The Smarter Brand of Justice - Actor Russell Brand Solves the Failed War on Drugs in 1 Minute & 35 Seconds

Via George Stroumboulopoulos:

Russell Brand's Latest Role: A Defender Of Harm Reduction Drug Strategies

"Addressing members of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee in the U.K., Brand argued bluntly that treating drug addiction as an illness rather than as a criminal activity is not only a humane approach, but a sensible one that will "prevent people from committing crimes." (Seriously, go read the whole Strombo Health post.)



Forty years after Nixon's War on (People Who Use Certain) Drugs infected countries the world over, the truth is being recognized and shared everywhere; prohibition has failed and government cannot incarcerate people out of addiction.

Four Decades of overly punitive criminal convictions haven't achieved their goal of reducing recidivism and an ever-expanding mountain of expert research and evidence correlates that Harm Reduction programs like Rehab, Therapy and even Yoga, trumps imprisonment significantly in terms of reaching and maintaining sobriety.  Plus, these Harm Reduction strategies also cost less than keeping (primarily non-violent) drug offenders locked up where they are less likely to have access to adequate therapeutic and job skills programs. 

Also worth discussing, what will become of us now with the passing of Bill C-10?  I hope Canadians are prepared for the influx of recreational cannabis users, small time pot growers, and illegal substance abusers (some who are sadly victims of mental illness and childhood abuse) into our taxpayer supported penal institutions.  Rehab spots behind bars were scarce before, and I'm afraid we ain't seen nothin' yet!  Correctional Service of Canada and the Justice Department might as well change their names to Punishment Disservice of Harperland and the "Tough on Crime!" Ministry respectively.

Drug abuse, whether it is for illegal drugs, alcohol, prescription drugs, etc. is uniquely personal.  Treat the person as a patient and they have a fighting chance to manage and successfully beat their addiction(s).  Criminalize and convict them, and it further damages their mental state and exponentially hinders their potential for recovery.

Just because a person uses drugs does not mean they are undeserving of compassion, and realistically our drug policies must reflect that truth.  So Thank You, Mr. Brand, for bringing even more attention to the failure of the War on Drugs, your passionate testimony is much appreciated by those of us campaigning for the reform of our national and global drug laws. 

Soldiering On (Memorial Day Update)

He fought the war in Iraq, only to be persecuted by the Drug War at Home. Prohibition is making life hell for soldiers like Christopher Northcutt, brave heroes who proudly served their country and defend freedom for all of us. Our men and women who serve in the military deserve to use cannabis for medicine, but morally bent ideology and draconian drug laws are locking them up for using a plant that has never killed anyone.

Prescription medication deaths have become more exposed with the passing of Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson and DJ AM.  It's time everyone put their judgment aside and face the facts - cannabis is a safer alternative to prescription drugs for many, and if their doctors approve then they have the right, as it says in the Declaration of Independence, to "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." I wonder, would those celebrities still be alive if their doctors had been able to treat them with cannabis? It's an answer we'll never know, but still an important question to contemplate.

Prohibition is inflicting more harm and heartache on society than drugs ever could. Here is a short excerpt, but please follow the link and read the whole story of Sgt. Northcutt's ordeal and how the unwinnable War on Drugs (or shall I say, war on people who use certain drugs) sent a marine to prison for growing medical marijuana in a patients collective.

From Alternet - Sgt. Northcutt's Post-Iraq Nightmare: Getting Arrested for Growing Pot

Gardner: How long were you on medical hold?

Northcutt: For a year. This is when they super-medicate me. I would be given a grocery bag full of really heavy shit. Hydrocodones and anti-depressants, Neurontin, Seroquel, anti-nightmare pills, half of it you get really fucking high on. I’m not much of a pillbilly but I’ve taken them all. And that is true of just about anyone I know who went to Iraq and has come back. They’re all pill experts. How the fuck does that happen? You get back and they just like push 10 pills on you right away.

Gardner: Were you dealing with Marine Corps doctors or the VA?

