Daily Archives: March 27, 2017

A toxic combination of declining social status, poor health and failed relationships is being blamed – Washington Times

Posted: March 27, 2017 at 5:26 am

A toxic combination of declining social status, poor health and failed relationships is being blamed for the troubling uptick in mortality rates among white Americans in middle and working classes, according to new data from demographers.

Princeton University economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton refer to the reversal in historic mortality trends as deaths of despair the predictable outcome of declining economic opportunities coupled with rising levels of drug abuse, obesity, drinking and suicide among non-college educated whites.

One startling finding from their survey: In 2015, mortality rates for non-Hispanic whites with a high school degree or less was 30 percent higher than blacks (927 versus 703 per 100,000 people). In 1999, rates for non-Hispanic whites of the same group were 30 percent lower than for blacks.

The researchers published their findings Thursday in the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, as a follow-up to their 2015 study which first documented the increase in mortality.

This is a story of the collapse of the white working class, Mr. Deaton, who won a Nobel Prize for economics in 2015 for his work on poverty, told the Associated Press in an interview. The labor market has very much turned against them.

A decline in economic and social well-being are contributing factors to the high rates of death among both white men and women aged 45-54 without a college degree, the researchers found. The causes of death ranged from disease and suicide to complications with drug and alcohol use.

Instances of death are not confined to a particular location, with high rates in both rural and urban areas.

The most important variable uncovered by the survey is education. Mortality is rising for those without, and falling for those with, a college degree, the researchers wrote in the papers summary.

In their original 2015 study, the researchers said they were shocked to learn that while mortality rates declined for every other ethnic group in the U.S., they were increasing among non-Hispanic whites.

Mortality rates have been going down over 100 years or more, and then for all this to suddenly go into reverse, we just thought this must be wrong, Mr. Deaton told NPR.

Ms. Case added that the recently published work seeks to thread a narrative to explain the factors leading to the increase. Its consistent with the labor market collapsing for people with less than a college degree and then in turn that having effects on the kind of economic and social supports that we usually think people need in order to thrive.

The most obvious way the government can address the crisis, the authors write, is to stem the over-prescription of opioids blamed for the deaths of over 33,000 in 2015.

Theres a lot of literature that suggests that people who have poor socio-economic support, possible financial struggles are at a higher risk for addiction, said Dr. Rishi Kakar, a psychiatrist at the Segal Institute in Fort Lauderhill, Florida, and a specialist in addiction treatment. My view is that a lot of these individuals do not have proper access to treatment for their opioid addiction. These are the individuals who are financially stressed and do not have enough resources.

The difference in mortality rates between whites and other races can be partly explained by the differences in expectations, according to sociologist and author Andrew Cherlin. He explained the phenomenon, Reference Group Theory, in the New York Times last year.

Its likely that many non-college-educated whites are comparing themselves to a generation that had more opportunities than they have, whereas many blacks and Hispanics are comparing themselves to a generation that had fewer opportunities, Cherlin wrote. Reference group theory explains why people who have more may feel that they have less. What matters is to whom you are comparing yourself.

For those with little education and low job prospects, changing societal norms have eroded an important safety net once afforded by family and religion.

These changes left people with less structure when they came to choose their careers, their religion, and the nature of their family lives, Case and Deaton write.

The authors also put a high priority on marriage as a stabilizing factor that fosters a continuing role for fathers in the lives of their children.

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Jamaica’s future choked by cancer of corruption – Jamaica Observer

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Corruption in Jamaica is entrenched and widespread. Jamaica must give serious consideration to what lies ahead should the Government and the countrys lawmakers fail to decisively and aggressively confront its corruption problem.

Jamaica has long suffered from a perception that it is a highly corrupt country. Only a few days ago, the United States Department of State, in its March 2017 annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, described corruption in Jamaica as being entrenched and widespread. Even more disturbing is the fact that the US State Department has utilised virtually the same language for at least the past seven years running to characterise the magnitude and depth of the problem.

In the 15 years in which Transparency International (TI) has ranked the country in its annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Jamaica has averaged a CPI score of only 35 out of 100, where zero means highly corrupt, and a score of 100 representing the state of being very clean. Jamaicas 2016 CPI was 39.

Tipping point

TI has said that a CPI score of under 50 signals prevalent bribery, a lack of punishment for corruption, and public institutions that do not respond to the needs of citizens. Jamaica has probably reached a tipping point.

It is also noteworthy that a major study that was conducted in 2015 by a global think tank, the Institute for Economics and Peace, concluded that when a countrys CPI falls beneath 40 it would have reached a tipping point for the collapse of government institutions, instability, and a rise in internal violence.

