De werkelijkheid van de Oorlog op Drugs
De Oorlog van de drug stelt te boek |
Met de Democratische presidentiële mededingers die van de Partij weinig meer dan lauwe hervormingen op de marge van drugbeleid en de Republikeinse benoemde aanbieden die grotendeels meer van de zelfde oude drugoorlog belooft (zoek volgende week een artikel over belangrijk de misdaad en de drugbeleid van de partijmededinger), kijken de mensen die naar radicale hervormingen in de drugbeleid van de V.S. streven voorbij de twee belangrijkste partijen. Vorige week, stelt de Oorlog van de Drug onderzocht het alternatief bij het recht, de Libertarian Partij, en de zijn presidentiële campagne te boek. Deze week, draaien wij onze mening aan de linkerzijde, aan Groene Partij en de onafhankelijke campagne van Ralph Nader.
Terwijl de derdealternatieven zoals Greens of Libertarians niet in het winnen van grote percentages van de populaire presidentiële stemming - de Groene kandidatuur Nader van 2000 sla slechts 2.7% van de nationale stemming, en het concurreren Nader van 2004 en Groene nationaal gecombineerde kandidaten voor weinig meer dan een half miljoen stemmen op - in een dichte verkiezing zijn geslaagd, konden de derden de kiesstemmen van een staat aan één of andere van de belangrijkste partijkandidaten werpen. Enkel om één voorbeeld te nemen, zijn de talloze Democraten nog fuming dat de campagne Nader van 2000 hen de verkiezing door lichtjes onder 100.000 stemmen in Florida op te slaen kostte.
Een „derdecampagne kon een verschil in een strak ras maken,“ bovengenoemde Piper van de Rekening van het Netwerk van de Actie van het Beleid van de Drug, het het lobbyen wapen van De Alliantie van het Beleid van de drug. „In deze verkiezing, kon het uit één van beide kant van het politieke spectrum komen.“
Terwijl de conservatieven en libertarians interessant in drughervorming de Libertarian Partij, voor liberalen en progressives hebben, komt de Groene Partij het dichtst aan een smakelijk drugbeleid. In zijn het meest recent sociaal rechtvaardigheidsplatform, goedgekeurd bij 2004 verzoekt de nationale overeenkomst, de partij - onder andere - de wetten het herroepen van van „Drie Stakingen“ en het verplichte veroordelen, een eind aan activaverbeuring voor unconvicted verdachten, een moratorium bij de gevangenisbouw, decriminalization van misdaden zonder slachtoffers met inbegrip van marihuanabezit, de legalisatie van industriële hennep, en een „eind aan de oorlog op drugs.“
De „handhaving van de wet legt teveel nadruk op op drugbetrekking hebbende en kleine straatmisdaden, en niet genoeg op vervolging van collectief, administratief, en de milieumisdaden,“ zeiden het platform. “At the same time, we must develop a firm approach to law enforcement that directly addresses violent crime, including trafficking in hard drugs. Violence that creates a climate of further violence must be stopped. Police brutality has reached epidemic levels in the United States and we call for effective monitoring of police agencies to eliminate police brutality.”
While the Green Party platform has its contradictions — it calls for marijuana decrim and an end to the drug war, but also defines selling drugs as “violent crime” — it is miles ahead of the major parties on drug policy. And the current crop of Green Party presidential candidates appear to be ahead of the party platform.
Former Democratic Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney looks to be the front-runner for the party nomination at this stage, primarily because of her high name recognition and national reputation. On her web site, McKinney says bluntly, “We want to end the war on drugs now!”
In addition to targeting communities of color, “the War on Drugs has become a war on truth, taxpayers, civil liberties, and higher education for the poor and middle class, and sadly, it has also become a war on treatment, addicts, and reason,” says her statement. It also “provides cover for US military intervention in foreign countries, particularly to our south, and that this increased militarization is used to put down all social protest movements in countries like Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and elsewhere.”
“This is a big issue for Cynthia, especially as it impacts communities of color and regarding the prison industrial complex,” said John Judge, a McKinney press spokesman.
It’s also a big issue for other Green candidates. “Drug policy is a big issue for me, it affects my daily life,” said contender Kat Swift, a San Antonio-based political activist and former co-chair of the Texas Green Party. “I work at a homeless center, and we deal with drug issues all the time. We’re across the street from a park with a lot of illegal drug sales. I’ve also had friends and family members arrested for having a joint.”
Swift said she is looking to long-time drug reform activist and former Connecticut Green Party gubernatorial candidate Cliff Thornton, and his group, Efficacy for guidance on drug policy issues. “Cliff has submitted an amendment to our drug policy plank that would call for legalizing and regulating all drugs, and I don’t know that I differ with him on this at all,” she said.
For Swift, drug policy is a pivotal issue. “This is an area where race and class and even how we treat women and children is at play,” she said. “This is about the prison-industrial complex and keeping people in their class.”
“I am opposed to the war on drugs,” said contender Kent Mesplay, who came up in California Green Party politics and now serves as a delegate to the Green National Committee. Calling the drug war a “vestige of Puritanism,” he added that “it is, in effect, a war on poor people with terror for us all when we realize how completely the US government attempts to micro-manage our lives. It would be far better to have governmental agencies put money and effort into actually educating people as to the science of drug use.”
And just in case that wasn’t clear enough, Mesplay added, “Yes, I have smoked marijuana and I favor its decriminalization.”
Neither the other Green Party presidential contender, Jesse Johnson, nor the Nader campaign responded to Chronicle requests for information on their drug policy positions. Johnson’s campaign web site does not mention drug policy, nor does Nader list it among his “Twelve Issues that Matter in 2008,” although his web site says it is open for more issues and he has embraced drug reform in past campaigns.
According to the Green Party web site, McKinney stands alone at the head of the pack in the delegate count, but that’s with only three states having decided. The contest for the party’s nomination will be on until the party national meeting later this summer.
Once again, people for whom drug reform is a major issue will have a choice, whether on the left or the right. They can vote for parties and candidates who support their drug policy positions, but who have little to no chance of winning, or they can vote for a Democrat in hopes of obtaining reforms on the margins, or they can vote for the Republican despite their drug policy convictions.
[This article was published by StoptheDrugWar.org’s lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also shares the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so. Writing staff attempted to craft this article with full journalistic integrity as we do with our 501(c)(3) publishing.]
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One Response to “The Reality of the War on Drugs”
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steve k
Posted: Apr 24th, 2008 at 7:26 am | Link to this
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Why should the leading parties change anything about the current soft drug legislation , what have they got too gain , just one or maybe two questions i would like too ask here . 1 - Just who is in charge of the poppie crops in afghanistan and 2 - If they are so concerned with the so called war on drugs why have they just not destroyed the crops . Do a google search and you will find the answer in a matter of seconds . BUSINESS AS USUAL AND BIG MONEY TOO BE MADE ! . White collar crime offers no incetive too those that look like they are tackling crime by crimalising marajuna while the poppies just keep on growing . Hemp as a raw plant has so many uses appart from certain medicinal properties it is a fantastic cheap resource for replacing synthetic man-made fibres and it grows at an incredible rate so would offer an eco-friendly alternative for clothing , bags , carpets ect ect and without the need for slave labour too provide the need and demand for cheap clothing as we have now . But of course we are being denied this valuable resource as there is no PROFFIT TOO BE MADE in a natural plant that grows easily and with minimal effort !!! .