Northcutt: The Marine Corps. But I was also trying to deal with the VA because they sent me home awaiting orders. I go to live at my grandma’s in Long Beach and I’m chilling in the guest house while I’m waiting to get out of the Marine Corps. The VA Hospital is like a mile from my house and Camp Pendleton is two hours away in traffic. I’m drugged out all day long and they’re like, “You’ve got appointments on this day at Camp Pendleton.” I would just lie in bed all day, loaded. Totally fucked up. But it was cool because a doctor prescribed it. Read more...

As a footnote I'd like to add that Croatia has legalized the use of cannabis for its vets and Canada now covers the cost of medical marijuana for war veterans.

From Why Prohibition: Canadians for Safe Access, a patient advocacy organization, also commends Veterans Affairs Canada for this new policy. "For many, this medicine is more effective than the available alternatives, with fewer negative side-effects. It is so important that the cost for this medicine is covered for those in need," stated Rielle Capler, a director of Canadians for Safe Access. Veterans use cannabis for various medical conditions and symptoms including chronic and phantom limb pain, sleep disturbance, brain injuries, Post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. ~


This clip from Botany of Desire does a fantastic job of explaining how and why medical cannabis can help soldiers and veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

While Canada's medical marijuana program still seems to be finding its way, at least they have recognized that Canadian soldiers deserve to have affordable access to this wonder plant. With this, we will have fewer people dying and becoming dependent on highly addictive prescription drugs. As it stands in the US, legal drugs are the fourth leading cause of death.

Here are the latest VA statistics about Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans:

• Veterans: 981,834 (out of nearly two million deployed)
• Veterans Treated at VA Hospitals and Clinics: 425,538 (43.3% of veterans)
• Veterans Diagnosed by VA with Mental Health Condition: 193,879 (45.6% of veterans treated by VA)
• Veterans Diagnosed by VA with PTSD: 114,908 (27.0% of veterans treated by VA)
• Veterans Filing Disability Claims Against VA: 381,782 (38.9% of veterans)
• Veterans with Approved PTSD Claims: 53,079 (46.2% of the veterans diagnosed by VA with PTSD) - Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access

Relevant UPDATE: VA doctors prohibited from prescribing medical pot March 31, 2010

 
UPDATE February 22, 2011:

US Navy Veteran To Challenge Missouri's Marijuana Law | Cannabis Culture Magazine

A disabled Navy Veteran who uses marijuana as medicine will fight for his right to use a medical defense in court after being arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute. Ken Unger is a 100% disabled U.S. Navy veteran deemed unemployable by the St. Louis VA. He was hit in the head with a 50-ton crane hook while serving in Grenada in 1983.


Update April 30th, 2012:

While some restrictions are being lifted in states where medical marijuana is legal, Big Pharma drugs are still the go to for the majority of doctors prescribing medication to the military and Veterans.

U.S. military’s war with drugs: Drugs issued by military led to assaults, murders, doctors say

"After two long-running wars with escalating levels of combat stress, more than 110,000 active-duty army troops last year were taking prescribed antidepressants, narcotics, sedatives, antipsychotics and anti-anxiety drugs, according to figures recently disclosed to the Los Angeles Times by the U.S. army surgeon general."

"Julie Oligschlaeger said her son, Chad, a marine corporal based at Twentynine Palms, Calif. came home from his second tour in Iraq in 2007 complaining of nightmares and hallucinations. He was taking trazodone, fluoxetine, Seroquel, Lorazepam and propranolol, among other medications.

“I didn’t realize how many pills he was on until it was too late,” Oligschlaeger said. “He sometimes would slur his words, and I would think, ‘OK, are you drinking? What is going on?’ And he’d say, ‘Oh, I’m taking my pills, and I’m taking them when I’m supposed to.’ I never thought to look.”