It is arguable that Jamaica may have reached this tipping point and is already witnessing some of these manifestations.

To begin with, while none of Jamaicas institutions has collapsed, some are in a state of relative dysfunction. It is also indisputable that Jamaica has achieved notoriety as a murder capital of the world, and as a country thats stricken with inordinately high levels of crime and violence.

For the 10-year period 2005 to 2014, Jamaica was ranked, after Honduras and El Salvador, as having the worlds highest murder rate per capita, with 14,968 murders committed, or 49.1 murders per 100,000 people.

The World Economic Forum (WEF), in its 2016/2017 Global Competitiveness Report, has ranked Jamaica as being among the worlds three worst countries on the business costs of crime and violence, and among the worlds five worst on organised crime. The report was based on a survey of 138 countries.

Perceived corruption

Jamaicans, themselves, do not have a favourable view of their countrys leaders, nor of some of the country most critical institutions, when it comes to the issue of corruption.

The TI Global Corruption Barometer, which assesses the perception of corruption in national institutions globally, in 2013 found that 86 per cent of Jamaican respondents saw the countrys police as corrupt/extremely corrupt. Some 85 per cent felt the same way about the countrys political parties, while 74 per cent viewed the Parliament in a similar light.

Only three senior public officials have been jailed for corruption in Jamaica since the island became independent, nearly 55 years ago. This is a striking phenomenon. It can only be interpreted as supporting the view that corruption and impunity in Jamaica are deeply entrenched and widespread.

Weak structures and legislation

The 2017 Jamaica Integrity Commission Bill is weak.

Despite promises that have been made by successive administrations to strengthen the countrys anti-corruption institutional framework, Jamaicans are yet to see anything of substance that will effectively address the pervasive and endemic corruption that has long afflicted the island.

The much-heralded and long-awaited Jamaica Integrity Commission Bill, that was passed in the House of Representatives on January 31, 2017, will not advance Jamaicas anti-corruption fight.

I have argued elsewhere that the Bill, in many respects, is weak, and does not reflect present-day international best practices in anti-corruption and anti-bribery. Further, the Bill has failed to fulfil some of Jamaicas key international anti-corruption treaty obligations.

The proposed Jamaica Integrity Commission is structurally flawed.

The Integrity Commission, as proposed by the Bill, and which will merge the Office of the Contractor General, the Parliament Integrity Commission, and the Corruption Prevention Commission, is also structurally flawed. Theres no question that it will fail as an effective and efficient anti-corruption institution.

Contrary to international best practices, the commission will have no CEO to co-ordinate, direct and manage its day-to-day operations, or to be held accountable for its affairs.

Added to this is the fact that the commissions several directors will be subjected to the directives of five commissioners who, by law, can give any of them (except the prosecutions director), special or general directions. This will obviously lead to a very unwieldy situation, while undermining the operational integrity, effectiveness and efficiency of the commission.

It is also important to note that the Integrity Commission will neither be a single nor independent anti-corruption commission as it was intended to be. It will have no powers of detention or arrest. Neither will it be independent in its criminal investigative function. It will have to rely upon other law enforcement agencies, inclusive of the police which do not report to it for assistance in the foregoing regard.

These are serious best practice deficits. At the end of the day, the commission will lack full control over who is investigated, when, and how they are investigated and, ultimately, who is to be prosecuted by its prosecutions director.

Playing politics with corruption

Successive Administrations havent honoured anti-corruption commitments. But what is concerning is that, although Jamaica knows precisely what must be done to escape the tentacles of corruption, it appears to lack the courage of leadership, and the political will, to effectively implement even the very corrective measures that its successive administrations had promised they would bring to the fore, if they were elected into office.

The ruling Administration, for example, had committed, in its pre-election manifesto, to bring an end to the incidence of rampant corruption in Jamaica. Very importantly, it had acknowledged that corruption impedes economic growth, undermines the rule of law, and tears down the fabric of society. It had also said that Jamaica can be transformed, but only if corruption is tackled in an uncompromising manner.

That said, it then committed that if it were elected into office, it would be revising the work already under way, on the Integrity Commission Bill, regarding the proposed Integrity Commission, and making revisions to ensure its effectiveness.

However, and as is now well known, this was not done. The Bill was passed in the House on January 31, 2017, almost one year after the Government was elected into office, but without the promised revisions taking place.

