwakubidiri (one-day brewed beer) and the need for effective institutional responses becomes apparent. The family head, village or community leader, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and civil society organisations (CSOs) such as Civil Liberties and Drug Network come into play.

These institutions have different strategies in that the ZRP, for instance, has to control crimes related to drugs; the community has to help cultivate a sense of responsible citizenry and CSOs assist in reforming drug survivors. They are alike, however, in having a strong emphasis upon the need to curb the use of drugs.

Sentencing policies in our criminal courts must also take cognisance of international trends. It must not end with retributive punishment. The offender must be the focal point. Sentencing guidelines are needed in this regard. Those guidelines must give due regard to the Constitution, particularly religious freedom.

The Dangerous Drugs Act and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act must also be urgently aligned with the Constitution. While the laws contain certainly good sentencing guidelines, there is no indication of the approaches to constitutional freedoms.

It is the Constitution which must form the basis of sentencing, but the Constitution nonetheless used in the sense that it is the supreme law whose content is provided by subsidiary laws such as the Dangerous Drugs Act.

Against these indications of the problematic nature of drugs, there is need to have an integrated approach to the regulation of the distribution and sale of drugs. This approach must involve the ordinary citizen, health regulatory bodies, pharmacies and ministries such as Home Affairs, Health and Justice, and Information.

More to the point is the endeavour of those citizens who are willing to share their lived realities on social platforms on how they benefited from the CSOs, health institutions, or lenient sentences that were imposed on them by the courts as well as the correctional approaches that they received when they were incarcerated.

The argumentation in this endeavour is that these approaches lead us to deal with the issues to drug trafficking in a holistic manner. Those who misuse or use dangerous drugs are also empowered to speak out without fear of being prosecuted.

This in no way indicates the need to condone the use or misuse of such drugs. It is much the same fallacy as to say the youths are the ones who consume the lions share of drugs because they engage in high risk behaviour. The same obtains where one religious movement is identified as the leading consumer of drugs such as marijuana. There is no logical or legal basis for assertions of this kind when the only basis are court cases where those who are accused of possessing dangerous drugs yell their story.

An examination of some criminal cases will also show that there was no evidentiary sufficiency but many factors led to the conviction of the accused person. He was unrepresented, failed to proffer some exceptional circumstances relating to the possession or the plausibility of his defence was not properly weighed together with the evidence. There is also absence in distinguishing Indian hemp from other types of mbanje.

Those who brew illicit beer in their backyards are usually spared the wrath of the law. Again the fact that their brews are unspoken does not mean that there was no illicit beer that was brewed but the perpetrators were neither arrested nor prosecuted.

It takes, from the foregoing, something more than the definition of dangerous drugs to enable a nation to effectively deal with drug trafficking. The UN approaches have to be legitimately applied. In other words, while there is a general legal framework on drugs, it is not a normative which might lead to an integrated approach to solving drug-related issues.

Excerpt from:

War on drugs: Normative viewpoints - The Herald

Attorney General Jeff Sessions wasted no time reversing his predecessors efforts to bring some sense and proportion to the nations war on drugs. Fortunately, not everyone in the GOP takes such a backward view on the question; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, for instance, has drawn praise for his thoughtful approach to the question.

President Trump named Christie to head a panel on the opioid crisis. Let us hope he takes careful note of a letter on the subject from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Over 13 heavily footnoted pages, it makes a strong case against the lock-em-up school of thought.

There is no statistically significant relationship between state drug offender imprisonment rates and three measures of state drug problems: rates of illicit drug use, drug overdose deaths, and drug arrests, Pew writes. Thats a more formal way to say this: Putting drug users in prison doesnt reduce drug use.

Yet the United States has been operating on the opposite assumption for many years and at great cost. Over the past 35 years the number of federal drug prisoners has risen nearly 20-fold; almost half of all federal prisoners are serving time for drug offenses. Federal prison spending has grown six-fold during the same period. Much the same holds true in the states. Yet rates of drug use, and the availability of illicit drugs, are higher now. Pew notes that more than 33,000 Americans died from an (opioid) overdose in 2015, and heroin deaths that year jumped 20 percent.

To back up its central claim, Pew offers some stark contrasts. For instance: Tennessee imprisons drug offenders at a rate more than three times greater than New Jersey, but the illicit drug use rate in the two states is virtually the same even after adjusting for demographic variables such as education and race.

