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Arguments for and against drug prohibitionFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Drug Prohibition Has Failedby David Boaz
There are at least a dozen reasons that today's prohibition should be repealed.
1) Drug prohibition causes crime. By driving up the price of drugs, prohibition forces drug users to commit crimes to pay for a habit that would be easily affordable if it were legal. And the outlaw nature of the business means that rival drug sellers must resort to violence to settle disputes among themselves. The per capita murder and assault-by-firearm rate rose steadily while alcohol Prohibition was in effect (1920-33) and fell for 10 straight years after that...
12) Drug prohibition violates individual rights. People have rights that governments may not violate. Thomas Jefferson defined them as the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I would say that people have the right to live their lives in any way they choose so long as they don't violate the equal rights of others. What right could be more basic, more inherent in human nature, than the right to choose what substances to put in one's own body? Whether we're talking about alcohol, tobacco, AZT, saturated fat, medical marijuana, or recreational cocaine, this is a decision that should be made by the adult individual, not the government. If government can tell us what we can put into our own bodies, what can it not tell us? What limits on government action are there?
Knowing the scoreHarm Reduction: The Alternative to a Losing War on DrugsYet, America is just one nation, albeit an influential one, in a very big world. We should recognize that other people in other places seek a more pragmatic approach to social ills, one that balances the realities of human nature with the greater good--and, in a losing war, one should consider all alternatives to utter defeat. by Ken Mondschein
The decriminalisation debate Think hard, you may be asked to vote on these ideas one day. By Dan Damon 8 June, 2000
Cigarette craving clockedNerves that trigger one hour longing untangled.One lungful of smoke swamps brain cells with nicotine, causing release of reward chemical dopamine. Within seconds, the same cells become desensitized to nicotine. So it is unclear why smokers enjoy a whole cigarette. 14 March 2002 HELEN PEARSON
The secret of world-wide drug prohibitionLevine, Harry G. October 2001 via drugblog
Harry G. Levine
UNODC
The People's ProzacDissident Scientists Question the Ban on Ecstasyby Carla Spartos September 5 - 11, 2001
ABCnews Health CBSnews HealthWatch MSNBC Health
September 17, 2001It's Time to Give Up the War on Drugs Defenders of the war on drugs often throw in an economic argument: It has been successful because it curtails use by raising street prices. It does this because suppliers have to be compensated for the risk of imprisonment and other punishments. It may be true that high prices have reduced the demand for drugs, but the fact remains that most illegal drugs remain popular and available, regardless of price. More important, any reduction in the number of addicts and other users has come with an enormous price tag. The U.S. alone spends almost $40 billion annually fighting the drug war, and other countries also spend big sums. By Gary S. Becker
A Meth dairy In a seven-part series, Kansas City Star reporter Matthew Schofield and photographer David Pulliam examine the methamphetamine problem through the eyes of one of its survivors.
Meth's Deady Buzz. MSNBC.com has gone into communities struggling to cope with the meth crisis to get a first-hand look at the war on this drug: Beating an addiction to meth Hooked in the Haight
Methology - Part I Arizona is awash in crystal methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant that makes the weak strong, the lazy motivated, the fat thin, the trivial profound. Abuse it enough, and it can also make you psychotic. BY DAVID HOLTHOUSE AND PAUL RUBIN December 1997Methology - Part II & Part III Meth Mess
The Meth MonsterArkansas Democrat-Gazette reporters Michelle Bradford and Pamela Hill, over the course of three months, conducted interviews and compiled research about the production, trafficking and abuse of methamphetamine in Northwest Arkansas. A two-part series, published Sunday and Monday, June 6-7, 1999, examines the impact of this drug on individuals, families and the criminal justice system
Addicted to myths about opiatesAlmost everything you think you know about heroin addiction is wrong, writes Theodore Dalrymple in his latest book
IT is not only those who take heroin who are blinded by illusions, but almost the entire population, including - or especially - the experts. Every problem in contemporary society calls forth its equal and supposedly opposite bureaucracy. The ostensible purpose of this bureaucracy is to solve that problem.
India accused of dumping cough syrup in Bangladesh - Feb 25, 2002 INDIA has been accused of dumping a controversial cough syrup in Bangladesh despite international caution...Phensedyl, which induces drowsiness, is high in codeine content and is sought after by drug addicts in Bangladesh, who find its price affordable...INCB reports also said that codeine, in the form of an analgesic or cough suppressant, accounts for the bulk of opiate consumption across the globe...Annual consumption of codeine in morphine equivalent is believed to be some 200 tonnes...This represents 79 per cent of the intake of drugs obtained from opium.