The immediately preceding Administration is not blameless either. Prior to entering office, it, too, in the then pre-election debates, had committed to combat corruption and, in particular, to strengthen the Office of the Contractor General (OCG). However, within just six months of being elected to office, it filed several applications in the Jamaica Supreme Court to curtail the powers and functions of the OCG. The move was subsequently frowned upon by the court when it summarily dismissed the applications in its February 2013 ruling.

Breaking pre-election commitments goes to the root of credibility and trust. When leaders, anywhere, act in this way, it goes to the very root of their credibility, and the trust that a believing electorate has reposed in them.

Transparency International, in January 2017, while commenting on elections in Africa, was moved to urge African leaders, who win elections on the anti-corruption platform, to live up to their pledges. The Speaker of Nigerias Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke, a lawyer by profession, has gone one step further. On February 7, 2017, during an address, he said that a failure by politicians and political parties to fulfil election campaign promises should be seen as a form of corruption, and that offending politicians should be prosecuted.

The cost of corruption

The costs of corruption are far-reaching. Corruption is a major concern for developing, emerging and developed economies, alike. However, for developing countries, like Jamaica, the magnitude of the potential for the adverse socio-economic consequences that corruption portends is substantial.

Corruption erodes the quality of life of citizens by diverting public funds away from critical social necessities, such as health care, education, water, roads and electricity.

Corruption also leads to human rights violations, steals political elections, distorts financial markets, reduces investor confidence, stunts business activity, wipes out jobs, fuels migration, increases the price of goods and services, undermines and destroys confidence in public institutions, and enables organised crime, terrorism, and other threats to human security to flourish. And, yes, corruption also kills.

Many studies have been undertaken in an effort to estimate the monetary costs of corruption and bribery. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in 2014, estimated that the cost of corruption equals more than five per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP), or approximately US$2.6 trillion, with over US$1 trillion paid in bribes each year.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in a May 2016 news article, estimated the annual cost of bribery at a massive US$1.5 to US$2 trillion, globally.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies has equated private sector bribery in developing countries to a tax on growth. It says its costing at least US$500 billion each year, or more than three times the total amount of foreign assistance that these countries received in 2012.

The WEF estimates that corruption increases the cost of doing business by up to 10 per cent on average. Other studies have estimated that the cost of corruption is akin to a 20 per cent regressive tax that foreign investors must face.

Interestingly, the World Bank estimates a four times increase in a countrys per-capita income, in the long run, when it fights corruption.

What of Jamaicas future?

Sustainable economic growth is not possible without combating corruption. Jamaica has averaged GDP growth of 0.5 per cent per annum over the last 20 years, and 0.2 per cent per annum over the past 10 years, and has now set its eyes on an ambitious GDP growth target of five per cent in the next four years, but, curiously, without the support of a clearly articulated and aggressive anti-corruption plan.

The country is not short on eminent advice as to why this is futile. In his July 2013 visit to Jamaica, Professor Tommy Koh, Singapores ambassador-at-large, cautioned Jamaicas leaders that a zero-tolerance approach for corruption, and a strong rule of law, are the two strategies that Jamaica will need in its efforts to achieve economic growth and sustainable development. He said that these were the cornerstones of Singapores success.

In an October 25, 2016 joint press conference with Pakistans Foreign Minister, the IMFs Managing Director Christine Lagarde was quoted as saying that the economic progress of a country is impossible without curbing corruption. Earlier, in May 2016, at the London International Anti-Corruption Summit, Lagarde warned: If you are pro-growth, you must be against corruption.

Combating corruption, as a driver of foreign investment, sustainable economic growth, and development, is a principle that is universally acknowledged. It has been consistently enunciated by the United Nations, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Union, the G20 and G8, the IMF, the World Bank, and a host of other multilateral institutions and world leaders.

No excuses

Jamaica has run out of excuses for failing to end corruption. But Jamaica does not need to be persuaded about the perils of the cancer of corruption, nor why it must be decisively and aggressively tackled. The Governments own 2013 National Security Policy speaks lucidly, instructively, and convincingly on the issue.

This is what it says:

(a) Crime, corruption and violence are the primary threats to the nation.

(b) Violence, crime and corruption have profoundly retarded Jamaicas development.

(c) The economy is now, at best, one-third of the size it should have been, and may be only one-tenth of the size it could have been.

(d) Effective action against crime and corruption would do more to improve the economy of Jamaica than any other measure.

(e) The most important task facing Jamaica now is to root out crime and corruption, and thereby address the underlying causes of poverty and suffering in the country.

Quite recently, on March 6, 2017, Ghanas President Nana Akufo-Addo, on the occasion of his countrys 60th independence, said that Ghana had run out of excuses for failing to end poverty and corruption.