And: Michigan, New York, and Rhode Island ... significantly decreased drug sentences. ... Each of these states reduced both their prison populations and their crime rates. Other states have experienced similar phenomena.

This should not come as a great surprise. Individuals struggling with addiction are, at least metaphorically, already in chains. They need to be set free from it which threatening them with another form of incarceration does not do.

What does? Pew finds just as Virginia has that drug courts can help many addicts: A systematic review of drug courts in 30 states concluded that a combination of comprehensive services and individualized care is an effective way to treat offenders with serious addictions. Meanwhile, supervision strategies that provide swift, certain, and graduated sanctions have demonstrated a reduction in both recidivism and costs. Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina have saved hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars by taking this approach.

Virginia is no stranger to drug courts; the first one took root in Roanoke two decades ago, and 38 of them now dot the commonwealth. A 2008 Virginia legislative study found that those graduating from the states drug courts were three times as likely to be earning a paycheck as non-participants; non-participants also have a felony recidivism rate five times higher than participants do.

Figures like those and the data from Pew draw a bright neon arrow in the direction of smarter drug policy. It points toward treatment, not a prison cell.

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Editorial: More evidence against the War on Drugs - Richmond.com

NINE drug personalities in Cagayan de Oro City were killed during the first year of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, the data of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo) showed on Tuesday, July 4.

In the period July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017, Cocpo has recorded nine deaths involving drug suspects, who allegedly fought back during the polices anti-drug operations.

The government's anti-illegal drugs campaign dubbed as double barrel also yielded 5,793 drug dependents, who voluntarily submit themselves to Oplan Tokhang (Knock and plead).

About 1,669 drug suspects have been arrested in more than a thousand drug raids conducted by various anti-drug operatives around the city.

Police also seized over P11-million worth of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu.

The data also showed over 181,000 households were visited by law enforcers through Cocpo's continuing efforts to remind residents on the danger of illegal drugs.

Cocpo spokesperson Chief Inspector Mardy Hortillosa II said the city police will continue to conduct operations against illegal drug personalities amid martial law.

We will arrest the last drug personality and neutralize the drug trade as what our president directs us, Hortillosa said.

The Cocpo spokesman added policemen will never be successful in the fight against illegal drugs without the support of the local government, media and the entire community.

We need the LGU (local government units), media and community to help us in our fight and accomplish our mission, Hortillosa added.

Hortillosa vowed that policemen in the city will try to minimize bloody drug operations in the succeeding years.

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9 suspects killed in Oro in 1st year of 'war on drugs' | SunStar - Sun.Star

The War on Drugs was formed by musicians Kurt Vile and Adam Granduciel after they had both moved from Oakland and back to Philadelphia. Both had similar interests and had especially connected through their appreciation of Bob Dylan. This led to the two, recording, writing and even performing together. Through this instant connection and chemistry, The War on Drugs was born.

Early in the career of the band they had many accompanying musicians but none were official members, Vile and Granduciel then decided to settle official members of the band. These members included: Charlie Hall as the Drummer/Organist, Kyle Lloyd as drummer and Dave Hartley would be the bass player of the band.

In 2008 The War On Drugs gave away their EP 'Barrel of Batteries' for free.

After the release of their debut album 'Wagonwheel Blues' and the European tour which followed,founding member of the band Kurt Vile, had decided to leave so that he could focus on his solo projects. Following Vile leaving other members followed suit, those being: Charlie Hall and Kyle Lloyd by 2008.

Following the departure of key members, the band in 2008 now consisted of members: Adam Granducial, David Hall and Mike Zhangi (who would leave in 2010). By 2012 the bands lineup consisted of: Adam Granducial, Patrick Berkery, Robbie Bennett and David Hall.

2011 saw the release of The War On Drugs second album 'Slave Ambient' this generated widespread critical acclaim as it managed to receive 7 out of 10 from 'Spin', 'BBC Music' gave it a favourable rating and it received an A- grade from 'The A.V. Club'.

As of 2014 the current members of the band are: Adam Granducial on vocals, Dave Hartley on bass guitar, Robbie Bennett on keyboards and Charlie Hall on drum.

Originally posted here:

The War on Drugs - Songkick Concerts, tour dates, & tickets

Taking part in President Dutertes war on drugs will be the new role for members of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), like this rebel in an MILF camp in Maguindanao. JEOFFREY MAITEM

DAVAO CITY Members of a Moro rebel group covered by a truce with the government had approved a set of procedures that formalized their role in the Duterte administrations war on drugs, signing an agreement to arrest drug suspects in rebel camps and turn them over to government law enforcers.

