Monthly Archives: July 2021

ShaCarri Richardson looks on after winning the Womens 100 Meter final on day 2 of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 19, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

ShaCarri Richardson was winning the race for Pre-Olympics Most Popular American Athlete and then, suddenly, she wasnt. Shes still popular controversy has made her sympathetic and even more famous but now its all complicated.

ShaCarri was going into Tokyo as the odds-on favorite to end up on a Wheaties box with her flaming hair, her blazing speed, and her audacious confidence. We love someone who knows shes bad and she knew she was a bad mamajama. But in a twist worthy of a novel, a funny thing happened on the way to the coronation. Her story was upended by the pathetic War on Drugs.

Please miss me with the idea that its her fault she took some weed (to get over the pain of the death of her mother) and the Karen-ish argument that she shouldve known better. People have been quick to blame her a 21 year-old in the midst of the most difficult moment of her life because its easy to place blame on a single person.

Yes, she broke a rule but the real problem is the rule. Its a dumb one and given how deeply the drug prohibition and the War on Drugs damages the Black community, we should not give any respect to this oppressive rule. If we just follow and uphold bad, immoral rules then society will never advance. The Civil Rights Movement that helped liberate us was powered by the concept of civil disobedience rejecting and breaking immoral, oppressive rules. So instead of leaping to the simplistic notion of rules are rules and she didnt follow the rules, lets do something bigger and more meaningful: lets critique the institutions for perpetuating a ridiculous prohibition on marijuana.

Why is marijuana illegal? Its not a performance enhancer, its not a steroid, so why is it banned? If ShaCarri had gotten drunk there would be no problem, but even a little weed is disqualifying? Doesnt that sound arbitrary? The real problem isnt that ShaCarri smoked (or ate) some weed. Its that we live in a country that prizes the pursuit of happiness yet criminalizes using marijuana. And this country does that because marijuana prohibition helps fuel the Prison Industrial Complex which houses thousands and thousands of marijuana offenders they are the main product.

And most of them are Black people.

Marijuana is a gateway drug for powerful white people to take the freedom of Black people. Criminalizing marijuana is a big business. And our efforts to police marijuana mean thousands of non-violent Black American drug users are attacked by police while a multi-billion industry is controlled by homicidal criminals who live in other countries. And people like ShaCarri are penalized for wanting the peace that marijuana brings. This system makes no sense and if marijuana were legalized in America that would crush the underground market, free the police to pursue actual crimes, and create millions and perhaps billions in tax dollars.

ShaCarri was set to become the face of the Tokyo Olympics but now shes like the face of the ridiculousness of our marijuana prohibition. I just want to see her run but as The Onion wrote Dreams Crushed Over Trivial Bullshit Represents Nation Better Than Gold Medal Ever Could.

ShaCarri winning wouldve been held up as an example of American Awesomeness but ShaCarri not being able to race over this is an example of American Patheticness.

Touris the host of the podcasts Toure Show and Democracyish and the podcast docuseries Who Was Prince? He is also the author of six books.

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ShaCarri Richardsons Olympics dream was crushed by the War on Drugs - TheGrio

MANILA, Philippines The killings in theDuterte administration's bloody "war on drugs" are part of a "war"one that "terrorizes" the poorest of the poor and leaves them with no recourse for justice, a panel of rights advocates and lawyers said.

In asecond report that will be sent to the 47th Session of the United NationsHuman Rights Council, Investigate PH highlighted what it said was the lack of domestic remedies available to victims of the "war on drugs", many of whom belong to the country's poorest.

"By simply yet selectively treating illegal drug use as a crime rather than a larger public health challenge, the president has launched a war against the poor, that serves to demonstrate his power and to sow fear," the report read.

"'Tokhang'is a shortened phrase for 'knock and persuade,'referring to the police house-to-house visits. But in reality, it is 'kick in the door and shoot'...Those killed in anti-drug operations are overwhelmingly poor people unable to assert their rights to due process."

Citing interviews with victims and witnesses, Investigate PH said poor communities are affected by these operations through:

According to witnesses, relatives of victims are still visited by cops years after their family members are killed in operations. They are asked if they still intend to file a case.

"Instinctively the people say 'no,'hoping that the police will leave them alone. They fear for the lives of their other children," Investigate PH said.