In 2008, two months before Chad was scheduled to get out of the marines, start college and marry his fiancé, the young corporal was found dead on the floor of his room in the barracks. An autopsy concluded the death was accidental due to multiple-drug toxicity — interactions between too many drugs."

Please follow the link and read the whole article - the list of  “EXAMPLE” PSYCHIATRlC FORMULARY FOR DEPLOYMENT is astounding!


Meanwhile....

medical cannabis - drug substitution: "Eighty five percent of the BPG [Berkeley Patients Group] sample reported that cannabis has much less adverse side effects than their prescription medications. Additionally, the top two reasons listed by participants as reasons for substituting cannabis for one of the substances previously mentioned were less adverse side effects from cannabis (65%) and better symptom management from cannabis (57.4%)."
Conclusion

"The substitution of one psychoactive substance for another with the goal of reducing negative outcomes can be included within the framework of harm reduction. Medical cannabis patients have been engaging in substitution by using cannabis as an alternative to alcohol, prescription and illicit drugs." Source: Reiman, Amanda, "Cannabis as a Substitute for Alcohol and Other Drugs," Harm Reduction Journal (London, United Kingdom: December 2009).

http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/pdf/1477-7517-6-35.pdf

*****
 

"Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality."

"This is a remarkable statement. First, the record on marijuana encompasses 5,000 years of human experience. Second, marijuana is now used daily by enormous numbers of people throughout the world. Estimates suggest that from twenty million to fifty million Americans routinely, albeit illegally, smoke marijuana without the benefit of direct medical supervision. Yet, despite this long history of use and the extraordinarily high numbers of social smokers, there are simply no credible medical reports to suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a single death."

"By contrast aspirin, a commonly used, over-the-counter medicine, causes hundreds of deaths each year."

“Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.”

Excerpted from OPINION AND RECOMMENDED RULING, FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND DECISION OF Administrative LAW JUDGE. FRANCIS L. YOUNG, Administrative Law Judge

 

MEMORIAL DAY UPDATE, MAY 28th. 2012

More disappointment from the Obama administration!  Men and women who fought for their country should not be persecuted this way!

'Use marijuana and go to prison' - Gil Kerlikowske's message to Veterans on Memorial Day

(WASHINGTON DC) - The group Veterans For Medical Cannabis Access [VMCA] issued the following news release after receiving word that their long hours spent presenting scientific and medical evidence of the benefits of medical marijuana, was simply rejected yet again.

Relying on the wisdom of Gil Kerlikowske, the nation's 'drug czar', veterans are reminded on Memorial Day that their sacrifices only gain them a small amount of credibility, certainly not enough to allow them to use a plant that grows naturally out of the ground that is a miracle treatment for the survivors of war and military violence for their nation, who suffer PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." - Excerpt, please read the whole article:

White House Statement on Medical Marijuana: Another Step Back for Veterans

"Vets have used cannabis for PTSD since the Revolutionary War. We know what we need and to be told by our President, the Commander in Chief, that he does not care about those he has sent to war by denying medicine to the wounded is unconscionable."

Canada - Training the Next Generation of Los Zetas

"Think of it this way: trying to eradicate the drug industry in Mexico is like trying to eradicate gambling in Las Vegas." ~ Charles Bowden

First, the back story:

U.S.-trained forces reportedly helping Mexican cartels

STEWART M. POWELL
Houston Chronicle
May 15, 2008

WASHINGTON — As many as 200 U.S.-trained Mexican security personnel have defected to drug cartels to carry out killings on both sides of the border and as far north as Dallas, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, told Congress on Wednesday.

The renegade members of Mexico’s elite counter-narcotics teams trained at Fort Benning, Ga., have switched sides, contributing to a wave of violence that has claimed some 6,000 victims over the past 30 months, including prominent law enforcement leaders, the Houston-area Republican told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The slaughter has gained urgency amid high-profile assassinations of law officers in Mexico since May 1, claiming six senior officers, five of them with the federal police.

Poe held aloft a dramatic, poster-board-size photograph that he said showed guerrilla-style commandos crossing into the United States.