It occurred to me then, that Jamaica, as it approaches its 55th year of Independence in August, had also run out of excuses for failing to end corruption and poverty.

Greg Christie is an attorney-at-law, governance consultant, and a Jamaica public body director. He is a former contractor general of Jamaica; country director, vice-president and assistant general counsel for Kaiser Aluminum; and a university law lecturer. Send comments to the Observer or

gjannat@jol.com.

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Britain’s children have a behaviour problem because teachers see issuing orders as ‘oppression’, official behaviour … – Telegraph.co.uk

Posted: at 5:25 am

British children have a behaviour problem because teachers think telling them what to do is "oppressive", the Government's behaviour tsar has warned.

Former teacher and behaviour expert Tom Bennett, who was appointed by the Government in 2015 to examine behaviour in schools in England, said that there is a "national problem" with pupil behaviour which is not being taken seriously enough.

In a report he said teachers were afraid that telling pupils what to do would curtail their freedom.

Students must become "compliant" in order to be free, he said, and teachers' worries that telling them what to do would be oppressive was an "impediment" to better behaviour.

Under a section titled "Is expecting good behaviour oppressive?", he said: "The belief that directing student behaviour is harmful to their development is a serious attitudinal impediment to developing schools with better behaviour cultures".

He added that pupils had to be taught "self-restraint or self-regulation" in order to be "truly free".

In the report he said: "To be in control of ones own immediate inclinations or desires and fancies, is a liberty far more valuable than the absence of restraint.

"Compliance is only one of several rungs on a behavioural ladder we hope all our students will climb, but it is a necessary one to achieve first."

Quoting Russian-born philosopher Isaiah Berlin, he added that schools should not simply discourage bad behaviour but encourage "good habits of study, or reasoning, or interacting with adults, coping with adversity, or intellectual challenges".

The report suggested that behavioural issues in schools were more serious than the Government realised because Ofsted reports and headteachers' views did not accurately represent the scale of the problem.

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Famine is about freedom, not just food – Learn Liberty (blog)

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Are famines just things of the past? In the ancient world, a bad harvest threatened lives. The agricultural output of the world has dramatically increased in the last couple hundred years, and today, the Earth supports billions of healthy people thanks to advances in farm technology and global trade. Where individuals are relatively free from violence and have access to global markets, widespread starvation is not a problem today. Healthy food staples are cheap. And, in an emergency, there is a lot of goodwill out there, such that a community with a free press and open markets will receive aid.

Fortunately, most humans today do not live and die by whether rain happens to fall on their farm. Today, episodes of mass starvation only occur when people are oppressed by authoritarian government regimes or gang violence organized on a smaller scale.

The latest tragedy is in South Sudan, which the U.N. has now officially declared to be a famine. In a Washington Post article on March 9, George Clooney declared the famine in South Sudan to be government-made, not only to distinguish it from natural causes such as the weather but squarely point the finger of blame at the administration in the capital of Juba.

The Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has pointed out that functioning democracies do not have famines. In free societies, a government so inept as to create mass starvation would be voted out. The accountability provided by a free electorate and free press incentivize politicians to respond to the needs of the people. The problem is not that authoritarian governments do too little to prevent famines, its that they do too much to cause famines.

Functioning democracies do not have famines.

The famines of the 20th century dwarfed the infamous Irish potato famine of the mid-19th century. In China, tens of millions starved under the rule of Mao Zedong. The Communist regime in the Soviet Union oversaw several famines in which many millions starved, including the mass starvation known as the Holodomor in Ukraine. These famine events were sometimes associated with bad weather, but droughts do not cause famines. Only violence could cause a bad harvest to turn into mass starvation in the modern world.

In 1931, there was a lot of food being grown in Ukraine, but the Soviet government took the food by force and left almost none behind to feed the farmers. Another kind of government oppression that made the situation worse, in this case, was the suppression of free speech and free press. The Soviets denied that anyone was starving and censored unfavorable reports, making it less likely that aid would come in from the international community. Aided by Western journalists friendly to Stalin, the Soviets effectively clouded the issue of famine in Ukraine.

The most widespread famine to affect Ethiopia in the past century lasted from 1983 to 1985. The government at the time had violently attacked the people of Ethiopia and moved them around in collectivization schemes. An already poor country was rendered helpless through government intervention and corruption. A campaign of misinformation allowed government officials to profit from the international aid that was sent from rich countries, while the government withheld donated food from areas of the country where the people were not supportive of the regime.