The investigative group also called into question the police claim that most if not all of the killings resulted from legitimate drug suspects violently resisting arrest.

"Evidence indicates that unarmed victims have been executed either in their home, on the street or after being abducted, with weapons or drugs likely planted after," the report read, citing photographic evidence of victims who were handcuffed and unarmed when they were shot by cops.

"In one case, a witness saw the police execute three men, then plant guns on them after firing the weapons in the direction the police had come from."

Despite the 'nanlaban' narrative, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that his department's review of drug cases found lapses in protocol. He said that there many cases where"no request[s] for ballistic examination or paraffin test [were] pursued" in cases where cops claimed suspects violently resisted arrest.

Independent autopsies on drug war victims also found that there was "no genuine police inquiry into the cause of death" on the part of the authorities. Death certificates and police examinations were found lacking as they did not record X-rays of victims or evidence of defensive wounds.

Investigate PH pointed out that the finding has so far "not translated into changes in anti-drug policy and operations or placed accountability for the killings."

The group also pointed to what it said wasthe persistent lack of redress for abuses by State agents, saying: "Police routinely cover-up the circumstances of killings in anti-drug operations, intimidate families and potential witnesses, and obstruct review of most killings by the Department of Justice."

Investigate PH also said that, onan institutional level, the approach to barring justice is two-pronged: on the ground, the friends and families of victims are intimidated and even threatened. Meanwhile, police leadership points to the lack of formal complaints as evidence that operations are done by the book.

Out of over 6,000 anti-drug killings acknowledged by official police data, the Philippine National Police has given the justice departmentrecords of 53 cases that its Internal Affairs Service has worked on.

"The Duterte government has ensured the lack of accountability for police failing to follow standard protocols in thousands of cases of anti-drug operation killings. The Ombudsman has accepted all these killings as part of 'regularity'in police operations. The higher courts have also rejected claims by victims relatives, in favor of the police," Investigate PH said.

To recall, Investigate PH in its first reportsaidthat numerous and documented cases ofabuseperpetrated by state forces have "become more institutionalized, orchestrated and entrenched" under the Duterte administration.

READ:Duterte government has no interest in probing themselves global group

Commissioners of the panelalso criticizedthe Duterte administration's flagship anti-narcotics campaign for "failing to quell the trade in illegal drugs its purported goal which continues to flow cheaper than ever."

In 2020, crystal methamphetamines or shabu was found to still be behind the most arrest and treatment admissions in the Philippines, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported.

Citing figures from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Dangerous Drugs Board, the UNODC said that shabu "remains the main drug of concern in the Philippines" with just a year left under the Duterte administration.

According to the government's Real Numbers PH info campaign, 13,400 barangays are yet to be classified as "drug-free" out of 42,045.

The president's landslide win in 2016 was founded on, among other things, ambitious promises of ending drugs and criminality within the first six months of his term. He later asked for a six-monthextension that he also later failed to meet.

READ:With a year left in Duterte's term, UNODC says shabu still a major problem in the Philippines

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Abuse in 'drug war' routinely covered up, advocates say - Philstar.com

(Philstar.com) - July 7, 2021 - 12:05pm

MANILA, Philippines The Philippine National Police on Thursday rebuffed the report of ainternational investigating panel that circumstances behind the killings in the Duterte administration's "war on drugs" are being covered up.

A Department of Justice-led review last year of drug cases where suspected drug personalities were killed found lapses in protocol. The Commission on Human Rights has also repeatedly raised concerns over a lack of cooperation from the police on possible cases of rights violations in law enforcement operations.

In a statement, Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP chief, said there is no policy to cover up wrongdoings and abuse in policeranks.

"We are aware of these allegations but we also inform our compatriots that more than 18,000 police officers have been punished in the past five years and this includes the dismissal of more than 5,000 in our ranks due to various cases of abuse of power,"he said.

What did the report say?: Investigate PH in asecond report that will be sent to the 47th Session of the United NationsHuman Rights Councilsaid that police officers block attempts at transparency and accountability.

"Police routinely cover up the circumstances of killings in anti-drug operations, intimidate families and potential witnesses, and obstruct review of most killings," it said.

Witness interviews by the group found thatthe friends and families of victims are intimidated and even threatened to keep quiet. Meanwhile, police leadership points to the lack of formal complaints as evidence that operations are done by the book.