He said the Department of Homeland Security had documented “over 250 incursions by suspected military forces” into the United States over the past decade.

“I was surprised to hear that the United States has trained Mexican forces and some of those have deserted and become the reason for these attacks,” Poe said.

Officers 'switched sides'

The U.S.-trained Mexican security personnel have "switched sides and became assassins and recruiters for the Mexican drug cartels."

Poe, a former prosecutor and criminal court judge, issued the allegations in an unsuccessful effort to persuade the House Foreign Affairs Committee to revamp President Bush's Merida Initiative.

Bush's blueprint calls for $1.4 billion in training, equipment and law enforcement assistance to Mexico and Central America over three years.

Bush also is seeking $500 million in emergency assistance for Mexico this year as part of the supplemental war spending measure.

Democrats have included only $400 million of Bush's request in the $161 billion war spending measure.

Poe tried to require the Bush administration to evenly split spending between the United States and Mexico rather than sending the entire amount south of the border.

"It seems as though the United States has a history in some cases of giving support (to Mexico) and that support turns around and is used against the very people we're trying to protect, in this case, us," Poe said. "We have no assurance that the equipment we're sending to Mexico won't be turned over to the drug cartels and used against us."

Panel backs original plan

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, also tried to persuade the Democratic-controlled panel to shift part of the Mexico-bound spending to the United States to bolster law enforcement efforts on the border.

McCaul, a former federal prosecutor who specialized in counter-terrorism, called border drug violence "an imminent security threat right on our doorstep" that deserves the same effort as the war on terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 50-member panel, led by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., largely endorsed the Bush administration's version of the proposal, expanding assistance beyond Mexico and Central America to include the Caribbean nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Berman referred Poe's and McCaul's proposed changes to the House Judiciary Committee, saying their plans for greater spending by U.S. law enforcement along the border fell within that panel's jurisdiction. - http://www.thetreeofliberty.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18326 ~

Excerpts from Rolling Stone: The War Next Door
By Guy Lawson Posted Nov 13, 2008

Indeed, much of the current bloodshed can be traced to the special forces that Mexico trained to find and arrest drug traffickers, receiving instruction from the U.S. military on tactics, intelligence-gathering, air assault and advanced weaponry. In the late 1990s, one of the new Gulf cartels began recruiting these American-trained soldiers to work as hired guns against the Sinaloan cartels, offering vastly higher wages than the government. Known as "Los Zetas" — the Mexican police's term for a high-ranking official — these mercenaries are now the most violent force in Mexico, moving massive amounts of drugs into the U.S. while murdering journalists and police and politicians who challenge their authority. Led by Heriberto "the Executioner" Lazcano, the Zeta paramilitaries are far more sophisticated in their weaponry and combat skills than the hapless and corruption-addled policía. It is as if the Navy SEALs or an FBI SWAT team went to work for the Russian mob.

The surest way to curb the violence is the one the U.S. government refuses to consider. "There is no national conversation about legalization, and we need to start doing that," says David Shirk of the Trans-Border Institute. "From the Mexican point of view, decriminalization would rob organized crime of the monopoly it now has in the black market. The monopoly is what gives the drug traffickers enormous resources. They can challenge and compromise the state in extremely dangerous ways. They use profits we're creating to undermine our efforts to fight them." ~

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it....

Canada to Train Mexican Officers Fighting Drug Cartels
By Andrew Meyada Canwest News Service August 9, 2009

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Sunday that Canada will train Mexican police officers to assist Mexico in its brutal war against rival drug cartels.

The announcement came as the prime minister touched down here for a two-day summit with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and U.S. President Barack Obama.

Security will be one of the issues on the agenda at the so-called Three Amigos Summit, along with the global recession, the swine-flu outbreak and climate change.

Through the Anti-Crime Capacity Building Program, Canada will invest as much as $15 million a year in projects across the Americas that combat the illicit drug trade, corruption, human trafficking and other regional problems.