The most recent famine is now occurring in South Sudan. The people of South Sudan used to have productive resources with which to feed themselves, but soldiers representing both the government and rebel forces have raided villages and destroyed the means of production, such as cattle, leaving the people to starve. In his article, Clooney expresses cautious hope that foreign aid will be allowed to reach the victims of the famine, but he acknowledges that aid is a short-term fix. Famines will continue until the government is held accountable for corruption and abuse. Clooney is thinking like an economist, because he is talking about incentives, not intentions.

Soon after the Western world was alerted to the severity of the famine in South Sudan, President Salva Kiir hiked the fee for work permits for foreign aid workers from $100 to $10,000. Perhaps that change is small in comparison with the violent attacks against aid workers perpetrated by government soldiers, but it does indicate how the government views the famine victims.

Economic freedom for individuals and the protection of property rights is the reason that famines do not occur in democracies today, as Amartya Sen documented in his book Development as Freedom. Hunger isnt just about food its about freedom.

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US condemns arrest of Russian protesters in Moscow – The New Indian Express

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A woman with a Russian national flag walks past a Police line in Pushkin Square, downtown Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 26, 2017. (File | AP)

WASHINGTON: The US has condemned the arrest of hundreds of peaceful Russian protesters, including top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, in Moscow, describing it as an "affront" to core democratic values.

"The United States strongly condemns the detention of hundreds of peaceful protesters throughout Russia on Sunday," State Department's Acting Spokesman Mark Toner, said.

"Detaining peaceful protesters, human rights observers, and journalists is an affront to core democratic values. We were troubled to hear of the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny upon arrival at the demonstration, as well as the police raids on the anti-corruption organisation he heads," the State Department wrote in a tweet.

The statement of the State Department was retweeted by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Senator Ben Cardin, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a statement said, "strongly condemn the arrest of hundreds of peaceful demonstrators" in Moscow and across Russia.

"This crackdown is another indication that the space for civil society is rapidly closing inside Putin's Russia. It is not surprising that the Russian government's blatant corruption and culture of impunity have caused such a widespread and loud reaction from Russian citizens nationwide," he said.

Cardin said the Russians are the genesis and ultimate guarantors of genuine democratic change in their country.

Accountable and responsive governance in Russia will be the result of their courageous efforts, not anyone else's.

"But the Trump administration should not make their jobs harder," Cardin said and urged the Trump administration to maintain the US' commitment to universally recognised human rights and the democratic principles as laid out in the Helsinki Final Act.

"Any future dialogue with the Russian government should not diminish the importance of these essential American values," he said.

"Today's protest shows that corruption, propaganda, and thinly veiled oppression are a weak foundation for a government - even one led by a man as ruthless as Vladimir Putin," said Senator Tom Cotton in a separate statement.

Thousands of Russians defied bans yesterday to stage protests across the country against corruption. Navalny had called for the marches after publishing a detailed report this month accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of controlling a property empire through a shadowy network of nonprofit organisations.

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Duterte’s War on Drugs Through a Local Photographer’s Eyes – New York Times (blog)

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New York Times (blog)
Duterte's War on Drugs Through a Local Photographer's Eyes
New York Times (blog)
When a President Says 'I'll Kill You' is a Times documentary on the deadly crusade led by President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines that he has called a war on drugs. The film features Raffy Lerma, a photojournalist for The Philippine Daily ...
Duterte's war on drugs not war vs poor, Palace insistsABS-CBN News
Drug war on NY Times: 'We no longer have fear in killing people'Inquirer.net
Palace slams HRW anew over claims drug war 'targets the poor' | SunStarSun.Star
Rappler -Philippine Star -BusinessWorld Online Edition
all 45 news articles »

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Senator Joe Manchin: Time for a new ‘war on drugs’ to tackle opioids – STAT

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S

enator Joe Manchin stepped onto the Senate floor last week to read a letter sent to him by Leigh Ann Wilson, a home caregiver whose 21-year-old daughter, Taylor, died from an opioid overdose last fall.

Please work quickly to prevent thousands of other Taylorsfrom the same fate, Manchin read.

That was just the latest of many such letters that Manchin, a Democrat, has read on the Senate floor over the past year. He represents West Virginia, which has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the nation. And he seeks to amplify the voices of those most affected.

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Leigh Ann Wilsons story, chronicled in STAT earlier this month, was all too familiar: She and her former husband tried for weeks to get Taylor into treatment for her opioid addiction, but were unable to get her either medication to reduce her cravings or an inpatient bed in a treatment facility.