According to witnesses, cops still visit relatives of victims years after their family members are killed in operations to ask if they intend to file complaints.

"Instinctively the people say 'no,'hoping that the police will leave them alone. They fear for the lives of their other children," Investigate PH said.

"Evidence indicates that unarmed victims have been executed either in their home, on the street or after being abducted, with weapons or drugs likely planted after," the report also read, citing photographic evidence of victims who were handcuffed and unarmed when they were shot.

Independent autopsies on drug war victims also found that there was "no genuine police inquiry into the cause of death" on the part of the authorities. Death certificates and police examinations were found lacking as they did not record X-rays of victims or evidence of defensive wounds.

Selective transparency?: While the national police does take action in high-profile murder cases by cops, it also grants a presumption of regularity in the killings ofactivists and drug suspects.

The police general also defended the 'nanlaban' narrative that suspects end up dead because they forced cops to shoot saying police officersare also harmed in their operations and are forced to fight back.

"It's coming out that the lives of our policemen were really in danger...I also remind you that there are deaths and injuries on our side in our tough campaign against illegal drugs," he said.

Eleazar also pointed to thecase folderssubmitted to the justice department for reviewon police anti-illegal drug operations where there were deaths, either of suspects or police operatives.

The PNP has also send the DOJ53 files from its Internal Affairs Service out of the over 6,000 deaths in anti-drug operations.

"I understand your point of ensuring a professional PNP and of a human rights-based approach in the conduct of our operations but what I can assure you is that these are all being observed and strictly monitored,"the PNP chief claimed.

Franco Luna

Originally posted here:

PNP: No cover-up in 'drug war'; more than 5K cops dismissed for 'abuse' - Philstar.com

The ever increasing prevalence of drugs in our society and the existence of drug gangs cannot be stopped or defeated by the current methods of criminalisation and enforcement.

This is the view of the Social Democrats Galway City East councillor, Owen Hanley, who said it is time the State ended the ineffective war on drugs and began instead, to look seriously at a regulation approach.

Cllr Hanley made his call following a statement issued by Youth Workers Against Prohibition, which declared, the policy of prohibition/criminalisation has failed and is not the way forward."

The group, which features more than 100 youth workers, said "there is, and always will be, a thriving unregulated drug market and the longer we continue to hold on to the illusion of beating it, the longer we will have to see young people, families and communities suffer the consequences".

Cllr Hanley said the youth workers should be taken seriously as work on the front lines with those who would otherwise be forgotten by the system.

They support those on the hard edge of injustice and inequality, he said, so I'm not surprised they are raising their voices against our status quo that simply is not working. We aren't stopping the increasing prevalence of drugs in society, we aren't stopping dangerous drug gangs, and we aren't helping many lives plagued with addiction.

In its statement, Youth Workers Against Prohibition said: We see the devastation that unregulated drugs are inflicting on communities as young people have no idea of the content, purity or consequences of what they are taking. Prohibition drives our young people who use drugs underground, it isolates them and places them in danger...and propels them further into a cycle of addiction, debt and criminality.

The group is calling on the Government to instead adopt an evidence-based drug policy that places social care and public health, not the criminal justice system, at the heart of the States response to drug use.

A responsibly regulated market and a health-led response to drug use will produce more informed individuals, stronger communities, and healthier, happier families, the YWAP statement read. This approach also recognises that drug addiction is rooted in traumatic adverse early childhood experiences and will be treated as such."

Cllr Hanley believes that this last point is salient. There is strong evidence in support of a regulation approach, he said, that supports individuals from a mental health perspective, and ends the ineffective war on drugs. This discussion must happen."

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War on drugs is not working, it is time to talk about regulation, says Hanley - Galway Advertiser

Americans attitudes toward marijuana are changing across the country. With four more states joining the fold in November, 15 states and Washington, D.C. have now legalized marijuana for recreational use, and 34 states allow its use for medical reasons. More recently, the House of Representatives voted to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, although the bill failed in the Senate. Given the disastrous consequences of the war on drugs both in the U.S. and abroad, this shift is unsurprising and long overdue.