Isidro Lapea, chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), said representatives of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Friday signed a protocol of cooperation on antidrug operations that Lapea said was a fulfillment of the MILFs offer to help in the war on drugs.

There was an offer by the MILF to help so we have to involve them, Lapea said.

The signing by MILF and government representatives of the protocol came a year after President Duterte launched his bloody war on drugs.

The protocol, Lapea said, would allow shortcuts to be taken in procedures governing law enforcement cooperation stipulated by the Ad hoc Joint Action Group (Ahjag).

Ahjag is a body that monitors law enforcement operations in rebel areas or involving rebels with the main objective of preventing unnecessary clashes between rebels and soldiers.

The protocol would allow antidrug operations in areas controlled by MILF to proceed more expeditiously, Lapea said.

Whats important here is the cooperation, Lapea said.

Rules stipulated by Ahjag would be used in antidrug operations with MILF help to avoid lapses that could lead to clashes between rebels and soldiers.

Acting Interior Secretary Catalino Cuy said the protocol was the result of a series of meetings between the MILF and the government, and considered necessary because MILF-held areas were also reeling from the drug menace.

In 2015, according to Cuy, the MILF already declared drugs haram or forbidden.

The partnership aims to produce optimum results in the war on drugs, said Cuy, a retired police general.

The protocol followed the signing in July 2016 of a pact on cooperation and coordination on antidrug operations by MILF and government representatives, Cuy said.

The protocol clearly defined the MILF role, he said.

The support of the MILF just shows that we could be one in our common goal, he said.

The protocol would allow the MILF to conduct citizens arrest of drug suspects in rebel territory, according to Lapea. These arrested suspects, he said, would have to be turned over to government authorities.

Lawyer Abdul Dataya, Ahjag representative for MILF, said the rebel role was limited to coordinating with government forces and furnishing lists of drug personalities in rebel areas.

Whether rebels would play a direct role in antidrug operations in MILF areas would be up to the government, Dataya said.

The protocol is key to preventing misencounters, he said.

Retired Brig. Gen. Pierre Bucsit, Ahjag representative for the government, said the protocol would lay out standard operating procedures in antidrug operations in MILF areas.

The MILF maintains camps in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Central Mindanao, Western Mindanao and parts of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley provinces.

In Maguindanao, Lapea said drugs are rampant in 366 of 509 villages, or about 72 percent. In Lanao del Sur, including Marawi City, at least 313 of 1,059 villages are drug-influenced, he said. The two provinces are part of ARMM. Frinston Lim

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MILF formally joins war on drugs | Inquirer News - Inquirer.net

A Chronicle report published June 25 on the continuing problem of methamphetamine use in Montana revealed some troubling numbers. Statistics indicate this longstanding problem is getting worse much worse. State Highway Patrol meth arrests increased from 15 in 2012 to 141 last year. And quantities of the drug seized so far this year have already exceeded the total seized in all of last year. Here locally, of the 235 felony cases filed in district court, 53 percent, or 124, of them have involved drugs.

While meth is the biggest problem of the moment here in Montana, here and nationwide law enforcement is also battling the growing problem opioid addiction in the form of both prescription drugs and heroin.

It seems like baby boomers have lived their entire lives against the backdrop of the so-called War on Drugs an effort punctuated with more failures than successes. Law enforcement is certainly an important front. But its becoming increasingly apparent that new ways to tackle the problem need to be found.

To their credit, state Justice Department officials are working on a program, Aid Montana, that will bring treatment providers, counselors and other healthcare professionals together with criminal justice officials law officers, prosecutors and defense attorneys to seek innovative ways to tackle the issue of drug addiction. The group is commissioned to come up with specific recommendations to present to lawmakers in 2019.

An increased emphasis on the medical side of the issue certainly needs to be part of the solution on the national level as well. As lawmakers in Washington consider changes to our health care system, they must make certain to adequately fund treatment for drug users who want to quit. Money specifically for opioid addiction treatment programs must be part of any final health care legislation. And Medicaid coverage must be extended for treatment for those who cant afford to buy their own health insurance.

Now well into the 21st century, the illegal drug woes of the last century just seem to be getting worse. And this much is certain: Doing things the same way we always have isnt working.

New, better and more compassionate solutions must be found. And those will be most likely found on the health care side of the equation.

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'War on drugs' needs new, better solutions - The Bozeman Daily Chronicle