Manchin spoke with STAT about his efforts to tackle thethe opioid epidemic, including an unusual proposal hes taken to President Trump. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Weve moved the needle more than ever before in the last couple of years. We [reclassified] opiates from Schedule III to Schedule II drugs [which means they have a high potential for abuse]. We got the CDC to finally put out prescribing guidelines, which doctors have never [previously] used.

There are many things we can do. Most things are educational. [When] talking about smoking cessation or using seat belts, we start in the schools educating at very young ages. Were going to have to do the same [with opioids].

Taylor Wilsons parents fought for 41 days to get their daughter treatment. They couldnt stop another overdose

I told [President Trump], Mr. President, youve come out with a statement saying weve been over-regulated in this country, and for a new regulation any agency wants to come up, were make them do away with two.

I said, Mr. President, would you take the same approach to the FDA in approving drugs and opiates. Id like to go one for one: For every new opiate they want to bring on the market, there has to be something obsolete they should take off, and quit producing it. We talked about that.

Also, with the war on drugs, you have to understand that addiction is an illness that needs treatment. Twenty years ago, we all thought addiction, or messing with any types of drugs, was a crime and we put you in jail. Well, we know that didnt work.

Behind the photo: How heroin took over an Ohio town

Thats where Ive come out with bills. First of all, the LifeBOAT Act. No one gets treatment because we dont have treatment centers. The LifeBOAT Act asks for a one-penny fee on every milligram of opiates that are produced and sold in America. One penny. That would give us a perfect funding stream. They tell me thats$1.5 to $2 billion a year that goes into treatment centers only. That gives us a chance to start treating and getting people clean again.

The other part is: What do you do if get them clean? Weve got the Clean Start Act. If you go through a one-year program, and passed that program and become clean, then you have another year of mentoring other people. After that, youre able to get the people that sponsored you before your sentencing judge and arresting officer. You plead your case of what youve been able to accomplish in a two-year period.

Hopefully, theyll give you an expungement for a one-time chance at a clean start. So were doing everything we can do.

I did four town hall meetings last week. I go to the treatment centers. I talk to the addicts. I always ask, How did you get started?Most told me they started out with recreational marijuana. Legalizing recreational marijuana is something I have not been able to accept or support.

What about medical marijuana? What about commercial cannabis? These are things I dont know much about. But Im interested in learning and finding out more. Thats what Im doing now.

26 overdoses in just hours: Inside a community on the front lines of the opioid epidemic

Weve got to get more treatment. If I talk to a person, and they dont understand that addiction is an illness, Ive got serious problems, and thats going to take a long time. It took me a long time to understand the chemistry in talking to the professionals. You have to come to that conclusion first. If you dont, you wont have one ounce of sympathy for anybody.

I dont know any human being that doesnt know someone in his or her immediate or extended family, or a close friend, who has been affected. My familys included like everybody elses. When you see a person from a good family doing something illegal, you say, How did that happen? They might steal or do this or that to support their habits.

There are other people drug pushers and pill mills that we wont tolerate. But in a merciful way, I need these other people back into the workforce. They want some assistance. They want to live a good life.

Max Blau can be reached at max.blau@statnews.com Follow Max on Twitter @maxblau

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This Former Congressman Is Against the War on Drugs – Reason.com – Reason (blog)

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Editor's Note: In January 2013, Trey Radel came to Washington as a Republican congressman representing Florida's 19th district, an area that includes Fort Meyers and Naples. Radel had been a TV anchor prior to his win and he ran on a libertarian-leaning Tea Party platform of shrinking the size and spending of the government. Just a year later, Radel resigned from Congress after getting busted buying drugs and pleading guilty to misdemeanor cocaine possession. Ironically, Radel was and is a critic of the drug war. In his riveting new memoir about his short time in office, Radel documents not just his self-destruction but a political system that always seems to put philosophical ideals and good policy last. Democrazy: A True Story of Weird Politics, Money, Madness, and Finger Food, is a no-holds-barred account of what it's like to come to Washington and really screw up. More than that, though, it reveals a system that needs radical reform. In this excerpt, Radel recounts the immediate aftermath of his drug bust, which was inevitably (and legitimately) tied to a vote to drug-test food-stamp recipients he had cast as part of a farm bill.

U.S. Congress, Public DomainDuring this awful time, it felt like every political pundit on the planet; every TV newscast, newspaper, and online publication; and every comedian in the world was coming after me. Although, after all those years of dreaming I'd be on SNL, I made it. Seth Meyers ripped me often on "Weekend Update." Every pundit and comedian seemed to take particular glee in my vote on the provision in the farm bill regarding food stamps and drug testing. Remember when I said that this vote would come back to bite me in the ass?