Slightly more than $430,000 will go to Mexico to help it fight its drug war, which claimed more than 6,000 people last year, almost double the number of deaths in the previous year.

Global drug cartels in Mexico have been feuding over access to the lucrative North American market. The U.S. State Department, for example, estimates that 90 per cent of the cocaine that enters the United States flows through Mexico.

Calderon has staked his presidency on his government's aggressive response, vowing to defeat the cartels by the time his term ends in 2012. After taking office in late 2006, Calderon sent thousands of troops to back up the police in drug-trafficking hot spots.

Under the program announced Sunday, the RCMP will train 300 mid-level Mexican police officers with the help of the United States and other countries. The Mounties will also train 32 new police commanders in such areas as police management, investigation and intelligence skills.

A government official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity said the Canadian government could provide more funding if Mexico requests it.

Funding for the program had already been earmarked in the January federal budget. ~

I'm sure the Mexican Cartels eagerly await their new batch of Canadian trained recruits. I hope Canadian taxpayers will be happy with their investment. And for some reason I am reminded of a quote, from Homer Simpson no less: "Prohibition? HA! They tried that in the movies and it didn't work."

Charles Bowden, an author and reporter who has extensively covered Mexico's Drug War speaks with Democracy Now! The video and full text of the interview can be found here. The story of Emilio Gutiérrez is on Mother Jones.

UPDATE May 2010 - (Mexican President Felipe Calderone is right this minute addressing Canadian Parliament and speaking of the Drug War) I'd like to remind everyone:

After 40 years, $1 trillion, US War on Drugs has failed to meet any of its goals

I'm just sayin'.....

Cops & Clergy Condemn the War on Drugs

Stuff Stoners Like Reports on Stuff Tax Payers Should Love

Stuff Stoners Like reports breaking news out of Oakland ~ home of "Oaksterdam".

BREAKING NEWS- Voting Ends in Oakland on Increasing Marijuana Tax

Update: They did it!!!

Ethan Nadelmann Delivers the Truth: Human Rights, Racial Justice and the War on Drugs

Ethan Nadelmann Speaks at the NAACP Conference: Human Rights, Racial Justice and the Drug War

Ethan Nadelmanns' speech for the NAACP Conference is honestly one of the best speeches regarding The War on People and prohibition I have ever heard. I'm sharing this video with everyone I know.

I was fortunate to hear Marc Emery speak last night, and we would be wise to listen to people like Ethan and Marc. We all have to speak up and make our voices heard - in Washington, in Ottawa, everywhere. Americans and Canadians should be rising up together to get our drug laws changed, it will benefit all of North America.

Mr. Nadelmann is right, we have never been a drug free society and we never will be. Humans aren't perfect so it's quite astonishing that our politicians demand just that of us - perfection. Yes, while drugs are sometimes abused, the Drug War has been a complete tragedy and causes more harm to peoples lives than the actual substances themselves.

By luck President Obama never got busted. How different our world would be if he had been caught using cannabis or cocaine. How he can sit in the Oval Office while people sit in jail cells for doing the exact same thing he chose to do is beyond me. I honestly believed he would be a leader of drug reform once elected. Sadly, he seems to be content to ignore this Human Rights atrocity taking place in his very own country, perpetrated against the people of the very nation he leads.

In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is an ideological aggressor, trying to change Canadian drug laws to reflect those that have led to the mass incarceration of over 20 million Americans. We know the damage the drug war has done to the States, why our Canadian politicians would push down the same failed path is nothing short of insanity.

Stand up everyone, if we're going to change things, we all have to do our part. Share videos like these and it doesn't cost you but the price of a stamp to write a letter and mail it to your congress rep or member of parliament. It's a start. Assure them that they will not lose your vote if they work for the people to strike down prohibition.

We the people vote politicians in to office, and it is their duty to represent what the people want - and we all know, it is undeniable, that our current system, this war, just isn't working - and we want change.

Yes We Cannabis.