Release of INCB Report for 1995 Regional Update: South AsiaUNODC in South Asia
Commercial poppy-drug crop tested Poppy growers are hoping to extract morphine from the first large-scale crop trial of the drug-producing flower in the south of England. 10 November, 2001
Heroin chic gets a glossy coverOnly in the Netherlands... a lifestyle magazine for female heroin addicts. Mainline Lady must be the first women's monthly that urges readers to gain weight, says Rose George. 26 October 2001
Sex, Drugs, and Techno Music
Drug Abuse Drug Addiction Drugs War on Drugs
Why drug tests flunk If the Supreme Court rules in favor of drug testing in public schools, will students come clean? Kids at schools in Indiana, where drug tests rule, say no way. By Janelle Brown [2002-04-22] No relief The war on drugs is preventing many Americans from getting desperately needed pain medicine. By Damien Cave [2002-04-04]
Saying no to propaganda Critics say the government's new anti-drug campaign is reactionary and moralistic. Worse, it may not even work. By Janelle Brown [2002-03-12]
High score Speed, acid, pot: As computer gaming enters the mainstream, its drug subculture is also coming of age. By Sandy Brundage [2001-11-06]
Raving lunacy Officials are cracking down on dance clubs that provide health information about recreational drugs. They may shut down some raves, but kids will die. By Janelle Brown [2001-06-20]
The anguish of the drug war judges Forced to hand down harsh sentences that defy their consciences, many federal judges are speaking out against a system that makes them do "ungodly things." By Steve France [2001-06-19] The disunited states of ecstasyAt an all-day conference on MDMA, ravers, researchers and anti-drug crusaders debate its pros and cons. Consensus? Just say maybe. By Janelle Brown Feb. 5, 2001
The drug war's Tweedledee Does National Institute on Drug Abuse chief Alan Leshner push propaganda over science in his close coordination with drug czar Barry McCaffrey? By Arthur Allen [2000-10-10]
Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibitedCopyright 2001 Salon.com
The Best High is a Government High -How 68% of the Population Circumvents the Drug War JESSICA KINFINBOOGLERDisclaimer: This article is intended as an exposé on the shocking complacency surrounding the ease with which an indeterminable number of people habitually abuse healthcare systems. It should not be seen as a guide to getting prescription drugs. VICE Magazine and the writer believe drug abuse hurts everyone, especially those who genuinely need it, and do not condone any of these highly illegal scams. cached
The case for legalisation
July 26, 2001
Time for a puff of sanity
The terror is not irrational. For the first thing that must be said about legalising drugs, a cause The Economist has long advocated and returns to this week (see survey), is that it would lead to a rise in their use, and therefore to a rise in the number of people dependent on them. Some argue that drug laws have no impact, because drugs are widely available. Untrue: drugs are expensive—a kilo of heroin sells in America for as much as a new Rolls-Royce—partly because their price reflects the dangers involved in distributing and buying them. It is much harder and riskier to pick up a dose of cocaine than it is to buy a bottle of whisky. Remove such constraints, make drugs accessible and very much cheaper, and more people will experiment with them...
Stumbling in the dark How did we get here? Big business Choose your poison The harm done Stopping it Collateral damage Better ways Set it free Offer to readers Sources
The Economist
The Nation Directory: Drug Policy/Drug War
Articles with black links are only available in our print edition.
Drug War on Trial"Following the money" can prove devastating to critics of the illegal trade.Mark Schapiro
The Worst Drug LawsEditors
Zapatistas on the MarchAl Giordano
Plan ColombiaWrong issue, wrong enemy, wrong country.Marc Cooper
The Reel Drug WarMichael Massing
September 20, 1999Does Europe Do It Better? LESSONS FROM HOLLAND, BRITAIN AND SWITZERLAND by ROBERT J. MacCOUN and PETER REUTER
September 20, 1999It's Time for Realism by MICHAEL MASSINGBEYOND LEGALIZATION: NEW IDEAS FOR ENDING THE WAR ON DRUGS
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The Guardian Special Report Drugs in Britain
All the current news about War on Drugs
PsycPORT HandheldsPublished in PsycPort - Indexed on Apr 23, 2002'Special K' Gains Popularity in Clubs, Raves-(Syracuse U.) U-WIRE - April 16, 2002 (U-WIRE) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- "Special K" is not just a cereal anymore. It's street lingo for Ketamine -- a tranquilizer that's gaining popularity and becoming a staple in club and rave scenes. Ketamine originally was developed in the 1970s as a medical anesthetic for both humans and animals.
A Mexican herb that no one really understands and can send users on intense, brief hallucinogenic trips is being sold over the Internet touting itself as a legal way to ePublished in ABC News.com - Indexed on Apr 2, 2002Little is known about the drug, salvia divinorum, or how it works on the brain and what its longterm effects might be. But word of its existence is spreading through e-mail chains and Web sites praising its potential, which has caught the attention of the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA has included it on its list of "Drugs and Chemicals of Concern" and is considering whether to add the herb to its list of controlled substances. Some researchers who have studied it and other hallucinogens doubt the DEA needs to worry much, and say they don't believe the herb will live up to the hype seen on some of the Web sites.
Hold the waffles by Erica C. Barnett. The government bans all hemp foods, though you'd have to be crazy if they got you high.Published in Seattle Weekly - Indexed on Feb 7, 2002Hold the waffles The government bans all hemp foods, though you'd have to be crazy if they got you high. BY ERICA C. BARNETT GET YOUR Hemprella while you can. And your hemp chips, hemp coffee, and hemp waffles, too. After Feb. 6, many of those products will join heroin, cocaine, and ecstasy on the growing list of Schedule I controlled substances--the group of drugs considered by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to have "a high potential for abuse" and a "lack of accepted safety.
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