It all started when the Huffington Post ran an article with the headline: "Trey Radel, Busted on Cocaine Charge, Voted for Drug Testing Food Stamp Recipients." The irony is the HuffPo reporter, in at least one of the articles, actually expounded on my view on the failed War on Drugs and my past votes focused on criminal justice reform. But, c'mon, who reads articles? At the lowest moment of my life, I was being savaged on national television for getting busted for drugs after voting to drug test food stamp recipients.

After the press broke the massive farm bill down to a headline, the public boiled my vote down to one memea picture of me with white powder Photoshopped all over my face saying: "Republican votes to drug test food stamp recipients, gets busted for cocaine."

The truth was that it had not been a single vote to "drug test these dirty dogs getting handouts!" It was part of the thousand-plus-page farm bill loaded with other provisions, and it gave states more power over how they wanted to administer their food stamps. I believe in "to each state its own," especially when it comes to addressing local issues and concerns. I thought that Washington's constant "one size fits all" mandates were doomed to fail.

So while I am a Republican who is so libertarian that I could have been labeled a liberal because of my determination to end the War on Drugs and work with Democrats, it didn't matter. I was just another tea party asswipe who got busted for drugs and voted to drug test food stamp recipients.

This was especially tough for me to take because I was and am such a staunch opponent of the War on Drugs.

Our drug policies in the United States should be focusing on rehabilitation, not incarceration. There's a fiscally conservative argument for this because we throw away billions of dollars a year locking people up and turning our backs on them. Many times nonviolent drug offenders return to society lacking skills to get a job, or they're turned away from jobs because of their record. Worse, they come out as hardened criminals, which places an even greater economic burden on society.

Ironically, shortly before my bust, I worked with Democrats to cosponsor the Justice Safety Valve Act. In fact, I was one of only a few Republicans to do so. The goal: Get rid of mandatory minimums and allow judges to impose penalties below the statutory sentences. We often see cases of nonviolent drug offenders who get locked up for years only to come out with little to offer society and a society with little to offer them. It's a catch-22 with terrible results for both the individual and society. Furthermore, young Hispanics and African American men are disproportionately locked up, making life that much harder for those who have had the deck stacked against them from birth.

And there's another group of men and women who are really, really screwed over by the War on Drugs because they are caught in the middle of violence and hatred due to our inept laws. Liberals won't talk about this group because it's not politically expedient, and conservatives won't because it reveals their hypocrisy and exposes the very problems they've created through their ignorant "just say no" bumper-sticker policies.

The group? The men and women of law enforcement. I'm talking about cops.

The War on Drugs is one of the main sources of anger and resentment between communities and law enforcement in the United States today. Sure, there are heavy-handed rogue cops who use drug laws to unnecessarily surveil or outright harass individuals. But there are loads of good men and women in law enforcement who privately rail against the system that puts them and others into dangerous situations. "Hey, coppers, did you think breaking up that domestic disturbance sucked when the drunk guy pulled a gun on you just after knocking out his wife? Yeah, well, now we're sending you, a couple of white cops, into a minority neighborhood where you are utterly despised. If you 'smell something funny,' the law will compel you to drag some young adults out of their car in front of their families and friends, frisk them, embarrass them, and undoubtedly make them angry." Good luck.

Ask yourself: Would you rather have the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and local law enforcement arresting people who are using recreational drugs in their home or tracking down fanatics about to walk out of their home strapped with AK-47s and suicide vests?

Do you think that example is too extreme? Go ask law enforcement how much time they waste dealing with low-level drug offenders. And after officers throw away taxpayer dollars and time to keep you safe from someone who made what is essentially a private transaction for their own private use, Juan or Devon goes to jail, crowding our prisons with these not-so-grave threats to society. And, mind you, you're paying the billbillions a yearto keep them locked up.

Oddly, when it comes to alcohol, society somehow looks at people who get busted for DUIs with a chuckle and shrug. "Haha! Did Uncle Billy get popped for driving after his twelfth Busch heavy?!" Yes, he did! And the difference between Uncle Billy, and millions of others like him who drink and drive, is the person behind the wheel after a few drinks might kill your entire family with their car while you're sharing the road with them.

As for drug testing food stamp recipients, the policy has been proven to be a failure economically and in terms of enforcement; the cost of the testing hasn't been outweighed by arrests because the states rarely catch anyone. There are very few of those evil people doing drugs and taking food stamps. States that enforce this kind of policy end up targeting the elderly, the disabled, or mothers and fathers working eight days a week to put food on their families' table. All an evil constituency! A test drags parents away from their jobs, or their multiple jobs, and their kids, who they see only late at night or early in the morning if they're lucky.