There continues to be, however, a zero-tolerance policy in the military regarding marijuana, and thousands of uniformed service members are discharged each year for failing randomly administered drug tests. The governments stance on marijuana as a controlled substance may not change anytime soon. But there is a better way for military leaders than zero-tolerance by transitioning to a more measured response to marijuana use among service members.

For men and women in uniform, drug use is governed by a single article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which imposes a maximum penalty of dishonorable discharge and two years of confinement for anyone who wrongfully uses, possesses, manufactures, distributes, or imports any controlled substance including opium, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana. In reality, a positive test for a drug like marijuana often leads to an immediate separation from the military.

Related: Canadian troops were going to fire artillery. Then they got high

The UCMJs direction here, however, is woefully limited. Should using marijuana once be considered a crime tantamount to distributing cocaine or manufacturing meth? Given that most states recognize the medical benefits of marijuana, its illogical to consider that all drugs on the federal controlled substance list are equally harmful and should be treated under a single law. An 18-year-old who smokes a joint because of a lapse in judgment is no Walter White, after all.

More importantly, it makes little sense to lump drugs into a single category while making separate, more lenient allowances for alcohol. Though military culture may not like to admit it, alcohol is a drug, one I contend is far more harmful than marijuana. A recent study from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that frequent heavy drinking, defined as consuming five or more drinks on one or more occasions per week, occurs among a substantial proportion of U.S. military personnel, and that young adults in the military are more likely than their civilian counterparts to engage in heavy drinking.

Like many of my fellow service members, during my five years in the Navy I repeatedly witnessed how alcohol use can destroy sailors careers and families and impact a units morale. American service members stationed in Japan, for example, have earned a reputation for their drunken escapades, many of which have had deadly consequences for civilian bystanders. Aboard deployed Navy warships, rest stops at foreign ports are largely seen as opportunities to drink among the crew, the average age of which is rarely above the mid-twenties.

The military communitys acceptance of drinking as a pastime and its zero-tolerance policy toward marijuana use stand in stark contradiction to one another.

I have personally seen Navy chief petty officers, men with at least 15 years of service to their name, go to jail and later stand in front of their captain for crashing their car or pulling a gun on someone while drunk. I have never heard of a sailor, or indeed anyone, doing anything similar because they had smoked a joint. After having served five years as a commissioned officer aboard warships, I seriously question whether our attitudes toward alcohol and marijuana arent entirely misguided.

The federal governments policy towards the drug notwithstanding, isnt there a better way for the military to deal with marijuana use among its ranks? It is not surprising that service members, many barely out of high school, will make mistakes and use what is, in truth, a drug that is widely prevalent among young people. That the punishment for such an offense should be an immediate and unquestioned discharge from the military seems unusually harsh.

In the Navy, for example, sailors are allowed one strike when it comes to alcohol-related incidents like drunk driving; only a second offense, or treatment failure, will lead to a members discharge. Why not adopt a similar policy towards marijuana use?

Its time to reform the zero-tolerance policy for marijuana use in the military.

While we may not see the federal legalization of marijuana any time soon, service members dont deserve to see their careers ended, and their veterans benefits potentially stripped, for a lapse in judgment. Instead, just like with alcohol-related incidents, they should be counseled and recommended for discharge only if they are deemed treatment failures. Given the militarys recent woes in manning its own ranks, it is nonsensical to hemorrhage service members who have made a harmless mistake. To show up to ones unit high or drunk should be considered a serious offense, but to have one positive THC test doesnt make a service member an irredeemable criminal. Instead of turning their backs on these men and women, perhaps military leaders should seek to rehabilitate them.

The militarys stubborn drug policy remains unchanged in large part because we refuse to talk about it. Indeed, to point out its logical inconsistency would likely draw the unwanted attention of ones superiors. This is unfortunate, because the reality of marijuana use in American culture is not what it was decades ago. The leaders of the militarys services should pay closer attention to how its zero-tolerance stance is impacting sailors, soldiers, Marines, and airmen. Reforming this policy is not only good for Americans in uniform, but for the strength of the services themselves.

Thibaut Delloue served as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy from 2015 to 2020. He was the communications officer aboard the destroyer USS Carney in Rota, Spain and the navigator of the littoral combat ship USS Coronado in San Diego. He now works in education in Nashville, Tennessee. Connect with him @t_delloue.

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The US military needs to burn down its zero-tolerance weed policy - Task & Purpose