The only context I can offer for voting for the provision is this: Every few months or years, thousand-plus-page bills are passed that are loaded with tons of garbage that keep the current status quo within our tax code and continue subsidies. Big Oil gets their tax break; green energy gets their money. But accusing a liberal of supporting oil or a conservative of supporting government handouts is a gross overgeneralization. It's just not true. But, damn, it sure sounds good politically.

But whether we like it or not, this is how the legislative process is built. The men and women in Congress face "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situations every day. As an eternal optimist, I call it compromise. And, dammit, compromise is not a dirty word.

The farm bill presented such a vote. If I voted for it, I'd be the jerk who approved the drug testing provision. If I voted against it, I'd be the jerk who stole food stamps from hungry children and destroyed the lives of family farmers. Democrats who voted yes with me did so because the good in the bill outweighed the bad: food stamps would continue, the ag industry would be assured stability, and your milk wouldn't shoot up to ten freaking bucks a gallon. Looks like we are all terrible people.

This is excerpted from Democrazy: A True Story of Weird Politics, Money, Madness, and Finger Food, on sale now.

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Gloom and hopelessness? Malacaang says war on drugs ‘well … – ABS-CBN News

Posted: at 5:25 am

A police officer lists down the names of suspected drug users and pushers at a processing center in Tondo, Manila on July 13, 2016. Photo by Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- contrary to what critics say, the government's war on drugs is "well-received" by the public, Malacaang insists on Sunday.

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella made the statement after the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) boasted of the results of a Pulse Asia survey showing that 82 percent of residents in Metro Manila feel safer because of the government's anti-narcotics campaign.

"The administrations drug war is well-received by the people on the ground in sharp contrast to the gloom and hopelessness depicted by the Presidents critics," he said.

He added that the public's response motivates the administration to continue its crackdown on illegal drugs.

"This favorable public sentiment gives us strong impetus to surge ahead in our anti-drug campaign and hope that we continually get the cooperation of the community, and even support of the clergy, especially in the implementation of a rehabilitation program for tokhang surrenderers," he said.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police Chief, Director General Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, said the figures show that the police force is "doing the right thing" in addressing the drug problem in the country.

"The survey results presented by Pulse Asia is an eye-opener and an indication that we are doing the right thing; that the eradication of drugs and the preservation of peace and order are what the people are clamoring for," he said.

Human rights groups have raised concerns of extrajudicial killings and human rights violations over the 7,000 deaths related to the drug war.

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Now is no time to lose focus in war on drugs | Opinion – Daily Liberal

Posted: at 5:25 am

27 Mar 2017, 4:19 p.m.

A report that ice is the most-used illicit drug may not be a surprise but the impact is truly shocking.

A new report that revealsmethylamphetamineis the most used illicit drug in regional NSW and across the nation maybe not be a surprise but it is truly shocking news for communities.

A total of 13 illicit and licit drugs were detailed in the first National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program but it was ice that topped list for illegal substances.

It has gone from being virtually unknown about five years ago, to one of the most destructive and difficult to solve problems the nation is facing.

Australia is ranked second out of 18 similar countries for ice usage.

Despite its potency, the drug is relatively cheap, which has driven its rise in popularity, especially in regional areas.

Many overlook the proven dangers, including serious long-term mental health problems, for a quick high.

But it takes a heavy toll on the user and their family and ultimately, entire towns.

Unfortunately, news stories about people committing crimes while affected by ice are becoming more common. That can lower the impact they have but it is important that we dont get complacent.

If nothing is done, the problem is going to get even worse and that will lead to higher crime, more deaths and more families torn apart.

Just as concerning was the revelation in the report that prescription medication includingfentanyl and oxycodone levels were also high.

Regional NSW had above average levels of fentanyl, and the report described the drugs levels as being at concerning levels.

Parkes MP Mark Coulton said he wasnt surprised by the findings, but found it confirmed the beliefs of authorities.

He said all levels of government were working hard to try and reduce the usage but acknowledged how difficult it is when catching one supplier just leaves a gap in the market that is soon filled again.

Further education will help. Drugs are often looked at as a criminal problem but they are also medical.

Every effort has to be made to help those who have fallen victim to any drug, whether illicit or not, and the stigma of addiction remains a roadblock.

Stopping the use of drugs like ice is a near-impossible task but it is also one we cant afford to give up on.

The lives of our residents are too important for us to stop.

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